Test Your Knowledge of Sewing History

Good Morning, Class.  It’s Monday–and I hope you have been studying… it’s time for a  POP QUIZ!

Sewing History Quiz

1.   Hand sewing is:

A.  Nearly 50,000 years old.

B.  Over 20,000 years old.

C. Something to be avoided at all costs.

2.  TRUE or FALSE

The world’s first sewing machine patent was granted to British Inventor, Thomas Saint in 1790.

3.  TRUE or FALSE

Frenchman, Barthelemy Thimonnier invented the first functional chain stitch sewing machine in 1830.

4.  TRUE or FALSE

Elias Howe was the first American to patent a sewing machine that used a thread from two sources.

5.  TRUE or FALSE

Isaac Singer was the first to mass produce a sewing machine that could sew faster than a seamstress.

6.  TRUE or FALSE

Elias Howe had great lawyers.  He earned nearly two million dollars from 1854-1867 from patent infringements on his sewing machine.

7.  By the year 1900, how many sewing machines were being produced all over the world?

A.  100,000 machines

B.  30,000 machines

C.  2 million machines

8.  TRUE or FALSE

The Zig-Zag sewing machine was invented by Bernina in 1951.

9.  TRUE or FALSE

The rotary cutter was invented in Japan in the 1950s-nearly one hundred years after the first sewing machine.

10.  TRUE or FALSE

Quilting is a multibillion dollar industry in the US.

Sewing History Quiz–ANSWER KEY

1.  B.   Hand sewing is over 20,000 years old.  Archeologists believe that during the last ice age, man stitched fur, hides and bark together using sinew for thread and bones for needles.

2.  TRUE.  Englishman, Thomas Saint was granted the first patent related to a sewing machine.  His patent was for a device to stitch leather and never progressed beyond the patent-model stage.

3.  TRUE.  Frenchman, Bartheelemy Thimonnier invented the first functional sewing machine.  His sewing machine used one thread and formed a chain-stitch.  He was nearly killed by a mob of enraged tailors who feared unemployment.

4.  TRUE.  Massachussets farmer, Elias Howe patented his two-thread lock stitch sewing machine in 1846, but he was unable to find an American manufacturer to produce it for him.

5.  TRUE.  In 1851, Isaac Singer produced the first functional sewing machine that was mass-produced.  His company dominated the market for nearly 100 years.

6.  TRUE.  Elias Howe was lawsuit happy.  He sued everyone in the sewing machine industry and amassed great wealth ( 2 million dollars).  During the Civil War, he used his entire fortune to equip and underwrite a Union Army infantry regiment.

7.  C.  Nearly 2 million sewing machines were manufactured all over the world by the 1900s.

8.  FALSE.  The Zig zag sewing machine was patented by Helen Blanchard of Portland, Maine in 1873.  Miss Blanchard held 28 sewing machine related patents.

9.  FALSE.  The rotary cutter was invented by the Japanese company, Olfa in 1979.  The rotary cutter revolutionized quilting by making cutting quick and accurate.

10.  TRUE.  The quilting industry in the US alone is a multi-billion dollar industry.   (and readers of The Inbox Jaunt know it is much much bigger world-wide!)

No more quizzes for a while.  Tomorrow, is Tuesday Tutorial–so put away your notebooks and open up your sketchbooks!

Lori