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    • Role of a Sewing Machine Mechanic
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    • Properties and Characteristics of Flax
    • Properties and Characteristics of Silk
    • Man-Made Fibers: A Synthetic Revolution
    • Different Properties and Uses of Cotton
    • Different Quality of Wool Fiber
    • Needle Data (From 1963)
    • Let's Talk Baseball(s)
    • An Undercover Invention
    • Mid-Century (1900-1910)
    • Cotton Picking Time
    • Making Dresses for Miss Europe
    • Bone Fragment Reveals
    • Coveralls for Paul Bunyan?
    • F.I.T. - College for Apparel Industry
    • Keighley Pioneer
    • 1949 Carrihim Machine
    • Jan Ernst Matzeliger’s Invention
    • 1845
    • Development of Production Methods
    • Early Sewing Machine Developments
    • Conclusion
    • WAAC Fitted for Uniforms
    • Now It's Fabric from Milk
    • Byrd Cloth Garments
    • First Sewing Machines Made In Africa
    • Union Special Headquarters
    • The Long and Short of Mattress Making
    • World's Largest Pillow Q&A
    • Sewing History Revisted
  • UpFront
    • UpFront with American Leather
    • UpFront with Mackey McDonald
    • UpFront with Hohenstein
    • UpFront with the Merrow Group
    • UpFront wih Consew
    • UpFront wih Jeanologia
    • UpFront wih Diamond Needle 2
    • UpFront wih Alpine Fit (Part 1)
    • UpFront wih Alpine Fit's Jen Loofbourrow
    • UpFront wih FABRIC, Part 1
    • UpFront with FABRIC, Part 2
    • UpFront wih Unionwear (Part 1)
    • UpFront wih Unionwear (Part 2)
    • UpFront wih Americas21st
    • UpFront wih Morgan Tecnica
    • Upfront with the Berzacks
    • Harry L. Berzack’s Sewing Machine Museum
    • Welcome Dr. Trevor Little
  • Industry Opinion
    • The Disappearing Art of Garment Mastery
    • ‘Made in the USA’ Isn’t a Premium
    • The Reshoring Initiative
    • The Silent Crisis in Garment Engineering
    • The Times They Are A-Changin'
    • Large Store Concept Threat
    • U.S. - A Concern for Bangladesh
    • Changing the Relationship
    • The Global Trade Equation
    • Forging the Future
    • Technologies Reshaping Sewn Goods
    • Don’t Worry, Humans Still Matter
    • GenAI Solutions and Benefits
    • Automated Manufacturing
    • Coalition to Close "De Minimis" Loophole
    • Promise and Pitfalls of Lean
    • Generative AI
    • Upcoming Trends Europe
    • Who is the Unknown Stranger?
    • Don’t Discount Value of Associations
    • Focus on Tech Suggests IAF President
    • Is Sewing a Dying Skill
    • Technology is Crucial to Manufacturing
    • Trade Policies that Work
    • Apparel May See Fewer Orders
    • Time to Close an Import Loophole
  • Industry News
    • AAFA Reacts to USTR
    • IAF Position on U.S. Tariffs
    • Karl Mayer Group Plans Reorientation
    • Milliken Fuels NC State Research
    • Avalo Hires Textile Veteran Tricia Carey
    • Jeanologia Celebrates 30th Anniversary
    • Bangladesh Takes Automation Route
    • A&E Expands Facility in Bangladesh
    • Avantex Appoints Carlos Botero
    • VDMA to Hold Joint Meeting
    • OECD Forum on Due Diligence
    • Kontoor Brands to Acquire Helly Hansen
    • NCTO Announces Katherine White
    • AAFA, FLA Delegation Visits BGMEA
    • DeSL-Browzwear Partnership
    • Mexico Ends Border-Skipping Loophole
    • EU and Mercosur Agreement
    • Cascale Assembles U.S. Policy Team
    • Zalando and ABOUT YOU Team Up
    • Lutai Group to Egypt
    • Dickies Relocating to California
    • Andritz Receives Engineering Order
    • SPESA Hosts Successful Conference
    • The Show Miami
    • Ecuador’s Textile Association Initiative
    • Atlanta Attachment Rebranded
    • Lectra Launches Valia Fashion
    • Cansew Celebrates 100 Years
    • Lectra Partnership With Six Atomic
    • NCTO Calls to Limit De Minimis
    • A Successful Techtextil North America
    • Apex Mills Launches New Fabrics
    • AATCC Journal of Research
    • MWI Welcomes Two New Representatives
    • Freudenberg Factory in Vietnam
    • USFIA Benchmarking Survey
    • Coloreel Group AB Files for Bankruptcy
    • CEMATEX Appoints Alex Zucchi
    • Mario Jorge Machado President of EURATEX
    • Coloreel Expands with Juki America
    • NCTO Welcomes Textile Enforcement Plan
