Embroidery machine
Embroidery machines are used to machine embroidery , i.e. to decorate fabrics with threads sewn on or sewn in. In the more modern designs, a distinction is made between single-needle and multi-needle machines. Single-needle embroidery machines work with the chain stitch , multi-needle embroidery machines can be designed as hand embroidery machines (also called flat stitch machines ) or as shuttle embroidery machines . The latter, like the sewing machines, work with two threads (upper and lower thread), while the other machines work with one thread that is pulled through the fabric by a double-pointed needle and then returned.
development
The first functioning mechanism for an embroidery machine was the hand embroidery machine developed in 1829 by Josua Heilmann from Alsace . It imitates handicraft . The embroidery figures are created by inserting the threads on the edges of the figures through the fabric with needles and pulling them through so that they gradually form the pattern in a raised shape on the surface. The embroidery frame is not horizontal and stationary, but vertical and movable, while the device that grabs the needle and pulls the thread through it only makes a horizontal movement. The machine developed by Heilmann was initially almost forgotten due to technical problems and insufficient quality of the goods produced. It was only through the improvements made by Bartholome Rittmeyer and his son Franz Elysäus Rittmeyer and his mechanic Franz Anton Vogler in St. Gallen that the hand embroidery machines could be brought to market maturity around 1850. These first hand embroidery machines made embroidery a very important branch of the economy from around 1850, especially in St. Gallen and the surrounding area. Embroidery became an important export branch of the Swiss economy. B. 1910 made up almost 20%. The St. Gallen embroidery replaced the previously successful cotton and canvas manufacture in the textile industry in eastern Switzerland . Both were based to a large extent on the home industry , which offered the poor rural population an additional income. Embroidery factories were slow to gain acceptance. In Germany, embroidery spread mainly in Saxony, where it has made a name for itself in particular with Plauen lace .
A first development of hand embroidery machines was done in 1863 by Isaac Gröbli which during Benninger AG in St. Gallen Uzwil the Schiffli developed. This no longer used hand embroidery as a model, but the sewing machine developed recently and worked with two threads. The third and last step in the development of embroidery machines followed in 1898, the so-called automatic embroidery machines. These were ship embroidery machines that were no longer controlled with pantographs but with punch cards. Today's embroidery machines still use the same principle, but computers are used instead of punched cards.
Embroidery machines in Switzerland and Saxony
One of the Swiss manufacturers of embroidery machines was the machine factory St. Georgen from 1828 , which was initially founded to maintain the spinning machines that had been in operation in St. Gallen since 1801 . The first embroidery machines, which were built around 1830 based on the template by Josua Heilmann, did not yet bring about an economic breakthrough in the field of embroidery. From 1850 the machine factory in St. Georgen finally succeeded in building suitable machines. Other factories in Eastern Switzerland included Benninger AG in Uzwil from 1870 (where the inventor of the Schiffli embroidery machine, Isaak Gröbli, came from), and from around 1885 Adolph Saurer's company in St. Gallen and Arbon , which later also manufactured trucks . The “Mechanical Embroidery Wülflingen”, which received the medal of progress at the Vienna World Exhibition of 1873, goes back to Gröbli and the embroidery manufacturer Jakob Steiger-Meyer from Herisau . In the same year z. B. also in Diepoldsau (St. Gallen Rhine Valley) over 80 embroidery machines in use.
However, the Swiss market monopoly was soon broken in the Saxon Vogtland . The Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik (VOMAG) in Plauen, which started producing embroidery machines immediately after its foundation in 1881, should be mentioned here. Anton Falke invented the machine- embroidered tulle lace in 1881 in what would later become the center of the German lace and embroidery industry to produce Plauen lace . It became a domain of the Vogtland through the Plauen embroidery manufacturer Theodor Bickel and world-famous as "Dentelles de Saxe" or "Plauen Lace". After a long dry spell from around 1920, things started to pick up again from 1960; In 1989 Plauener lace was produced on 1,400 embroidery machines and exported to over 40 countries.
