Editing Sewing machine (section)

== History ==

=== Invention ===

[[Charles Fredrick Wiesenthal]], a German-born engineer working in England, was awarded the first British patent for a mechanical device to aid the art of sewing, in 1755. His invention consisted of a double pointed needle with an eye at one end.<ref name="sewing">{{Cite web |url=http://indecohotels.com/sewingmachinebeginning.html |title=Sewing Machine Beginning |access-date=2012-12-17 |work=Sewing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220075439/http://indecohotels.com/sewingmachinebeginning.html |archive-date=2014-12-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Thomas Saint first sewing machine 1790.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|The first sewing machine, invented by Thomas Saint, London, 1790.]]

In 1790, the English inventor Thomas Saint invented the first sewing machine design.<ref name="The Servant in the House: A Brief History of the Sewing Machine">{{cite journal |last1=Lewton |first1=Frederick Lewis |title=The Servant in the House: A Brief History of the Sewing Machine |journal=The Smithsonian Report for 1929 |date=1930 |volume=3056 |pages=559–583 |url=https://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/hst/lewton/intro.htm |access-date=14 January 2022}}</ref> His machine was meant to be used on [[leather]] and [[canvas]] material. It is likely that Saint had a working model, but there is no surviving evidence of one. He was a skilled [[cabinet maker]] and his device included many practical and functional features: an overhanging arm; a feed mechanism (adequate for short lengths of leather); a vertical needle bar; and a looper. Saint created the machine to reduce the amount of hand-stitching on garments, making sewing more reliable and functional.{{citation needed| date = May 2025}}

His sewing machine used the [[chain stitch]] method, in which the machine uses a single thread to make simple stitches in the fabric. A [[stitching awl]] would have pierced the material, and a forked-point rod would have carried the thread through the hole, where it would have been hooked underneath and moved to the next stitching place, after which the cycle would be repeated, thereby locking the stitch in place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.husqvarnastudio.co.uk/history.htm|title=Sewing Machine History|access-date=2013-12-17|archive-date=2012-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014195146/http://husqvarnastudio.co.uk/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Saint's machine was designed to aid in the manufacturing of various leather goods, including [[saddle]]s and [[bridle]]s, but it was also capable of working with canvas, and was used for sewing [[sail|ship sails]]. Although his machine was very advanced for the era, the concept would need steady improvement over the coming decades before it was practical enough to enter into wide use. In 1874, a sewing machine manufacturer, William Newton Wilson, found Saint's drawings in the [[Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom)|UK Patent Office]], made adjustments to the looper, and built a working machine, currently owned by the [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum in London]].{{citation needed| date = May 2025}}

In 1804, a sewing machine was built by two Englishmen, Thomas Stone and James Henderson, and a machine for embroidering was constructed by John Duncan in Scotland.<ref>{{cite web | last=Owuor | first=Sophy | title=Who Invented the Sewing Machine? | website=WorldAtlas | date=November 21, 2019 | url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/who-invented-the-sewing-machine.html | access-date=March 27, 2021}}</ref> An Austrian tailor, [[Josef Madersperger]], began developing his first sewing machine in 1807 and presented his first working machine publicly in 1814. Having received financial support from his government, the Austrian tailor worked on the development of his machine until 1839, when he built a machine imitating the weaving process using the chain stitch.{{citation needed| date = May 2025}}

The first practical and widely used sewing machine was invented by [[Barthélemy Thimonnier]], a French tailor, in 1829. His machine sewed straight seams using a chain stitch like Saint's model had, and in 1830, he signed a contract with Auguste Ferrand, a [[mining engineer]], who made the requisite drawings and submitted a patent application. The [[patent]] for his machine was issued on 17 July 1830, and in the same year, he and his partners opened the first machine-based clothing manufacturing company in the world to create army uniforms for the [[French Army]]. However, the [[factory]] was burned down, reportedly by workers fearful of losing their livelihood, following the issuing of the patent.<ref name="Thimonnier">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/536932/sewing-machine "Sewing machine"]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Accessed 31 December 2011.</ref> A model of the machine is exhibited in London at the [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]]. The machine is made of wood and uses a barbed needle which passes downward through the cloth to grab the thread and pull it up to form a loop to be locked by the next loop.{{citation needed| date = May 2025}}

{{ multiple image
| image1   = Elias Howe sewing machine.png
| caption1 = [[Elias Howe]]'s lockstitch machine, invented in 1845
| image2   = W&w8d.jpg
| caption2 = An 1880 hand-cranked machine from the Wheeler and Wilson Company
| image3   = Máquina de Costura- lado a- Museu da Capitania de Ilhéus.jpg
| caption3 = Sewing Machine from the Everyday Collection of the Museu da Capitania de Ilhéus
| image4   = Jonescs.jpg
| caption4 = Jones Family CS machine from around 1935
}}