    • Omron Selects Spartanburg County
    • Inspectorio Launches Platform
    • How Digitalization is Driving Growth
    • Santoni Completes Acquisition of Terrot
    • Zünd Helping Aerospace Take Wings
    • Fire at Former Singer Factory
    • Lectra Launches the Observatory
    • HanesBrands Expands Workplace with DXC
    • Turkey Clothing Makers Face Rising Costs
    • U.S. Government Must Act Now
    • California Garment Industry Requirements
    • US DoC Invests in Textile Manufacturing
    • Tukatech Partnership with EcoShot
    • Alpine Fit's Jen Loofbourrow Wins Award
    • AEC Appoints Jeff Crisco President
    • NC State - Textile Training in Honduras
    • A&E Unveils New Sustainables
    • TSGD Status Report
    • Tukatech and Inèdit Partner
    • Cone Denim Joins CIRCULOSE Network
    • Best of Bangladesh in Amsterdam
    • OECD Study: Latest Trends
    • Fire-Dex Takes Over Kitsbow Facility
    • Former Hickey Freeman Factory
    • Introducing The Bremen Cotton Exchange
    • VF Corp Names Bracken Darrell
    • Ocean State Innovations Acquires Cloud9
    • Nike's New Aerogami Technology
    • Texprocess Americas Innovation Awards
    • Career and Training Center at Texprocess
    • Seamless Transition at Dürkopp-Adler
    • Elevate Recapitalization-New Ownership
    • Dürkopp Adler Acquires Sonotronic
    • Freudenberg Certification
    • VDMA at ITMA
    • Hodges International and Tukatech
    • Lectra Brings Production Back In-House
    • Zünd-Texprocess Americas 202
    • CGS Issues 2023 Report
    • NC Textile Manufacturer to Invest $24mil
    • Inspectorio Rise Expands
    • Next Level Apparel Partners With Grupo M
    • AAFA Formalizes Partnership with IFAI
    • Outlook into Fashion Future
    • Turkish Manufacturers Resume
    • TGSD Fighting Quake Aftermath
    • Open Letter to International Apparel
    • OECD in Paris
    • Nazma Akter’s Opening Key Note
    • Methods Workshop Under New Management
    • APTMA Rejects Claims
    • Style3D Announces Acquisition of Assyst
    • APTMA, BGMEA to Enhance Cooperation
    • Zünd Establishes a New Subsidiary
    • Black Design Collective
    • Senate Passes Bill
    • Japanese Garment Giants Leave China
    • NC State and Under Armour Partnership
    • Rieter’s Financial Commitment
    • Classic Fashion
    • Garland Apparel Group
    • Amazon Shuts Online Store Fabric.com
    • Gas Supply Crunch Stifles Bangladesh
    • Stitch 3D and Hatch Join Forces
    • Sonobond Becomes Part of Inductotherm
    • M&S to Exit from Sourcing in Myanmar
    • A Global Brand Preserves Carolina Legacy
    • 3DLook
    • Dürkopp Adler Universal Sewing Drives
    • U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol
    • BGMEA, Tonello to Partner
    • Canadian Defence Minister Announcement
    • Tukatech launches GP-800 High Ply Cutter
    • 3D Avatars in PLM
    • New York Governor Pledges 10 Million
    • Merrow Superior Acquires Goldberg Supply
    • OECD Nations Face Labor Shortages
    • New Management for Heimtextil, TT, TP
    • Clothing Textile Flammability Standard
    • EU Moves to Ban Forced Labor Products
    • Bangladesh Eyes 100 Billion USD Exports
    • U.S.-Honduras Education Partnership
    • Juki-Mitsuishi-Meiryo Joint Venture
    • Cut-and-Sew Manufacturing Returns to NC
    • Due Diligence for Supply Chains
    • Sae-A Factory in Costa Rica
    • Valentino Garavani Turns 90
    • DuPont Joins Forces With Heriot-Watt
    • Datacolor Announces Partnerships
    • Reshoring Latin America
    • Lectra Recognized by Deloitte
    • LYCRA Company Browzwear Partnership
    • Frankfurt Tradeshow Trio
    • 2022 Innovation Awards by Messe Frankfur
    • The LYCRA Company
    • Meta Announces
    • US Textile and Apparel Exports Up
    • How to Hone Honduras’s Potential
    • Australian T-Shirt Producer Looking
    • Okabashi Brands Growing
    • Kraig Biocraft Laboratories
    • Sri Lanka Defaults on Debt
    • Small Brands Are The Future
    • Zund America Announces Manuel Merkt
    • Lectra’s Chess Move
    • Eastman Machine Co. and ACG Nyström
    • Elevate Releases Sustainability Report
    • Standing With Ukraine
    • BELLA+CANVAS
    • Intradeco Holdings
    • Textile Industry Preparing
    • Lectra Equips Bespoke Manufacturing Co.
