Elias Howe

American manufacturer who patented an improved sewing machine in 1851 and pioneered installment purchasing, making the Singer Manufacturing Company the dominant sewing machine brand of the 19th century.

A slender metal fastener used to hold fabric layers in place before stitching; mass-produced brass pins from the 1830s replaced costly handmade ones and became a household essential.

French tailor who patented an early chainstitch sewing machine in 1830 to make army uniforms; rioting tailors, fearing job losses, destroyed his workshop in 1831.

A stitch formed by looping thread through a previous loop in a continuous chain; quick to sew but prone to unraveling if pulled from the end, it was used in early sewing machines.

The most common machine stitch, formed by an upper needle thread interlocking with a lower bobbin thread inside the fabric; it appears identical on both sides and resists unraveling.