The Surprising Genius of Sewing Machines

My mom, who is very good at sewing, didn't do it in a while because her machine wasn't set properly anymore after decades. As an engineer, I searched for the old instruction manual online, and carefully followed the instructions and oiled everything up : the machine was working flawlessly again. And I realized that I had NO IDEA of how it did work in the first place. So she explained it to me. I was litteraly amazed, so 1) seeing your video and your own amazement is so pleasing to me, and 2) blessed be my mom.

Puzzled me for years and never bothered to look - amazing that they invented these things!

I am Italian, i live near the famous "Rimoldi" factory and I am a specialized sewing machine technician, just like my father. I've been working in this field for 8 years now, and you have no idea how many machine models exist to create hundreds of different types of stitches. Each one has its own operation, adjustments, and tolerances. One must anticipate the behavior of the fabric and threads being used and adapt them to the process. Learning never stops. It's a wonderful industry!

I remember a teacher telling me that one doesn't always need to move miles for a revolution. Sometimes it is just one inch. Then he showed the ordinary needle and the needle of a sewing machine. We were so much influenced by those words.

I'm a mechanical engineer and a grown man. I still consider a sewing machine to be a magical device. Thread go down, thread come up. Magic.

I have a Singer sewing machie built in 1926 and still use it (because if it works - it works). The surprising part was when I broke a needle in 2016. I thought I will never find a spare one, but when I took it to the nearest fabric shop, they immidiately gave me similar one that perfectly fit in. It's amazing that needeles didn't change after a century.

Surprised the different inventors of the machine didn't sew each other

At last! I have asked so many people how sewing machines work. I have looked at the machines, consulted experts, read manuals, and none told me how they work. I was amazed that people who worked with sewing machines for a living had no knowledge of, nor curiosity in, how they work.

I’m a mechanical engineer and forever promised myself to someday take time to figure out how sewing machines work. You crossed this item off my list in just 15 minutes. I owe you the pizza of your choice. Thank you!

I absolutely love how you built your own giant sewing machine model to explain this.

I like how everyone in the comments is a mechanical engineer

What is even more mind-poofing is the fact that very elaborate and elegant fabrics like velvet, satin and silk have existed for way longer than sewing machines. So the loom was really the first complicated sewing machine ever invented in a sense. Still, sewing those fabrics into garments couldn't be done with a loom but I'd say that most of the inventive work was already there.

I do have a singer 27K. It's now 123 years old and I use it to sew my own clothing, or fixing damaged clothing. It's handcranked, no electricity needed with a shuttle bobbin. I love this machine. It works fantastic to this day. I've sown some cyberpunk tech wear style clothing with it. The contrast of the 123 year old machine and the futuristic clothing it helped to create is something I enjoy a lot. ❤

My parents own a sewing machine shop. My dad repairs them as well. I find it amazing that people can bring their old machines in, sometime 50 years old and they can just be repaired. No planned obsolescence, just a product that lasts a lifetime. Something that barely exists anymore with e-waste garbage piles that keep on growing without end.

My Great-Grandmother had a Singer machine, was incredibly proud of it and it still works today. In the Balkans, we have a saying "Radi k'o Singerica!" - "It works like a Singer!", when something works perfectly. Incredible piece of history lodged in our cultures. Thanks for this :)

Aeronautical engineer here. My Mom used to sew all the time when I was a kid and I even tried my hand at it. Never really thought about the mechanics of it until I desired to do some sewing for the boat. Have a brand new Sailrite machine sitting in the box. Your video lifts the curtain off the mystery of stitches, making assembly and operation more intuitive. Thanks.

At 67 years old, and as a physician, I have episodically wondered about this since I was a child watching my mother sew. Back then, and ever since, I realized I could not imagine how the machinery worked to make this mechanical miracle work. Thank you for finally explaining it to me before I die.

As someone who has been sewing my entire life and now works as a seamstress for a furniture company, it's nice to see the humble sewing machine getting the attention it deserves. It's also nice seeing how others are impressed by it. That's right, what I do is pretty cool. These diagrams and models are some of the easiest to understand that I've ever seen.

Can't believe how much work has been put into this video in terms of animation and actual hardware. Brilliant!

another awesome video. my dad and brother are engineers and my mom is a seamstress, so it was cool to see a video that everyone in my family could enjoy!