The first American [[lockstitch]] sewing machine was invented by [[Walter Hunt (inventor)|Walter Hunt]] in 1832.<ref>[http://www.ismacs.net/sewing_machine_history.html A Brief History of the Sewing Machine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> His machine used a needle with the eye and the point on the same end carrying the upper thread, and a falling shuttle carrying the lower thread. The curved needle moved through the fabric horizontally, leaving the loop as it withdrew. The shuttle passed through the loop, interlocking the thread. The feed was unreliable, requiring the machine to be stopped frequently and reset up. Hunt eventually lost interest in his machine and sold individual machines without bothering to patent his invention, and only patenting it at a late date of 1854. In 1842, John Greenough patented the first sewing machine in the United States. The British partners Newton and Archibold introduced the eye-pointed needle and the use of two pressing surfaces to keep the pieces of fabric in position, in 1841.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ismacs.net/howe/case_against_elias_howe.html |title=Case Against Howe|access-date=2013-12-17|author=Forsdyke, Graham}}</ref>

The first machine to combine all the disparate elements of the previous half-century of innovation into the modern sewing machine was the device built by English inventor John Fisher in 1844, a little earlier than the very similar machines built by [[Isaac Merritt Singer]] in 1851, and the lesser known [[Elias Howe]], in 1845. However, due to the botched filing of Fisher's patent at the Patent Office, he did not receive due recognition for the modern sewing machine in the legal disputations of priority with Singer, and Singer reaped the benefits of the patent.{{citation needed| date = May 2025}}{{tone inline|date=May 2025}}

=== Industrial competition ===
{{ multiple image|total_width=360
| image1   = Annual report of the American Institute, of the City of New York (1863) (18247412249).jpg
| caption1 = Elliptic sewing machine with elliptic hook and stationary bobbin, American Institute Fair, 1862
| image2   = Thinktank Birmingham - object 1962S01617(1).jpg
| caption2 = Singer treadle machine
| image3   = Husqvarna 3600 C226.jpg
| caption3 = The [[bobbin driver]] of a [[VSM Group AB|Husqvarna]] 3600 sewing machine
}}

Elias Howe, born in Spencer, Massachusetts, created his sewing machine in 1845, using a similar method to Fisher's except that the fabric was held vertically. An important improvement on his machine was to have the needle running away from the point, starting from the eye.<ref>Elias Howe Jr., Sewing Machine, United States Patent Office, US Patent 4,750, issued 10 September 1846, expired 1867.</ref> After a lengthy stay in England trying to attract interest in his machine, he returned to America to find various people infringing his patent, among them Isaac Merritt Singer.<ref>e.g. [[Bill Bryson]]: ''Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the United States'', Black Swan, 1998, {{ISBN|0-552-99805-2}}, p. 110.</ref> He eventually won a case for patent infringement in 1854 and was awarded the right to claim royalties from the manufacturers using ideas covered by his patent, including Singer.

Singer had seen a rotary sewing machine being repaired in a Boston shop. As an engineer, he thought it was clumsy and decided to design a better one. The machine he devised used a falling 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 tension system. This machine combined elements of Thimonnier, Hunt and Howe's machines. Singer was granted an American patent in 1851. The foot [[treadle]] used since the Middle Ages,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/05/history-of-pedal-powered-machines.html |title=The short history of early pedal powered machines|website=Low–TechMagazine.com |date=25 March 2011|author=Kris De Decker |access-date= 16 January 2020}}</ref> used to convert reciprocating to rotary motion, was adapted to drive the sewing machine, leaving both hands free.

When Howe learned of Singer's machine he took him to court, where 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 [[US$]]1.15 per machine before entering into a [[Joint venture|joint partnership]] with a lawyer named Edward Clark. They created the first [[hire-purchase]] arrangement to allow people to purchase their machines through payments over time.

Meanwhile, [[Allen B. Wilson]] developed a shuttle that [[Reciprocating motion|reciprocated]] in a short arc, which was an improvement over Singer and Howe's. However, John Bradshaw had patented a similar device and threatened to sue, so Wilson decided to 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 other methods, with the result that the [[Wheeler & Wilson]] Company produced more machines in the 1850s and 1860s than any other manufacturer. Wilson also invented the four-motion feed mechanism that is still used on every sewing machine today. This had a forward, down, back and up motion, which drew the cloth through in an even and smooth motion. Charles Miller patented the first machine to stitch [[buttonhole]]s.<ref>{{US Patent|10609}}</ref> Throughout the 1850s more and more companies were being formed, each trying to sue the others for patent infringement.  This triggered a [[patent thicket]] known as the Sewing Machine War.<ref>Adam Mossoff, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=1354849 "A Stitch in Time: The Rise and Fall of the Sewing Machine Patent Thicket"]; summarized and discussed at [http://volokh.com/posts/chain_1240849478.shtml Sewing Machine Blogging], The Volokh Conspiracy.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Seworbit.com |url=https://www.seworbit.com}}</ref>

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

[[James Edward Allen Gibbs]] (1829–1902), a farmer from Raphine in Rockbridge County, Virginia, patented the first [[chain stitch]] single-thread sewing machine on June 2, 1857. In partnership with James Willcox, Gibbs became a principal partner in Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Willcox & Gibbs commercial sewing machines are still used in the 21st century, with spares parts available.

