| Sewing machines were invented long back during the | | | | conventional chain stitch. |
| first Industrial Revolution. The intention behind the | | | | Thomas Saint was the first person to have a design |
| invention of such machines was to decrease the time | | | | for sewing machine patented. His machine was |
| required in sewing, as before this all the sewing work | | | | designed to work on canvas and leather. A working |
| was done manually. The cloth companies needed to | | | | model of the same was never built. Other designs and |
| optimize their work and sewing machines was the | | | | patents came along in the future. Walter Hunt was the |
| answer. | | | | developer of lock stitch technique. |
| Once the first sewing machine was invented, the | | | | Other than the basic requirements in the motion of |
| productivity and the efficiency of the clothing and | | | | loopers, needles and bobbins, the most important |
| fabric industries increased vastly. Also, the sewing | | | | movement is that of the fabric. It is necessary that the |
| machines have improved greatly with their speeds | | | | fabric moves at the required time (generally |
| increasing manifolds, variations available in stitching | | | | continuously) so that the stitches are made at the right |
| styles. The modern sewing machines look and work in | | | | position. The motion is also called as `feed`. Typical |
| a much more mechanized way as compared to the | | | | feed motion include: needle feed, drop feed, puller, |
| sewing machines which our great grandmothers used. | | | | walking foot, and manual. Generally, more than one kind |
| Instead of simple stitching, they embroider, stitch, attach | | | | of feed is used in a single machine to optimize the |
| buttons, do pekoe and many more other activities. | | | | working. |
| The older machines used a single thread chain stitch | | | | A household machine will generally include only the lock |
| mechanism. The modern sewing machine uses two | | | | stitch mechanism. But the machine can be used in a |
| threads instead of one and uses what is called lock | | | | little different way (generally by moving the needle in |
| stitching mechanism. The industrial sewing machines | | | | different ways which is an included function in the |
| are generally specialized for one type of stitching since | | | | machine); fancy stitches can be made possible. The |
| they need to be optimized. They are designed in a | | | | simplest form of a fancy stitch is zigzag in which the |
| way that the fabric is able to glide in and out easily, | | | | needle just needs to perform an oscillatory motion |
| without any hassle of thimbles and needles. The ease | | | | continuously as the stitching is done normally. |
| reduces the effort required and saves a lot of time. | | | | Mechanical configuration can differ vastly in sewing |
| The problem with the chain stitch was - it was | | | | machines. Some of the typical configurations are - |
| extremely weak and it was possible to pull it apart | | | | cylinder bed, flat bed, off the arm and post bed. All the |
| very easily. With the introduction of machines in the | | | | basic feed mechanism and stitch types are available in |
| field, people started to think that a better and stronger | | | | all these configurations. However, for industrial |
| way of stitching could now be devised which would | | | | purposes the best possible configuration is used for a |
| only be possible through machine usage. Lock stitch | | | | type of stitch. Like, blind stitch always uses cylinder |
| was the answer to their questions. In the case of lock | | | | bed configuration. |
| stitch, two different threads are interlocked from both | | | | The invention of sewing machine was a necessity. |
| the sides of the fabric. It results in a stitch which can | | | | And its introduction greatly increased the production |
| be looked as if the fabric is stitched from both ends | | | | and quality of the cloth industry. |
| making it much more strong and durable than the | | | | |