sewing and women
At the height of the nineteenth century, inventions like the sewing machine completely changed the ways in which women lived and worked.
A New Industry
According to American journalist Sarah Hale, a seamstress could sew a shirt at a rate of thirty-five stitches per minute in ten to fourteen hours. Using a sewing machine at 3000 stitches a minute, she could finish a shirt in an hour.
Women and children worked in overcrowded workrooms with unsanitary conditions. They often earned only enough to make a living wage.
Genteel Work
Young women of respectable families earned livelihoods by needlework, which was seen as more genteel than factory work. The affluent in society favored wool and silk, which was made into hats and dresses by overworked seamstresses.
Factory Work
As machines became more widely available, certain domestic industries such as dressmaking became sweated industries, in which working conditions were difficult and illegal overtime was common.
Facing Sexism
Male tailors often used their wives for tasks seen as "women's work" throughout the nineteenth century. Despite their hard work, women were largely barred from trade unions and the opportunities they provided. Women and girls provided cheap labor as industrialization reigned and the need for skilled labor diminished.
Despite these challenges, women did see positive change from the sewing machine. Women who made clothes for their families now no longer had to toil long hours by hand. The middle class could also afford cheaper clothes in a shorter amount of time. In the 1960s, many young women found financial independence and cameraderie with fellow factory workers.