Sewing machine

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Using a modern sewing machine.

Most sewing in the industrial world is done by machines known as sewing

machines. Equipped with a complex set of gears and arms, each machine
pierces thread through layers of cloth and interlocks the thread. The
machine can be electrically or mechanically operated, but electric
machines are far more common.
The sewing machine produces results similar to hand sewing but at a
much faster pace. It is used primarily to produce clothing and household
furnishings such as curtains, bedclothes, upholstery, and table linens. It
may also be used to stitch other flexible materials, such as canvas and
leather.
The invention and manufacture of the sewing machine has played an
important role in theindustrial revolution. On the one hand, it has saved
countless hours of work and has greatly enhanced the quality of human
life. On the other hand, sewing machines are also part of the history of
exploitation of human labor, as people were forced to work at them for
long hours at low wages.

Needle plate, foot and transporter of a sewing machine

Singer sewing machine (detail 1)

Singer sewing machine (detail 2)

Contents
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1 Sewing as an ancient art

2 Chain stitching
3 Lock stitch
4 Overlock stitching
o
4.1 How it works
5 Modern sewing machines
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
9 Credits

Sewing as an ancient art

Sewing is an ancient art involving the stitching of cloth, leather, furs, or
other materials, using needle and thread. Its use is nearly universal
among human populations and dates back to Paleolithic times
(30,000 B.C.E.). Sewing predates the weaving of cloth.

Chain stitching
Before the invention of a usable machine for sewing or dress design,
everything was sewn by hand. Most early attempts tried to replicate this
hand sewing method and were generally a failure. Some looked to
embroidery where the needle was used to produce decorative, not joining
stitches. This needle was altered to create a fine steel hookcalled
an agulha in Portugal and aguja in Spain. This was called
a crochet inFrance and could be used to create a form of chain stitch. This
was possible because when the needle was pushed partly through fabric
and withdrawn, it left a loop of thread. The following stitch would pass
through this first loop whilst creating a loop of its own for the next stitch,
this resembled a chainhence the name.
The first known attempt at a mechanical device for sewing was by the
German-born Charles Weisenthal, who was working in England. He was
awarded British Patent No. 701 in 1755 for a double pointed needle with
an eye at one end. This needle was designed to be passed through the
cloth by a pair of mechanical fingers and grasped on the other side by a
second pair. This method of recreating the hand sewing method suffered
from the problem of the needle going right through the fabric, meaning
the full length of the thread had to do so as well. The mechanical
limitations meant that the thread had to be kept short, needing frequent
stops to renew the supply.
In 1790 British Patent No. 1764 was awarded to Thomas Saint, a
cabinetmaker of London. Due to several other patents dealing with leather
and products to treat leather, the patent was filed under "Glues &
Varnishes" and was not discovered until 1873 by Newton Wilson. Wilson
built a replica to the patent's specifications and it had to be heavily
modified before the machine would stitchsuggesting that Saint never
actually made a machine of his own. Saint's design had the overhead arm

for the needle and a form of tensioning system, which was to become a
common feature of later machines.
There were various attempts and patents awarded for chain stitch
machines of varying types from 1795-1830, none of which were used to
any degree of successmany of which didn't work correctly at all. A
French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier made the next major breakthrough.
He did not try to replicate the human hand stitch, looking instead for a
way of finding a stitch that could be made quickly and easily by machine.
His machine worked by using a horizontal arm mounted on a vertical
reciprocating bar, the needle-bar projected from the end of the horizontal
arm.
The cloth was supported on a hollow, horizontal fixed arm, with a hole on
the topside, which the needle projected through at the lowest part of its
stroke. Inside the arm was a hook, which partly rotated at each stroke in
order to wrap the thread (fed from the bobbin onto the hook) around the
needle at each stroke. The needle then carried the thread back through
the cloth with the upward motion of its stroke. This formed the chain
stitch, which held the cloth together.
The machine was powered by means of a foot pedal. The easiest way to
describe this is to picture the machine working upside-down from how
sewing machines are generally thought of todaythe stitch was formed
on the top of the cloth, not the bottom as with most other chain stitch
machines made since. Thimonnier was awarded a French patent in 1830
and 80 of these machines were installed in a factory in Paris to stitch
soldiers' clothing. Other tailors concerned for their livelihood invaded the
factory and smashed the machines.

