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The Emergence of Sewing Machines

December 31st, 2008

Sewing machines are one of the great inventions credited with transforming the economies of global societies. In 1851 that Isaac Merritt Singer, after studying a poorly working example, spent $40 and 11 days to develop a practical sewing machine that used an up and down mechanism. The first Singer sewing machine was introduced for sale across the United States that same year and the company became the primary manufacturer and seller of sewing machines within two years.

Initially, sewing machines were manufactured for garment factory production lines. The industrial sewing machines are generally designed to perform a specific sewing function such as embroidery or sewing straight stitches. Machines with different functions are used to complete clothing items in a production line.

Marketing sewing machines to individuals didn’t begin until 1889, allowing for women to have the means to create clothing for their family without the labor-intensive hand stitching. The domestic sewing machine used in the home is manufactured to perform many tasks from sewing straight or zigzag stitches and the creation of buttonholes, as well as stitching buttons on to the piece of clothing.

Sewing machines have been mass produced worldwide for more than two-hundred years. As a result, the wide variety of styles and manufacturers make antique sewing machines a favorite collectible. Some of the most favorite antique machines include working miniatures that were salesmen’s samples that doubled as child’s sewing machines specifically for use by young girls, since they were expected to learn how to sew.

All modern sewing machines run on electricity, while their predecessors were powered by a hand crank or a foot pedal operation known as a treadle. All sewing machines feature mechanical parts, however today a sewing machine that is not computerized, is referred to as a mechanical sewing machine. Electronic sewing machines sew faster and smoother while giving a better stitch. Computerized sewing machines are able to perform many standard functions for the home seamstress more efficiently and make embroidering a simple task. The price for basic, mechanical sewing machines for the home starts at $70; added features push prices up to $1,200. Computerized sewing machine pricing can start around $400 for the home machines, with top of the line models running as high as $5,000.

Most sewing machines are well built and will last for many years with only a few parts needing replacement. A great number of antique sewing machines are still in operation, but parts can be hard to find if the company is no longer in business. Typically, the manufacturer is the best location for sewing machine parts, but there are also many companies specializing in sewing machine part replacements.

For more than two centuries, innovators have been sewing themselves into the fabric of our world’s economy by answering the creativity needs of the home seamstress and major designers. The human need for textiles and continued economic gain ensures that the sewing machine will continue to evolve.

About the Author

Sewing Machines Info provides detailed information about industrial, embroidery, antique sewing machines, and sewing machines parts, as well as reviews of best sewing machine manufacturers. Sewing Machines Info is the sister site of Vending Machines Web.

Photography - Pet Photography

December 31st, 2008

Unlike humans, pets are not going to follow instructions when you’re trying to take photos of them. For that matter, some humans can make pretty lousy subjects as well. So what do you do in order to get the most out of your pet pictures? The following tips aren’t some miracle solution, but they will help make the job of photographing your Fluffy or Fido a little easier.

The first thing you have to understand when photographing your pet is it’s not going to do what you want it to do. So getting a “staged” or “posed” photo is not going to be possible unless you have a trained animal and good luck in finding one of those. The best thing you can hope for when photographing your pet is the best possible situation that is going to come about on its own. Having said that, there are things you can do to help the situation along.

For starters, you’re going to have to get down to your pet’s level in order to photograph it properly. That doesn’t mean you become a blithering idiot and start drinking out of the toilet. We’re referring to the angle of the shot. If you’re photographing a small cat, for example, you’re going to want to bend down to the floor in order to shoot the animal, unless of course it happens to be sitting on your favorite sofa taking a nap. In either case you want the camera to be at eye level with the pet. If it’s possible to get even lower than the subject, then by all means give it a shot. This will make for an even more interesting photo.

The next thing you want to make sure you DON’T do is startle the animal. No sudden movements or noises. These things are most likely going to end up chasing your subject out of the room in a hurry. You want to be quiet and sneak up on the subject slowly. This gives you the best chance of actually having a subject to shoot.

Action photos are great, but very unpredictable when it comes to pets. If you are lucky enough to catch your cat or dog in the act of playing with some object then don’t wait for him to look at you. Fire away. These make for some very interesting photos.

One way to get your pet to perform for you is to get a family member involved, especially if you have a child or somebody in the family who the pet is very attached to. Many cats and dogs will actually perform tricks for certain family members they are comfortable with. If you can orchestrate the situation then by all means do it. These will become some of the more interesting and entertaining photos you are bound to take.

When photographing pets, you’re going to probably have more “throw away” photos than good ones because of the nature of the subject. So make sure you have plenty of extra film. The last thing you want is for your cat to finally do that trick you were waiting six hours for and you’ve run out of film.

These tips are by no means exhaustive, but they will get you a good jump on getting the jump on your subject, before your subject jumps out of the picture.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Photography