The end of the line is coming for 60 million global apparel workers, mostly in Southeast Asia.
A Wall Street Journal video explains How Sewing Robots May Put Human Hands Out of Work.
Jobs like these will vanish.?
Let’s backtrack with a bit of history on the Elias Howe Sewing Machine.?
In 1846 the American inventor, Elias Howe (1819-1867) invented, built and patented the world’s first practical and successful sewing machine. Elias Howe patented the first ever lockstitch sewing machine in the world. The invention of the Elias Howe Sewing Machine changed the world by completely transforming and revolutionizing the shoe and clothing industry and the lives of ordinary people by providing the means to buy cheap, fashionable clothes.
Other inventors had made sewing machines using the chainstitch but Elias Howe invented his sewing machine to create the lockstitch. There as a problem with the chainstitch – The Chainstitch used a single thread that was looped on itself on the underside, when a break in the thread was followed by a slight pull, the chainstitch unraveled.
Unraveling did not occur with the lockstitch. The lockstitch was made by using two threads. The two threads interlaced so as to form a neat stitch on both sides of the material. The needle pierced the fabric and a loop was formed in the thread, and at very same time, a shuttle carrying a second thread passed through the loop, making the lock stitch. The Elias Howe Sewing Machine use of the eye-pointed needle in combination with a shuttle to form the lockstitch.
When the Elias Howe sewing machine was invented it took 14 hrs. 26 minutes to make a Gentleman’s shirt by hand. Using the sewing machine the time was reduced to just 1 hr. 16 minutes. A dress made of calico took 6 hrs. 37 minutes to make by hand and this was reduced to just 57 minutes using the Elias Howe sewing machine.
Elias Howe Sewing Machine
Modern Sewing Machine
?The sewing machine revolutionized the garment industry in 1846, well before the auto industry. Sewing machines still look quite similar to machines use 150 years ago.
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