On 12 August 1851, 168 years ago , Isaac Merrit Singer patented the first practical and efficient sewing machine, although he did not invent it. Read more here . The Singer sewing machine is close to my heart. My mother's major source of earnings was sewing so I witnessed how she mastered her craft, from simple fashion design to fabric master-cutting and sewing. She never got tired putting her heart in everything that she did, so her customers loved her. You cannot see any loose thread in her finished works. Most of her customers gave her the excess fabrics which she turned into children clothes then we sold them. When she was young, she got sick and almost died. Her elder sister sent her to a vocational school to learn about the basic and advanced sewing, then she recommended her to her best friend, a popular dressmaker with a dress shop in town. Sewing somehow helped my mother to heal, as she was a very creative person, and she was the owner/manager's right hand not b...