    • Eastman Appointed Airborne Partner
    • Software Tools for Automatic Cutting
    • Buy Local
    • i-SMART Globally Launched
    • Sewn Products Reshoring Award
    • Latin American Apparel Exports Growing
    • Increasing Exports
    • NextGenerationEU Package
    • Coloreel Hirsch Expand Partnership
    • Henderson and Optio Partnership
    • Q1 2022 Barometer
    • Needs to Bring Factories into Compliance
    • College Partnerships
    • EU-UK Trade Figures
    • US Textile and Apparel Exports Up
    • Vietnam Garment and Textiles
    • OEKO-TEX New Regulations 2022
    • Alvanon Launches Fit Studio in Milan
    • National Safety Apparel
    • Rising Star Amiri Opens in Miami
  • Industry Technologies
    • FastSewn Launches Automated Sewing Mch
    • Robotics Living Lab Opens
    • Role of Attachments
    • Hohenstein and DuPont Assessment
    • YKK Unveils Innovative Zipper
    • Axiom Space, Prada Unveil Spacesuit
    • PatternFast Transforms Fashion
    • Tukatech-Tronog Join Forces
    • Kornit Digital Empowers Hybrid Digital
    • How AI Is Impacting Legal Issues
    • Brother Unveils State-of-the-Art Aveneer
    • Tech and Fashion
    • Weaving Recycling Knowledge
    • Debunking the Myths of CAD/CAM
    • SINBON and MAKALOT Partner
    • Shinwon Leads Innovation with AI
    • Plataine to Enhance Fabric Cutting
    • Hemmers Binders, Folders, Attachments
    • Fashion Goes Green Thanks to Technology
    • Navigating Production Planning
    • Slice and Dice: Art of Cut Planning
    • Walmart and unspun
    • High Ply Cutters
    • New NSF Center
    • Tukatech Launches Innovation Center
    • BASF and Inditex Recycling Breakthrough
    • Mechanics
    • Training Sewing Machine Mechanics
    • MTM
    • What’s Next for Smart Factories?
    • TextileGenesis Traces Material Origins
    • Seams and Stitches (Part 1)
    • Seams and Stitches (Part 2)
    • ITSCD Conference
    • ZCC Zünd Cut Center
    • Lectra Launches New Cutting Equipment
    • Exploring the Future
    • Leather Made from Beer
    • Sewng with Threads, Part 3
    • Smart Textiles Enable Communications
    • Sewng with Threads, Part 2
    • Sewng with Threads, Part 1
    • Kornit Rolls Out New Curing Technology
    • Researchers Separate Cotton From Poly
    • AI-based Business Planning and Forecast
    • What’s Happening in 3D CAD for Fashion
    • PFAFF Launches New Machine
    • JUKI Renews DDL-9000C Series
    • Automation Eases RMG Workload
    • Fabric Cutting Optimization (Part 3)
    • Technology Drives Luenthai
    • Brief History of the Sewing Needle
    • Today’s Sewing Needles
    • Industrial Sewing Thread Needle Sizes
    • Sewing Machine Needle Buyers Guide
    • US DoD Partners with OROS
    • Always in the Comfort Zone
    • YKK Develops AquaGuard NATULON
    • Bespoke Selects Zebra AMRs
    • Walmart Introduces Virtual Try-on Tech
    • Fabric Cutting Optimization (Part 1)
    • On-Demand Manufacturing
    • Coats Digital Launches FastReactFabric
    • Fashinza Apparel Manufacturing Platform
    • Fabric Spreading
    • Spreading Machine Buyers Guide
    • Embedding Fundamental 3D Transformation
    • China’s Tech Giants Test the Waters
    • S.W Specialty Papers
    • Stand-Alone vs. 2D-3D
    • Digital Cutting Software from Zünd
    • Cameras on Cutters
    • 3D: No Wonder Tool
    • Automation Gaining Ground
    • Jeanologia Introduces Colorbox
    • Part 3 - Artificial Intelligence
    • The Metaverse Is Just An Idea
    • Commerce Department Awards $54 Million
    • Part 2 - Artificial Intelligence
