HOWE’S INVENTION OF THE SEWING MACHINE
It was in 1844 that Elias Howe hit upon the brilliant idea of putting an eye at the point of a needle. This enabled him to produce a successful sewing machine, because it was unnecessary for him to pass the needle completely through the cloth in order to pull the thread through it. When the needle point penetrated the cloth a shuttle passed through the loop of thread that was carried through with the point. This shuttle carried a second thread which interlocked with the thread of the needle forming what is known as a “lock stitch.” In Howe’s machine the cloth was held vertically and the needle which was curved was carried by a lever. The needle was driven through the cloth with a swinging motion, somewhat like that of a pick-ax. The shuttle was driven back and forth by a pair of strikers after the manner of the flying shuttle of a loom. George Fisher, a friend of Howe, furnished $500 with which the first successful machine was built in 1845, and with this machine Howe sewed two suits of clothes, one for Mr. Fisher and the other for himself. A public exhibition was held at which the machine, crude as it was, beat five of the best hand-sewers that could be found. In 1863 Howe was reaping a fortune in royalties from his machine which were estimated at $4,000 per day.
The next notable improvement in sewing machinery was that of the rotary bobbin, invented by A. B. Wilson, which was patented in 1852. This did away with the flying shuttle and simplified the machine considerably. It made the sewing machine comparatively quiet, thus adapting it for domestic use. In Wilson’s machine, a rotating hook passed through the loop of thread and carried it around the bobbin on which the lower thread was wound. Wilson also invented the four-motion feed for feeding the cloth under the needle. Sewing machines up to that time had been operated by hand, but Isaac Merritt Singer introduced a foot-power machine and by progressive business methods built up a thriving industry and did much to establish the sewing machine, not only at home, but abroad as well.