Information Sheet 1.

1-1 History and importance of sewing

Sewing is an important Life Skill and is the vehicle to teach self-

confidence through skill building. Sewing helps you develop fine motor skills,
improves your focus and concentration and teaches the importance of patience
and self-control. Knowing personal boundaries, increasing skill, achieving
tangible goals while working outside your comfort zone all support the
development of confidence and self-esteem.

Whether you’re a creative type or not, putting in a few stitches is a hobby

you should add to your list. The simple act of sewing has proven health
benefits that will enhance your wellbeing. Here are just 5 reasons why you
should give it a go.

Stress Relief. Sewing encourages

mindfulness and reduces stress and
anxiety. The meditative action of sewing
encourages positivity and feelings of
relaxation. Being forced to concentrate
on one particular task enables you to
become immersed in a situation and
truly unwind.

Improved hand-eye coordination. If

you’re keen to enhance your motor
skills, sewing does just that; especially
hand-eye-coordination. The attention to
detail that sewing requires encourages
coordination and relieves physical
issues such as back pain.

Brain Growth. Sewing requires

creativity, which improves the brain’s Figure A: Importance of sewing

ability to grow new brain cells. As
mental deterioration is a result of lost
connection between neurons, sewing
promotes mental growth.

Happiness. Like other craft activities, sewing increases dopamine in the brain,
which makes us feel more positive.

Fights dementia. Because sewing makes you remember specific steps, it

works the brain and keeps the mind clear, focused and active. This can help
prevent dementia as you grow older.

Learning to sew can save money. There is a sense of accomplishment

that comes with being able to make something on your own. Sewing is a great
hobby. It's the hobby that continues to give for as long as you sew. Sewing your
own clothes is a way to dress yourself in exactly the kind of style you want.
Clothing bought in stores is expensive and often does not fit right. Sometimes
the result is spending more money on alterations than you originally did when
purchasing the item.

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The History of sewing
People started sewing as long as
20,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age.
Archaeologists have discovered bone needles
with eyes, used to sew together skins and
furs, dating back to this time. The earliest
known sewing needles made of iron come
from the Celtic hill fort at Manching,
Germany, and date to the third century BC.
The tomb of a minor official of the Han
Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) has been reported
Figure B: Sewing
by Chinese archaeologists as containing a
sewing set complete with thimble. This would
be the oldest known example of a thimble, which originated as a device to help
push crude needles through resistant materials such as animal skins

Birth of Mechanical Sewing

The first possible patent connected

to mechanical sewing was a 1755 British
patent issued to German, Charles
Weisenthal. He issued a patent for a
needle that was designed for a machine,
however, the patent did not describe the
rest of the machine if one existed.

Figure C: Charles Frederick Weisenthal’s

Several Inventors Attempt to Improve Sewing

The English inventor and

cabinet maker, Thomas Saint
issued the first patent for a
complete machine for sewing in
1790. It is not known if Saint
actually built a working prototype
of his invention. The patent
describes an awl that punched a
hole in leather and passed a
needle through the hole. Saint's
machine, which was designed to
sew leather and canvas, mainly on Figure D: Thomas Saint’s Invention
boots, used only a single thread
and formed a chain stitch. Instead
of a needle, an awl was employed
to pierce a hole through the material being sewed. Another mechanism placed
the thread over the hole, and then a needlelike rod with a forked point carried
the thread through to the underside of the work, where a hook caught the
thread and moved it forward for the next stitch. When the cycle was repeated, a
second loop was formed on the underside of the cloth with the first loop, thus
forming a chain and locking the stitch. Saint's machine, however, never
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progressed beyond the patent model stage. And it overlooked the Weisenthal
needle design.

In 1804, a French patent was

granted to Thomas Stone and James
Henderson for "a machine that
emulated hand sewing." That same year
a patent was granted to Scottish John
Duncan for an "embroidery machine
with multiple needles." Both inventions
failed and were soon forgotten by the
public.

Figure E: Thomas Stone and James

Henderson’s Invention

In 1810, German, Balthasar

Krems invented an automatic
machine for sewing caps. Krems did
not patent his invention and it never functioned well.

Figure F: Balthasar Krems’s

Invention

Austrian tailor, Josef Madersperger made several attempts at inventing

a machine for sewing and was issued a patent in 1814. All of his attempts were
considered unsuccessful.

Figure G: Josef Madersperger’s

Invention

In 1818, the first American sewing machine was invented by John

Adams Doge and John Knowles. Their machine failed to sew any useful
amount of fabric before malfunctioning.