    • Speed PLUS Variety - Elastane Processing
    • Part 1 - Artificial Intelligence
    • Digital Thread & Yarn Dyeing System
    • Future of Textiles
    • Cutting
  • Intelligent Textiles
    • DTB & HSN Conference on Digitalization
    • Carrington & Noble Create Stealth
    • DPC Concepts
    • Brandix Sparks New Era with AI
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Light, Heat, Data: From Fiber to Appar 2
    • Airbag Jeans: Safe & Smart
  • Industry Leaders
    • Lew Feinberg Passes
    • Isak Andic Dies
    • Hank Little to Retire
    • In Memoriam: Dorothy Fullam
    • In Memoriam Harry van Dalfsen
    • Frank Henderson Receives SEAMS Award
  • Supply Chain
    • Impacts of "America First" Policies
    • Cross-Border Trades Against Standby LC
    • Balancing Automation and Employment
    • AGOA Time Running Out
    • American-Sewn: A Comeback
    • U.S. Reduces Garment Imports from China
    • Bangladesh, Vietnam Surge
    • Textile Imbalances
    • Hugo Boss Resumes European Manufacturing
    • Alpine Group Applies FibreTrace
    • Trillion-Dollar Problem for Retailers
    • Forced Labor in the Clothing Industry
    • EU Bans Products Made with Forced Labor
    • Understanding Nearshore Manufacturing
    • Stitching the Future of Apparel
    • Textile Execs's VA Concerns
    • H&M Begins Exit from Myanmar
    • Factory Strikes Flare Up in China
    • Uniqlo to Have Manufacturing in India
    • Sri Lanka Garment Manufacturing
    • Philippine Garments Industry
    • Sri Lankan Apparel Industry Crisis
    • Sourcing in Africa, Part 4
    • Sourcing in Africa, Part 5
    • Chinese ‘Fast Fashion’ Brands
    • Chinese Brands Mishandled Customer Data
    • Sourcing in Africa (Part 1)
    • Sourcing in Africa (Part 2)
    • Sourcing in Africa (Part 3)
    • Covid-19 Outbreaks
    • US Ports Face Empty Containers
    • Is Reshoring/Nearshoring Tide Turnin
    • Traceability
  • Sustainability
    • Wrangler x Jeans Launch
    • Hohenstein Sustainability Report
    • Global Standard Launched GOTS Handbook
    • New Low Microfiber Discharge Standard
    • Hugo Boss Launches Eightyards
    • eBay Expands Circular Fashion Fund
    • OEKO-TEX Reports 50,000+ Certifications
    • UNIFI Launch
    • Fashion Opens the Doors to ‘Econogy'
    • Debrand Opens U.S. Textile Sorting Plant
    • EU Commission Rules
    • Syre Launches Mission to Decarbonize
    • Carhartt Joins US Cotton Trust Protocol
    • Freudenberg Apparel: Next Step
    • Climate Tech Startup
    • Portugal's Textile Sector
    • Elevate Textiles Sustainability Report
    • Carrington Textiles’ Portuguese Factory
    • Modern Meadow - Earthletica Collaborateo
    • PTC, Made2Flow Partner
    • Keel Labs Unveils Seaweed-Based Kelsun
    • Crystal Elevates Sustainable Fashion
    • New Way to Tackle Clothing Waste
    • KlarTEXt Project
    • Lycra Initiative to Support FitSense
    • Messe Frankfurt’s Textile Trade Shows
    • Alpine Fit Joins 1% for the Planet
    • IAF Food for Thought
    • Sustainable Apparel Coalition Report
    • STTI Update: June 2023
    • Sustainable Cotton Hub
    • Vaude: PFAS-Free in All Apparel Fabrics
    • European Industry Associations
    • HanesBrands Sustainability Goas
    • Freudenberg Milestone
    • Freudenberg Mlestone Innovation
    • Gildan Publishes Climate Change Report
    • Renewcell New Textile Fiber Prep
    • Sustainable Apparel Coalition
    • Innovative Recycling Product by Ecoalf
    • How Sustainability is Improving Fashon
    • What Is Fast Fashion?
