Sewing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with sowing.
For the process of combining multiple images, see image stitching.
"Sewn" redirects here. For the song, see Sewn (song).
Sewing Fishermans Wife by Anna Ancher, 1890.
Sewing[1] is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made wit
h a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising
in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric,
archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed fur and sk
in clothing using bone, antler or ivory needles and "thread" made of various ani
mal body parts including sinew, catgut, and veins.[2]
For thousands of years, all sewing was done by hand. The invention of the sewing
machine in the 19th century and the rise of computerization in the later 20th c
entury led to mass production of sewn objects, but hand sewing is still practise
d around the world. Fine hand sewing is a characteristic of high-quality tailori
ng, haute couture fashion, and custom dressmaking, and is pursued by both textil
e artists and hobbyists as a means of creative expression.
The first known use of the word sewing was in the 14th century.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Origins
1.2 Industrial Revolution
1.3 20th century and today
2 Garment construction
2.1 Elements of garment sewing
2.2 Clothing technology
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
Seated woman sewing a kimono, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, early 19th century. Different c
ultures have developed diverse sewing techniques, from methods of cutting fabric
to types of stitches.
Sewing has an ancient history estimated to begin during the Paleolithic Age.[4]
Sewing was used to stitch together animal hides for clothing and for shelter. Th
e Inuit, for example, used sinew from caribou for thread and needles made of bon
e;[5] the indigenous peoples of the American Plains and Canadian Prairies used s
ophisticated sewing methods to assemble tipi shelters.[6] Sewing was combined wi
th the weaving of plant leaves in Africa to create baskets, such as those made b
y Zulu weavers, who used thin strips of palm leaf as "thread" to stitch wider st
rips of palm leaf that had been woven into a coil.[7] The weaving of cloth from
natural fibres originated in the Middle East around 4000 BCE, and perhaps earlie
r during the Neolithic Age, and the sewing of cloth accompanied this development
.[8]
During the Middle Ages, Europeans who could afford it employed seamstresses and
tailors. Sewing for the most part was a woman's occupation, and most sewing befo
re the 19th century was practical. Clothing was an expensive investment for most
people, and women had an important role in extending the longevity of items of
clothing. Sewing was used for mending. Clothing that was faded would be turned i
nside-out so that it could continue to be worn, and sometimes had to be taken ap
art and reassembled in order to suit this purpose. Once clothing became worn or

torn, it would be taken apart and the reusable cloth sewn together into new item
s of clothing, made into quilts, or otherwise put to practical use. The many ste
ps involved in making clothing from scratch (weaving, pattern making, cutting, a
lterations, and so forth) meant that women often bartered their expertise in a p
articular skill with one another.[4] Decorative needlework such as embroidery wa
s a valued skill, and young women with the time and means would practise to buil
d their skill in this area. From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, sewing too
ls such as needles, pins and pincushions were included in the trousseaus of many
European brides.[9]
Decorative embroidery was valued in many cultures worldwide. Although most embro
idery stitches in the Western repertoire are traditionally British, Irish or Wes
tern European in origin, stitches originating in different cultures are known th
roughout the world today. Some examples are the Cretan Open Filling stitch, Roma
nian Couching or Oriental Couching, and the Japanese stitch.[10] The stitches as
sociated with embroidery spread by way of the trade routes that were active duri
ng the Middle Ages. The Silk Road brought Chinese embroidery techniques to Weste
rn Asia and Eastern Europe, while techniques originating in the Middle East spre
ad to Southern and Western Europe through Morocco and Spain.[11] European imperi
al settlements also spread embroidery and sewing techniques worldwide. However,
there are instances of sewing techniques indigenous to cultures in distant locat
ions from one another, where cross-cultural communication would have been histor
ically unlikely. For example, a method of reverse appliqu known to areas of South
America is also known to Southeast Asia.[11]
Industrial Revolution[edit]
Early 20th century sewing in Detroit, Michigan.
A woman sewing as a street vendor in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Industrial Revolution shifted the production of textiles from the household
to the mills. In the early decades of the Industrial Revolution, the machinery p
roduced whole cloth. The world's first sewing machine was patented in 1790 by Th
omas Saint.[12] By the early 1840s, other early sewing machines began to appear.
Barthlemy Thimonnier introduced a simple sewing machine in 1841 to produce milit
ary uniforms for France's army; shortly afterward, a mob of tailors broke into T
himonnier's shop and threw the machines out of the windows, believing the machin
es would put them out of work.[13] By the 1850s, Isaac Singer developed the firs
t sewing machines that could operate quickly and accurately and surpass the prod
uctivity of a seamstress or tailor sewing by hand.
While much clothing was still produced at home by female members of the family,
more and more ready-made clothes for the middle classes were being produced with
sewing machines. Textile sweatshops full of poorly paid sewing machine operator
s grew into entire business districts in large cities like London and New York C
ity. To further support the industry, piece work was done for little money by wo
men living in slums. Needlework was one of the few occupations considered accept
able for women, but it did not pay a living wage. Women doing piece work from ho
me often worked 14 hour days to earn enough to support themselves, sometimes by
renting sewing machines that they could not afford to buy.[14]
Tailors became associated with higher-end clothing during this period. In London
, this status grew out of the dandy trend of the early 19th century, when new ta
ilor shops were established around Savile Row.[15] These shops acquired a reputa
tion for sewing high-quality handmade clothing in the style of the latest Britis
h fashions, as well as more classic styles. The boutique culture of Carnaby Stre
et was absorbed by Savile Row tailors during the late 20th century, ensuring the
continued flourishing of Savile Row's businesses.
20th century and today[edit]

