The genesis of industrial contract sewing traces its roots to those foundational people who were searching for ways to make sewing accessible to the masses and, by extension, build a more lucrative industry. While inventors such as Elias Howe and Isaac Merritt Singer may not be directly involved in the advent of the initial version of the sewing machine, both men played a significant part in improving the sewing machine and shaping the landscape of industrial contract sewing.
In 1857, with the aid of a mass production facility in New York, Singer was able to put the first marketable sewing machine for home use with movable parts. Before that point, both Singer and Howe made significant improvements to the sewing machine that reduced its size and increased its speed.
After overhearing a conversation between another inventor and a businessman about what a great idea such a sewing machine would be, but how difficult it was to make one, Howe decided to attempt to mechanize the movements of his wife's hands as she sewed a chain stitch.
Chain stitches are made with a single thread and loops to create loops.
After watching her and making several failed attempts to duplicate what he saw, Howe concluded that although he could not replicate the stitch he saw his wife using, he could add a second thread to lock the stitches together, creating the lock stitch. In September of 1846, Howe took out a patent for his revolutionary invention.
In 1850, Singer made his improvements to the sewing machine when his boss asked him to fix a Lecrow and Blodgett sewing machine. Not only did he fix it, but Singer also added a suspended arm and encased the needle within a horizontal bar, making the machine the first version that could sew continuously on any part of an object. Singer's design also included a presser foot, enabling an unprecedented speed of 900 stitches a minute. As a result of Singer applying for a patent on his version of the sewing machine, Howe sued him for patent infringement and won. Undeterred by the legal issue, Singer nevertheless produced his machine, striking up a partnership with investor Edward Clark, I.M. Singer and Company was born, paving the way for the first mass production of the sewing machine.
