The first patent ever issued for a sewing machine was to one Thomas Saint of England prior to 1800. It is, however, unknown if he ever actually made one or not, definitely did not go into production on them. Possibly made one for his own use, was a cobbler by trade. Between 1800 & 1810 a couple of specialized machines were built, one in England for stitching layers of canvas t make belts, either transmission or carrier belts. The 2nd was made in Germany fr doing embroidery. The significance of these were they were the first to use an eye pointed needle. In the 1820s Bartholomy Thimonnier of Paris began the development of a chain stitch sewing machine. Neither his machine nor Saint's used an eyed needle. By 1930 he had it developed & had built at least 30 machines, some say as many as 80, & equipped a shop with them & obtained a contract from the French Legion for sewing uniforms. With a bit of practice, these machines could make around 200 stitches per minute. This is credited as being the first, practical, garment sewing machine. Unfortunately, fr him a group of Parisian Tailors, fearful of his machine putting them out of work broke into his shop one night with sledgehammers & torches & smashed his machines then set fire to his shop. Timonnier, fearful for his life fled to England.
