page_title: Schiffli embroidery machine
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Schiffli embroidery machine / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This early 20th century machine winds schiffli embroidery bobbin thread, or yarn, which was then used in a schiffli bobbin holder or shuttle. This is the backside thread which forms the lock stitch.
context_page_description: The schiffli embroidery machine is a multi-needle, industrial embroidery machine. It was invented by Isaak Gröbli in 1863. It was used to create various types of machine embroidery and certain types of lace. It was especially used in the textile industry of eastern Switzerland and Saxony Germany, but also in the United Kingdom and the United States. Schiffli machines evolved from, and eventually replaced manually operated "hand embroidery" machines. The hand embroidery machine used double ended needles and passed the needles completely through the fabric. Each needle had a single, continuous thread. Whereas the schiffli machine used a lock stitch, the same technique used by the sewing machine. By the early twentieth century schiffli machines had standardized to ten and fifteen meters in width and used more than 600 needles.
context_section_description: The first schiffli embroidery machine was invented in 1863 by Isaak Gröbli (1822–1917). He developed a prototype at Benninger AG in the municipality of Uzwil, Switzerland. In 1864, J.J. Rieter helped to further develop the invention in Winterthur. Gröbli and Rieter then spent several years improving the machine. The first practical machines were made available in 1868. However, the machine's full potential was not realized until the beginning of the 1870s. In 1875 the first international deliveries were made to Glasgow, and then in 1876 to New York. By 1880, Rieter had sold more than 300 Schiffli embroidery machines. By then, Saurer in Arbon and Martini in Frauenfeld, Switzerland began to compete. The German machine manufacturers J.C. & H. Dietrich in Plauen (later known as the Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG, or VOMAG) and the Maschinenfabrik Kappel AG located in Chemnitz-Kappel also began building machines.  All of these companies competed for business in the textile industry that was centered in eastern Switzerland and in particular St. Gallen. 
  In 1898 Joseph Arnold Gröbli (1850-1939), the eldest son of Isaak Gröbli, developed the fully automated embroidery machine. The pantograph and thus the operator were replaced by a punch card reader.  Robert Zahn is credited with adapting the punch card concept for VOMAG.  VOMAG's card reader was known as the Automat, or the Zahn system.  Saurer also added a punch card reader in 1912-14.  The mechanization of the embroidery machine was now complete and the fate of the hand machine was sealed.  However, since preparing a punched tape was relatively expensive, hand machine embroidery continued to fill a niche - especially for small batch embroidery.    
  Even before 1900, Saurer was able to build and sell very large numbers of schiffli machines. In 1910, there were 4,862 schiffli embroidery machines in operation in Switzerland. By comparison, there were 15,671 hand embroidery machines were still in operation.  However hand machines were clearly in decline after 1890.  Shiffli machines were also used to create a type of so called chemical lace (German: ätzen spitze) that was embroidered onto a type of fabric that was later dissolved.  Plauen, Germany was well known for its machine lace industry.  A different machine, the lace machine, was developed specifically for that purpose.  U.S. industrialists also saw the potential. Many Swiss immigrated from the canton of St. Gallen to Hudson County, New Jersey and helped grow the industry there.
  The period between 1890 and 1910 is regarded as the heyday of St. Gallen embroidery. Many embroidery factories were operating near St. Gallen during this period. Compared to manual embroidery machines, which were used in homes as part of a Swiss cottage industry, schiffli machines were relatively expensive and required greater outside capital. Initially hand machine embroidery had better quality.  Manual machine operators or "stitchers," who previously controlled the placement of each stitch and powered their machines by hand, were reluctant to embrace the newer machines and even feared that it would replace them.  Eventually the quality of schiffli embroidery improved.  Automated machines were much more efficient than manually operated machines.    
  Since the craft of stitching was learned on the job and passed from one generation to the next - many of the operational details are obscure, or have yet to be translated from German.  Coleman Schneider’s Machine Made Embroideries gives a detailed history of the machines in English.  He explains basic machine operation, describes many of the stitches and techniques used, and describes the textiles and yarns that were used.  It provides details about design, card punching and the various manufacturer's punch card formats.  It explains the roles of the operators and includes a glossary of relevant terminology.  His later book, The Art of Embroidery: In the 90's, includes a revised history of schiffli machines. It discusses the evolution of the automat from the pantograph to mechanical, to hydraulic, to 
caption: Schiffli bobbin thread winding machine
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot G7 X", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.10 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2019:01:06 08:38:56", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "816", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "15660", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:05:28 05:06:07", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:05:28 05:06:07", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4906891/1000000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2275007/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "27/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "44/5", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5472000/517", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "243200/23", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[44/5, 184/5, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "8.8-36.8 mm"}