    • Sustainability Rating System Exposed
    • Apparel Company Pivots
    • Death of Fast Fashion
    • STTI Gains Two New Members
    • Eight Start-Ups
    • Game-Changing Legislations
    • Higg Partners with AII
    • Archroma and Jeanologia
  • World of Fashion
    • The Influence of Technology on Fashion
    • Preparing Future Fashion Leaders
    • ISAIC Reveals 2025 Honors Winners
    • Streaming Meets Street Fashion
    • Morse Code Clothing Expands to the U.S.
    • Virtual Try-on with Anthropics
    • Tom Ford Secures Belgian Haider Ackerman
    • LVMH and Alibaba Expand Partnership
    • Calvin Klein Opens New Lifestyle Store
    • Rise of the Hemp Revolution
    • Tribute to Iris Apfel
    • Trending: Hallyu - The Korean wave
    • z-emotion, Setting off from Seoul
    • Axiom Space, Prada Join Forces
    • 95 Years of Film and Fashion History
    • South African Designer Sindiso Khumalo
    • Five Ways Technology is Aiding Fashion
    • Virtual Fitting Rooms
    • CORDURA - MYSTERY RANCH Collaboration
    • CORDURA and MYSTERY RANCH
    • Epson and Designer Yuima Nakazato Show
    • Outlook into Fashion Future
    • The Birkin Bag Case
    • McKinsey Outlook Pessimistic
    • Sales Price Hikes
    • LVMH Names Pietro Beccari
    • New Study Explores AI
    • Christie's Auctions Talley Collection
    • "Gucci Twinsburg" on the Milan Catwalk.
    • What to Wear on Mars?
    • Matching Elegance with Sophistication
  • Industry Events
    • Alphabet Soup Collective to Atlanta
    • SPESA Welcomes
    • IAF Extends Cem Altan’s Term
    • SEAMS Packs ’Em in
    • VDMA: Sales Still On Growth Track
    • IACDE International Convention 2023
    • 38th World Fashion Convention
    • FEDTEX 2023
    • Training Takes Time
    • New Micro Plant at FME
    • Micro Plant at FME
    • World Fashion Convention
    • ideation on the Road 2
    • ideation on the Road
    • Join IAF World Fashion Convention
    • Interior Trends 2003
    • Snippets Around Texprocess
    • 37th IAF
    • Furniture Manufacturing Expo
    • Advancements in Manufacturing Tech
    • Texprocess / Techtextil (Atlanta)
    • Texprocess / Techtextil (Frankfurt) 2
    • Texprocess Americas 2022
    • Texprocess 2022 – Frankfurt
    • American & Efird
    • Atlanta Attachment Company
    • Brother International Corporation
    • DAP America
    • Eastman Machine Company
    • Juki America
    • Techtextil and Texprocess 2022
    • Kuris USA
    • MACPI Spa Pressing Division
    • Mitsubishi Electric Automation
    • Sewn Products Equipment Co.
    • RSG Automation
    • The Fox Company
    • Tukatech
    • YIN USA
    • Zünd America
    • Texprocess Americas / Techtextil North A
    • Heimtextil Summer Special
    • NAUMD 2022
    • IAF-Euratex Photo Gallery
  • Associations
    • EURATEX Launches Horion Europe Project
    • IFAI Now Advanced Textiles Association
    • AAPN Confers Walter Wilhelm Award
  • Book Review
    • Under The Banyan Tree
    • American Flannel
    • World of Opportunity
    • Get It Made
    • Making It In America
  • Contact
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History

1845 – Ushering in the Industrial Revolution
The year 1845 ushered in an era of great scientific development in America, for it was the mechanical inventions of that period that set the pace for the tremendous industrial progress to follow. Cyrus McCormick, Samuel F. B. Morse, and Charles Goodyear had invented and were developing new processes in the fields of agriculture, communication, and industry, destined to revolutionize old methods of production and distribution. The textile trade was ripe for the introduction of a mechanical device to replace tedious hand sewing with needles and thread.
At that time, it was customary to give needlework to seamstresses residing in the vicinity of the center of employment. A skillful needlewoman could, for several minutes, make forty to fifty stitches a minute. Her wages were wretchedly low, and by working twelve hours a day, and often most of the night, she was barely able to earn a meager living.
It is little wonder that an ambitious young machinist like Elias Howe, Jr., watching his wife tediously perform one simple sewing operation over and over by hand, should consider the possibilities of a practical sewing machine and the fortune which awaited its inventor.
