The Invention of Sewing Machine Essay Example

“I often heard (Elias Howe) say that he worked 14 years to get up that sewing machine”. () Back in the 1800s, everything was hand stitched, and this was a long and laborious task. Elias Howe’s sewing machine was a huge change in the lives of people living in the Industrial Revolution. It functioned by putting a thread around the wheel, then this thread was put through a tube in and by pushing the pedal the needle went inside the cloth, making the thread go through as well, creating the lockstitch. This was one of the many inventions that made the production during the Industrial Revolution much quicker and in much better quality. Today this is the everyday machine that has been improved and changed to have many other features, but without Elias Howe’s invention, none of that would have been possible. 

“[Elias] Howe claims he saw the answer to the needle problem in a dream, in which he saw spear tips with holes in the points. He quickly revamped his design to include a needle in which the thread entered in the tip”. (“Elias Howe: Inventions & Quotes”)  Before the modern-day Sewing Machine the Lockstitch Sewing Machine by Elias Howe was one of the many revolutionary inventions that were invented in the Industrial times. Rather than wasting their time hand stitching clothes, that time could be spent to produce in much greater numbers and more effectively. Elias Howe’s invention consisted of a needle being pierced into cloth or fabric and a loop was formed in the thread, then a shuttle wove a second thread that passed through making a loop and a stitch. This made the production of fabric much quicker, meaning that not as many people had to work laboriously for a long time with no progress made. “By 1900, sewing machines were making not only clothing but awnings, tents, sails, cloth bags, book bindings and book manufacture, flags, and banners, pocketbooks, trunks, valises, saddlery, harnesses, mattresses, umbrellas, linens, rubber belting” (Innovation in Cambridge”). 

A good modern day technology based off of Elias Howe’s Sewing machine is the JUKI MO-6714S Industrial 4-Thread Overlock Sewing Machine (“JUKI”). This machine, though it resembles Howe’s invention, has many features making it much more improved. It’s price averages to a little more than 2,000 dollars. Though this machine is rather expensive, it’s price sums up its value. It is much more durable and its overall quality is much better. Elias Howe’s machine required a person pedaling so it would work, but the JUKI is done automatically without any manual assistance. This machine works quickly and productively making the manufacturing of textile much quicker. It stitches at a speed of 7000 stitches/minute quicker than how a vintage sewing machine would sew. Elias Howe’s invention was made of iron, which made the machine heavy. The material would wear off easily unless it was cleaned regularly and thoroughly.  The plastic in Modern-day sewing machines are not heavy and do not dirty easily. 

Elias Howe was not the only inventor who thought of the sewing machine, but he was the only one who successfully managed to make this machine. This also leads to the invention of the modern sewing machine.

The  Elias Howe’s goal was to make a sewing machine capable of making a lock stitch...