=== Market expansion ===
[[file:Thomas Saint's chain stitch.gif|thumb|Thomas Saint's chain stitch used on the first ever complete sewing machine design for leather work. An awl preceded the eye pointed needle to make a hole in preparation for the thread]]

William Jones started making sewing machines in 1859 and in 1860 formed a partnership with Thomas Chadwick. As [[Jones Sewing Machine Company|Chadwick & Jones]], they manufactured sewing machines at [[Ashton-under-Lyne]], England until 1863. Their machines used designs from Howe and Wilson produced under licence.<ref>Veteran Sewing Machines by E Brian Jewel pp. 99</ref> Thomas Chadwick later joined Bradbury & Co. William Jones opened a factory in [[Guide Bridge]], Manchester in 1869.<ref>Sewing Machines by K. R. Gilbert (1970) published for the London Science Museum pp. 12</ref> In 1893 a Jones advertising sheet claimed that this factory was the "Largest Factory in England Exclusively Making First Class Sewing Machines".<ref>Sewalot at: http://www.sewalot.com/jones_sewing_machines.htm</ref> The firm was renamed as the Jones Sewing Machine Co. Ltd and was later acquired by [[Brother Industries]] of Japan, in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brother.co.uk/g3.cfm/s_page/204540 |title=Brother UK Ltd. |access-date=2013-01-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419073315/http://www.brother.co.uk/g3.cfm/s_page/204540 |archive-date=2012-04-19 }}</ref>

Clothing manufacturers were the first sewing machine customers, and used them to produce the first [[ready-to-wear]] clothing and shoes. In the 1860s consumers began purchasing them, and the machines—ranging in price from £6 to £15 in Britain depending on features—became very common in middle-class homes. Owners were much more likely to spend free time with their machines to make and mend clothing for their families than to visit friends, and [[women's magazine]]s and household guides such as ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|Mrs Beeton's]]'' offered [[dress pattern]]s and instructions. A sewing machine could produce a man's shirt in about one hour, compared to {{frac|14|1|2}} hours by hand.<ref name="draznin2001">{{cite book | title=Victorian London's Middle-Class Housewife: What She Did All Day (#179) | publisher=Greenwood Press | author=Draznin, Yaffa Claire | year=2001 | series=Contributions in Women's Studies | location=Westport, Connecticut | pages=66–68 | isbn=0-313-31399-7}}</ref>

In 1877, the world's first [[crochet]] machine was invented and patented by [[Joseph M. Merrow]], then-president of what had started in the 1840s, as a machine shop to develop specialized machinery for the knitting operations. This crochet machine was the first production [[overlock]] sewing machine. The [[Merrow Machine Company]] went on to become one of the largest American manufacturers of overlock sewing machines and remains in the 21st century as the last American over-lock sewing machine manufacturer.

In 1885 Singer patented the [[Singer Vibrating Shuttle]] sewing machine, which used Allen B. Wilson's idea for a vibrating shuttle and was a better lockstitcher than the oscillating shuttles of the time. Millions of the machines, perhaps the world's first really practical sewing machine for domestic use, were produced until finally superseded by rotary shuttle machines in the 20th century. Sewing machines continued being made to roughly the same design—with more lavish decoration—until well into the 1900s.

The first electric machines were developed by [[Singer Corporation|Singer Sewing Co.]] and introduced in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm |title= Invention of the Sewing Machine<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2010-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124023531/http://ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm |archive-date=2010-11-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the end of the [[First World War]], Singer was offering hand, treadle and electric machines for sale. At first, the electric machines were standard machines with a motor strapped on the side, but as more homes gained power, they became more popular, and the motor was gradually introduced into the casing.

=== Introduction of electronic machines ===
Sewing machines were strictly mechanical, using gears, shafts, levers, and so on, until the 1970s when electronic machines were introduced to the market. Electronic sewing machines incorporate components such as circuit boards, computer chips, and additional motors for independent control of machine functions. These electronic components enabled new features such as automating thread cutters, needle positioning, and back-tacking, as well as digitized stitch patterns and stitch combinations. Because of the lifespan and increased complexity of the electronic parts, electronic sewing machines do not last as long as mechanical sewing machines, which can last over 100 years.<ref>{{cite book | last=Blodget | first=Clifford | title=The sewing machine master guide: from basic to expert | publisher=Blodget Publishing | publication-place=Missouri City, TX | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-9900227-2-5 | oclc=882118537 | pages=14–15}}</ref>