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Sewing Machine Attachments & Parts
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Like all old things, antique sewing machines are often in need of repair, so vintage parts and accessories are essential to keeping them functioning in tip-top shape. Most older model sewing machines also require tools known as attachments to...
Like all old things, antique sewing machines are often in need of repair, so vintage parts and accessories are essential to keeping them functioning in tip-top shape. Most older model sewing machines also require tools known as attachments to execute techniques more complicated than a basic straight stitch. In fact, ever since the first factory-made sewing machines hit store shelves, manufacturers have had to provide ways to modify their machines for a variety of sewing-specific needs, as well as repair or replace broken parts.
The earliest known sewing machines, like the invention patented by French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier, actually attempted to recreate the hand-sewn stitch, rather than develop novel stitches better adapted to mechanization. However, later versions like those by Walter Hunt and Elias Howe sewed using a lock stitch with an upper thread (from the needle) and lower thread (from the bobbin).
Though this was a great improvement, these devices were still made individually by hand, meaning they couldn’t use interchangeable parts. During the mid-19th century, these handmade sewing machines were very costly—at around $125 when average family income was $500 a year—and required skilled technicians to fix in case of a breakdown.
In 1851, Isaac Singer developed his first sewing machine prototype in the shop of Orson Phelps, who manufactured other mechanical devices. With help from his business partner, Edward Clark, Singer began outselling competitors, though Singer’s machines still didn’t utilize standardized parts, meaning production and repair were very slow processes. Even on early Singer models that appear identical, their antique parts often have small size differences such that their workings are not interchangeable.
At the same time, the company was mired in ongoing fights over the patents for various parts of the mechanized sewing-machine. So in 1856, four sewing-machine companies—Howe, Grover & Baker, Singer, and Wheeler & Wilson—formed the first U.S. patent pool to protect their different innovations and end these litigation battles. Known as the Sewing Machine Combination, this grouping of nine patents allowed these businesses to act as a monopoly that charged royalties to competitors. (When the patents finally lapsed in 1877, prices for sewing machines dropped and the number of new manufacturers rose sharply.)
Meanwhile, in 1857, the I. M. Singer Company had finished building a more modern factory that would rely on mass-produced parts to speed assembly. The shift toward mass production also meant that more families would be able to afford sewing machines, and damaged parts could be replaced much more easily.
As sewing machines began to replace hand-sewing, the devices needed further flexibility, including ways to execute unique stitching and other seamstress needs. Entrepreneurs like H.C. Goodrich jumped into the void to develop attachments that would modify existing machines. By the 1880s, Goodrich was the world’s largest producer of sewing-machine attachments, which included its best-selling tuckmarker, a tool first designed for Willcox & Gibbs machines that created an indented line in the fabric to help sew evenly spaced tucks or pleats. Some companies produced attachments in several styles to work with most major machines, like the Empress Embroiderer, while others were branded by the specific company they were intended for, such as the Sackett Manufacturing Company’s Peerless Buttonholer, which was marketed for the second generation of Singer’s Vibrating Shuttle Sewing Machines (known as VS-2).
In 1888, Singer employee John M. Griest designed a rectangular wooden “style box” fitted with several accessories meant for Singer’s treadle machines. Patented the following year, Griest’s kit became known as the Singer puzzle box because it unfolded to lay flat and display each of its sewing tools. He eventually founded the Greist Manufacturing Company (using an altered spelling of Griest’s last name), and went on to produce many other attachment kits for sewing-machine companies like Morse and White.
By the early 20th century, many sewing machines included a selection of common attachments, like the kits packaged with the Standard’s Sewhandy or Singer’s Featherweight models. These companies also offered individual attachments to help execute particular stitches or tailoring techniques, such as hemming or embroidery.
Common attachments sold by major manufacturers like Greist and Singer include cloth guides, edge stitchers, presser feet, cording feet, shirring or gathering feet, zipper feet, zigzaggers, bias binders, buttonholers, darning or embroidery feet, hemmers, quilters, tuckers, and rufflers. Other vintage sewing-machine accessories include bobbin cases, oil cans, tape measures, shuttles, stilettos, hand-crank pinkers, scissors, tracing wheels, screwdrivers, fabric grippers, seam rippers, and, of course, needles.
Some attachments were more unique, such as the 1930s-era Singercraft Guide, a flat metal guide that allowed one to create rugs or fringe by sewing over pieces of yarn, lace, or even old fabric scraps, or the Style-O-Matic, a foot attachment capable of performing several specific stitching techniques. Today, beyond the antique attachments made by prolific companies like Greist and Singer, popular vintage sewing-machine accessories also include those manufactured by Atlas, Bernina, Elna, Husqvarna, Janome, Kenmore, Morse, Necchi, and Pfaff.
Continue readingLike all old things, antique sewing machines are often in need of repair, so vintage parts and accessories are essential to keeping them functioning in tip-top shape. Most older model sewing machines also require tools known as attachments to execute techniques more complicated than a basic straight stitch. In fact, ever since the first factory-made sewing machines hit store shelves, manufacturers have had to provide ways to modify their machines for a variety of sewing-specific needs, as well as repair or replace broken parts.
The earliest known sewing machines, like the invention patented by French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier, actually attempted to recreate the hand-sewn stitch, rather than develop novel stitches better adapted to mechanization. However, later versions like those by Walter Hunt and Elias Howe sewed using a lock stitch with an upper thread (from the needle) and lower thread (from the bobbin).
