Helen Augusta Blanchard: She Sewed the Future

by Linda Harris Sittig

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

BEFORE I START THIS MONTH’S STORY, I WANT TO PAY TRIBUTE TO ALL THE FIRST RESPONDERS WHO ARE STILL HELPING THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HELENE.

I grew up in an era when many women still sewed clothes for themselves and their children. My mother’s Singer Sewing Machine sat in the corner of the bedroom she shared with my father, and while growing up, I never recognized her talents.

As a teenager, I only wanted outfits from the popular store in town and had little appreciation that my mother often designed her dresses from real Irish linen. I was clueless that my mother actually enjoyed sewing. Who’d want to sew at home when you could take the bus to the Garden State Plaza to shop? I never thought about the fact that ready-made clothing hadn’t always existed in America. It wasn’t until 1905 that well-known department stores offered this gift to the modern shopper.

For that, we have to thank Helen Augusta Blanchard.

According to an excellent article by Bill Hudgins in American Spirit, May/June 2018 (https://archive.org/details/american-spirit-magazine-vol-152-no-3-may-jun-2018/page/6/mode/2up), various men dating back to the mid-1700s dabbled with sewing ideas. They looked for ways to improve needles, thread spools, and lock stitches—all of which would prove crucial to the invention of the sewing machine in years to come.

By the mid-1800s, Isaac Singer had succeeded in promoting his sewing machine and making it available to homemakers. When the sewing machine entered the commercial market, it revolutionized the ready-to-wear industry, thanks to the inventions of others, including Helen Augusta Blanchard.

HELEN’S BACKGROUND

Helen was born in 1840 in Portland, Maine, into a family of means. However, there is no indication that she was ever schooled in the subjects that led to her interest in engineering.

Her father lost the family savings in the financial panic of 1866, forcing them to sell their home and relocate to Boston. Once there, Helen began concentrating on inventions that would improve sewing machines.

In 1873, she borrowed money to file a patent for her most famous invention, the buttonhole stitch. This invention also incorporated the zigzag stitch, enabling garment workers to mass-produce clothing. By 1882, Helen had moved to Philadelphia and opened her own companies, the Blanchard Overseaming Co. and the Blanchard Hosiery Co. Her inventions helped commercial sewing prosper.

At age 50, she bought back the family home in Maine. Not content to retire, she moved to New York City and continued with her inventions. She filed for 28 patents, 22 of which were for improving sewing machine parts. One of her non-sewing patents was for a mechanical pencil sharpener. In 1901, Helen moved back to the family home in Maine and continued to file for more patents until 1916, when she suffered a stroke.

HELEN’S LEGACY

Helen died in 1922 at age 81, never having married or raised a family, but she had helped revolutionize the sewing machine and the ready-made clothing industry. In 2006, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Her 1873 zig-zag machine resides in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

I’m sure my mother appreciated all of Helen’s efforts.

If you enjoyed this month’s Strong Women in History story and are not yet a follower…please sign up on the right sidebar. Once a month, you will receive another Strong Women blog.

I am working on my next novel as my passion for strong women’s stories grows. It is set at the home front of World War II, where thousands of American women worked in government shipyards to build the Liberty Ships. Stay tuned!

~ Linda

www.lindasittig.com