History of Sewing

Machine
History of the Sewing Machine

 People started sewing as long as 20,000 years ago, during the last
Ice Age. Archaeologists have discovered bone needles with eyes,
used to sew together skins and furs, dating back to this time. The
earliest known sewing needles made of iron come from the Celtic
hill fort at Manching, Germany, and date to the third century BC.
The tomb of a minor official of the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD
220) has been reported by Chinese archaeologists as containing a
sewing set complete with thimble. This would be the oldest known
example of a thimble, which originated as a device to help push
crude needles through resistant materials such as animal skins.
Itwas over 1500 years later in 1790, that the first workable sewing machine was
invented and patented by the British inventor Thomas Saint. Earlier, in 1755,
Karl Weisenthal, a German inventor, devised the first sewing machine needle,
but did not produce a complete machine. Saint's machine, which was designed
to sew leather and canvas, mainly on boots, used only a single thread and
formed a chain stitch. Instead of a needle, an awl was employed to pierce a hole
through the material being sewed. Another mechanism placed the thread over
the hole, and then a needlelike rod with a forked point carried the thread through
to the underside of the work, where a hook caught the thread and moved it
forward for the next stitch. When the cycle was repeated, a second loop was
formed on the underside of the cloth with the first loop, thus forming a chain
and locking the stitch. Saint's machine, however, never progressed beyond the
patent model stage. And it overlooked the Weisenthal needle design.
 In 1830 a French tailor, Barthelemy Thimonnier (1793-1857),
patented the first practical sewing machine. It employed a
hook-tipped needle, much like an embroidery needle, that was
moved downward by a cord-connected foot treadle and
returned by a spring. Like Thomas Saint's machine, it produced
a chain stitch. By 1841, eighty of his machines were being
used to sew uniforms for the French army. However, his
factory was destroyed by a mob of tailors, who saw the new
machines as a threat to their livelihood. Thimonnier died
bankrupt in England.
 The earliest idea for a double-thread sewing machine came
from Walter Hunt (1796- 1860) of New York in 1834. Often
called a Yankee mechanical genius, (Hunt also invented the
safety pin) Hunt devised a machine that used a reciprocating
eye-pointed needle. It worked in combination with a shuttle
carrying a second needle, making an interlocked stitch
comparable to that of the modem machine. He abandoned the
project, however,convinced that his invention would throw
impoverished seamstresses out of work.


