“The chain stitch machine” One of the first versions of the sewing machine.
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A once standard version of the sewing machine that was popular for many years during the early period of the sewing machine is a fascinating way of solving the issue that hand sewing presents aka having to pull the needle all the way out of the fabric and flipping it back to continue the stitch creates.
The double sided needle was created in 1755 by a German inventor named Charles Fredrick Wiesenthal. At the time its main goal was to solve the issue above though not very useful as the eye of the needle had moved which ironically made the needle obsolete like saying I hate you to your mother who just sold you to One Direction. If we fast-and-furious forward to the year 1790 a man named Thomas Saint drew up patents for a sewing machine that intriguingly followed the same design as the double sided needle. The eye of the needle was now at the bottom near the pointy end (don’t tell Tara, the flames are getting to her) Unfortunately there is no evidence that he created physical versions of this machine because he’s a prep but the idea was planted.
Almost 100 years later two men named James Gibbs and Charles Raymond filed and received patents at basically the exact same time, both for their own versions of the chain stitch machine. The chain stitch was more or less the only successful stitch that a sewing machine could perform so when these respective machines came onto the market everybody clapped. The two patents had their own ways of creating a chain stitch. First is the one created by Charles Raymond, arguably the more boring option of the two mainly due to its uncircular motion that isn’t satisfying at all. His design used a hook that would move back and forth and at just the right time, would catch the extending thread and hold onto it with the same grip the once-ler had on tumblr back in 2014, thus creating a loop for the next needle pass to enter and so on. Nothing special. Boo tomatoes.
The Wilcox and Gibbs machine however is by far more fascinating and entirely satisfying like watching your three weed smoking girlfriends who do in fact smoke weed hit a weed cigarette that’s called a bunt. The way this machine worked was interesting in its own right obviously because it’s better than the other version. The Wilcox and Gibbs patent used a rotating hook that was machined just right to spin at the perfect time, lean forwards, put its alabastered hand in the threads, pull and hold it long enough to create a loop then let go creating the stitch. These were wonder machines with the capability to achieve up to 30 stitches per inch (more than John Greene) a massive feat at the time.
Not only were they able to create a plethora of stitches, but they were also incredibly strong stitches. These absolute beasts could sew an entire seam and need no back stitching what-so-ever they were just that powerful.
In 1875 Wilcox and Gibbs added automatic tensioning (ATS) to their machines allowing for better quality and stronger stitches. One thing that gross nasty lock stitch machines have about chain stitch machines is their tensioning ability that created friction, basically keeping the treads from unraveling themselves like a passenger on the down with cis bus. The automatic tensioning system of the Wilcox and Gibbs machines allowed for the same thing to happen. The ATS allowed for the thread to receive the friction it needed to be able to reliably hold itself in place, thus preventing unraveling and eliminating the need for a back stitch.
By the year 1867 These wonder machines were being produced 10 thousand a year and by the addition of the ATS, up to 12 or 13 thousand were leaving the factories. More than the amount of Y/N’s sold to Harry styles or One Direction in 2014. The main selling factor, besides its magical abilities, was how quiet these pieces of muppet joker fan art were. They were silent, like a comment from the user pizza. Even newer machines from the 1890’s don’t compare to the size and silence of the machines of Wilcox and Gibbs from 1875 and not only that but they were small as well. Portable if that was really a thing back then but I digress, Compared to a singer from 1894 these machines were tiny; tools more so than actual machines. They took up much less space on a desk or table and could be moved with greater ease as well.
The greatest feat of these machines was the fact that they achieved all of this using one singular thread. With how chain stitch machines work, instead of gross lock stick machines that use two threads (one through the needle and one in the bobbin or shuttle) a chain stitch uses just the main thread. As explained earlier there is no need for a second thread as the tension is created using the ATS and the looper (hook). No dealing with your bobbin running out halfway through a structural seam that has taken you a good 45 minutes because your needles keep breaking. No having to wind up your bobbins before you sew and fiddling with them because the casing isn’t going in right. Yes it all happened with one thread and one thread only and still created some immensely strong stitches all while being quieter than a Dash-con keynote and smaller than Y/N’s entire height head to toe. They were truly all benefit and no drawback; the Alexandria’s genesis of the sewing world if you will. A masterpiece of Victorian engineering, a time before planned obsolescence and the awe inspiring unfinished tale of Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way.
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