The Revolution of the Sewing Machine and its Global Affect to

the World in Various Living Aspects/Perspectives

Rachel Amabel Lianto

Individual Societies 9
Sekolah Pelita Harapan International
Sentul City
20.11.14

Part I
Introduction

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For this project, I have chosen to focus on the revolution of sewing machines. To be
specific, how it globally affected the world in various living aspects/perspectives. I also
wanted to focus on the subtopic on how it affected clothing industries back then and today. I
chose this topic because I wanted to explore and broaden my knowledge on the history of
clothing and what it was like back then when everything was expensive and hard to buy. With
the knowledge gained, I want to share it with my fellow peers and teachers about my research
regarding the topic. With the research I have conducted, I hope that my fellow peers and
teachers will be able to appreciate the clothes they wear today more. As of the mishaps
experienced by the people who lived in the Industrial Revolution just so they could be able to
wear proper clothing.
Area of Interaction
For my IR (Industrial Revolution) project, I have chosen to work with Human
Ingenuity as my Area of Interaction. I have chosen to work with that specific AOI because I
want to explore the causes and outcomes of how the sewing machine affected everyone in the
world regarding about how affordable clothing has become, the consistency and the quality
brought by the sewing machine and also users. However, I want to also deeply investigate in
how the sewing machine reduced the price of clothing into an affordable price for everyone
else; both rich and poor. I want to also, again, focus on how it was able to both, negatively
and positively impact everyone else.

Specific Topic
Researching about how the revolution of sewing machines globally affect the world in
various living aspects/perspectives allowed me to have the opportunity to realize the
essentials of life back then and today. I have chosen to focus on the aspects of economy,
work, well-being, and health. I decided to focus on these four aspects of life because I

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honestly believe that these were the aspects of life that were affected the most by the
revolution of the invention itself; the sewing machine. Because of the revolution of sewing
machines, clothes became more affordable and the consistency and the quality brought by the
sewing machine shows great product towards the customers. Along with my specific topic,
my subtopic is the after affect of the revolution from the invention for clothing manufacturing
industries back then and today.
Inquiry Question
To be able to smoothly go through the process of finishing the project, I have chosen
to make inquiry questions as a guide. Out of all the inquiry questions I made, I chose to use:
How

did

the

sewing

machine

globally

affect

the

world

in

various

living

aspects/perspectives? I chose this inquiry question because I think it fits best to be guidance
in the process of creating my product and also conducting my research. It is also the most
helpful and useful inquiry question, as it will allow me to explore knowledge I did not know
about before and also dig deeper into finding information that might and will be useful to my
research, final product, and myself. To be able to back up my main inquiry question, I have
chose to also have a sub-inquiry question because I not only want to focus on one topic, but
also various topics as it will help back up my research. The sub-inquiry question that I have
chosen to work with is: How did the revolution affect clothing companies in terms of
manufacturing and working hors for the workers who sew the clothing?
Research about the History of Sewing Machines
Before the sewing machine was invented, clothing was made by hand. Families sewed
what they wore; pants, skirts, shirts, dresses. Their clothing was all made using a needle and a
thread. However, a man changed the lives of many through his first ever-practical sewing
machine. A man named Elias Howe created the sewing machine in the year of 1846. Elias
Howe was born in July 10, 1819 in Spencer, Massachusetts. Because of his invention,

