Seamstresses in Palo Alto, CA

2-3 yrs ago I did a presentation on the history of the sewing machine. As a part of that presentation I typed up a shortened timeline ..... here's the part of that time line referencing just prior to 1850-and beyond. 1846 – September 10 - Elias Howe’s (1819-1867) machine is patented and Howe tried to interest tailors in his invention. He arranged a contest between his invention and some of the finest hand sewers in America. The machine won but no one was ready for mechanized sewing and after months of trying he had made no sales. He sent his brother to England with the machine in 1846 to see if he could find anyone interested enough to invest. Amasa Howe found one backer, a corset maker named William Thomas. Thomas bought the rights to the invention and brought Elias to England to develop it further. Thomas took out a British patent for the design and founded the Thomas Company, later W F Thomas & Co. Howe's machine, using an eye-pointed needle and a shuttle to form a lock-stitch, marked the beginning of the sewing machine industry. Howe initially had little success with his invention in Britain. Thomas and Howe did not work well together and eventually Elias returned to America only to find the mechanical sewing machine had caught on there and dozens of manufacturers were making them, including Singer. These all infringed upon Howe’s patents and a series of lawsuits followed. Thereafter, Howe endured long legal battles against makers including Singer, eventually receiving royalties after favorable litigation in 1856 on their machines, and becoming a rich man. 1849 - Benjamin Wilson introduced an automatic feeding system. 1851 – Isaac Merritt Singer introduced the first sewing machine scaled for home use. Singer Manufacturing Company is born 1854 - Isaac Singer patent (US No.10975) issued May 30, for the home sewing machine 1854 - Allen Wilson developed an improved reciprocating shuttle 1855 - Wilson went into business with Nathaniel Wheeler to produce a rotary hook instead of a shuttle 1856 - Patent Combine formed, consisting of Singer, Howe, Wheeler & Wilson, and Grover & Baker. 1873 - Helen Augusta Blanchard of Portland, Maine (1840-1922) patented the first zig-zag stitch machine. The zig-zag stitch better seals the edges of a seam, making a garment sturdier. She also patented 28 other inventions including a hat-sewing machine, surgical needles, and other improvements to sewing machines. 1889 - The first practical electric sewing machine introduced by the Singer Sewing Machine Co.

Emily I think you're referring to the Singer No 1 or the Jenny Lind which is the patent machine from 1851 - the first Singer machine, it was not a domestic machine it's considered an industrial. This is the one that the crate converts to the treadle mechanism, which Isaac Singer failed to patent even though there is a picture of a lady at the machine, I think Alex would agree it's only a representation and the machine was not at that time available for home use. http://www.sewalot.com/singer_history.htm

Sounds like she is reading the Jennifer Chiavarini book, Mrs Lincolns Dressmaker

No Mrs. Lincoln dressmaker is hands only. Very good book

Isaac Howe's patent is dated 1846 and there were other entrepreneurs who developed sewing machines during these early years. Howe defended his patent in court in a case that went from 1849 to 1854 so one would have to assume that other manufacturers were producing machines and profiting, otherwise there would be little point in such a lengthy court case, however household machines would not have been common at this time.

Cyndy Kitt Vogelsang, I'm not defending the author of a book I never read, just engaging in a discussion about when treadle sewing machines first existed in homes. I also hate to see any author get put down for making "mistakes" when writing a work of fiction, especially if the mistake was so minor that only treadle sewing machine collectors and historians might catch it. If the book was taking place in the 1840's I would be less lenient. I have seen plenty of mistakes in "sewing scenes" in fiction books that if I wasn't a person who sewed.... I never would have caught them. For example the book "The seamstress" while having a really good story, has so many mistakes... like for example one dull needle lasting decades despite sewing every day with it and never sharpening it? I'd still recommend it as a good story though. http://www.amazon.com/The-Seamstress-Frances-Pontes-Peebles/dp/B003A02WQ2/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1381991977&sr=8-3

Singer's first sewing machine in 1851 WAS a treadle. The packing crate became the functional but ugly treadle. I have seen pics of it many times. Alex even mentions it on his website: "Treadle stands were unknown in the 1850's and although Singer had invented this portable treadle-come packing case he missed his opportunity to patent it, silly boy. ". He has a picture of it on his site, and I have seen pictures of the packing crate treadle all over the web and in books. I have seen the 1851 patent model machine itself in person at the Smithsonian museum, but the one at the museum is missing the packing crate/treadle and was under glass, making it hard to get a really good photo ( glass causes glare). I'll post my pics from the Smithsonian museum later if anybody is curious. I read elsewhere that Singer couldn't patent the use of a treadle, since somebody else invented it prior to him, but I don't know who that was. I'd have to do a bit of research to get the name. http://www.sewalot.com/singer_through_the_ages.htm http://www.civilwarmed.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sewing-on-Singer-Machine-1860.jpg

http://www.moah.org/exhibits/virtual/sewing.html In 1851, Issac M. Singer (1811-75) patented the first rigid-arm sewing machine. Before this, all machines employed an overhanging arm that held the needle directly and vibrated with it. Singer's machine also included a table to support the cloth horizontally, instead of a feed bar; a vertical presser foot to hold the cloth down against the upward stroke of the needle, and an arm to hold the presser foot and the vertical needle-holding bar in position over the table. A real breakthrough was his invention of a foot treadle instead of a hand crank. Parts of Singer's new machine were based on Howe's work. In fact,Singer was sued by Howe for infringement of the latter's patent rights, but a compromise was reached where Singer paid a royalty. In spite of this, Singer went on to found a company that became the world's largest manufacturer of sewing machines by 1860. He was awarded 20 additional patents, spent millions of dollars advertising his machine, and initiated a system of providing service with sales. By the 1850 s, Singer sewing machines were being sold in opulent showrooms; although the $75 price was high for its time, Singer introduced the installment plan to America and sold thousands of his machines in this way. Other important inventions in the field included the rotary bobbin that was incorporated (1850) into a machine patented by the American inventor Allen Benjamin Wilson (1824-88) and the intermittent four-motion feed for advancing the material between stitches, which was part of the same patent.

Jennifer Chiavarini has a whole series of novels that feature quilters as the characters, and many take place at a modern Bed & Breakfast resort designed to attract quilters. It is a quilter's retreat where they have everything set up for quilters and have quilting classes and so forth. There are also many that dont take place at the B&B and instead go back in time and would be historical fiction, but they still feature quilters. The series is known as "The Elm Creek Quilts Series" and contains 20 books. I have read many of them, but not all. They are pretty good.