how to thread<\/a> properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThimonnier’s successful patent led him to open the very first clothing manufacturing company that was machine-based. It contained 80 sewing machines and was commissioned by the French government to make uniforms for the French Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, other French tailors were violently displeased about the invention of this first sewing machine and its possibility of forming an angry mob and destroying the machines. They also burnt down the garment factory while Thimonnier was still inside. Fortunately, he did not die from the destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving Foward in Time: More Failed Attempts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Four years after Thimnnier’s invention, in 1834, Walter Hunt designed and invented the first American sewing machine that worked. Walter Hunt’s sewing machine used two spools and executed a lockstitch but was only capable of short sewing seams that were straight. At first, Walter Hunt chose not to patent his invention because he believed it would eliminate jobs. It was finally patented in 1854.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving on, in 1842, an American named John Greenough made another working sewing machine. His machine utilised a needle that went entirely through the fabric. While a prototype was made, he couldn’t get anyone to manufacture his sewing machine, so it failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after, in 1844, the English inventor John Fisher<\/strong> submitted a patent application for a more coherent sewing machine without as many disjointed parts as the earlier models contained. His sewing machine was designed to produce lace. Unfortunately, due to negligence at the American patent office, his application for the first machine of this kind was lost, and Fisher’s patent was never processed or awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe First Practical Sewing Machine: Elias Howe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n In 1845, a patent for a lockstitch machine was awarded to an American named Elias Howe<\/strong>. His creation somewhat resembled Fisher’s but with some improvements. His sewing machine utilised two sources of thread and had an eye-pointed needle. The needle went through the fabric to create a loop underneath. Then, a shuttle drew a second thread through the loop to create a lock stitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\nElias Howe worked on his invention for eight years, but he had trouble effectively marketing his design in America. Even after arranging competitions against hand sewers to prove his machine’s speed and effectiveness, no one seemed to want to manufacture or buy his invention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This caused him to travel to England, but his business venture there was unsuccessful as well. When Elias Howe finally returned to America, he discovered that other people had stolen parts of his design, his lockstitch mechanism in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Modern-Day Sewing Machine: Isaac Merritt Singer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n