Humanshavesewnbyhandforthousandsofyears.Itwassaidthatthefirstthreadwasmadefromanimalmuscleandsinew(腱).Andtheearliestneedlesweremadefrombones.Sincethoseearlydays,manypeoplehavebeeninvolvedintheprocessofdevelopingamachinethatcoulddothesamethingmorequicklyandwithgreaterefficiency.

CharlesWiesenthal,whowasborninGermany,designedandreceivedapatentonadouble-pointedneedlethateliminatedtheneedtoturntheneedlearoundwitheachstitch(缝合)inEnglandin1755.Otherinventorsofthattimetriedtodevelopafunctionalsewingmachine,buteachdesignhadatleastoneseriousimperfection.[来源:学,科FrenchmanBarthelemyThimonnierfinallyengineeredamachinethatreallyworked.However,hewasnearlykilledbyagroupofangrytailorswhentheyburneddownhisgarmentfactory.Theyfearedthattheywouldlosetheirjobstothemachine.

AmericaninventorEliasHowe,bornonJuly9,1819,wasawardedapatentforamethodofsewingthatusedthreadfromtwodifferentsources.Howe’smachinehadaneedlewithaneyeatthepoint,anditusedthetwothreadstomakeaspecialstitchcalledalockstitch.However,HowefaceddifficultyinfindingbuyersforhismachinesinAmerica.Infrustration,hetraveledtoEnglandtotrytosellhisinventionthere.Whenhefinallyreturnedhome,hefoundthatdozensofmanufacturerswereadaptinghisdiscoveryforuseintheirownsewingmachines.

IsaacSinger,anotherAmericaninventor,wasalsoamanufacturerwhomadeimprovementstothedesignofsewingmachines.Heinventedanup-and-down-motionmechanismthatreplacedtheside-to-sidemachines.Healsodevelopedafoottreadle(脚踏板)topowerhismachine.Thisimprovementleftthesewer’shandsfree.Undoubtedly,itwasahugeimprovementofthehand-crankedmachineofthepast.SoontheSingersewingmachineachievedmorefamethantheothersforitwasmorepractical,itcouldbeadaptedtohomeuseanditcouldbeboughtonhire-purchase.TheSingersewingmachinebecamethefirsthomeappliance,andtheSingercompanybecameoneofthefirstAmericanmultinationals.

However,SingerusedthesamemethodtocreatealockstitchthatHowehadalreadypatented.Asaresult,Howeaccusedhimofpatentinfringement（侵犯）.Ofcourse,EliasHowewonthecou