A Simple Life, Fall, 2019
For this fourth installment of A Simple Life’s “History of Our Homes” series, I explore how our clothing wove its way from simple garments to today’s mass-produced apparel. Along the way, I discovered a treasure trove of information on the impact of the sewing machine, which came on the scene after Americans had been stitching clothing by hand for 200 years. As I state early in this article: “Soon Americans everywhere would come to regard the sewing machine as a thing of technological genius. It changed how clothing was created, helped countless women become entrepreneurs, and even changed how we purchase our home appliances. It could cut the work involved in dressmaking up to 90 percent. On the other hand, the sewing machine helped create the infamous sweatshops.”