 None of these machines presented any real competition to hand-sewing,
though; that was accomplished by Elias Howe (1819-67) of
Massachusetts. In 1846 Howe patented a sewing machine with a grooved,
eye-pointed needle and shuttle. This lock stitch machine could sew
nothing but straight seams, which could not be longer than the basing
plate. Unsuccessful in marketing the device in America, Howe went to
England to adapt his machine for an English corset-maker. He returned
penniless to find that sewing machines were being sold by many
manufacturers, all infringing on some part of his 1846 patent. In 1856,
after favorable litigation, Howe entered into the world's first patent pool.
 In 1851, Issac M. Singer (1811-75) patented the first rigid-arm sewing
machine. Before this, all machines employed an overhanging arm that
held the needle directly and vibrated with it. Singer's machine also
included a table to support the cloth horizontally, instead of a feed bar; a
vertical presser foot to hold the cloth down against the upward stroke of
the needle, and an arm to hold the presser foot and the vertical needle-
holding bar in position over the table. A real breakthrough was his
invention of a foot treadle instead of a hand crank. Parts of Singer's new
machine were based on Howe's work. In fact,Singer was sued by Howe
for infringement of the latter's patent rights, but a compromise was
reached where Singer paid a royalty.
 In spite of this, Singer went on to found a company that became the
world's largest manufacturer of sewing machines by 1860. He was
awarded 20 additional patents, spent millions of dollars advertising his
machine, and initiated a system of providing service with sales. By the
1850s, Singer sewing machines were being sold in opulent showrooms;
although the $75 price was high for its time, Singer introduced the
installment plan to America and sold thousands of his machines in this
way.
 Other important inventions in the field included the rotary bobbin that
was incorporated (1850) into a machine patented by the American
inventor Allen Benjamin Wilson (1824- 88) and the intermittent four-
motion feed for advancing the material between stitches, which was part
of the same patent.
 Early contributors
Thomas Saint
 Not much is known about the life of Thomas Saint, the London cabinet maker who is usually
credited with patenting the first sewing machine in 1790. The patent was ponderously entitled,
"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." It was overlooked for 83 years because it was classed under wearing
apparel. Along with accounts of several processes for making various varnish compositions, the
patent contains descriptions of three separate machines; the second of these was for "stitching,
quilting, or sewing."
 Though far from practical, the machine incorporated several features common to a modem
sewing machine. It had a horizontal cloth plate or table, an overhanging arm carrying a straight
needle, and a continuous supply of thread from a spool. The motion was derived from the
rotation of a hand crank on a shaft, which activated cams that produced all the actions of the
machine. When the patent was found in 1873, an attempt was made to reconstruct Saint's sewing
machine, but it was necessary to modify the
 construction before it would stitch at all. This raised the
question whether Saint had built even one machine.
Nevertheless, the idea was there, and had the inventor followed
through the sewing machine might have been classed as an
18th-century rather than a 19th century contribution.
Barthelemy Thimonnier (1793-1857)
 Barthelemy Thimonnier (1793-1857)
 Barthelemy Thimonnier was a man of French descent whose father was a textile dyer of
Lyon. Barthelemy learned the tailoring trade after he was forced to leave school due to
financial pressures. Many of the villagers were weavers and he noticed what a short amount
of time was required to weave a fabric on a loom, compared to the painstaking work of
sewing a garment by hand. He wanted to invent a machine to do this work. His village also
produced a type of embroidery called point de chainette, in which a needle with a small
hook was used to form the chainstitch. It was Thimonnier's idea to use this type of hooked
needle and produce the stitch by machine.
 Ignoring his tailor shop to the point where his neighbors thought him crazy, Thimonnier
worked secretly on his invention for four years. In 1830 he received a patent on his
machine, which produced the chainstitch by means of a needle shaped like a small crochet
hook.
 By 1841 he was successful in having eighty machines in use sewing army clothing in Paris.
But the fears of the tailors could not be quieted and the machines were destroyed by an
infuriated mob. Thimonnier was forced to flee for his life, and he died penniless in England.
 Walter Hunt (1796-1860)
 Walter Hunt was born in New York and spent most of his adulthood as an
inventor. He was known for his generosity, frequently giving away what little
wealth he had when he did not have enough to provide for himself and his
family. Sometime between 1832 and 1834 he produced a sewing machine that
made a lockstitch. It represented the first occasion an inventor had not attempted
to reproduce a hand stitch. Future inventors were thus no longer hampered by
the erroneous idea that the sewing machine must imitate the human hand and
fingers.
 The lockstitch required two threads, one passing through a loop in the other and
both interlocking in the heart of the seam. Hunt did not consider his invention
any more promising than several of his other inventions, and he sold his interest
for a small sum. During the next 33 years, Hunt obtained 26 patents, for
inventions as diverse as a coach alarm, an ice boat, and a fountain pen.
 Elias Howe, Jr. (1819-1867)
 Elias Howe, Jr. was born in Massachusetts to an impoverished farm family that "leased" him to a
neighboring farmer when he was still a young boy. He received room and board for several years in
return for doing chores. At the age of sixteen, he left home for Boston and eventually worked as a
machinist, earning $9 a week. After he married, he quit work due to a chronic illness, and his wife took in
sewing to support the family. The sight of his wife toiling at her stitches, plus the ever-present threat of
poverty, convinced Howe of the need for a sewing machine. Watching his wife for hours at a time, he
tried to duplicate the motion of her arm. He completed his first model in 1845, set it up in a public hall,
and had a race with five seamstresses, finishing five seams before any of them had completed one.
However, he did not receive a single order.
 Howe traveled to England to try to sell his sewing machine there without success. Upon returning to
America, though, he found that sewing machines had become quite popular in his absence, and that most
of them utilized all or part of his patent He won several lawsuits, the first of which gave him $25 for
every competitor machine sold. In 1856, he formed a "Combination" with the companies of Singer,
Wheeler & Wilson, and Grover & Baker, whereby he received $5 for each machine sold in the United
States and $1 for each machine exported. He earned over $2 million dollars before the patent expired in
1867. People complained that the "Combination" slowed sewing machine improvements, but in the
period immediately following its cessation, only a few improvements were made, and most of them by
the member companies.
Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875)
 Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875)
 Isaac Singer, whose name is synonymous with sewing machines, was the eighth child of poor
German immigrants from New York. He started work as a mechanic and cabinetmaker at the age
of twelve but his first love was the theater. He became an actor without much financial success.
In 1839 he completed his first invention, a mechanical excavator, which he sold for $2000.
 Singer patented a type-casting machine for book printing and displayed it in a steam-powered
workshop run by Orson Phelps. Phelps was involved in designing sewing machines; however,
customers kept returning them because of faulty design. Singer examined the machines with the
eye of a practical machinist. Phelps's shuttle passed around a circle; Singer suggested that the
shuttle move to and fro in a straight path. Phelps' machine had a curved needle that moved
horizontally; Singer proposed a straight needle to be used vertically. Phelps encouraged Singer to
give up the type-casting machine and concentrate on the sewing machine.
 Singer made his fortune in the sewing machine business. He had an acute business mind and
initiated a number of merchandising practices of major importance, such as installment buying,
advertising campaigns, and the provision of service along with sales. He retired in 1863 to live in
Paris and England.
 Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machines
 The Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company was
started in 1857 as the answer to Singer's more
expensive machines. In 1855, James Gibbs, a 24-year
old farmer, first saw a woodcut illustration of a
sewing machine, and out of curiosity, he devised his
own machine. Two years later, while visiting a tailor
in Virginia, he noticed a Singer sewing machine,
which he thought was too heavy, complicated, and
exorbitantly priced. Recalling his own invention, he
teamed up with James Willcox whose family was
already involved in building models of new
inventions. Together, they manufactured chainstitch
sewing machines, which, on a simple iron-frame stand with treadle, sold for approximately $50.
Similar machines sold for $100. The Singer company then brought out their own light family
machine in 1858, but it also sold for $100. The Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company
prospered and even into the 1970s was producing commercial machines, many of which were
based on the original chainstitch principle.
How Sewing Machine Changed daily life
The Social Effects of the Sewing Machine
 The Social Effects of the Sewing Machine
 The introduction of the sewing machine into American life had both positive and
negative effects. A boon to the homemaker and seamstress, its use in industry
reflected both the advantages and the social problems brought about by the
Industrial Revolution.
 The development of the sewing machine for factory use in the 1850s
revolutionized the shoe and garment industries. Production moved from homes and
small shops into large, machine-controlled environments dominated by impersonal
managements. Production increased and prices fell, but workers suffered loss of
independence, lower wages, and sometimes harsh working conditions. Hundreds
more faced unemployment The situation became even worse when the addition of
electric motors to the machines led to sweat shops. The ensuing social upheaval
contributed to large-scale unrest, the organization of workers into unions, and
eventually to the establishment of government standards for the work place.
 In a quieter, more "lady-like" way sewing machines also revolutionized the
domestic scene. Although some ready-made clothing was available as early
as Roman times, until the late 19th century nearly all clothing was made in
the home. According to Godey's Lady's Book, it took about 14 hours to
make a man's dress shirt and at least 10 for a simple dress. A middle-class
housewife spent several days a month making and mending her family's
clothes even with the help of a hired seamstress. After the purchase of a
sewing machine--and suitable training and practice--those hours dropped to
1 1/4 for the shirt and one hour for the simple dress. The itinerant
dressmaker was forced to find another way to make her living. In fact, the
greater efficiency of the sewing machine made it possible for an
enterprising housewife to "take in sewing" for extra money just as working
class women took in washing.
 Women's advocates and ladies magazines welcomed the relief from the
hard labor and rejoiced in the hours freed for leisure and worthwhile
pursuits such as "refinement and exercize". But as often happens with
labor-saving inventions, ease of production brought demand for higher
quality results, again making the work harder.
 The sewing machine was only the first of many labor-saving devices for
the home; washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and vacuum cleaners all
made housekeeping easier and cut down the work time required. An
important side effect of all this "labor saving" has been the disappearance
of hired help and the consequent diminishing of the woman's role as
household manager. This gradual loss of status helped to undermine the
satisfaction many women formerly found in the homemaking role and
encouraged them to seek more demanding employment in other places.
Types of sewing machines
Embroidery machine
Electronic Sewing Machine
High Speed Sewing Machine
Mechanical Sewing Machine
Edger machine
Parts of Sewing Machine
 Functions of Sewing Machine

