Sewing machine
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.
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.
[4] Saint's machine was designed to aid in the manufacturing of various leather goods, including saddles and bridles, but it was also capable of working with canvas, and was used for sewing 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.
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 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.
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.
[9] 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.
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.
The foot treadle used since the Middle Ages,[11] used to convert reciprocating to rotary motion, was adapted to drive the sewing machine, leaving both hands free.
Singer then took out a license under Howe's patent and paid him US$1.15 per machine before entering into a joint partnership with a lawyer named Edward Clark.
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.
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 magazines and household guides such as Mrs Beeton's offered dress patterns and instructions.
Overlock sewing machines are usually equipped with knives that trim or create the edge immediately in front of the stitch formation.
Coverstitch is so-called because the grid of crossing needle and looper threads covers raw seam edges, much as the overlock stitch does.
Besides these general categories, there are also uncommon feed mechanisms used in specific applications like edge joining fur, making seams on caps, and blind stitching.
Despite their additional cost and limitations, pulling feeds are very useful when making large heavy items like tents and vehicle covers.
[32] This reduced labor resulted in women having a diminished role in household management, and allowed more hours for their own leisure as well as the ability to seek more employment.
Despite the technological advancements, the industry’s seasonality left women with low wages during peak periods and no income for much of the year.
A challenge working-class women in the textile industry often faced was the notion that factory work could lead to moral decline, fueling fears of widespread prostitution.
This anxiety was reflected in literature of the time, with several novels depicting female characters who fell into prostitution after entering factory work.
[34] Adding to these discussions was the influence of William Acton, a Parisian-trained British doctor who argued that one of the primary causes of prostitution was women’s excessive love of finery, or clothing.
For instance, Lucy Bull, a matron from the Royal Albert Hospital, rejected Acton’s moralistic interpretation and instead attributed prostitution to the poverty many women faced.
Their work was frequently viewed negatively, symbolizing a broader fear of women’s growing participation in the workforce and its perceived moral risks.
Louise Tilly and Joan Scott (1987) note that nearly half of women workers in England held manufacturing jobs in 1851.
Mid-19th-century laws sought to regulate child labor and prioritize education, but these initiatives often conflicted with the realities faced by rural families.
[39] For working-class women, labor in the textile industry thus became both a necessity and a source of moral scrutiny, reflecting the tensions between societal ideals and economic imperatives.
When industrial sewing machines initially became popular many seamstresses, either working in factories or from home, lost their jobs as fewer workers could now produce the same output.
[31] In the long run these now unemployed skilled workers along with thousands of men and children would eventually be able to gain employment in jobs created as the clothing industry grew.
Other industries involved in the process benefited as well such as metal companies who provided parts for the machines, and shippers to move the increased amounts of goods.
