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Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (born August 12, 1987) is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, he represented the 54th Assembly District, which includes the Los Angeles County communities of Century City, Culver City, Westwood, Mar Vista, Palms, Baldwin Hills, Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, View Park, Crenshaw ...
- A Bit of Sewing History
- The Inventors
- The Clydebank Singer Sewing Machine Factory
- Open For Business
- Singer and The Second World War
- Modernisation
- Sewing Today
- Continuing A Family Tradition
Despite my early associations of sewing exclusively involving women, the industry actually started life in a very male dominated way. Before the Industrial Revolution clanged and steamrolled its way across the developed world, both men and women had been sewing by hand for over 20,000 years. The first needles were made from animal bone or wood, and...
There is a lot of debate about who ‘originally’ invented the sewing machine, since the device didn’t come from one design. It’s the culmination of a half-century worth of invention. 1. Charles Wiesenthalcame up with the idea of a mechanised needle in 1755, but we don’t know if he took his invention any further than design concept. 2. Thomas Saint, ...
Despite coming to an agreement to share the patent and royalties, Singer went on to dominate the world of sewing machine production. Nowhere was this felt more clearly than in Scotland where the world’s largest Singer sewing machine factory was built in Kilbowie, Clydebank. Construction of the Clydebank factory began in 1882, overseen by George McK...
When it opened, the factory employed over 3,500 people and produced an average of 8,000 sewing machines a week. Though these machines were mass-produced, they were still made from solid cast iron, in an iconic elaborate Singer design, with flakes of nickel and gold interwoven on the exterior. By the early 1900s the Singer Factory was responsible fo...
During the Second World War, sewing machines were needed to make army uniforms, as well as for ‘make-do and mending’ by home sewers. But the factory also began to switch its operations by making munitions and aircraft parts. In 1941, the ‘Clydebank Blitz’ saw heavy bombing batter Clydebank and the factory. Over 500 civilians were killed, 39 of whom...
Although the town and factory suffered significant damage during WWII, they resumed full production quite quickly. However, towards the beginning of the 1960s, improvements in sewing machine design, including changing from cast iron to aluminium bodies which were also made at the factory, sparked the beginning of the end for the huge demand for the...
Though many businesses, home sewers and designers continued to work away at their machines, the downward trend in the popularity of the sewing machines continued into the 21st Century. Cheap, disposable garments mass produced in overseas factories have dominated our shops and wardrobes. The majority of clothes made today end up in landfill, and the...
I am grateful to have inherited a wonderful Singer sewing machine from my mum on which, with her help, I’ve been trying to learn the art of sewing. I’m not quite ready to make costumes yet, but there’s something very satisfying about pressing my foot on the pedal and watching the needle stamp its way through the fabric. Perhaps all the other vintag...
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Nov 3, 2021 · Why didn’t it preclude Sebastian Ridley-Thomas’ appointment out of hand? The provost’s office did not act until after a whistle-blower complained about Flynn’s alleged gift laundering.
The history of the sewing machine stretches back at least a few centuries, but the technology has taken on new meaning during the global pandemic. This lovely example is an antique Singer sewing machine from our History of Science and Technology collection at the Peabody Museum.
Freed from legal distractions, the sewing machine market took off - and Singer came to dominate it. That might have surprised anyone who had seen how his factories compared with those of his...
Oct 15, 2021 · A whistleblower noted the financial transfer and alerted university officials, who launched an internal investigation. USC informed federal prosecutors and eventually fired Sebastian...
May 18, 2017 · “Think of your assembly as the California version of Congress,” said California Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, who visited the Sentinel recently to talk about his role in the state’s...
