350 



SEWING-MACHINE 



doth, then by the look-stitch, sewing the threads 

 through the centre, by stitches lengthened for the 

 purpose of producing the effect desired. By a similar 

 process, the skilled operator can readily produce 

 lace in beautiful and artistic designs ; and the 

 effects of old tapestry may even be produced by the 

 use of the sewing-machine. 



History. The idea of the sewing-machine origin- 

 ated in England during the 18th century, but as an 

 invention of practical utility it is a product of the 

 19th century, and of the United States of America. 

 In June of 1765 Charles F. 

 Weisentlial patented a needle in 

 England, having an eye in the 

 centre, and being pointed at both 

 ends. It was intended for hand 

 embroidery, but was subse- 

 quently used in some of the 

 earlier sewing-machines. Robert 

 Alsop in 1770 patented in Eng- 

 land a device for embroidering 

 with one, two, or more shuttles. 

 This was followed in 1804 by a 

 machine, invented and patented 

 by John Duncan, for embroidering, consisting of a 

 large number of barbed or hooked needles set in a 

 horizontal bar, and supplied witb thread by a feeding 

 needle. By a forward motion of this bar the needles 

 were simultaneously carried through the fabric, 

 and by the reverse motion were again brought 

 back, passing through the loop of thread made uy 

 the previous stitch, thus making a "loop-stitch.' 

 This machine was subsequently improved by Mr 

 Heilman, and extensively used for embroider}' pur- 



Meanwhile, in 1790, a patent was taken out in 

 England by Thomas Saint ' for quilting, stitching, 

 ana making shoes, boots, spatterdashes, clogs, and 

 other articles.' This machine used a single thread, 

 made a loop-stitch, the loops being upon the outer 

 side of the fabric, had a perforated awl by which 

 the hole for the needle was made, and was worked 

 by a combination of ' cogs," ' prongs,' ' wheels," and 

 'spindles.' 



In 1834 M. Thimonnier, a Frenchman, secured a 

 patent in England for a crocheting-machine for 

 sewing purposes, which made a loop-catch by means 

 of a hooked needle that had to be paused through 

 the cloth backward and forward twice in order to 

 make one perfect stitch. This machine improved 

 was subsequently patented in Franco, and in 1851 

 in the United States. In 1871 Archbold and New- 

 ton secured a patent for sewing or stitching the 

 backs of gloves, with the ornamental or tambour 

 stitch, the tension being regulated by passing the 

 thread over a roller covered with cloth, and by the 

 alternate rising and falling of a bar across the 

 thread, the latter acting as the modern take-up, 

 and securing uniformity in the degree of tightness 



Fig. 7. 



of the thread. The feed wan a rark-nnd-pinion 

 motion by which the material secured l>etween two 

 metal clamps, through which were openings for the 

 needle, was moved forward as the stitching pro- 

 ceeded. In 1842 J. Greenough of Washington 

 secured a patent in the United States for a machine 



for sewing shoes. This machine made the ' through 

 and-through ' stitch, or ' shoemaker's stitch,' repre- 

 sented in fig. 7, using a single thread in the eye 

 of Weisenthal's needle, a, the needle l>eing drawn 

 through backward and forward by means of pincers 

 upon each sich- of the material. There was neither 

 'chain,' 'loop,' nor* lock 'by which tin- firmness and 

 durability of the ' hand-sewed ' shoe orof the ordinary 

 'back-stitch* for garments was secured, and hence 

 this machine could not be adapted for general 

 sewing. In 1843 B. W. Bean of New York 



L 





Fig. 8. 



patented a machine making the ' running ' or ' bast- 

 ing' stitch, a stitch similar to the ' through-and- 

 through ' stitch, but by quite a different device 

 (see figs. 7 and 8, and compare) and designed for 

 a different class of fabric. Fig. 8 represents the 

 device used in the machine for the making of the 

 running stitch. The needle, a, is long and station- 

 ary, with the eye and point at opposite ends, as in 

 the ordinary needle for hand-sewing, and receiving 

 a continuous supply of thread from the reel, b : the 

 two small toothed wheels, <, are so arranged that 

 their teeth pressing into one another crimp the two 

 pieces of cloth, d, and push them forward against 

 the needle-point, the operator drawing off the cloth 

 from the needle at the eye end as rapidly as it 

 is filled. This machine was extensively introduced 

 into England, and used by bleachers, printers, and 

 dyers for temporary basting, and for loose tacking 

 of pieces of stuff. 



The machine destined to revolutionise the sewing 

 world and play a most important part in future 

 industries was not vet conceived. The thought of 

 the inventor had been centred apparently upon 

 facilitating the embroidery of various articles of 

 household and dress ornamentation, excepting \\\r. 

 effort to lessen the labour of making shoes. \V alter 

 Hunt of New York is said to have constructed 

 a machine for taking the lock-stitch in 1832 or 

 1834. However, to Elias Howe (1819-67), of Cam- 

 bridge, Massachusetts, belongs the credit of con- 

 structing and patenting the first lock-stitch sr 

 ing-machine. Compared with the almost perfect 

 machines of to-day, this machine was indeed a 

 crude effort ; it however formed the basis of the 

 present lock-stitch sewing -machine, and comprised 

 11- essential features, ft was patented in 1846, 

 although possibly constructed earlier. Mr Howe 

 combined a needle having the eye near the point 

 vibrating in the direction of its length, though 

 horizontally, with a shuttle device vibrating 

 horizontally, yet so as to pass through the loop 

 made by the thread in the needle eye being 

 carried through the cloth, then drawn back- 

 ward in the opposite direction ; together with the 

 'sawmill carriage' 'feed motion,' and a baster- 

 plate and projecting pins holding the cloth as 

 in metal clamps in a vertical position while 

 being stitched. The stitch formed by the two 

 threads, one upon each side of the fabric, drawn 

 in a ' double interlocked loop ' in the centre of the 

 material, presents the appearance of a single thread 

 in regular stitches, exactly the name u|mn l'l!i 

 sides of the cloth, and is essentially the lock-stitch 

 of the more modern machine. The needle of the 



