Editing Sewing machine (section)

=== Market expansion ===
[[file:Thomas Saint's chain stitch.gif|thumb|Thomas Saint's chain stitch used on the first ever complete sewing machine design for leather work. An awl preceded the eye pointed needle to make a hole in preparation for the thread]]

William Jones started making sewing machines in 1859 and in 1860 formed a partnership with Thomas Chadwick. As [[Jones Sewing Machine Company|Chadwick & Jones]], they manufactured sewing machines at [[Ashton-under-Lyne]], England until 1863. Their machines used designs from Howe and Wilson produced under licence.<ref>Veteran Sewing Machines by E Brian Jewel pp. 99</ref> Thomas Chadwick later joined Bradbury & Co. William Jones opened a factory in [[Guide Bridge]], Manchester in 1869.<ref>Sewing Machines by K. R. Gilbert (1970) published for the London Science Museum pp. 12</ref> In 1893 a Jones advertising sheet claimed that this factory was the "Largest Factory in England Exclusively Making First Class Sewing Machines".<ref>Sewalot at: http://www.sewalot.com/jones_sewing_machines.htm</ref> The firm was renamed as the Jones Sewing Machine Co. Ltd and was later acquired by [[Brother Industries]] of Japan, in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brother.co.uk/g3.cfm/s_page/204540 |title=Brother UK Ltd. |access-date=2013-01-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419073315/http://www.brother.co.uk/g3.cfm/s_page/204540 |archive-date=2012-04-19 }}</ref>

Clothing manufacturers were the first sewing machine customers, and used them to produce the first [[ready-to-wear]] clothing and shoes. In the 1860s consumers began purchasing them, and the machines—ranging in price from £6 to £15 in Britain depending on features—became very common in middle-class homes. Owners were much more likely to spend free time with their machines to make and mend clothing for their families than to visit friends, and [[women's magazine]]s and household guides such as ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|Mrs Beeton's]]'' offered [[dress pattern]]s and instructions. A sewing machine could produce a man's shirt in about one hour, compared to {{frac|14|1|2}} hours by hand.<ref name="draznin2001">{{cite book | title=Victorian London's Middle-Class Housewife: What She Did All Day (#179) | publisher=Greenwood Press | author=Draznin, Yaffa Claire | year=2001 | series=Contributions in Women's Studies | location=Westport, Connecticut | pages=66–68 | isbn=0-313-31399-7}}</ref>

In 1877, the world's first [[crochet]] machine was invented and patented by [[Joseph M. Merrow]], then-president of what had started in the 1840s, as a machine shop to develop specialized machinery for the knitting operations. This crochet machine was the first production [[overlock]] sewing machine. The [[Merrow Machine Company]] went on to become one of the largest American manufacturers of overlock sewing machines and remains in the 21st century as the last American over-lock sewing machine manufacturer.

In 1885 Singer patented the [[Singer Vibrating Shuttle]] sewing machine, which used Allen B. Wilson's idea for a vibrating shuttle and was a better lockstitcher than the oscillating shuttles of the time. Millions of the machines, perhaps the world's first really practical sewing machine for domestic use, were produced until finally superseded by rotary shuttle machines in the 20th century. Sewing machines continued being made to roughly the same design—with more lavish decoration—until well into the 1900s.

The first electric machines were developed by [[Singer Corporation|Singer Sewing Co.]] and introduced in 1889.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm |title= Invention of the Sewing Machine<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2010-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124023531/http://ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm |archive-date=2010-11-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the end of the [[First World War]], Singer was offering hand, treadle and electric machines for sale. At first, the electric machines were standard machines with a motor strapped on the side, but as more homes gained power, they became more popular, and the motor was gradually introduced into the casing.