Each June 13th, National Sewing Machine Day honors an invention that’s kept us in stitches for over 150 years. Before the sewing machine, tailors and sewists created clothing by hand, stitch by single stitch. The invention of the sewing machine brought about revolutionary change. Not only did it boost an entire industry, but it changed the way we viewed the garments we wore. However, the development of the sewing machine took time.
- 1755 – Charles Wiesenthal invents a double-pointed needle for hand sewing.
- 1790 – Skilled cabinet-maker and English inventor, Thomas Saint, received the first patent for a design of a sewing machine in 1790. His design was intended for leather and canvas. However, he never advertised it and no evidence of the design, other than his drawings, could be found.
- 1826 – Henry Lye patents a machine that stitches together the ends of leather belting for machines.
- 1830 – In France, Bartheleemy Thimmonier patented his first machine in 1830. This machine-stitched fabric together with a curved needle and helped produce uniforms for the French army with a factory filled with machines.
- 1832 – Walter Hunt invented the first American lockstitch sewing machine in 1832. But failed to patent it.
- 1834 – Walter Hunt patents a crude, unworkable sewing machine that employs two strands of thread, one carried by a needle with an eye in the pointed end, the other driven by a shuttle.
- 1842 – John Greenough patented the first sewing machine in the United States in 1842.
- 1846 – Elias Howe is credited as the inventor of the sewing machine in America, thanks to his 1846 patent.
- 1849 – Benjamin Wilson invents an automatic feeding system.
- 1851 – Isaac Singer patents and begins manufacturing the first sewing machine for home use.
- 1854 – Allen Wilson invents an improved reciprocating shuttle.
- 1855 – Allen Wilson and Nathaniel Wheeler begin manufacturing sewing machines with rotary hooks rather than shuttles.
- 1856 – Following the loss of the patent infringement lawsuit to Howe, Singer joined Howe, Wilson & Wheeler, and Grover & Baker to monopolize sewing machine production for the 1860s and 1870s.
- 1860 – Singer’s company had become the largest producer of sewing machines in the world.
- 1860s – women started forming sewing societies and other social get-togethers where they could make quilts and other items together, to sell for charity.
- These early societies mostly relied on hand-stitching as sewing machines weren’t available on the mass market, as more people started getting their domestic machines in the early 20th century, these social and charitable efforts continued to grow.
- 1874 – William Newton Wilson found Saint’s drawings in the London Patent Office. With some minor adjustments, Wilson built a working model. The London Science Museum currently owns Wilson’s model.
- 1889 – Singer Company introduces the first practical electric sewing machine.
- 1893 – Zippers were invented in 1893.
- 20th Century – more than 4000 different types of sewing machines had been invented. Most of these slowly got lost in time as they were riddled with many problems. Only the machines that made sewing simple, fun and easy survived.
- 1900 – Singer Company claims 80% of global sewing machine Sales.
- 1900s – In the early 1900s until these machines became more popular in homes rather than simply being a tool for industry and mainly only seen in factories. In the 20th century, these machines became so popular that almost every home had one, or at least everyone knew someone with one.
- 1941 – displeased at their loss of earnings, a group of tailors rioted and destroyed the machines, attacking Thimmonier in the process.
- 1946 – Toyota builds its first sewing machine.
- Industrial use of the sewing machine reduced the burden placed upon housewives, moving clothing production from them and seamstresses to large-scale factories. This also resulted in a decrease in production time which caused the price of clothing to drop considerably.
- Archaeologists believe that people used to sew together fur, hide, skin, and bark for clothing as far back as 25,000 years ago.
- Early sewing thread consisted of thin strips of animal hide that were used to stitch together larger pieces of hide and fur.
- Women’s buttons are sewn onto the left side of the garment. The reason for this is that buttons were very expensive and only wealthy women with domestic help could afford them. So to make it easier for the help to button up they were on the ‘wrong’ side.
- “The whole nine yards,” a common phrase, came from the amount of fabric needed to make the fanciest coat for a man of fashion.
- Buttons on sleeves were Napoleon Bonaparte’s idea. First seen during the time he ruled, buttons on sleeves are now taken for granted. Rumour has it that Napoleon did not want his soldiers to wipe their noses on their sleeves so he told his uniform makers to sew buttons on the ends.
- The Mill Museum has a timeline that showcases the journey of the sewing machine. Check out the events below to see a snapshot of sewing’s history from 1755 to 1900.
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