Casgliadau Arlein

Ewbank Hand sewing machine

This Ewbank Hand sewing machine belonged to a dressmaker who worked and lived from a property on Cardiff Road, Aberdare. Dressmakers would often work from their homes. For these women, there was no dividing line between home life and work. The invention of the sewing machine revolutionised the textile industry. Prior to the 1850s, all sewing was done by hand. The arrival of the sewing machine speeded up production and made fashion accessible to amateur dressmakers who could not afford made-to-measure clothes.