The first patent for the sewing machine was worded “An entire new method of making and completing shoes, boots, splatterdashes, clogs, and other articles, by means of tools and machines also invented by me for that purpose, and of certain compositions of the nature of Japan or varnish, which will be very advantageous in many useful appliances.”
This somewhat sums up why the sewing machine was invented. The invention of the sewing machine, allowed for quicker and more precise stitches than hand sewing. Sewing machines made it possible to sew faster and more efficiently than ever before. This revolutionized the garment industry.
Pre-History of sewing machines
The oldest known needle dates some 25000 years. But it took a long long time for man to invent a machine to replace hand sewing. Till then stitch upon stitch was labouriously hand worked by men and women. It took days to complete one garment this way.
Before the invention of sewing machines, seamstresses spend hours sewing up gowns and accessories. Each button and buttonhole and every single eyelet and everything was hand sewn.
Young ladies in all houses (even affluent houses) were made to spend a significant amount of their time training to be good seamstresses; they had to, if they wanted to wear clothes. All the ladies spend their leisure time hand sewing. All this changed with the coming of sewing machine.
Only the people of means had enough clothes to wear. The tattered clothes of the common man were taken for granted. Even the rich got their elaborate gowns and suits handsewn after a long waiting.
Their gowns were never washed frequently for fear of having to repair. One simple shirt took almost a day to finish. So you can imagine what this meant for the common man.
Invention of sewing machine.
The first sewing machines were not made for the home user. Even if they were, the exorbitant price of those early machines made it impossible for individuals to buy them.
Who invented the sewing machine?
The person credited to have invented the sewing machine with its modern practical operations is Barthelemy Thimonnier. He was a French tailor; he succeeded in creating a chain stitch sewing machine and got a patent for it in 1830.
But It is not like the Oscar award that you give it to that one person – you cannot rightly pinpoint one person for having invented this magnificent invention.
The sewing machine was invented in its first modern-avatar by Thomas Saint in 1790 but it has evolved so much from that first machine. It was in England that Thomas Saint laid the early groundwork for the sewing machine, but it was in America where it found its commercial success. Aand merican inventors were the first to create many key sewing machine technologies. American companies also made sewing machines cheaper and more available to people around the world.
A very significant name in the sewing machine history is Elias Howe. This page has some more details on Elias Howe
With the invention of the sewing machine, sewing moved from houses and small shops to large manufacturing units. Women got enough clothes to wear, as clothes started to be made in shops with sewing machines on a large scale.
But the tailors of the time didnot see sewing machine as a convenience, at first. They thought that the machine would replace them. They protested big time for a long time. Maybe much like what AI is doing now.
Related posts : Sewing machine problems and remedies ; How to start using your sewing machine; Sewing machine repairing guide; 20 types of sewing machine.
It was only by the 1900s that affordable home-use machines started to sell. When that happened, women found they could sew up clothes for themselves and save money or for others and make money. Check out the post on sewing businesses for some 42 sewing related businesses you can start in your free time.
The invention of sewing machine lead to the rise of new industries mainly the ready-to-wear clothes. So, individuals and the society benefitted in many ways from the rise of sewing machines
Early Sewing Machine History – Timeline
The first sewing machine was a very basic one – it had an awl, to punch a hole in the material. A blunt needle pushes a thread through the hole to form a loop on the under side of the material. Through this loop the needle passed a second loop to form a chain or crochet stitch. From this to the current crop of highly sophisticated sewing machines is a long journey of many inventors who risked everything for its success.
1790 – Chain Stitch Machine
Thomas Saint (UK) – The first sewing machine was patented
Thomas Saint a british citizen obtained a patent for a machine that made stitches. The machine produced with his plans had horizontal cloth plate or table, an overhanging arm carrying a straight needle, and a continuous supply of thread from a spool; it had forked needle, pricker, hooked needle, chain stitch. But it was a difficult machine to operate.
1807- Chain Stitch Machine
Balthasar Krems ( Germany )
This machine had a needle with eye at the tip and a controlled bobbin hook and made 300-350 stitches per minute
1814 –Double Stitch Machine
Joseph Madersperger ( Austria )
Two-pointed needle with eye and shuttle-like device for double-stitching
About 1830 – Chain Stitch Machine
Barthelemy Thimonnier, France- He made a sewing machine that produced a chain stitch with a needle, shaped like a hook.It was able to reach 200 chain stitches per minute.
1832 –Lock Stitch Sewing Machine
In 1832, Walter Hunt invented the first practical sewing machine in the United States.
Walter Hunt made a lock stitch machine that was an improvement on the earlier one -this one made a locking stitch, a completely different method from imitating the hand stitching with a table and foot treadle. His machine had a curved needle with an eye at the point. The needle pierced the goods, and at the moment when it started out, a loop was formed in the thread; at that very same instant, a shuttle carrying a second thread passed through the loop, making the lock stitch.
1846 –First Double Saddle stitch Sewing Machine
In 1846, Elias Howe patented the first successful lockstitch sewing machine. Howe belonged to Boston, United States. His machine had an eye-pointed needle in combination with a shuttle to form a stitch ( the second thread travels back and forth in the shuttle) with a sewing rail of 30-40 cms.
1851 – Double Lock Sewing Machine with a central spool
Isaac Singer improved the design of the first practical sewing machine. In 1851, Isaac Singer began selling his own sewing machine, which was based on Howe’s design but had a number of improvements. In 1851 Isaac Merrit Singer patented a rigid-arm sewing machine. (But this was overruled later. In 1854, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Howe in a patent infringement lawsuit against Singer. This decision established the principle that inventors could patent their inventions and prevent others from using their designs without permission)
1852 – Double Lock Sewing Machine with a central spool
AB Wilson, Watertown, Conneticut, United States. The first double lock sewing machine with a central spool, the technology used in household sewing machines
1855 – Double Lock Sewing Machine
Isaak Merrit Singer New York, USA made the first double-line lockstitch sewing machine with a straight-line shuttle, and founded the Singer Corporation.
(Singer corporation is one of the first companies to mass-produce sewing machines.Today Singer is a name that is almost synonymous with the history of sewing machines.)
1857 – The first mobile sewing machine
This was invented by Grover & Baker
1857 – The sewing machine with needle delivery
JE Gibbs & WH Johnson, USA invented this. This low-priced chain-stitch sewing machine was mass produced and used by many
1857 – Two thread Double lock sewing machine
Plaz & Rexroth, France
1870 – Hand sewing machine
United Kingdom
1870 – Free arm lock sewing machine with a free arm that slides into the surrounding platform.
United Kingdom
1873 – The invention of the zigzag sewing machine
Helen Blanchard United Kingdom
1900 – First hemstitch sewing machine
First hemstitch sewing machine sew 1,000 stitches per minute
Reference : www.moah.org
Image attribution : Wikimedia Commons
there is a typo with [and americans]
I didn’t get you.
Enjoyed reading about machines..
I have a cranberry machine with a shuttle that looks like a bullet, where can I find info on this machine.
Where does Elias Howe fit in?