My mother (from Guyana) was encouraged by her Swiss co-worker, an RN, to buy a Singer sewing machine in the early 1970s. Mom was self-taught and her work won prizes at the Canadian National Exhibition for several years.
I threw my cams away. I just use straight stitch and zigzag . I made all my childrens clothes for school until their 8th grade. Then they wanted to have their own styles. I have used the same machine since 1961. Still love it.
The Bernina machine behind TH during the intro - my mother bought this model in about 1966. She was an experienced dressmaker and said she wanted the 'Rolls Royce' of machines, this one costing more than triple her previous PFAFF model, which she bought when she was demobbed from the WRAF in 1945. I inherited the Bernina in 1983 and it's still going strong.
@@TheOtherBill Yep. I use a very simple machine, no electronics or fancy embroidery stuff. I keep it lubricated and it's set up properly and still manages to produce the most inextricable knots :D
I own a rotary singer and an electronic singer. These machines are both very heavy and both have their own virtues. I make small dolls on my rotary. I make quilts clothes, etc on my electronic. Absolutly love both machines. Been sewing since i was sixteen. I am now seventy and still love it.
Takes me back to my childhood, my Dad had a foot pedal powered Singer machine that Dad used to sew a 10 sleeper canvas camping tent that we used on fishing trips. My Dad worked in a leather factory where he sewed many different items. My Mom was a seamstress and she sewed all our curtains and clothing. Those were the grand old days when we made and fixed almost everything, not like these days when things are just bought and thrown away.
It is much better than the modern ones. For those tell you some history and show portraits of the inventors but never explain how the thing actually work.
Yep! So many modern “documentaries” are rubbish. I see a lot of attention starved ego maniacs with an iPhone making documentaries about THEMSELVES making a documentary, with flashy seizure inducing editing and cluttered with crappy music blaring the whole time.
The animation of the bobbin forming a stitch is a rare masterpiece...beats so much of todays flashy stuff. Has me watching our sewing machine with a much improved understanding of what I have previously considered to be quite magical! And what a lovely lady with her quiet enthusiasm for old machines, another candidate for a fascinating story or two.
A big thank-you to Norman Margolus for keeping alive the fabulous work of Mr. Tim Hunkin, and a huge thank-you to Tim Hunkin and crew for producing the footage in the first place, fantastic!
The next time I fire up my modern Brother machine I'm going to take a much closer look at the bobbin action and interaction with the needle. What would be marvellous is a machine made from transparent plastic so one could watch every movement in detail.
I found it amazing when he said, That sewing machines are designed to last a lifetime. When was the last time you heard that sentence spoken about any modern product?
@@Taneth That is so brilliant. I would really love to have one. Do you have any advice or wisdom to impart to someone who is considering purchasing an old machine?
@@mickerphillps2529 Your absolutely right. My first machine was from the 70's (used) and it worked long and hard. A couple of years ago I purchased my very first NEW machine. I know that it will last forever. How nice would it be to have a lovely vintage model to use in my videos. Do you have any recommendations for a really good seller/collectors? I would love to pursue their wares.
Calling Attenborough a eugenicist is quite a stretch. He has said nothing about breeding humans intentionally to produce a change in their qualities. Population control is not the same as selective breeding. People say they are the same for dramatic effect but it isn't very reasonable.
Ok youtube recommendations, you win this one. I have two old singers, one treadle that was my grandmothers and one of the early electric ones. They both still work beautifully.
As a boy of about 13 or 14, my mum taught me how to use her big fancy, Singer, sowing machine - that was as big as a sideboard! I didn't like the fashion at the time for flared trousers and preferred 'drainpipes' so I took my own trousers in as a boy! Different times, lovely memories. Thanks Tim - always wondered how they worked mate.
I absolutely loved this series. Even my (then) wife, a technophobe, was into them. I love the practical demonstrations, especially the sewing machine. My mom was a seamstress and I "helped" her with her sewing from a young age, but I never understood what a bobbin was for or how it worked. Until I saw this. Then it clicked!
Lovely film. Happy to report that here in Panama the idea of home sewing is still very much alive. Plenty of old Singers and other makes still helping their owners produce useful and creative clothing.
I watched this on television with my dad in the early 90's when it first got broadcast here in the states. I spent the past 15 or 20 years trying to remember the name of the show so I could look it up and, lo and behold, saw on reddit that you'd remastered and reuploaded it. This absolutely made my day, and the sewing machine demonstration has stuck with me through all the years. Delightful to see it again. Thank you!
Tim Hunkin simply a genius in transposing complicated machines into laymans terms. The series "Secret Lives Of" must have inspired so many youngters to become engineers. Lets not forget Rex Garret a most brilliant practical engineer, the real do it chap that every employer would like to have. Finally...Thanks Norman an excellent rework for without your efforts we may have lost video for ever....
