Sewing machine

A machine that uses a needle and thread to join fabric or other materials with stitches. Its mechanisms form stitches rapidly and consistently, by hand power, a motor, or an automated system.

Lockstitch: A sewing stitch formed by interlocking an upper thread with a lower bobbin thread. The lockstitch is the standard stitch made by many domestic sewing machines.
Elias Howe: An American inventor whose 1846 sewing-machine patent described a lockstitch mechanism. Howe's patented mechanism became central to early sewing-machine design and patent litigation.
Overlock sewing machine: A machine that sews over fabric edges with multiple threads to form seams and prevent fraying. Overlock machines finish raw edges quickly, a task ordinary straight-stitch machines handle less efficiently.
Ready-to-wear: Clothing manufactured in standardized sizes for sale without individual tailoring. Sewing machines helped make factory-produced clothing faster and cheaper to manufacture.
Chain stitch: A stitch formed from loops of thread, with each loop catching the next. Some machines use chain stitches instead of a bobbin-based lockstitch.
Isaac Singer: An American inventor and businessman who helped popularize practical sewing machines in the 1850s. Singer combined design improvements with manufacturing and sales strategies that expanded adoption.
Industrial sewing machine: A sewing machine designed for sustained production, often specialized for a particular stitch or material. Factory machines trade versatility for speed, durability, and task-specific performance.
Sweatshop: A workplace with low wages and poor or exploitative labor conditions, often in garment production. Machine-based garment production expanded output while leaving labor conditions contested.
Shuttle (weaving): A device that carries thread through a shed in weaving or through a loop in some sewing mechanisms. Early sewing machines used shuttles to carry the lower thread through the needle-thread loop.
Walter Hunt: An American inventor who developed an early lockstitch sewing machine in the 1830s. Hunt's machine demonstrated a lockstitch design before Howe's patent, though he did not secure a patent for it.

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