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clothing was easily made back then and today as well. Families no longer spent too much
time on hand sewing their clothes and they were able to make their clothes at a quicker pace
and spent much less time like they did if they hand sewn them.
His sole purpose into creating a practical sewing machine was to help his family go
through their financial struggles. Before he chose to make his invention, the practical sewing
machine, he was a worker in a machinists shop. With only earning 9 dollars a week and with
his wife, Elizabeth, mending and making clothes by hand, they could hardly fulfill his
familys daily needs. Because he was also in the brink of becoming broke and homeless, he
decided that he wanted to be able create a proper mechanical sewing machine. With the help
of master craftsman, Ari Davis, he was able to gain engineering skills that helped him to
become one of the most innovative and wealthiest men in America (year 1938).
After almost 8 years, September 10th, 1946, he officially patented his first ever
mechanically practical sewing machine. After having to try to make his invention fully
function, it took him over 40 prototypes to make sure that his invention would be able to
function properly. There were other inventors who jealous of him because he was the only
person who was able to make a fully functional lock-stich sewing machine. His lock-stich
sewing machine was bale to make 250-300 stiches per minute and this hand the power of 5hand seamstress. His machine was also able to sew 250-300 stiches (like mentioned before),
without breaking a thread. To prove that his machine was a really good invention to the other
inventors, he made a homemade suit for himself and wore it till the suit was worn out. Yet,
even if the suit was worn out and the cloth had perished, it still showed that the stitchings
been strong. However, he struggled with imitators who refused to pay for using his designs in
creating their own sewing machine. He filed a lawsuit against them and won the case in 1856.
After officially patenting his invention, no one dared to buy the machine. Elias sold
his machine at a price hat was too high to be bargained with at that time. He sold his machine

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for $300 in which was almost equal to a years wages if the weekly wage was about $5-10. It
was a struggle for him because it took him months to finish a single machine. His good friend
George Fisher spent almost $2000 in supporting and paying for Elias and his family. With the
amount of Georges wealth decreasing day by day, he had to ask Elias and his family to leave.
Finding no hope in America, Elias decided to travel to England in hopes of finding a possible
buyer and supplier for his machine. However, his trip to England was just a waste of time as
it resulted him in once again, great disappointment. However, when he returned to America,
he was shocked to find out that numerous clothing companies were using his patents.

Part II
How was the revolution of sewing machines needed?
The revolution of the sewing machine was honestly desperately needed because
without it, thousands of people wouldn't be able to feel the comfort of being able to wear
clothes without having to pay so much money for it. Without the revolution, only the rich
would be able to afford clothes and the poor wouldnt be able to be clothed. Without the
revolution, people wouldnt be able to dress themselves properly. However, in the world
today, to be able to get a job and work, one of the important thing is how your present
yourself, meaning how you dress yourself, etc. The revolution is desperately needed because
without it, a lot of people would still be suffering in trying to be able to go through daily life.
As an example, Elias decided to create the lock-stich sewing machine because he wanted to
be able to fully support and provide for his family as they where about to be financially
broke. This example also makes us realize that without it, we wouldnt be able to feel the
comfort of wearing clothes without spending tons of money for it. Nor will we be able to go
through daily life without financial struggles.
What enabled the coming of the global affect to the world and its various living aspects?

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The coming of the global affect to the world and its various living aspects was
enabled by of course, the revolution of the sewing machine. The global affect to the world
and its various living aspects was resulted through the process of how people started to
recognize the invention. Thus, resulting a breakthrough throughout the world as it resulted
huge impacts in various aspects.
However, as known, it is enabled by the invention itself. Elias Howe was the first
person to ever create a properly functioning mechanical lock-stich machine and because of
this it resulted both negative and positive impacts to the world back then and today.
What immediate consequences were resulted? (Problem)
After the revolution of the sewing machine happened,
What long-term consequences did it face? (Resolution)
What

were

the

effects

in

other

aspects

of

life/industry/political/population/health/education/etc?
In the aspect of industry, manufacturing the clothes became much easier because it
took less time and it also decreased the work hours of the workers there. For industries, they
also had to pay less for each workers salary as for their working hours. The revolution of the
sewing machine greatly impacted many clothing industries as it allowed them to produce
consistent quality and also resulted a big quantity in product as in clothes.
How did the revolution of sewing machines affect society for different classes?
After researching about the topic, I found out the revolution of sewing machines
greatly impacted the low class people back then. As we all know, clothes back then were very
expensive, hard to obtain, and also time consuming. They were very expensive because of
how much time they took to make it and because it was also hand sewn. They were also
expensive because of the materials used to make the clothing itself. They were hard to obtain
because back then, people were not able to leisurely just buy clothes like how people do

