This is not a political post…
October 25th is Helen Blancard’s birthday.
That may not mean much to most people, but if you sew, you may have heard of her.
If not, you need to thank her anyway.
She was instrumental in improving sewing machines and over time received 28 patents, 22 of which are sewing machine related.
Born to a wealthy family in 1840, her fates changed when her father lost most of his money and their home in the Panic of 1866. These loses brought on his death which left the family “financially troubled.”
Pretty way to say dead broke I’m thinking.
Helen took off for Boston and started improving sewing machines and getting patents.
When her fortunes in Boston looked bleak, she took off for Philly, started her own company in 1867. Calling it the Blanchard Overseaming Company of Philadelphia she used the outfit to market her inventions all through the 1870s and 80s.
Ever the overachiever, she created the Blanchard Hosiery Machine Company in 1882.
Then the Big Apple called and the old gal moved to New York City around 1891 or 92, where she continued to create, invent, and patent products.
Just to prove she wasn’t a one theme gal, she created a pencil sharpener as well as sewing machines.
She created a hat sewing machine.
In 1901, she had made enough money to buy back the property in Portland her father had lost, and is reported to have said, “Take that!”
Not really, but I’m sure she thought it!
She continued to create and patent until 1916 when she suffered a stroke which left her unable to work. She died in 1922.
Over 45 years, she obtained 28 patents, 22 were sewing related.
She created a button-hole stitch using a zig-zag method, an elastic stitch, an invention called goring, which made shoes stronger and hot air balloons better, and a mechanism for covered seams.
She created a spool case to cover spools of thread while on a factory machine. This device kept the thread clean during the process. While she was at it, she came UP with an easier way to thread a needle, and took that idea a step further to the operating room by creating the lancet point needle which reduced resistance on surgical needles.
She created a multi-thread needle which allowed her to invent a machine that not only sewed material together, but cut off the excess fabric and made way for the invention of the serger. (Turn a sweatshirt inside out and look at the seam – that’s what a serger does.)
Look at your underwear seams; she created that method as well.
All in all, she was a pretty important gal! And much of what she created, invented, and patented we take for granted.
“Surprisingly,” she didn’t land in the National Inventors Hall of Fame until 2006.
But, she was for darn sure a Woman of Influence, and had it all sewn UP!