Bangladeshi women sewing clothes.

Sewing underwent further developments during the 20th century. As sewing machine
s became more affordable to the working class, demand for sewing patterns grew.
Women had become accustomed to seeing the latest fashions in periodicals during
the late 19th and early 20th centuries, increasing demand for sewing patterns ye
t more. American tailor and manufacturer Ebenezer Butterick met the demand with
paper patterns that could be traced and used by home sewers. The patterns, sold
in small packets, became wildly popular. Several pattern companies soon establis
hed themselves. Women's magazines also carried sewing patterns, and continued to
do so for much of the 20th century. This practice declined during the last deca
des of the 20th century, when ready-made clothing became a necessity as women jo
ined the paid workforce in larger numbers, leaving them with less time to sew, i
f indeed they had an interest. Today, the low price of ready-made clothing in sh
ops means that home sewing is confined largely to hobbyists in Western countries
.
The spread of sewing machine technology to industrialized economies around the w
orld meant the spread of Western-style sewing methods and clothing styles as wel
l. In Japan, traditional clothing was sewn together with loose chain stitches th
at were removed so that the clothing could be taken apart and the assorted piece
s laundered separately. The tight-locked stitches made by home sewing machines,
and the use of Western clothing patterns, led to a movement towards wearing West
ern-style clothing during the early 20th century.[16] Western sewing and clothin
g styles were disseminated in sub-Saharan Africa by Christian missionaries from
the 1830s onward. Indigenous cultures, such as the Zulu and Tswana, were indoctr
inated in the Western way of dress as a sign of conversion to Christianity.[17]
First Western hand sewing techniques, and later machine sewing, spread throughou
t the regions where the European colonists settled. However, a recent examinatio
n of new online learning methods demonstrated that technology can be adapted to
share knowledge of a culture's traditional sewing methods. Using self-paced onli
ne tutorials, a Malay sewing class learned how to tailor and sew a traditional m
en's Baju Kurung garment in 3 days, whereas a traditional Malay sewing class wou
ld have taken 5 days to teach the same information.[18]
Advances in industrial technology, such as the development of synthetic fibres d
uring the early 20th century, have brought profound changes to the textile indus
try as a whole. Textile industries in Western countries have declined sharply as
textile companies compete for cheaper labour in other parts of the world. Accor
ding to the U.S. Department of Labor "employment of sewers and tailors is expect
ed to experience little or no change, growing 1 percent from 2010 to 2020".[19]
It is estimated that every lost textile job in a Western country in recent years
has resulted in 1.5 jobs being created in an outsourced country such as China.[
20] Textile workers who perform tasks with sewing machines, or do detailed work
by hand, are still a vital component of the industry, however. Small-scale sewin
g is also an economic standby in many developing countries, where many people, b
oth male and female, are self-employed sewers.
Garment construction[edit]
A tailor fitting a suit in Hong Kong.
Main article: Pattern (sewing)
Before sewing together an article of clothing, a pattern is generally followed t
o construct the garment. A pattern can be quite simple; some patterns are nothin
g more than a mathematical formula that the sewer calculates based on the intend
ed wearer's measurements. Once calculated, the sewer has the measurements needed
to cut the cloth and sew the garment together. At the other end of the spectrum
are haute couture fashion designs. When a couture garment is made of unusual ma
terial, or has extreme proportions, the design may challenge the sewer's enginee
ring knowledge. Complex designs are drafted and refitted dozens of times, may ta

