Thread was put through a bobbin to a needle on the machine.  At the bottom of the machine was a threadle operated by a foot.  Attached to the threadle was a rubber band that connected to a gear on the machine which made the needle go up and down.
 

The predominate and perhaps only brand was Singer.  I have one of these that belonged to a grandmother. 

Patterns to make clothes were made of tissue paper and could be ordered from Sears.  If you were in town you could buy them at F. W. Woolworth and other stores.  Pattern brands included Simplicity and McCalls.

The cloth would be laid out on a table and the pattern would be pinned to the pattern then the cloth would be cut to the shape of the pattern.  Each pattern you bought would have several pieces of it, each for a different part of the shirt, pants, dress or blouse you were making.

The garment would then be sewn by hand.  Later by manual machine.

Where did this material come from?   Of course, it could be ordered from sears Roebuck and later from Montgomery Ward.  Some stores in town might carry some material on bolts.  But the most used was that from flour or feed sacks.  Not much feed for the animals was bought but everyone bought flour in big sacks.  These sacks were made from cotton and had designs or prints on them.  People were very particular which sack was bought.  You tried to get two or three just alike.  It would take two or three sacks to make a dress.  The material from one sack would make a shirt, blouse or pillow case.  You would get a solid colored  one for a man’s or boy’s shirt.

If you had a sewing machine by the time a young girl was six or seven she could sew a straight seam.

Heavier material was bought to make work clothes.  Many wore overalls.  A very few could make shoes from the hide of deer or cattle.  Mostly shoes were bought.  Most only owned one pair.  When holes were worn in the soles it was not unusual to repair them yourself by putting a piece of cardboard inside the shoe to cover the hole.

It was not unusual for a man to own only one suit, dress shirt and necktie.  These were worn only to church and funerals.

I might mention that I was 17 before I owned an overcoat and that was one presented me when I enlisted in the US Army Air Corps.  That was before the Air Force became a separate branch.  Mostly we wore light jackets.

When shoes were shined (infrequently) it was with Griffin’s Shinola.

When sewing just as in quilting the thread was on spools, although smaller ones.  What to do with all those empty spools?  Toys were made with some.  They made great trains.  I have also seen chairs and headboards for beds made of them.