Lock stitch
Chain stitch has one major drawbackit is very weak and the stitch can
easily be pulled apart. A stitch more suited to machine production was
needed, it was found in the lock stitch. A lock stitch is created by two
separate threads interlocking through the two layers of fabric, resulting in
a stitch that looks the same from both sides of the fabric. Although the
credit for the lock stitch machine is generally given to Elias Howe, Walter
Hunt developed it first over ten years before, in 1834. His machine used
an eye-pointed needle (with the eye and the point on the same end)
carrying the upper thread, and a 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 let the machine downrequiring the machine to be stopped
frequently to set up again. Hunt grew bored with his machine and sold it
without bothering to patent it.
Elias Howe patented his machine in 1846; using a similar method to
Hunt's, except the fabric was held vertically. The major improvement he
made was to put a groove in the needle running away from the point,
starting from the eye. After a lengthy stint in England trying to attract
interest in his machine he returned to America to find various people

infringing his patent. He eventually won his case in 1854 and was
awarded the right to claim royalties from the manufacturers using ideas
covered by his patent. Isaac Merritt 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 Thimonniers, Hunt's, and Howes
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 Singers 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 Howes patent and
paid him $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 Allen Wilson had developed a reciprocating shuttle, which was
an improvement over Singers and Howes. However, John Bradshaw had
patented a similar device and was threatening to sue. Wilson decided to
change track 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, and
the Wheeler and Wilson Company produced more machines in 1850s and
1860s than any other manufacturer. Wilson also invented the four-motion
feed mechanism; this is still seen on every machine today. This had a
forward, down, back, and up motion, which drew the cloth through in an
even and smooth motion.
Through the 1850s more and more companies were being formed and
were trying to sue each other. Charles Miller patented the first machine to
stitch buttonholes (US10609). 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.

Overlock stitching

A merrow A-Class machine (2007)

A merrow 70-Class machine (2007)

In 1822 J. Makens Merrow purchased a powder mill in Mansfield,

Connecticut for the manufacture ofgunpowder. The mill was destroyed
shortly thereafter by a gunpowder explosion. J.M. Merrow then founded
one of the first knitting mills in the United States in partnership with his
son, Joseph B. Merrow, under the name J. M. Merrow and Son. This knitting
mill was located on the site of the old gunpowder mill in
Mansfield, Connecticut.
In the 1840s a machine shop was established at the Merrow mill to
develop specialized machinery for the knitting operations. And in 1877 the
worlds first crochet machine was invented and patented by Joseph M.
Merrow, then-president of the company. The 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 continues to be a global presence in the twenty
first century as the last American Overlock Sewing Machine manufacturer.
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 Wilcox, Gibbs
became a principal in Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Wilcox &
Gibbs commercial sewing machines are still used in the twenty-first
century.
In 1905 Merrow won a lawsuit against Wilcox & Gibbs for the rights to the
original crochet stitch.

Sewing machines continued being made to roughly the same design, with
more lavish decoration appearing until well into the 1900s when the first
electric machines started to appear. At first these were standard machines
with a motor strapped on the side. As more homes gained power, these
became more popular and the motor was gradually introduced into the
casing.

How it works
An overlock stitch sews over the edge of one or two pieces of cloth for
edging, hemming or seaming. Usually an overlock sewing machine will cut
the edges of the cloth as they are fed through. Such machines are called
"sergers." Some overlock sewing machines are made without cutters. The
inclusion of automated cutters allows overlock machines to create finished
seams easily and quickly.
An overlock sewing machine differs from a lockstitch sewing machine in
that it utilizes loopers fed by multiple thread cones rather than a bobbin.
Loopers serve to create thread loops that pass from the needle thread to
the edges of the fabric so that the edges of the fabric are contained within
the seam.
Overlock sewing machines usually run at high speeds, from 1000 to 9000
revolutions per minute (rpm), and most are used in industrial setting for
edging, hemming and seaming a variety of fabrics and products. Overlock
stitches are extremely versatile, as they can be used for decoration,
reinforcement, or construction.
Overlocking is also referred to as overedging, merrowing or serging.
Though serging technically refers to overlocking with cutters, in practice
the four terms are used interchangeably.

Modern sewing machines

The usage of sewing machines has grown over the years and has
outpaced sewing by hand. Modern machines may be computer controlled
and use stepper motors or sequential cams to achieve very complex
patterns. Most of these are now made in Asia and the market is becoming
more specialized, as fewer families own a sewing machine