ke around 40 hours to develop a final pattern, and require 60 hours of cutting a

nd sewing.[21]
Most clothing today is mass-produced, and conforms to standard sizing, based on
body measurements that are intended to fit the greatest proportion of the popula
tion. However, while "standard" sizing is generally a useful guideline, it is li
ttle more than that, because there is no industry standard that is "both widely
accepted and strictly adhered to in all markets".[22]
Elements of garment sewing[edit]
Main articles: Stitch (textile arts) and Seam (sewing)
Sewers working on a simple pattern need only a few sewing tools: measuring tape,
needle, thread, cloth, and sewing shears. More complex patterns done on a sewin
g machine may only need a few more simple tools to get the job done, but there a
re an ever-growing variety of helpful sewing aids available, such as presser foo
t attachments for sewing ruffles, or hem repair glue.
When the sewer has gathered the necessary tools to tackle a pattern, there are s
everal elements of garment construction that are part of the process. Patterns w
ill specify whether to cut on the grain or a bias cut. Construction stitches inc
lude edgestitching, understitching, staystitching and topstitching;[23] seam typ
es include the plain seam, zigzag seam, flat fell seam, French seam, and many ot
hers. Supporting materials, such as interfacing, interlining or lining, or fusin
g, may be used as well, to give the fabric a more rigid or durable shape. Volume
can be added with elements such as pleats, or reduced with the use of darts.
Sewing machines are now made for a broad range of specialised sewing purposes, s
uch as quilting machines, computerized machines for embroidery, and various serg
ers for finishing raw edges of fabric.
Clothing technology[edit]
Clothing technology has evolved to a complicated science weighed against the lab
or cost making positive and negative effects across the globe. Millions of women
in Bangladesh and other developing countries have come out of poverty working a
s Sewing Machine Operators.
See also[edit]
Portal icon
Fashion portal
Embroidery stitch
Glossary of sewing terminology
Glossary of textile manufacturing
List of sewing occupations
List of sewing stitches
Needlework
Notions
Pattern (sewing)
Sewing machine
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ "Sewing". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
Jump up ^ Anawalt (2007), pp. 80 81
Jump up ^ "Sewing". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
^ Jump up to: a b Kooler, Donna (2009). Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Sewing: H
and & Machine Sewing: 12 Projects. Leisure Arts. p. 10. ISBN 9781601404565.
Jump up ^ "On Canadian Ground". The Bata Shoe Museum. Retrieved December 10, 201
2.
Jump up ^ Holley, Linda A. (2007). Tipis, Tepees, Teepees: History and Design of
the Cloth Tipi. Gibbs Smith. p. 87. ISBN 9781586855116.
Jump up ^ W. D. Hammond-Tooke, ed. (1980). The Bantu-Speaking Peoples of Souther
n Africa. Taylor & Francis. p. 119. ISBN 9780710007087.
Jump up ^ Sekhri, Seema (2011). Textbook of Fabric Science Fundamentals to Finis

hing. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788120341838.