Parts:
1. Spool pin:
The main function of the spool pin is to hold the spool of thread.
 2. Bobbin binder spindle:
During winding, the bobbin is placed here.
 3. Bobbin winder stopper:
When the bobbin reaches its optimum capacity then the bobbin winder stopper stops the bobbin
winding.
 4. Stitch width dial:
The main object of the stitch width dial is to control the zigzag stitch.
 5. Pattern selector dial:
The pattern selector dial is to set the symbol of the desired stitch pattern.
 6. Handwheel:
The handwheel is used to raise and lower the need, which is situated on the right side of
the sewing machine.
 7. Stitch length dial:
Stitch length dial is used to control the length of the stitch.
 8. Reverse stitch lever:
The machine will sew in the reverse while the lever is pushed.
 9. Power switch:
Power switch means the off-on office of the sewing machine. Normally power
switch is located on the right side of the machine.
 10. Bobbin winder thread guide:
These types of thread guides are used during bobbin winding.
 11. Thread tension dial:
A thread tension dial is used to control the tension on the top thread.
 12. Thread take-up lever:
During sewing, the top thread passes through the thread take-up lever. Thread
take-up lever moves up and down with the needle.
 13. Needle clamp screw:
The needle clamp screw holds the needle in its actual place.
 14. Presser’s foot:
Presser’s foot holds the fabric in its definite place.
 15. Bobbin cover:
During sewing, the bobbin cover protects and covers the bobbin holder.
 16. Bobbin cover release button:
This type of button is used to release the cover for entrance to the bobbin.
 17. Feed dog:
During sewing, the feed dog pulls the fabric forward.
 18. Needle:
The needle is used to form a stitch in the garments.
 19. Needle plate:
A needle plate is a metal plate that is situated under the needle and presser foot. It
helps to move the fabric forward during sewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=eo9H9Rk79s4
References:

 http://garmenco.org/mg311/History%20of%20the%20Sewing%20Machine.pdf

 https://garmentsmerchandising.com/parts-of-sewing-machine-and-their-functions/
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo9H9Rk79s4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3kh2CDAccU