| The first ever patent of a sewing machine was in 1790 by Thomas Saint. It used a chain stitch that is popular in embroidery. In 1829, another inventor, Barthelemy Thimmoniér, had perfected the chain stitch machine. By 1841 he had his first patent and 80 machines sewing army clothes in a Paris factory. He was later ruined when a mob of angry tailors fearing their livelihood broke into the factory and destroyed all the machines. Thimmoniér later died penniless. While the chain stitch machine worked fairly well, the stitches came apart easily and were sloppy. The precursor to today's machines was invented in 1834 by Walter Hunt. This machine used a lock-stitch and required the use of two threads. Unfortunately, Hunt did not patent his and later abandoned the project.
The first practical sewing machine was patented in 1846 by Elias Howe. Previously, patents had been granted for industrial machines in England, Austria, the U.S., and France. With a grooved, eye-pointed needle and shuttle, this lock stitch machine could sew nothing but straight seams, which could not be longer than the basing plate.
In 1850 the rotary bobbin and the four motion feed was patented by the American inventor Allen Benjamin Wilson, and in 1851, Isaac Merritt Singer introduced the first rigid arm sewing machine. This machine was unique in that had a table to support the fabric instead of using a feed bar and a vertical needle-holding bar. Singer was also responsible for inventing the foot treadle, which replaced the hand crank. His patent (US 10, 975) was issued May 30, 1854.
During the same time period Allen Wilson had developed a reciprocating shuttle, which was an improvement over previous designs. Due to conflicts with other inventors, Wilson eventually partnered with Nathaniel Wheeler to John Bradshaw to produce a machine with a rotary hook instead of a shuttle.
In 1856 the Sewing Machine Combination was formed, consisting of Singer, Howe, Wheeler and Wilson, and Grover and Baker. These companies pooled their patents, and the arrangement lasted until 1877 when the last patent expired.
Singer went on to develop the continuous stitch machine and he founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Singer introduced the first electric sewing machine in 1889.
By 1905, Americans all over the country were beginning to sew with electrically powered machines. Early home sewing machines were expensive, costing about $125 when the average income was about $500 per year. Since most people could not afford the cost, communities pooled their resources to purchase a machine for shared use.
Throughout the 1900s modifications were made to sewing machines, including methods of controlling the motion (foot pedal, knee press), introduction of new stitches (ie: zig-zag), various attachments and accessories, and improvements to cabinets.
Today, sewing machines use computer technology to create buttonholes, embroidery, overcast seams, blind stitching, and an array of decorative stitches.
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