DID YOU KNOW?
Sewing machine accessories, like the machines
themselves, had their successes and failures. One gadget that never
quite caught on was a musical sewing machine cover, patented in
1882, that held a player-piano roll and was run by treadle power.
The treadle also activated a sewing machine fan patented in the
1870's and marketed for a dollar. It must have constituted the
greatest advance toward summer sewing comfort since the invention of
lemonade.
Among the wackier devices was one that actually was
used in the 19th Century England - that is until the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stepped in. It was a
sewing machine powered by small leashed dogs on a kind of treadmill!
Thomas Edison supposedly invented another sewing
machine - though his biography discreetly makes no mention of it-
that worked on voice power; a membrane mounted level with the
operator's mouth transformed sound waves into energy. The principle
itself was valid, but Edison-who was deaf-overestimated women's
ability to keep talking! Imagine that! :)
Believe it or not - one pair of scissors invented in
France, boasted 18 different uses besides being a
sewing accessory! It supposedly served, among
other things, as a straight edge and ruler, a nail file, screw
driver, a pen knife, a glass cutter, a wire cutter, an ink eraser, a
pattern perforator and a cigar clipper-presumably for the rare
seamstress who enjoyed a cigar while she sewed! :)
Source: The Art of Sewing, Shortcuts to
Elegance, Time-Life Books
Are you unsure which is the lengthwise and crosswise
grain of the fabric? The way to tell is to let the fabric "sing" to
you. Here's how: Place one edge of the fabric in each hand with
some slack in the fabric. Pull the fabric taut. It will make a
sound. Listen to the pitch of that sound. Now repeat in the other
direction. You will notice a difference in the pitch of the sound.
The higher pitch is the lengthwise grain, the lower pitch is the
crosswise grain.
Source: Patsy Shields from Sulky of America
Here is an actual label instruction on the packaging
for a Rowenta Iron: "Do not iron clothes on body." Oh, come on
now!!
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