A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the invention of the first sewing machine, generally considered to have been the work of Englishman Thomas Saint in 1790, the sewing machine has greatly improved the efficiency and productivity of the clothing industry.
Diagram of a modern sewing machine
Newton Wilson's copy of Saint's sewing machine
An 1880 hand-cranked machine from the Wheeler and Wilson Company
Sewing Machine from the Everyday Collection of the Museu da Capitania de Ilhéus
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed fur and leather clothing using bone, antler or ivory sewing-needles and "thread" made of various animal body parts including sinew, catgut, and veins.
Sewing Fisherman's Wife by Anna Ancher, 1890
Seated woman sewing a kimono, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, in the early 19th century. Different cultures have developed diverse sewing techniques, from methods of cutting fabric to types of stitches.
A sewing bird or sewing clamp provides a "third hand" to hold fabric taut. Watercolor by Frank McEntee, National Gallery of Art, Index of American Design.
Early 20th century sewing in Detroit, Michigan