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today. With a really small wage, they were automatically obliged to hand sew and mend their
own clothes because they simply could not buy it. To lower class people, clothes were like
treasures as it represented them and it also made them look better and they were then given
the opportunity to finally dress better.
To middle and high class people, the affect from the revolution of the sewing machine
did not greatly impacted them as to how it did to the lower class people. To middle class
people, they could easily buy clothes because it was rarely to hear that they were
experiencing financial struggles. To high classed people especially, clothes werent treasures.
They were merely things they needed. Clothes to them however, were a social representation
of their status and their wealth. Fancy clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. were what represented
them.
Part III
The Product
For this project, I have chosen to do a stop-motion and draw/write-it-yourself-on-awhite-board style movie. I have chosen to do this because I personally thin that by using the
stop motion technique, it will create a more interesting look to the video. By using and
implementing both techniques to the movie, it will not only interest the audience, but also
draw them do know more about what the movie is really all about. I have also chosen use
both techniques because personally, I think that having already written text supported by a
software is mainstream, sorry to say.
Here in the product, I used stop-motion technique only for the introduction and a few
parts of the movie because I wanted to create a combination from both techniques. A huge
part of the movie is mainly the draw-or-write-it-on-white-board style because I felt that it is
the best way to conduct my information. For the movie, I have chosen not to do voice-overs
because I do not want to distract the audience. As I will retime each video in the movie to

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make it faster, it thought it was best not to do the voice over because then the audience will
be distracted and will not be able to focus information portrayed in the movie. I personalized
the project by adding some things of my own style in doing things to create a vibe that will
attract the audience into learning more about the topic I will focusing on.
Plans
My plan was to first do preliminary research and dig deeper for information regarding
my information because I wasn't to share everything I know regarding my topic. After that, I
want to simply construct a brief list or steps on what I have to prepare into making my movie.
The first step I did was to gather materials I need. The materials I used to making this movie
is with paper, board markers, poster paper, camera, tripod, and soft wares that helped me into
combining all the videos and elements into one for creating a movie. After that, I will start to
videotape or take picture by picture for every frame that I need according to the structure of
the movie. After videotaping all the videos I need, I synced them into my laptop and to the
software. Last but not least, creating and editing the videos into one movie with the addition
of audio to later create a good vibe for the audience as they watch the video.
Process implemented
For this project, I started from the bottom. I first started with research, preparing the
materials, videotaping, syncing the files into the laptop, creating and finally editing the
movie. However, before I started to videotape my videos, I wanted to make sure that I was
doing the right thing with the techniques that I will be using. I also did a little research on tips
on how to make it look better. I also conducted a little research on how to make the video
look better while using the draw-or-write-it-on-white-board technique.
Resources used
For this project, I used the Internet as my primary resource because I couldnt find
any book that was related to my topic. Nor did I know any experts regarding this field. So I

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decided to rely on the Internet regarding my topic. At some point of the project, I thought that
relying on the Internet was a bad choice because there were various of sources that repeated
the exact same thing over and over again.
Techniques applied
Like mentioned above, I chose to use the techniques of stop motion and draw-orwrite-it-on-white-board style because I personally think its the best way into being able to
interact with the audience. I aimed to be able to perfectly combine the two techniques into
being able to let the audience have fun but at the same time discover new information.
Challenges and issues experienced and solved
While creating the product, I had a difficulty with my camera not being able to focus
thus you will see it later when you watch the movie. After a few attempts of trying to make
the camera focus, I figured out that the main problem was because of the lighting. The
lighting was not bright enough to be able to make the camera focus. However, the main
problem when creating this project was when I was trying to sync the videos into the laptop
and also with the fact that the format of the video wasnt compatible with Apple Inc. laptops.
First of all, my camera wasnt recognizable by the laptop thus I had to ask for help from the
Internet and I finally decided to do it with the process of using the SD card from the camera
and sync all my videos from there instead of the physical device; which is the camera.
Second of all, the format of the videos was in .mts instead of .mov. Because of that, the
videos couldnt be used with the Final Cut Pro X, the software I used to help me create and
edit the movie. Finally, I researched online and downloaded software that could help me
change all the video formats into .mov from. mts. However, the software was a free trial thus
resulting watermarks that are located in the middle of the video. I conquered all my problems
by searching for help from the Internet and also figuring everything myself.
Things learnt from topic and AOI (area of interaction)

