Early sewing machine designs failed because the inventors attempted to replicate human motions with mechanical parts. The way humans sew is by drawing a needle all the way through the fabric, thus the needle's eye is at the tail end. There was no workable way, using 19th century technology, to mechanically grab the needle on the underside of the fabric. But by moving the eye to the pointy end of the needle and having it only partially pierce the fabric, while a hook beneath it grabbed only...
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