Modern sewing machines are designed with a space below the under mechanism to permit sewing sleeves and pants legs but only transversely across the short dimension. Anything like a pocket must be sewn before the tube of the sleeve or pants leg is formed. If the under mechanism and the feed could be swiveled to sew not only across the machine but in line with the machine it would be possible to sew in any direction on the sleeve or pant leg. The necessary mechanism might be very difficult or impossible to accomplish but it would increase the flexibility of the machine.
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A small-scale implementation of the industrial variety? Commercial robots can sew in any direction; they are used for embroidery (patches and such).
It would be a simple thing to alter the axis of the feed motor: just set it on a dolly or cam of sorts. Currently, you can slip a free-motion plate atop the feeder which negates its action (by putting it out of reach or covering it entirely). It has the same spirit in mind, but getting straight lines this way would require steady hands.