Elias Howe and the Sewing Machine
Elias Howe
Elias Howe was born on July 9th, 1819. In his early years, he lived in Massachusetts and helped out on his father’s farm .He was a skilled machinist; beginning in 1838, he was apprenticed in the shop of Ari Davis, a master mechanic in Cambridge who specialized in the manufacture and repair of chronometers and instruments of precision.While there, he learned the trade. Soon after, he was a master mechanic. Being a skilled machinist and mechanic contributed to what he did next. Around spring 1845, Elias Howe had invented the sewing machine. On September 10th, 1846 a patent for a sewing machine was granted to him. His machine was five times faster than other sewing machines and was the most significant project in his life time.
The Lockstitch Sewing Machine
Patent # 4,750: Elias Howe’s sewing machine. It featured a lockstitch design which included three significant parts. The first was needle with an eye point. Second, there was a shuttle operating beneath the cloth to form the lockstitch and last was an automatic feed. A lockstitch sewing machine binds cloth together with two spools of thread and a needle with the eye at its base .The lockstitch uses an upper and lower thread that intertwines together in the hole of the fabric which they pass through. The first spool sits on top of the machine. Its thread runs through a tension arm to feed it smoothly. Then it threads into a needle's eye, located at its base. The needle attaches to a foot that can press the fabric against a feed. The second thread, on another bobbin, is hidden in a compartment beneath the foot. This thread gets pulled on a shuttle to loop around the thread from above. The needle stitches up and down either by a manual foot treadle or a motor controlled by pedal.
The Impact of the Lockstitch Sewing Machine
Elias Howe’s sewing machine was very popular and many tried to create machines similar to his. It also helped increase the manufacturing of clothing and helped make more clothing
Elias Howe was born on July 9th, 1819. In his early years, he lived in Massachusetts and helped out on his father’s farm .He was a skilled machinist; beginning in 1838, he was apprenticed in the shop of Ari Davis, a master mechanic in Cambridge who specialized in the manufacture and repair of chronometers and instruments of precision.While there, he learned the trade. Soon after, he was a master mechanic. Being a skilled machinist and mechanic contributed to what he did next. Around spring 1845, Elias Howe had invented the sewing machine. On September 10th, 1846 a patent for a sewing machine was granted to him. His machine was five times faster than other sewing machines and was the most significant project in his life time.
The Lockstitch Sewing Machine
Patent # 4,750: Elias Howe’s sewing machine. It featured a lockstitch design which included three significant parts. The first was needle with an eye point. Second, there was a shuttle operating beneath the cloth to form the lockstitch and last was an automatic feed. A lockstitch sewing machine binds cloth together with two spools of thread and a needle with the eye at its base .The lockstitch uses an upper and lower thread that intertwines together in the hole of the fabric which they pass through. The first spool sits on top of the machine. Its thread runs through a tension arm to feed it smoothly. Then it threads into a needle's eye, located at its base. The needle attaches to a foot that can press the fabric against a feed. The second thread, on another bobbin, is hidden in a compartment beneath the foot. This thread gets pulled on a shuttle to loop around the thread from above. The needle stitches up and down either by a manual foot treadle or a motor controlled by pedal.
The Impact of the Lockstitch Sewing Machine
Elias Howe’s sewing machine was very popular and many tried to create machines similar to his. It also helped increase the manufacturing of clothing and helped make more clothing