History of Industrial Sewing Machine

The development of sewing machines was introduced to China from abroad. Now, the sewing machine manufacturers will introduce the development history of industrial sewing machines.

World History:

In 1790, St. Thomas of England invented a single thread chain stitch hand sewing machine for shoes and boots. This sewing machine was made of wood as part of the body and metal materials.

In 1841, French Timonuel designed and manufactured a practical double line chain stitch sewing machine;

In 1846, Hao of the United States obtained a patent for a curve lock stitch sewing machine, with a sewing speed of 300 stitches per minute and an efficiency of more than five manual operators;

In 1851, Singer Sewing Machine, an American mechanic, independently designed and manufactured Singer Sewing Machine with a sewing speed of 600 stitches/minute, and obtained an American patent in 1853. Since then, sewing machines have been widely used in production, and gradually increased the functions of button nailing, button hole locking, reinforcement, embroidery, etc. In 1975, the United States invented a microcomputer controlled household multi-function sewing machine. Professional industrial sewing machines have been developed more widely, and the sewing speed is getting higher and higher. For example, the overlock sewing machine has reached 10000 stitches/minute. Sewing machines in this period were basically hand operated.

In 1940, Elna Company of Switzerland invented a portable household sewing machine with a barrel type aluminum alloy casting case and a built-in motor. After 1950, the household multi-function sewing machine was further developed.

In the early 1970s, the market for household sewing machines in advanced industrial countries had become saturated. Enterprises had to turn to the production of industrial sewing machines even with the rising labor costs. South Korea especially seized the opportunity of Taiwan, making the sewing machine industry rise, producing medium and low-grade sewing machines and putting them into the international market.

Domestic development history:

In 1869, Li Hongzhang, a representative of the Westernization Movement, visited Britain and returned home with a gold-plated Shengjia sewing machine as a gift to Empress Dowager Cixi. At that time, the British media also reported the matter.

Around 1880, Singer established Shanghai Feng Company in Nanjing Road, Shanghai (now No. 446, East Nanjing Road). In order to promote the products, the company hired Chinese women workers at a higher salary. After training, they were asked to bring their sewing machines to perform along the street and introduce the operation methods of the sewing machines to the citizens. Soon Shengjia sewing machines became well-known advanced clothing machines in Shanghai.

In 1905, Shanghai first began to manufacture sewing machine parts, and established some small workshops for parts production.

In 1928, Shanghai Xiechang Sewing Machine Factory produced a 44-13 industrial sewing machine. In the same year, Shanghai Shengmei Sewing Machine Factory also produced a household sewing machine.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the sewing machine industry has been fully developed. The industry has gone through the stages of reorganization and transformation, public-private partnership, merger and cooperation, and has carried out a reasonable division of labor. A number of backbone enterprises have been formed, such as the sewing machine manufacturers in Shanghai, such as Qie, Chang, Huigong, Feiren, Butterfly, Tianjin Sewing Machine Factory, and South China Sewing Machine Factory in Guangzhou, which mainly produce ordinary household sewing machines and low-grade industrial sewing machines.

In the mid-1980s, with the continuous adjustment of the market and consumption structure, the product structure of sewing equipment developed towards high-speed and serialization based on the medium and low speed industrial sewing machines, and electronic and computer technologies were also widely used in sewing machines. At the same time, China has also completed the establishment of parts supporting system and built a huge sewing machine sales network. Some sewing machine enterprises have digested and absorbed advanced technologies after introducing foreign technologies.

In the early 1990s, international well-known enterprises successively entered China and established joint ventures and sole proprietorships in China.

In the late 1990s, private enterprises began to rise, and the major adjustment of industrial structure promoted the great development of the industry. On the whole, six major production areas and bases were formed, including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Tianjin and Guangzhou.

As of 2004, there were more than 600 sewing machine manufacturers and more than 1000 spare parts manufacturers in China, with an annual production of 14,008,000 sets, a gross production value of about 28 billion yuan and nearly 1000 varieties. China has become one of the major sewing machine manufacturers in the world.