Sewing Machine

a contrivance for stitching or sewing, the needle being driven by machinery instead of by hand. The eye of the sewing-machine needle is near the point. The point of the needle is thrust through the fabric carrying with it a loop of the thread. In sewing by hand, the needle is passed entirely through the fabric drawing the thread after it, but the needle of the sewing machine is simply thrust through the fabric and withdrawn again leaving a loop behind. The chain stitch is made with a single thread. The loop of each stitch passes through, and secures the loop of the previous stitch, very much as in the case of crocheting or knitting. In the lock stitch a second thread carried by a shuttle passes through the loops and secures them. The lock stitch is by far the safer as it cannot be unraveled readily.

The credit of inventing the sewing machine has been ascribed to Elias Howe who took out a patent in 1846. He was not the first in the field, however, numerous patents having been granted previously both in England and France. A patent was granted in England in 1790. In 1841 a mob destroyed eighty sewing machines used in making clothing for the French army. Howe made several improvements. The lock stitch appears to be his invention. Other names associated with that of Howe are those of Bachelder, Wilson, and Singer, who patented various improvements, such as an automatic feed, an overhanging arm through which the needle is driven in a vertical direction, and so on. In 1855 the various inventors and companies between whom litigation had arisen came to an agreement whereby they consented to allow any manufacturer to use their devices on the payment of a royalty. From this time on the manufacture of machines increased rapidly. A recent writer estimates that $90,000,000 worth of American sewing machines have been sold abroad in competition with British, French, and German makes. At the present time New Jersey leads in their manufacture, followed by Connecticut, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York in the order named.

The following statistics from the United States census for 1900 give some idea of the magnitude to which this industry has risen:

To this total nearly $1,000,000 must be added for repairs, and about $3,000,000 for sewing machine cases made in cabinet establishments. As is now the case with watches, reapers, and many other machines, the various manufacturers buy parts ready made. The shuttles, for instance, of twenty different sewing machines may be identical,--all made in some special factory.