Sewing Machine Needles

A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric or other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution with the intention of decreasing the amount of manual sewing work performed in cloth companies. more...

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Since its invention, the sewing machine has vastly improved the efficiency and productivity of fabric and clothing industries.

Though some older machines use a chain stitch, the basic stitch of a modern sewing machine consists of two threads and is known as lockstitch, though industrial machines are usually specialized for a specific task, and so different machines may produce a different type of stitch. Modern sewing machines are designed in such a way that the fabric easily glides in and out of the machine without the hassle of needles and thimbles, and other such tools used in hand sewing and automating the process of stitching, thus saving time.

The fabric shifting mechanism may be a simple workguide or may be pattern-controlled (e.g., jacquard type). Some machines can create embroidery-type stitches. Some have a work holder frame. Some have a workfeeder that can move along a curved path, while others have a workfeeder with a work clamp.

The main stitch of most older sewing machines, chain stitch, has one major drawback – it is very weak and the stitch can easily be pulled apart . When the machines started being used, people realized a stitch more suited to machine production was needed, and it was found in the lock stitch. A lock stitch is created by two separate threads interlocking through the two layers of fabric, resulting in a sturdier stitch that looks the same from both sides of the fabric .

History of the Sewing Machine

In 1790 British inventor Thomas Saint was the first to patent a design for a sewing machine. His machine was meant to be used on leather and canvas. A working model was never built.

In 1830 a French tailor, Barthelemy Thimonnier, patented a sewing machine that sewed straight seams using chain stitch. By 1841 Thimonnier had a factory of 80 machines sewing uniforms for the French Army. The factory was destroyed by rioting French tailors afraid of losing their livelihood. Thimonnier had no further success with his machine.

Although the credit for the lock stitch machine is generally given to Elias Howe, Walter Hunt developed it first over ten years before, in 1834. His machine used an eye-pointed needle (with the eye and the point on the same end) carrying the upper thread, and a shuttle carrying the lower thread. The curved needle moved through the fabric horizontally, leaving the loop as it withdrew. The shuttle passed through the loop, interlocking the thread. The feed let the machine down – requiring the machine to be stopped frequently to set up again. Hunt grew bored with his machine and sold it without bothering to patent it.

Read more at Wikipedia.org