By Ashraf Naushahi

Sewing machines of various types are so common nowadays that often usefulness of these human inventions are overlooked. Invention and improvement of sewing machine progressed in regions of Europe and North America in the 18th & 19th centuries, then sewing machines became a common thing in the 20th century. 

Since the beginning of human civilization, sewing skills have been needed for making dresses, shoes and similar other things. However, sewing works need a lot of time and effort. Around the 17th and 18th centuries, new scientific theories and methods flourished. New machines were invented to improve the industrial production. In that industrial period, different people tried to make sewing machines of various types. 

From 1700 to 1860, several sewing machines were invented and developed in various regions of Europe and North America. In the beginning most customers of sewing machines were manufacturers of fabrics, clothes or shoes who purchased sewing machines for more and better production in their factories. After 1850, people purchased sewing machines for their homes too. Since then, numerous types of sewing machines have been designed and made by sewing machine manufacturing companies around the present day world.   

Invention and development of sewing machine made various sewing works easier than earlier. Sewing and stitching by hand continued even after the invention, however, there became its two types: stitching by hand and stitching by machine. Though there were not many differences between both types of sewing, there were advantages and disadvantages of stitching by machine or by hand. 

Till today, some people like sewing by hand, while others prefer sewing by machine. Probably it is because sewing is a simple word but sewing as a craft 

is a combination of several crafts as stitching, trimming, seaming, threading, embroidery, patch-working, etc. Some of these sewing works sometimes become easier by using a sewing machine while sometimes working by hand seems appropriate. In short, it matters little whether sewing by machine or sewing by hand because basically sewing is making things with threads and fabrics.

Published in Young Nation Magazine on March 10, 2018