The Industrial Revolution set the stage for a mechanical method of sewing to relieve women of the tedious and time-consuming job of sewing bedding and clothing by hand.

In 1790, Thomas Saint, an English inventor, was issued the first patent for a machine for sewing; however, there is no evidence that he built a working prototype.

In 1804, Thomas Stone and James Henderson received a French patent for “a machine that emulated hand sewing.” That same year, a patent was issued to Scott Duncan for an “embroidery machine with multiple needles.” Both inventions failed.

In 1818, John Adams Doge and John Knowles invented the first American sewing machine. It failed to sew any useful amount of fabric before malfunctioning.

A French tailor, Barthélemy Thimonnier, invented the first functional sewing machine in 1830. It used only one thread and a hooked needle that made a chain stitch like embroidery.

The inventor was almost killed by an enraged group of French tailors who burnt down his garment factory. They feared unemployment because of his invention.

America’s first somewhat-successful sewing machine was built by Walter Hunt in 1834. Hunt did not patent his machine because he believed it would result in tailor unemployment and retribution.

Hunt’s sewing machine had a new lateral design that produced a lockstitch with two spools of thread. Until this time, most inventors had been trying to copy the side-to-side stitching movements of the human hand.            

In 1846, Elias Howe received the first American patent for “a process that used thread from two different sources.”

Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point. The needle was pushed through the cloth and created a loop on the other side. A shuttle on a track then slipped the second thread through this loop, creating what is called the lockstitch.

For nine years Howe struggled, first to enlist interest in his machine, and then to protect his patent for the lockstitch mechanism.

Isaac Singer built the first commercially successful machine in 1850. The needle moved up and down rather than side-to-side and was powered by a foot treadle. All previous machines were hand-cranked.

But Singer’s machine used the lockstitch that Howe had patented. He sued Singer for patent infringement and won! Elias Howe was paid patent royalties of nearly $2 million before the patent expired.

The Singer Company went on to perfect the sewing machine and dominated world production for the next century. Isaac Singer introduced the “installment payment plan” of $3 to $5 per month with the marketing goal of putting a Singer in every American household.

An American, Helen Augusta Blanchard (1840-1922), patented the first zigzag stitch machine in 1873.

By the late 1800s, the sewing machine had been hailed as the most useful invention of the century, releasing women from the drudgery of endless hours of sewing by hand. Factories sprang up in almost every country to meet the demand for the sewing machine.

By 1905 the electrically powered sewing machine was in use.

The rest is history! Today, there are sewing machines so advanced they can scan a pattern, duplicate it, store the pattern, maintain themselves, and actually speak to you when there is a problem!

Doris Montag is a homespun historian and an exhibit curator who researches and displays historical collections of ordinary things, such as can openers, crochet, toy sewing machines, hand corn planters, powder compacts, egg cartons, and more. Contact or follow her on Facebook, HistoryofOrdinaryThings.