Which inventor patented the first practical sewing machine in 1846?

Elias Howe patented the first practical sewing machine in 1846.

Howe’s machine used a needle with an eye near its point, rather than near the handle as in hand sewing. It passed thread through the fabric and formed a lockstitch with a second thread carried by a shuttle. This arrangement was much more suitable for mechanized sewing than earlier designs.

Howe received United States patent 4,750 on September 10, 1846. His invention did not immediately make him wealthy, and he later fought legal battles over patent rights. Isaac Singer developed and marketed a commercially successful sewing machine, but Singer was not the original inventor of the key lockstitch machine patented by Howe.

Several earlier inventors had attempted sewing machines, including Barthélemy Thimonnier and Walter Hunt. Howe’s lasting importance comes from combining a practical mechanism with patent protection that influenced the later sewing-machine industry.