It was in the year 1843, when Howe was trying to support a family on US$9.00 a week, that the pressure of extreme poverty forced him to concentrate on his idea for a stitching machine. He took it for granted that all sewing must be performed in the same manner as hand stitching, and his first months of inventive effort were wasted on a device that duplicated the hand stitch. This first invention consisted of a needle pointed at both ends·with the eye in the middle, which was drawn up and down through the cloth and carried the thread with it at each thrust. Realizing the impracticability of this machine, Howe brooded over his failure until the question occurred to him, "Is it really necessary that a machine should imitate the performance of the human hand?" This idea gave birth to the" shuttle stitch" machine, which used two threads and formed the stitch with the aid of a shuttle and reciprocating needle, with the eye near that point. By making a rough model of wood and wire, Howe was convinced that such a machine would sew. By May of 1845, he had completed a working model — the first practical shuttle stitch machine — whose fundamental principles endure to this day and had obtained a patent in 1846. His invention was sold in England to William F. Thomas of Cheapside, London, a corset manufacturer, for £250. In December of 1846, Thomas secured the English patent in his own name and engaged Howe to adapt the machine to his manufacturing purposes. The career of the inventor in London was unsuccessful and having pawned his American patent rights in England to pay various debts and his expenses to get home, Howe returned to America in 1849, in poverty. The American public, in the meantime, had become interested in the sewing machine, and a few mechanics had completed machines that infringed on Howe's patent rights. Howe was able to secure the financial support of a wealthy capitalist and took court action against the infringers. As an outcome of the lawsuits, Howe was publicly acknowledged as the inventor of the shuttle sewing machine. He established himself in New York as a manufacturer, and after a few years was in a position to buy back the patents he had been forced to sell in England. Royalties on machines made up until the expiration of his patent (September 1867) brought Howe an estimated sum of two million dollars. He was decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor by France but did not live long enough to enjoy the honor and awards due him. Elias Howe, Jr. died on October 3, 1867, in Brooklyn, New York. The feasibility of sewing by the machine having been demonstrated, improvements and new inventions followed rapidly. In 1849, Allan B. Wilson, working entirely without knowledge of previous efforts, devised the rotary hook and bobbin combination. Wilson's invention included the important four-motion feed for moving the work after every stitch. The first practical single chain stitch machine was devised by James E. Gibbs of Virginia. His invention, patented in 1856, featured a rotary hook or looper, and a needle with a vertical motion only. Gibbs went into partnership with James Willcox of Philadelphia forming the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company which made important advancements in the art of machine sewing.
Elias Howe, Jr.
A glove factory in 1870, showing the sewing machines in one of the first industrial applications.
To Isaac Singer, father of the Singer Manufacturing Company, should go the credit for developing the sewing machine for home use. Singer built various features into his first machine such as the yielding vertical presser foot to hold the work on the table and the wheel feed. This forced other competitive manufacturers to adapt their rather cumbersome machines to more practical public use. All of these manufacturers – the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company, and the Singer Manufacturing Company – depended on a shuttle and bobbin for forming the stitch made by their machines. This meant that when the thread on the bobbin ran out, the machine had to be stopped so that a filled bobbin could be inserted. In 1851, William O. Grover, a Boston tailor, patented his double chain stitch machine, designed to draw the thread directly from spools or cones, eliminating the necessity for re-threading the bobbin. This double-chain stitch was known as the "Grover & Baker" Stitch. 1881 witnessed the formation of another company which was to greatly influence the course of machine sewing. In that year, William S. North, Jasper W. Cory, and Lorenze Muther formed the Union Bag Machine Company (later Union Special Machine Company) for the production of a bag seaming machine. Recognizing the desirability of machines designed especially for given operations, they began introducing equipment into other fields, using a refinement of the Grover and Baker stitch, known as the "double-locked" stitch. This found ready acceptance in many places because it eliminated the use of bobbins necessary in producing the lock stitch. Union Special developed a number of the types of stitches now·in common use and many variations of the seams that were produced with these stitches. They gave to the industry machine attachments and accessories which reduced the length of specific sewing operations from a day's work to a matter of minutes. By 1900, special machines for specific operations were universally used. For the next thirty years, there was little improvement in the types of machines already in use, most of the effort being devoted to the creation of new types. By 1930, a machine had been produced for nearly every sewing operation. The beginning of the U.S. depression brought a demand for improved machines that could produce better merchandise at a lower cost. In answer to this, the sewing machinery industry developed refined and improved high-speed machinery in common use today.
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