Multi-head embroidery machines
Multi-head embroidery machines, as they are still used in Germany today, are mainly used for embroidering finished tubular goods such as T-shirts, polos, shirts, socks and caps. Embroidery is mainly created for promotional purposes, clubs and work clothing. The multi-head embroidery machines predominantly used today have several embroidery heads attached to a cross member, but these are connected to one another by a continuous main drive shaft. Each embroidery head is equipped with several needles, which then - depending on which color is to be embroidered - move over the needle plate and the hook below. As with normal sewing machines, the embroidery is created with the help of an upper thread / lower thread system through a lockstitch. Through the movement of the frame in which the textile is clamped, the upper thread is placed on the textile and fixed on it by the looping with the lower thread (double lockstitch). Modern embroidery machines have up to 56 embroidery heads and can also handle various applications such as B. apply sequins, cords or beads.
Large embroidery machines
While multi-head embroidery machines embroider on a horizontally aligned frame, large embroidery machines embroider on a vertically positioned frame. Large embroidery machines are usually significantly larger than multi-head embroidery machines. They are mainly used for large textiles such as B. Embroidered curtains, fabrics and tablecloths.
Other embroidery techniques
Today's embroidery machines are also able to use other textile techniques. For example, sequin embroidery, cord embroidery, ribbon embroidery and moss embroidery are possible.
Sequin embroidery
Sequin devices can often be adapted to classic multi-head embroidery machines, with which sequins can also be incorporated into embroidery. The sequin is pierced by the needle at the right moment and fixed on the surface with a lock stitch. Sequins come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. Fabrics with embroidered sequins are very common, especially in southern European countries and in Asia.
Cord embroidery
Cord embroidery is made with special embroidery machines that work with the chain stitch. A rotating needle with an open eye allows the loops to be laid for the chain stitch. A spool of thread rotating around the needle during embroidery carries the supply of “cord thread”, such as B. Sticktwist, gold lurex yarn or the like. This thread is fed to the puncture site and fixed with the chain stitch. This also coined the term crank embroidery .
In addition to the rotating thread, another thread, usually a slightly thicker one (# 12), can be carried along on the needle and sewn into place in order to give the embroidery a little more fullness and to enable further color effects.
These embroideries are used for raised ornaments on women's clothing, uniforms, lingerie and carnival hats, the so-called committee hats. For technical embroidery, the laying and fastening of heating wires on z. B. Insoles with this method are another possible area of application.
Moss embroidery
Moss embroidery machines are constructed differently than classic embroidery machines, but use a similar technique. Moss embroidery is created using a single thread system. The needle pierces the backing material (e.g. T-shirt) and pulls the thread up under the needle plate. By rotating the needle, a loop remains on the upper side of the carrier material. Repeating it often creates a moss-like surface.
Ribbon embroidery
Ribbon embroidery machines are equipped with special embroidery heads. The ribbon head can rotate 360 degrees around the embroidery needle. The ribbon is embroidered and then unwound from a roll and fixed firmly on the surface with various types of stitches.
Sources and web links
- Neuer Brockhaus (3rd edition) Volume 5, p.131, Wiesbaden 1960
- Meyers Konversationslexikon 1885, Heilmann'sche embroidery machine
- Schubert Joachim 1994: Textile Dictionary (6th edition), Frankfurt a. M., German specialist publisher
- Peter Röllin (concept): The time of embroidery, culture and art in St. Gallen 1870–1930 . VGS Verlagsgemeinschaft, St. Gallen 1989, ISBN 3-7291-1052-7
- Albert Tanner: The boat flies, the engine roars. Weavers, stickers and manufacturers in Eastern Switzerland . Union Publishing House; Zurich 1985; ISBN 3-293-00084-3
- Ernest Iklé: La Broderie mécanique . Edition A. Calavas Paris 1931, text available on the Internet under Ernest Iklé.
