Origins '',
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, in the early 19th century. Different cultures have developed diverse sewing techniques, from methods of cutting fabric to types of stitches. Sewing has served various functions throughout history. Sewing was used to stitch together animal hides for clothing and for shelter. The
Inuit, for example, used
sinew from
caribou for thread and needles made of bone; the indigenous peoples of the American Plains and Canadian Prairies used sophisticated sewing methods to assemble
tipi shelters. Sewing was combined with the weaving of plant leaves in Africa to create baskets, such as those made by
Zulu weavers, who used thin strips of palm leaf as "thread" to stitch wider strips of palm leaf that had been woven into a coil. The weaving of cloth from
natural fibers originated in the Middle East around 4000 BC, and perhaps earlier during the
Neolithic Age, and the sewing of cloth accompanied this development. During the
Middle Ages, Europeans who could afford it employed
seamstresses and tailors. The vital importance of sewing was indicated by the honorific position of "Lord Sewer" at many European
coronations from the Middle Ages. An example was
Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex who was appointed Lord Sewer at the coronation of
Henry VIII of England in 1509. Women mainly occupied these roles as sewing has been often classified as a household chore and traditional gender norms sought to confine women to the home. However, women, even since the invention of the stocking
darner, a sewing machine attachment that was used to fix holes in socks, have been finding ways to mend and elongate the lifespan of clothing. This push for
garment reconstruction and reuse, which has even been adapted by Eileen Fisher and Urban Outfitter’s Urban Renewal program, challenges the notion of mended clothing as a poor or degraded style of dress and allows women’s craft to have a longer legacy. Decorative
needlework such as
embroidery was a valued skill, and young women with the time and means would practice to build their skill in this area. From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, sewing tools such as
needles,
pins and
pincushions were included in the
trousseaus of many European brides. Sewing birds or sewing clamps were used as a third hand and were popular gifts for seamstresses in the 19th century. Decorative embroidery was valued in many cultures worldwide. Although most
embroidery stitches in the Western repertoire are traditionally British, Irish or Western European in origin, stitches originating in different cultures are known throughout the world today. Some examples are the Cretan Open Filling stitch, Romanian Couching or Oriental Couching, and the Japanese stitch. The stitches associated with embroidery spread by way of the trade routes that were active during the Middle Ages. The
Silk Road brought Chinese embroidery techniques to Western Asia and Eastern Europe, while techniques originating in the Middle East spread to Southern and Western Europe through Morocco and Spain. European imperial settlements also spread embroidery and sewing techniques worldwide. However, there are instances of sewing techniques indigenous to cultures in distant locations from one another, where cross-cultural communication would have been historically unlikely. For example, a method of
reverse appliqué known to areas of South America is also known to Southeast Asia. By the 1850s,
Isaac Singer developed the first sewing machines that could operate quickly and accurately and surpass the productivity of a seamstress or tailor sewing by hand. While much clothing was still produced at home by female members of the family, more and more ready-made clothes for the middle classes were being produced with sewing machines. Textile
sweatshops full of poorly paid sewing machine operators grew into entire business districts in large cities like London and New York City. To further support the industry,
piece work was done for little money by women living in slums.
Needlework was one of the few occupations considered acceptable for women, but it did not pay a living wage. Women working from home often worked 14-hour days to earn enough to support themselves, sometimes by renting sewing machines that they could not afford to buy. Tailors became associated with higher-end clothing during this period. In London, this status grew out of the
dandy trend of the early 19th century, when new tailor shops were established around
Savile Row. These shops acquired a reputation for sewing high-quality handmade clothing in the style of the latest British fashions, as well as more classic styles. The boutique culture of
Carnaby Street was absorbed by Savile Row tailors during the late 20th century, ensuring the continued flourishing of Savile Row's businesses. Historian Judith Bennett explains that the nature of women's work maintained a consistent pattern from the medieval period through the
Second Industrial Revolution, characterized by tasks that were low-profit, low-volume, and low-skilled, often performed alongside other responsibilities. Similarly, Judy Lown argues that although women's work transitioned from the household to the factory, its essence—remaining low-skilled and poorly paid—persisted without significant change. The transition to industrialization introduced a growing dependence on cash income in Northwestern Europe. For many working-class families, opportunities to earn wages were often located in distant cities, prompting many girls to leave their rural homes and migrate to urban areas. The changing nature of work in general raised questions about how women fit into rising industrialization and how both men and women should navigate gender roles. One of the concerns of the 19th century was the impact of industrialization on women's morality. According to Mariana Valverde, many male factory workers and union leaders alike argued that women working in industrial settings would be contrary to their nature and symbolized a "return to barbarism." This perception not only reflected prevailing gender biases but also influenced labor policies and
union strategies, which often sought to exclude women from better-paying industrial jobs. Such debates reinforced the belief that women were best suited for domestic roles or low-skilled work, limiting their economic opportunities and perpetuating a cycle of inequality.
20th century onward Sewing underwent further developments during the 20th century. As sewing machines became more affordable to the working class, demand for
sewing patterns grew. Women had become accustomed to seeing the latest fashions in periodicals during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, increasing demand for sewing patterns yet more. American tailor and manufacturer
Ebenezer Butterick met the demand with paper patterns that could be traced and used by home sewers. The patterns, sold in small packets, became wildly popular. Several pattern companies soon established themselves. Women's magazines also carried sewing patterns, and continued to do so for much of the 20th century. Women began to sew less in the home when they started using sewing as a way to make money, such as by selling their products and patterns to others and teaching sewing in schools to young girls.. In fact, today, many sewers, artists, and other types of entrepreneurs who are also passionate about social change called “craftivists” are taking advantage of the internet and social media to share or sell their work, often created in the home, in digital and public marketplaces. Western sewing and clothing styles were disseminated in sub-Saharan Africa by Christian missionaries from the 1830s onward. Indigenous cultures, such as the
Zulu and
Tswana, were indoctrinated in the Western way of dress as a sign of conversion to Christianity. First Western hand sewing techniques, and later machine sewing, spread throughout the regions where the European colonists settled. However, a recent examination of new online learning methods demonstrated that technology can be adapted to share knowledge of a culture's traditional sewing methods. Using self-paced online tutorials, a
Malay sewing class learned how to tailor and sew a traditional men's
Baju Kurung garment in 3 days, whereas a traditional Malay sewing class would have taken 5 days to teach the same information. Industrial technology innovations have brought significant changes to the textile industry, which was one of the first major craft work industries dominated by women. In particular, the sewing machine allowed beginner crafters to have the time and ability to make handmade clothing for sale to others, although it initially led to a decline in at home sewing. Women started putting their products out in craft fairs, retail stores, and female
co-ops or craft collectives. Once the internet became available, the textile market expanded even more as women were not constrained by the necessity of having in-person store space and could market their creation online. However, today, Western countries have begun to see a decline in home garment sewing, which has been attributed to several interconnected factors. In addition to the widespread availability of inexpensive ready-made clothing, changes in household labor patterns reduced the time available for sewing, and sewing education in schools became less common. Commercial fashion cycles accelerated throughout the 1980s and 1990s, making store-bought garments more desirable to many consumers than handmade clothing. The reduced social visibility of home sewing also contributed to the decline, as fewer families passed down sewing skills from one generation to the next. == Women's Sewing ==