Though this was a great improvement, these devices were still made individually by hand, meaning they couldn’t use interchangeable parts. During the mid-19th century, these handmade sewing machines were very costly—at around $125 when average family income was $500 a year—and required skilled technicians to fix in case of a breakdown.
In 1851, Isaac Singer developed his first sewing machine prototype in the shop of Orson Phelps, who manufactured other mechanical devices. With help from his business partner, Edward Clark, Singer began outselling competitors, though Singer’s machines still didn’t utilize standardized parts, meaning production and repair were very slow processes. Even on early Singer models that appear identical, their antique parts often have small size differences such that their workings are not interchangeable.
At the same time, the company was mired in ongoing fights over the patents for various parts of the mechanized sewing-machine. So in 1856, four sewing-machine companies—Howe, Grover & Baker, Singer, and Wheeler &...
Like all old things, antique sewing machines are often in need of repair, so vintage parts and accessories are essential to keeping them functioning in tip-top shape. Most older model sewing machines also require tools known as attachments to execute techniques more complicated than a basic straight stitch. In fact, ever since the first factory-made sewing machines hit store shelves, manufacturers have had to provide ways to modify their machines for a variety of sewing-specific needs, as well as repair or replace broken parts.
The earliest known sewing machines, like the invention patented by French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier, actually attempted to recreate the hand-sewn stitch, rather than develop novel stitches better adapted to mechanization. However, later versions like those by Walter Hunt and Elias Howe sewed using a lock stitch with an upper thread (from the needle) and lower thread (from the bobbin).
Though this was a great improvement, these devices were still made individually by hand, meaning they couldn’t use interchangeable parts. During the mid-19th century, these handmade sewing machines were very costly—at around $125 when average family income was $500 a year—and required skilled technicians to fix in case of a breakdown.
In 1851, Isaac Singer developed his first sewing machine prototype in the shop of Orson Phelps, who manufactured other mechanical devices. With help from his business partner, Edward Clark, Singer began outselling competitors, though Singer’s machines still didn’t utilize standardized parts, meaning production and repair were very slow processes. Even on early Singer models that appear identical, their antique parts often have small size differences such that their workings are not interchangeable.
At the same time, the company was mired in ongoing fights over the patents for various parts of the mechanized sewing-machine. So in 1856, four sewing-machine companies—Howe, Grover & Baker, Singer, and Wheeler & Wilson—formed the first U.S. patent pool to protect their different innovations and end these litigation battles. Known as the Sewing Machine Combination, this grouping of nine patents allowed these businesses to act as a monopoly that charged royalties to competitors. (When the patents finally lapsed in 1877, prices for sewing machines dropped and the number of new manufacturers rose sharply.)
Meanwhile, in 1857, the I. M. Singer Company had finished building a more modern factory that would rely on mass-produced parts to speed assembly. The shift toward mass production also meant that more families would be able to afford sewing machines, and damaged parts could be replaced much more easily.
As sewing machines began to replace hand-sewing, the devices needed further flexibility, including ways to execute unique stitching and other seamstress needs. Entrepreneurs like H.C. Goodrich jumped into the void to develop attachments that would modify existing machines. By the 1880s, Goodrich was the world’s largest producer of sewing-machine attachments, which included its best-selling tuckmarker, a tool first designed for Willcox & Gibbs machines that created an indented line in the fabric to help sew evenly spaced tucks or pleats. Some companies produced attachments in several styles to work with most major machines, like the Empress Embroiderer, while others were branded by the specific company they were intended for, such as the Sackett Manufacturing Company’s Peerless Buttonholer, which was marketed for the second generation of Singer’s Vibrating Shuttle Sewing Machines (known as VS-2).
In 1888, Singer employee John M. Griest designed a rectangular wooden “style box” fitted with several accessories meant for Singer’s treadle machines. Patented the following year, Griest’s kit became known as the Singer puzzle box because it unfolded to lay flat and display each of its sewing tools. He eventually founded the Greist Manufacturing Company (using an altered spelling of Griest’s last name), and went on to produce many other attachment kits for sewing-machine companies like Morse and White.
By the early 20th century, many sewing machines included a selection of common attachments, like the kits packaged with the Standard’s Sewhandy or Singer’s Featherweight models. These companies also offered individual attachments to help execute particular stitches or tailoring techniques, such as hemming or embroidery.
Common attachments sold by major manufacturers like Greist and Singer include cloth guides, edge stitchers, presser feet, cording feet, shirring or gathering feet, zipper feet, zigzaggers, bias binders, buttonholers, darning or embroidery feet, hemmers, quilters, tuckers, and rufflers. Other vintage sewing-machine accessories include bobbin cases, oil cans, tape measures, shuttles, stilettos, hand-crank pinkers, scissors, tracing wheels, screwdrivers, fabric grippers, seam rippers, and, of course, needles.
Some attachments were more unique, such as the 1930s-era Singercraft Guide, a flat metal guide that allowed one to create rugs or fringe by sewing over pieces of yarn, lace, or even old fabric scraps, or the Style-O-Matic, a foot attachment capable of performing several specific stitching techniques. Today, beyond the antique attachments made by prolific companies like Greist and Singer, popular vintage sewing-machine accessories also include those manufactured by Atlas, Bernina, Elna, Husqvarna, Janome, Kenmore, Morse, Necchi, and Pfaff.
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