NATIONAL SEWING MACHINE DAY
Observed annually on June 13 is National Sewing Machine Day. This day honors the invention of the sewing machine. It is hard to imagine having to sew things together by hand, stitch by stitch.
Skilled cabinet-maker and English inventor, Thomas Saint, received the first patent for a design of a sewing machine in 1790. It was intended for leather and canvas, was never advertised and no evidence of it, other than his drawings, could be found. In 1874, William Newton Wilson found Saint’s drawings in the London Patent Office, made adjustments and built a working model. The London Science Museum currently owns Wilson’s model.
Walter Hunt invented the first American lockstitch sewing machine in 1832.
John Greenough patented the first sewing machine in the United States in 1842.
Industrial use of the sewing machine reduced the burden that was placed upon housewives, moving clothing production from them and seamstresses to large-scale factories. This also resulted in a decrease in production time which caused the price of clothing to drop considerably.
Today, many people are again becoming interested in the art of sewing and making their own clothing. Crafts fairs and flea markets are filled with booths full of beautiful sewing machine-made clothes and craft items.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Use #NationalSewingMachineDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
Within our research, we were unable to find the creator of National Sewing Machine Day.