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Overall and in conclusion, I learnt that without the revolution of the sewing machine,
I wouldnt be able to wear the clothes I wear today. I also would not been able to have the
opportunity in having the honor of presenting myself nicely to other people. As we all know,
the clothes we wear are what represents who we are and also our characters/personality. It
makes me realize that I wouldnt be able to enjoy the luxury of being able to have various
types of clothing nor feel the experience of being able to be appreciated by everyone else
through the clothes I wear because they are also a presentation of myself. It makes me
appreciate the people that went through all of this just to make the revolution happen and it
also makes me respect people who lived in the Industrial Revolution.

Works Cited
Askaroff, Alex. HISTORY OF SEWING MACHINE. Home of the Sewalot Site. Web.
Monday, October 6th, 2014. <http://www.sewalot.com/sewing_machine_history.htm>

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Askaroff, Alex. ELIAS HOWE, INVENTOR OF THE SEWING MACHINE. Home of the
Sewalot Site. Web. Monday, October 6th, 2014.
<http://www.sewalot.com/elias_howe.htm>
Bells, Mary. Elias Howe The Sewing Machine Inventors. Monday, October 6th, 2014
http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Elias_Howe.htm
Sewing Machine History - Invention of the Sewing Machine Idea Finder. Web.
Web. Monday, October 6th, 2014.
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm
Sewing Machines | Machine-History.Com Machine History. Web. Monday, October 6th,
2014. < http://www.machine-history.com/THE%20SEWING%20MACHINE>
THE STORY OF THE SEWING-MACHINE. - Its Invention Improvements Social,
Industrial and Commercial Importance. NY Times. January 7, 1860.
Web. Monday, October 6th, 2014. < http://www.nytimes.com/1860/01/07/news/storysewing-machine-its-invention-improvements-social-industrial-commercial.html>

Bibliography
1. http://www.sewalot.com/sewing_machine_history.htm
2. http://www.sewalot.com/elias_howe.htm
3. http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Elias_Howe.htm

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4. http://www.nytimes.com/1860/01/07/news/story-sewing-machine-its-invention5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

improvements-social-industrial-commercial.html
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/indrevolution/a/clothing.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/indrevolution/a/history_textile.htm
http://www.machine-history.com/THE%20SEWING%20MACHINE
http://mac-video-compatibility.over-blog.com/importing-olympus-pen-e-p3-camera-videosto-imovie

Appendix
1. Make Your Own Whiteboard Videos Video Scribe. Web.
Tuesday, November 18th, 2014. <http://www.videoscribe.co/ >
2. Askaroff, Alex. HISTORY OF SEWING MACHINE. Home of the Sewalot Site.
Web.
Monday, October 6th, 2014. <http://www.sewalot.com/sewing_machine_history.htm>

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3. Askaroff, Alex. ELIAS HOWE, INVENTOR OF THE SEWING MACHINE.
Home of the Sewalot Site. Web. Monday, October 6th, 2014.
<http://www.sewalot.com/elias_howe.htm>
4. Bells, Mary. Elias Howe The Sewing Machine Inventors. Monday, October 6th,
2014
http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Elias_Howe.htm
5. Sewing Machine History - Invention of the Sewing Machine Idea Finder. Web.
Web. Monday, October 6th, 2014.

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