Sewing Machine
History of the Sewing Machine
Before the sewing machine appeared, making clothes was the main occupation of half of the human race. For over 20,000 years, countless hours were spent on making garments and other textiles to fulfill daily needs. The first sewing needles were made of bones and animal horns and the first thread was made of animal sinew (inventors.about.com, 4/16/06). The sewing machine, however, was a remarkable invention that was beneficial to all populations. More critical use of time could be used from the invention of the sewing machine. As early as 1755, the history of the sewing machine derives. From there the rest is history. In 1755, Charles Weisenthal he took out a patent for a needle to be used for mechanical sewing (sewingweb.com, 4/16/06). There was no mention of a machine to go with this idea yet. Years passed and an English inventor, Thomas Saint was issued the first patent for a complete machine for sewing in 1790. The patent describes an awl that punched a hole in leather and passed a needle through the hole (inventors.about.com, 4/16/06). It was intended for stitching shoes and boots. In 1810, a German, Balthasar Krems, invented an automatic machine for sewing caps. This machine made an elastic stitch stitch by means of an eye-pointed needle, but he failed to patent his machine (sew2go.com, 4/16/06). In 1804, the use of embroidery came in from the invention of John Duncan of glasgow, Scotland. He devised a machine that used a barbed-eye needle which produced a chain stitch, in which embroidery came in. Duncan did not intend for this machine to be used for making seams, however. In that same year, a French patent was granted to Thomas Stone and James Henderson for a 'machine that emulated hand sewing ' (inventors.about.com, 4/16/06). Both of these inventions in 1804 failed and were soon forgotten. In 1814, the first machine to stitch a seam was invented by Josef Madersperger. Madersperger
Before the sewing machine appeared, making clothes was the main occupation of half of the human race. For over 20,000 years, countless hours were spent on making garments and other textiles to fulfill daily needs. The first sewing needles were made of bones and animal horns and the first thread was made of animal sinew (inventors.about.com, 4/16/06). The sewing machine, however, was a remarkable invention that was beneficial to all populations. More critical use of time could be used from the invention of the sewing machine. As early as 1755, the history of the sewing machine derives. From there the rest is history. In 1755, Charles Weisenthal he took out a patent for a needle to be used for mechanical sewing (sewingweb.com, 4/16/06). There was no mention of a machine to go with this idea yet. Years passed and an English inventor, Thomas Saint was issued the first patent for a complete machine for sewing in 1790. The patent describes an awl that punched a hole in leather and passed a needle through the hole (inventors.about.com, 4/16/06). It was intended for stitching shoes and boots. In 1810, a German, Balthasar Krems, invented an automatic machine for sewing caps. This machine made an elastic stitch stitch by means of an eye-pointed needle, but he failed to patent his machine (sew2go.com, 4/16/06). In 1804, the use of embroidery came in from the invention of John Duncan of glasgow, Scotland. He devised a machine that used a barbed-eye needle which produced a chain stitch, in which embroidery came in. Duncan did not intend for this machine to be used for making seams, however. In that same year, a French patent was granted to Thomas Stone and James Henderson for a 'machine that emulated hand sewing ' (inventors.about.com, 4/16/06). Both of these inventions in 1804 failed and were soon forgotten. In 1814, the first machine to stitch a seam was invented by Josef Madersperger. Madersperger
Cited: 1. The History of the Sewing Machine. About. Bellis, Mary. April 16, 2006. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsewing_machine.htm. 2. Did You Know Archive. Sewing Web. April 16, 2006. http://www.sewingweb.com/community/HistoryTips0602.shtml. 3. Invention of the Sewing Machine. Sew2go. April 16, 2006. http://www.sew2go.com/smhistory.htm. 4. A Brief History of the Sewing Machine. Ismacs International. Forsdyke, Graham. April 16, 2006. http://www.ismacs.net/smhistory.html.