April,
What happens when you tighten or loosen the little screw. What changes, is the movement affected on the little thing that goes left to right, does it restrict the distance the fabric can travel ... those are just things I'm guessing could be going on and there may be something entirely different. Please let us know. Are you experimenting with it? Do you have a machine there that it fits on?

After thinking about it even more ... I'd have to say that vintagemodiste is probably right. I'd have to see what happens as the fabric feeds under or through it. Wish I had it here for experimentation. None of us are going to sleep tonight if we don't figure this out!

From looking at it I would guess that it is a foot which helps make a manual buttonhole on one of the first zigzag machines. It is obviously a simpler thing than a buttonhole attachment with cams, but those were made for straight stitch machines so they had to really hold that fabric tightly and shift it in all directions, left,right, forward, around those lovely rounded corners and then back again.
A zigzag machine already has the needle moving left to right so a simpler contraption could be used since it doesn't have to force the fabric left and right.
The screw at the back of the machine must allow you to set the length and then maybe it works similarly the way a cam does in a buttonhole attachment. Since manual buttonholes can be made on a zig zag machine it seems as though this would help you do it with consistency.

Please let us know what you figure out with your experimentation.
P.S. In an old manual for a White Zigzag automatic it shows a buttonhole foot with an adjustable gauge on the side. At least this confirms that there is such a thing as an old fashioned buttonhole foot. None of my straight stitch vintage manuals show anything like it.

Dear Flowerfeathers,
I can certainly understand your concerns. It does sort of seem like "double-dipping".
I wondered about entering things that have been shown on pattern review also – so much so that I wrote to the editors to ask about it before putting this into the contest.
I'm glad you brought it up since there may be others who frequent both sites and who might wonder about the same thing.
Patricia ( trishapat)

First of all, thank you to the editors at Threads and to all of you for the kind comments.

There were so many great entries, so much inspiration and so much talent. It was a great contest. In this context, I am truly honored.

Patricia ( trishapat)

These are great – they have such charactar. They are painted well, they are modeled well and they are different. I think the face on the new jester looks even better than the first so you are getting even better with each one you make. The hat on the old jester looks fantastic. Does the new one have one like that?:
You are quite the sculptress and designer. Thanks for posting this to the site.

I just discovered your blog and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Great work, great writing and helpful info. As for your inquiry about other people understanding the textural delight of washed linen, the "bubble like" quality ... YES! I get it and I, too, love it ... fabric with a soul ...

I love how you made the coordinating fabric by discharging the main fabric used. I particularly like how you added the extra detail to the buttons with the stitching.
Nice inverted pleats on the cuffs too ... and it looks very comfy. Nice work!

This is so charming and heartwarming! ( as well as beautifully made of course)This should be an heirloom garment in your family for sure.
How wonderful to please your little daughter with a lovingly made suit and to grant her request for a polar bear hat. The whole thing brings a smile to my face.

The serger finish sounds very special and quite intriguing. Those kind of details are so nice to see close up. It's a very nice jacket, looks like it will be very versatile.

I appreciate you telling us about the construction details such as the fusible interfacing and tape. The roll line on the lapel looks great.

Good choice of design for a print like this. It looks very nicely made also.

You did a beautiful job on the bead design. Your topstitching looks so nice and neat also. Nice work!

Sooo cute! Love the shape of the collar. You look so very pretty in it, it is perfect for your figure. Love seeing the closeups, the juxtaposition of the natural linen with the vintage elements, it makes it a lovely modern mix. I also like reading about the construction details and imagining them. Thanks for sharing!

Looks great! A lot of work, I am sure. Well done!

Just lovely! You look great in it.

Very cute pants. Knowing they are made in linen makes the thought of wearing them very appealing.

Wonderful choice of color, print, detail and balance of everything.
Utterly charming!

Nicely understated outfit with interesting detail. Timeless with a contemporary twist.

Beautiful job. The piecing of the main pattern pieces was so carefully done, it's impressive. I love the subtlety of the backround colors along with the boldness of the embellishments. You did an amazing amount of work on this and did it very well.

The "corsage" made of gauze is lovely. I think it would be nice as a tone on tone element on a relatively simple design.

A lovely study in texture, weave, and subtle color variation. Very nice combo.

It is nice to see such beautiful workmanship up close. Your perfectionism and attention to small detail is appreciated

Yay Deana !!! How exciting! I look forward to seeing what you do with the magazine. Hope to meet you someday.

An inspiring garment, how nice to see it !

You took on a fairly complicated pattern and completed it ... good for you!

It's a very nicely designed jacket, can anyone edit the post to say what pattern it is?

A person can either master the skills necessary to support good design or they can put them aside altogether and embrace the antithesis as an art form. It takes time and effort to learn to sew well and to integrate masterful craftsmanship as part of beautiful design. Ignoring those steps and blatantly, boldly disregarding any recognizable standard does produce a garment which will "attract" some attention. It makes a bold statement and I suppose that makes it literally attractive. It's very easy to thumb ones nose at convention and then tilt that nose up in the air. Personally, I think it takes more than that for something to have merit.