Jump up ^ Whiting, Gertrude (1971 reprint; originally published 1928 by Columbia
University Press). Old-Time Tools & Toys of Needlework. Courier Dover Publicati
ons. pp. 150 1. ISBN 9780486225173. Check date values in: |date= (help)
Jump up ^ Webb, Mary (2006). Embroidery Stitches. Struik. pp. 155, 159, 170. ISB
N 9781770074224.
^ Jump up to: a b Leslie, Catherine Amoroso (2007). Needlework Through History:
An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. xii. ISBN 9780313335488.
Jump up ^ http://thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/national-sewing-month-2011_5
0290c5a9fbfb.jpg
Jump up ^ Carlson, Laurie M. (2003). Queen of Inventions: How the Sewing Machine
Changed the World. Millbrook Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780761327066.
Jump up ^ Perkin, Joan (1993). Victorian Women. London: John Murray (Publishers)
Ltd. pp. 189 90. ISBN 0-7195-4955-8.
Jump up ^ Valerie Steele, ed. (2010). The Berg Companion to Fashion. Berg. p. 61
8. ISBN 9781847885920.
Jump up ^ Janet Hunter and Penelope Francks, ed. (2012). The Historical Consumer
: Consumption and Everyday Life in Japan, 1850-2000. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 56 7.
ISBN 9780230273665.
Jump up ^ Cornwell, Andrea (2005). Readings in Gender in Africa. Indiana Univers
ity Press. p. 179. ISBN 9780253345172.
Jump up ^ Abdul Salam Zailan Arabee and Mansur Azmi (2005). Dan Remenyi, ed. Pro
ceedings of the 5th European Conference on e-Learning. Academic Conferences Limi
ted. pp. 18 9. ISBN 9781905305124.
Jump up ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor (April 26, 2012).
"Occupational Outlook Handbook". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved November
10, 2013.
Jump up ^ Flanagan, Mike (November 18, 2012). "The Flanarant: China's textile an
d clothing challenge in new era". just-style. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
Jump up ^ Steele, Valerie and Patricia Mears, Clare Sauro (2007). Ralph Rucci: T
he Art of Weightlessness. Yale University Press. pp. 121 2. ISBN 9780300122787.
Jump up ^ Calderin, Jay (2009). Form and Fashion. Rockport Publishers. p. 168. I
SBN 9781592535415.
Jump up ^ Baumgartel, Beth (2009). Singer Simple Sewing. Creative Publishing Int
ernational. pp. 57 8. ISBN 9781589234741.
References[edit]
Anawalt, Patricia Rieff (2007). The Worldwide History of Dress. Thames & Hudson.
ISBN 978-0-500-51363-7.
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland (1994). Women's Work:The First 20,000 Years. W. W. Nor
ton.
Huxley, Susan (1999). Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry: Proven Methods t
o Help You Sew Like the Pros. New York: Rodale Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87596-9800.
Meyrich, Elisaa (2006). RIP IT!: How to Deconstruct and Reconstruct the Clothes
of Your Dreams. New York: Fireside. ISBN 978-0-7432-6899-8.
Meyrich, Elissa (2002). Sew Fast Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start t
o Sew. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-26909-9.
Reader's Digest (1976). Complete Guide to Sewing. The Reader's Digest Associatio
n, Inc. ISBN 0-89577-026-1.
Picken, Mary Brooks (1957). The Fashion Dictionary. Funk and Wagnalls.
Singer: The New Sewing Essentials by The Editors of Creative Publishing Internat
ional ISBN 0-86573-308-2
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sewing.
[show] v t e
Sewing
[show] v t e
Textile arts
[show] v t e
Decorative arts and handicrafts

Categories: SewingManufacturingCraftsArts and craftsHome economics

Navigation menu
Create accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView history
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
???????
Avae'?
Bn-lm-g
Catal
Ce tina
Cymraeg
Deutsch
Espaol
Esperanto
?????
Franais
Frysk
???
??????
Bahasa Indonesia
?????
Latina
Ltzebuergesch
Magyar
??????
?????
Nederlands
???
Norsk nynorsk
O?zbekcha
Polski
Portugus
Runa Simi
???????

Sicilianu
Simple English
Suomi
Svenska
Tagalog
Trke
??????????
Edit links
This page was last modified on 24 October 2014 at 06:59.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; add
itional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and P
rivacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, I
nc., a non-profit organization.