The History of Antique Sewing Machines
Hand sewing was used to connect fabric together prior to the invention of the sewing machine. It took many failures until the first functional sewing machine was created. The looping process to hold the thread into place created a problem. The first models of the sewing machine failed because they were trying to duplicate the stitch made by hand.
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Early Inventions
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Charles Fredrick Wiesenthal, a German native, constructed the first mechanical sewing device in 1755. He used a double pointed needle and two automated hands. Each hand would insert the needle into the fabric while the other pulled the needle through. The problem with this device was the thread had to be kept very short as the mechanical hands were limited to how far they could pull the thread through the fabric.
Thomas Saint patented a sewing machine design in 1790. The general design was built by Newton Wilson with many modifications. The system did not work correctly but the overhead arm and the tension system have been modified and are still used today.
1830 - Chain Stitch
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Barthelemy Thimonnier was awarded a patent in 1830 for a sewing machine that did not try and duplicate hand sewing. His sewing machine used the chain stitch method. He created a machine with a horizontal arm and a vertical reciprocating bar. The needle was placed on the end of the horizontal bar. The cloth laid on a hollow fixed arm that had a hole for the needle to be inserted. A hook inside the the hollow arm grabbed the thread from a bobbin and hooked it around the thread from the needle. The needle then took the loop to the other side of the fabric and secured the stitching. The sewing machine used a foot pedal to move the sewing machine mechanism.
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1834 & 1946 - Lock Stitch
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The lock stitch sewing machine was invented by Walter Hunt in 1834 but he did not patent the idea. Hunt's lock stitch used two separate threads that interlocked two layers of fabric together. The fabric was held horizontally while the stitching was completed. The lock stitch sewing machine had a needle that carried the upper thread and a shuttle that carried the lower. The needle was inserted into the fabric and the shuttle carried the bottom thread through the loop.
Elias Howe used Hunt's idea turned the sewing machine so the fabric laid on a vertical plane during 1844 and patented the idea. Howe went to Europe to sell his idea but got nowhere. He returned to the United States several years later and found several other companies using his idea. He sued for patent rights and received royalties off the sales. The same basic design continued to be used well into the 20th century.
Singer
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Isaac Merritt Singer is very well known for the Singer sewing machine. He was a trained engineer who saw a rotary shuttle sewing machine and decided to make a better one. He redesigned the sewing machine to have a flying shuttle, a mounted needle, a presser foot, fixed arm and tension system. He patented his idea in 1851.
Howe sewed Singer for infringing on his sewing machine idea. Singer lost the case and paid Howe a lump sum along with $15 per Singer sewing machine he sold until the patten expired. Singer then went into partnership with Edward Clark and they provided affordable sewing machines for everyone to buy.
To Modern Times
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The reciprocating shuttle and buttonhole maker were added to the sewing machine's function during the late 1800s. James Edward Allen Gibbs partnered with James Wilcox after his invention of the first single threaded chain stitch sewing machine. Their partnership manufactured and sold the types of sewing machines we are familiar with today. Their commercial sewing machine design is still being used today.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit sewing machine image by styf from Fotolia.com
