Originally Posted by
Quincunx
So we started out centered on the needle, sewing front to back. . .wonder why it changed from sewing right to left, on some machines. Very interesting!
My research indicates that in the early days folks were striving for differentiation from their competitors. Since no body could say "this is the one true way" they were all trying to find a unique method that would let theirs out sell the competition. By the 1880's they had pretty much settled on what we have today for layout and if you wanted to compete you had to do it the "normal" way.
In the 1850's - 1870's sewing machines were still considered strange contraptions and the more a customer could look at a machine and feel familiar with it, the less salesmanship was needed to make a sale.
Companies like Grover & Baker were steadfast in the use of their two unique thread double chainstitch, even though almost no one else did, and it caused their downfall. Singer really figured out quickly that you needed to make custom machines for some uses and common and recognizable machines for most.