First Functional Machine

The first functional sewing machine

was invented by the French tailor,
Barthelemy Thimonnier, in 1830. His
machine used only one thread and a
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hooked needle that made the same chain stitch used with embroidery. The
inventor was almost killed by an enraged group of French tailors who burnt
down his garment factory because they feared unemployment as a result of his
new invention.

In 1834, Walter Hunt built America's

first somewhat successful sewing machine.
He later lost interest in patenting because
he believed his invention would cause
unemployment. (Hunt's machine could only
sew straight steams. He never patented and
in 1846,

Figure I: Walter Hunt’s

Invention

The first American patent was

issued to Elias Howe for "a process that
used thread from two different sources."
His 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 the
loop, creating what is called the
lockstitch. However, Elias Howe later
encountered problems defending his Figure J: Elias Howe’s Invention
patent and marketing his invention.

For the next nine years Elias Howe struggled, first to enlist interest in his
machine, then to protect his patent from imitators. His lockstitch mechanism
was adopted by others who were developing innovations of their own.
Isaac Singer invented the up-and-down motion mechanism, and Allen
Wilson developed a rotary hook shuttle. Sewing machines did not go into mass
production until 1850, when Isaac Singer built the first commercially
successful machine. Singer built the first sewing machine where the needle
moved up and down rather than the side-to-side and the needle was powered
by a foot treadle. Previous machines were all hand-cranked. However, Isaac
Singer's machine used the same lockstitch that Howe had patented.

Figure K: Isaac Singer Figure L: Old version of Isaac Singer’s Figure M: Latest version of Isaac Singer’s
Invention Invention

Elias Howe sued Isaac Singer for patent infringement and won in 1854.
Walter Hunt's sewing machine also used a lockstitch with two spools of thread

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and an eye-pointed needle; however, the courts upheld Howe's patent since
Hunt had abandoned his patent. If Hunt had patented his invention, Elias
Howe would have lost his case and Isaac Singer would have won. Since he lost,
Isaac Singer had to pay Elias Howe patent royalties. As a side note:

In 1844, English men John Fisher received a patent for a lace making
machine that was identical enough to the machines made by Howe and Singer
that if Fisher's patent had not been lost in the patent office, John Fisher would
also have been part of the patent battle.

Sewing Machines in the 20th Century

At the beginning of the 20th century technical development slowed but

marketing saw many changes. Mail-order houses, such as Montgomery Ward
and Sears Roebuck, created new competition. A full-size drop-head treadle
machine sold in 1902 for $10 in a Sears catalog. Singer, White, and Wilson &
Wheeler machines ranged from $40 to $75. Singer bought Wheeler & Wilson in
1905. It used company-owned stores in cities and commission men in small
towns and rural areas to promote its products.

In 1913 Singer sold two and a half million

machines. After WWI ready-made clothes were
available inexpensively and home sewing
declined. Singer began to sell at a discount to
schools and to provide free sewing manuals.

Figure N: Singer in 1913

"Portable" electric sewing machines

were first produced in the 1920s but were
very heavy and relatively expensive. A new
portable, lightweight, electric machine was
introduced in the mid-1930s.

Figure O: Portable electric

sewing machine

The Necchi, first imported from Italy in

1947, introduced the zig-zag machine to
domestic sewing. Invented in the late 19th
century, zig-zag machines had previously
been used only for industrial sewing.

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 Figure P: Necchi sewing
machine

The Elna, introduced from Switzerland in 1950, was

made from a lightweight alloy rather than from cast iron
and, at 18 pounds, was easily portable compared to the 40-
pound Necchi. A zig-zag machine with free arm, the Elna
was quiet, free-running and a new color: green.

In 1952 the Elna Supermatic became the first

machine to use interchangeable cams or discs to produce a
variety of stitches by controlling the forward and reverse
feeding of the fabric and side-to-side swing of the needle.

Figure Q: Elna sewing

machine

In the late 1970s and early '80s freely

programmable automatic sewing machines
appeared. The home seamstress can now
easily make fancy seams and designs, opening
up a world of possibilities the sewing
machine's inventors never could have
envisioned.

Figure R: Programmable
automatic sewing machine

Activity Sheet 1.1-1

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Group Activity

1. What are the importance of sewing?

2. What are the health benefits in sewing

3. How does sewing started way back on 20,000 years

ago?

4. Who is Charles Weisenthal and his contribution to

history of sewing?

5. Describe the invention of Thomas Saint.

6. Who are the inventors with their inventions in the year

1804?

7. What are the contribution of Balthsar Krems and Josef

Madersperger in the history of sewing?

8. Who are the first American inventors?

9. Describe the first functional sewing machine.

10. Who is Walter Hunt?

11. Describe the invention of Elias Howe.

12. Describe the invention of Isaac Singer.

13. What are the well-known sewing machine in the 20th

century?

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