Sewing Machine History

Hand sewing is an art form that is over 20,000 years old. The first sewing needles were made of bones or animal horns and the first thread was made of animal sinew. Iron needles were invented in the 14 century. The first eyed needles appeared in the 15th century.

Invention: sewing machine Function: noun / sew·ing ma·chine Definition: An apparatus using a needle and thread to join or repair material. Primarily used in the making of clothing. Patent: 4,750 (US) issued September 10, 1846

Inventor: Elias Howe, known as Father of sewing M/c Criteria; First practical. Entrepreneur. Birth: July 10, 1819 in Spencer, Massachusetts Death: October 3, 1867 in Brooklyn, New York Nationality: American

Various Milestone and Inventions

In 1755

Charles T. Wiesenthal, designed and patented a double pointed needle 

In 1791

British inventor Thomas Saint was the first to patent a design for a sewing machine. His machine was meant to be used on leather and canvas. A working model was never built.

In 1814

an Austrian Tailor, Josef Madersperger, presented his first sewing machine, the development started in 1807

In 1826

On March 10, Henry Lye received a patent for a device for sewing leather

           

In1830

A French tailor, Barthélemy Thimonnier, patented a sewing machine that sewed straight seams using chain stitch. By 1841, Thimonnier had a factory of 80 machines sewing uniforms for the French Army. The factory was destroyed by rioting French tailors afraid of losing their livelihood. Thimonnier had no further success with his machine and died in the pain.

In 1833

Walter Hunt built America's first (somewhat) successful sewing machine. He later lost interest in patenting because he believed his invention would cause unemployment. (Hunt's machine could only sew straight steams.) Hunt never patented it But little later when he realized about the invention.

                     

He does reappear patenting an improved model of his earlier invention in 1854 (some 20 years after he first developed it) but it is all way too late by then. He also appeared in many court cases between several of the larger sewing machine characters all bluffing their way through court, but that’s a long way off.

But hunt is also known for his invention of safety pin.

In 1846

Elias Howe patented his machine in 1846; using a similar method to Hunt's, except the fabric was held vertically. Elias Howe for “a process that used thread from two different sources.” Elias Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point. The needle was pushed through the cloth and created a loop on the other side; a shuttle on a track then slipped the second thread through the loop, creating what is called the lockstitch. However, Elias Howe later encountered problems defending his patent and marketing his invention. For the next many years Elias Howe struggled, first to protect his patent from imitators (infringement). His lockstitch mechanism was adopted by others who were developing innovations of their own. He eventually won his case in 1854 and was awarded the right to claim royalties from the manufacturers using ideas covered by his patent.

In 1850,

Issac Merit Singer has become synonymous with the sewing machine. Trained as an engineer, he saw a rotary sewing machine being repaired in a Boston shop. He thought it to be clumsy and promptly set out to design a better one. His machine used a flying shuttle instead of a rotary one; the needle was mounted vertically and included a presser foot to hold the cloth in place. It had a fixed arm to hold the needle and included a basic tensioning system.

                                                                                                       This machine combined elements of Thimonnier's, Hunt's, and Howe's machines. He was granted an American patent in 1851 and it was suggested he patent the foot pedal (or treadle) used to power some of his machines; however, it had been in use for too long for a patent to be issued. When Howe learned of Singer’s machine he took him to court. Howe won and Singer was forced to pay a lump sum for all machines already produced. Singer then took out a license under Howe’s patent and paid him $1.15 per machine. Singer then entered a joint partnership with a lawyer named Edward Clark, and they formed the first hire-purchase (time payment) scheme to allow people to afford to buy their machines.

Meanwhile Mr. Allen Wilson had developed a reciprocating shuttle, which was an improvement over Singer’s and Howe’s. However, John Bradshaw had patented a similar device and was threatening to sue. Wilson decided to change tack and try a new method. He went into partnership with Nathaniel Wheeler to produce a

machine with a rotary hook instead of a shuttle. This was far quieter and smoother than the other methods

Through the 1850s more and more companies were being formed and were trying to sue each other.

In 1856 the Sewing Machine Combination was formed, consisting of Singer, Howe, Wheeler and Wilson, and Grover and Baker. These four companies pooled their patents, meaning that all the other manufacturers had to obtain a license and pay $15 per machine. This lasted until 1877 when the last patent expired.

Singer went on to developed the continuous stitch machine and he founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company, which became one of the world’s largest manufacturers of personal sewing machines. The first electric sewing machine, a Singer, for the home was introduced in 1889.

From the 1850’s, the handful of inventors turned into hundreds. It was as if the world was ready for the sewing machine. Singer went on to perfect the sewing machine and dominated world production for the next century

By 1926 the American patent office had over 150,000 different patent models.

(Sources: Personal Notes prepared for NIFT Students, from varioud web based data source and books during Faulty Development Programme.

References: 

Apparel Manufacturing Handbook, By Jacob Solinger

Fiber to fashion, Europa Letheminal