Sewing Machine Manufacturing: From Singer to ABB Robots

Sewing machine manufacturing was one of the first industries to build a complicated consumer machine by the million. This post follows it from Isaac Singer's 1851 patent through the giant Kilbowie works in Scotland to today's plants, where the metal parts of a machine still need casting, machining, deburring and assembly. A new Chicago museum that opened in October 2026 put 100 old machines on display, which makes this a good moment to ask where ABB's robots, from the IRB 1200 to the new IRB 1700, could fit in making them.

An old hand-cranked Singer sewing machine photographed in Galicia, Spain, 2015. Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sanchez / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How Singer turned a patent into a factory

Machines to sew were attempted for decades. Wikipedia lists Thomas Saint's 1790 design for leather and canvas, which probably was never built, and Barthélemy Thimonnier's chain-stitch machine, patented in 1830 and called the first practical and widely used one. Workers reportedly burned his uniform factory after the patent was issued, fearing for their jobs. Elias Howe's lockstitch machine followed, with a US patent in 1846. Singer's 1851 patent covered a falling shuttle, a vertical needle and a presser foot, and Singer adapted a treadle so both hands stayed free.

An early machine for sewing caps at the Thimonnier museum in Amplepuis, France. Photo: Romainbehar / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

The patents were tangled. After losing a court case to Howe, Singer took a license and paid $1.15 per machine. From 1856 to 1877 several companies pooled their patents in the Sewing Machine Combination, and other makers had to pay $15 per machine until the last patent expired. Singer and lawyer Edward Clark also created the first hire-purchase arrangement, which let households pay for a machine over time. Allen B. Wilson and Nathaniel Wheeler's company built more machines in the 1850s and 1860s than any other maker, and Wilson's four-motion feed is still used today.

A Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine from the United States, 1872, at the Thimonnier museum. Photo: Romainbehar / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Volume followed the sales. According to Wikipedia, Singer made 810 machines in 1853, 10,953 in 1859 and 43,053 in 1867, reaching 262,316 in 1876, when its cumulative sales were claimed at two million machines. Its first large factory opened in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1863. At Kilbowie in Clydebank, Scotland, ground was broken in 1882 for what became the world's largest sewing machine factory. It shipped 1.3 million machines in 1913, and about 36 million between opening and 1943, roughly 13,000 a week on average.

The long brick Singer factory building in Elizabethport, Elizabeth, New Jersey. Photo: The Eloquent Peasant / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Inside a modern sewing machine plant

The Kilbowie workforce shows how hand-intensive the job was. In the First World War it was about 14,000 people, roughly 70% of them women, and employment peaked at more than 16,000 in the mid-1960s. It fell to about 5,000 in the 1970s, and the factory closed in June 1980. Wikipedia blames financial problems and a lack of orders. Singer had opened factories in Glasgow in 1867 and 1873, and Kilbowie held nearly a million square feet of floor space. Brother Industries took over Jones Sewing Machine Co. in 1968.

A Singer sewing machine display, with treadle machines and sample garments. Photo: National Library of Ireland via Wikimedia Commons (no restrictions)

Singer patented its Vibrating Shuttle machine in 1885 and introduced its first electric machines in 1889. Today's machines are electronic, and Wikipedia says computer chips and circuit boards arrived in the 1970s. Industrial machines are larger and faster than domestic ones and use servo motors or clutch motors. The Merrow Machine Company is described as the last American overlock machine maker. Brother has said it will show automation and smart-factory sewing products at Texprocess 2026, including a machine with digital thread tension monitoring, after taking Busche Automation into its group.

A Jukky industrial sewing machine on its table stand. Photo: Haddybellz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Two recent stories touch the subject. The Sewing Do Museum opened in Avondale, Chicago, with 100 machines dating back to the 1800s, according to Block Club Chicago on October 16, 2026. The machines came from collectors, donations, online shops and garage sales, and visitors can sew a project there. The second is about automation: Specialty Fabrics Review reported on October 1 that textile plants should adopt it step by step, and that it works best on flat material handling. Both concern sewing itself; the machines still have to be built.

Sewing machines from several decades on display in a museum, 2013. Photo: Artyom Svetlov / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Where ABB robots could fit in machine building

We found no sewing machine maker that has announced an ABB robot cell, so what follows is a possibility, not a customer story. A machine body needs castings or pressings machined and finished. ABB's new IRB 1700 and IRB 1700ID, announced on October 13, 2026, carry 6 to 12 kg and are aimed at arc welding, deburring and sanding, machine tending and assembly. ABB claims up to 20% shorter cycle times than comparable robots. The IRB 1700ID routes its cables and hoses inside the arm. Together they would suit finishing parts and loading CNC machines that cut housings and arms.

An ABB IRB 1700 in a sanding demonstration at the China International Industry Fair, October 2026. Photo: ABB

Smaller work suits smaller arms. A YuMi IRB 14000 is a dual-arm cobot built for small-part assembly, and the single-arm YuMi IRB 14050 and the compact IRB 1200 handle similar small parts. Needle bars, hooks, bobbin cases and screws are all small. An IRB 360 FlexPicker could pack finished accessory kits quickly. A cell like this would be planned and tested virtually in RobotStudio before anything is installed, and our post on garment sewing automation covers the sewing side.

ABB YuMi assembling small parts beside a lab worker. Photo: ABB

The open problems are mostly economic. A plant has to be flexible across hobby, quilting and industrial models, and the volume per model is far lower than at Kilbowie, which averaged about 13,000 machines a week. Robots are best where parts repeat and tolerances are tight. Skills matter too: someone has to program the cell and keep it running. For related reading, see electric motor manufacturing, since the motor in each machine is built the same way. A clear plan for training operators and keeping spare parts on hand is part of any such project.

ABB IRB 360 FlexPicker robots packing small items at high speed. Photo: ABB

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