The History of the Bernina Sewing Machine
By Mr Kevin Anderson, Managing Director, Bernina

Until the middle of the 19th century, all clothing, linen and uniforms were sewn by hand. The first endeavours to introduce machinery to speed up this work were made in the later part of the previous century. However, the sewing machines were not successfully introduced until around 1850.

Attempts to produce a machine that would automate some sewing activities came from a number of European countries as well as America. Some of the key dates in the history of the sewing machine were:

1790 Englishman Thomas Saint applied for a patent for a machine that produced a chainstitch.

1810 German Balthasar Krems devised a machine to sew the edges of caps with a chainstitch.

1814 Austrian Josef Madersperger constructed a machine which produced a fancy stitch.

1830 Frenchman B Thimonnier made several machines for chainstitching. Tailors so feared these machines that they destroyed every one that was made.

1834 American Walter Hunt produced the first machine to operate with two threads.

1850 Wheeler and Wilson improved on this machine with the introduction of a circular shuttle; the first machine to be produced in large numbers.

1855 The Wheeler and Wilson machine was exhibited at the World Trade Fair in Paris.

1858 There were now 104,000 sewing machines being made each year in America. These machines could sew up to 200 stitches per minute.

1882 The next most important feature was introduced; the zigzag stitch.

1893 Fritz Gegauf, the founder of Bernina, designed the first machine for hemstitching, which could perform 1000 stitches per minute.

1925 The speed of the Gegauf machine was increased to 2200 stitches per minute.

1932 The first sewing machine under the Bernina brand was introduced.

1945 The Fritz Gegauf factory produced the first portable free-arm zigzag machine.

1954 The Bernina Record appeared. It was fully automatic and had permanently fitted cams for the fancy stitches.

In the first 160 years of sewing machine development we went from nothing to having a machine with built-in fancy stitches. In the interim we had one-stitch machines and also machines whereby you changed cams to provide the various stitches. In the next 50 years we went from purely mechanical machines, to the introduction of push button computerised machines through to sewing machines with a computer link up and sewing machines with domestic embroidery capabilities. This development has included the introduction of domestic software to create embroidery motifs and patterns. The technology is still advancing and I wouldn't like to guess where we will end up.

Why do we see the development occurring?
Traditionally every girl learnt to sew because they had to dress themselves and their families. There was little opportunity to buy clothes because of the cost involved and the sewing machine was for dressmaking/tailoring. The machines being developed were focussed on providing stitches and techniques to assist the dressmaker or tailor to make a garment quickly.

The demand by dressmakers for sewing machines diminished because of the availability of less expensive ready-to-wear clothes and the need to have two-income families. The sewing machine moved from being an essential cost saving household appliance to being an accessory for those interested in carrying on a hobby or an interest. Those interested in sewing-related hobbies wanted new features on their machines to assist them to carry out their hobbies. The sewing machine started to be used in areas never dreamt of before. It was introduced into quilting, free-hand embroidery and various crafts, such as toy and doll making.

Consumers demanded more of their machine as fashions changed.
If embroidery was fashionable on garments and accessories, they wanted domestic sewing machines to do this. As quilting grew in popularity there were demands for stitches to match the traditional hand quilting stitches. New consumer demands led to the need for a shorter technological lead-time. More flexibility was required. Hence, computerisation has become essential to fulfil these needs.

Why do we invest time and money in areas outside our traditional target market?
Each time someone experiments with a sewing machine in a new area such as machine embroidery, Bernina moves into areas also steeped in tradition. The art of stitching or hand embroidery has hundreds, maybe thousands of years of history. This history is important to you and to us. We do not want to be this upstart newcomer with new techniques that impinge on your important traditions. We do believe, however, that we can help you and your members explore new avenues, explore areas that perhaps no one has thought of before. To allow you, with a little seed of creativity, to use our technology to nurture that seed to a fully-grown creation. It is a giant leap from taking your creativity from the needle where it is currently developed, to a mouse and computer screen. That same creativity is still required. Our technology cannot replace the creative flair that exists amongst embroiderers. The creativity is moved from the traditional palate of needle and thread to be first created on a computer screen and then being stitched out under a machine needle. I know most of you think that embroidery by machine is cheating but it is my goal to try and prove it is another option, another palate for your creativity.