Patent ID: 7617787

Claim:
A method of sewing a first material supported on a base plate of a sewing machine to a second material, the sewing machine having a presser foot for holding first and second materials and a reciprocating needle for sewing the first and second materials together, the method comprising: establishing a displacement representing a length of a tuck using a programmable control electrically connected to a motor driven shaft operable to move a tucking blade; then, locating a first material on top of a base plate of a sewing machine beneath the presser foot; locating an anvil plate above the first material and below the tucking blade; locating a second material on top of the anvil plate and beneath the presser foot adjacent the first material; operating the programmable control to advance the tucking blade toward the presser foot to engage the second material with the tucking blade and form a tuck in the second material over the first material; operating the sewing machine to feed the tuck in the second material and the first material past the reciprocating needle and sew a desired number of stitches through the tuck in the second material and the first material; operating the programmable control to retract the tucking blade away from the presser foot; and iterating the above steps of operating the programmable control to advance the tucking blade, operating the sewing machine and operating the programmable control to retract the tucking blade to form and sew a desired number of tucks in the second material to the first material.