A separating and transfer conveyor for stacked fabric parts. An endless conveyor (38) feeds the stack (35) into position for separating the uppermost part from the stack. A mechanism having a knife edge bar (86) or opposed fabric engaging needles (218) is lowered and engages the part for dragging the part to be separated off the stack. The second part on the stack is held with the stack by a pressure force by a series of vacuum providing orifices or recesses (124 and 125) in a horizontally disposed support surface and/or by retractable fabric piercing needles (228). The part separating and translating bar is connected to a support plate which may be vibrated in a generally horizontal plane to assist in breaking the frictional connection between the part to be separated and remaining parts in the stack as they are separated from each other. The separated parts are presented seriatim to a guide surface (14) which guides the part under the conveyance of an air jet stream along a feed path to another work station (40).