Remastered "Secret life..." is probably best recommendation to my by RUclips ever. I love everything here, from intro tune to end comments. What a humble and ingenious man. I could watch forever this series.
Reddit sent me to a video on LEDs. I watched every moment presented by this homely British man who spoke with authority of his lengthy LED experience. I blurred my eyes and tried to imagine the 30-something version of this person. Maybe an outsider... 1980s bad hair cut... Clearly an artist. Cut to this evening when I'm laying in bed and RUclips decides I should watch more about the vintage sewing machines I've been rabbit-holeing. This time a beautifully zeitgeist 1980s presentation complete with animation and hand made diagrams and a presenter that made me blur my eyes and imagine him now. Probably still tinkering, teaching... Less hair... Clearly still an artist. It wasn't until this week that I have ever seen your material, but it's right up my alley. Good job. Thank you.
It is curious why, but the human tableau as a demonstration of relatively complex activity is very effective. I remember, in the early 1980s, using this method to teach students how a simple [computer's] Central Processing Unit and its memory worked. What was most striking, was how much their actually taking part in the tableau, reinforced their understanding manyfold. Yet another excellent video from Tim, thank you.
I always liked how Tim looked like he’d just been working on the machines. It made the program real and you knew he knew what he was talking about. I was brought up in the 60s and I used to love my mother's old treadle machine.
It brings a lot of hope to me, Sir, to see you speaking again about these wonderful documentaries. The world has become so much idiotic and we don't see these kind of shows anymore. Your shows are all GOLD in youtube😍
I absolutely loved these programmes and the way they stripped away all of the froth and explained what was really happening inside the machines. The perfect simple demonstrations of the concepts were brilliantly done.
Dear Tim - I LOVED watching this series when it was new, and as a life-long sewer myself, I always would send people to this episode because the 'human sewing machine' is one of the best explanations as to why those two separate threads become one line of sewing! BRAVO! Love the remastered version!
I had been asked to fix / setup a machine by my wife .... I might actually be able to do it now I know what the parts do and why!. Thanks for a great program.
I recommend a you tube channel named “AndyTube”. I have learned to completely disassemble and repair my own antique and vintage singer machines by watching his videos.
There are a few hundred thousand people signed up for The Quilting Board, an online community dedicated to that craft. You'll also find multiple quilting, as well as other types of sewing project videos on RUclips, and there are dozens of websites and blogs where quilters share their joy of quilting. Larger cities in the US often have a few shops that sell quilt patterns and fabrics, and usually they offer lessons and workshops. There are also quilt guilds and guilt shows around the country, and even cruises devoted to that hobby. Another sewing related hobby that is quite popular is machine embroidery. Starting with the basic mechanisms of a sewing machine, but with the addition of an arm with a hoop that moves stretched fabric in every direction within one plane, and a computer that reads designs and translates them into these movements, all manner of marvels are achieved. Thanks for the handy run through of sewing machine history.
I can't wait to start sewing again. I've just spied an old 1927 Singer (converted to electric by yours truly). Sewing is strangely therapeutic. I have a new house and so I'm going to be making curtains, duvet covers, pillows, pillow covers, cushions, cushion covers and so on. I know it sounds ludicrous that there are male sewers out there and I am very embarrassed to have such a hobby (born out of necessity as due to Teh Rona I'm having to make do and mend as there are no clothes shops open) but it's about making things for yourself just like hunting and fishing where you catch and make your own dinner but with a lot more comfort after a 12 hour back shift where you can collapse onto the sofa with a comfy large cushion and pillow and encounter this strange thing called "sleep" that everyone talks about but that you've never experienced.
God, these were good programs. I remember watching these on TLC when we first got cable TV in our house. I have often thought about these episodes over the years. Thanks Tim for posting these again. I cannot tell you how happy I am that these have been preserved. Craig
Same situation here. I was already kind of a gear head at a young age. I watched all of these shows when they came out on TLC. Tough to say how much influence they probably had on my life. I always kind of liked the version of "Take Five" as the closing music.
I just found this today and it was delightful!. You remarked that sewing is now a niche hobby that not many folks do anymore, I think you are mistaken about that. Perhaps people no longer sew their own clothes (although I do know many who do) but there are loads of other things one can sew. I have sewn for over 40 years, I do not make many garments, but I have made dozens of quilts. I also make costumes and enjoy upcycling clothes and other fabric items. I also have taught sewing to kids and adults. Most of the folks I teach say they want to make their own clothes for a variety of reasons, can't get a good fit, want something unique, and so on. I enjoyed the updated comments, particularly seeing you sewing some trousers on a lovely old Bernina as I have that model in my collection! (I currently own 11 sewing machines). Your program was interesting, informative and very entertaining! I'm so glad I found it and have shared it on my FB group for Vintage Sewing Machines.
It's worth noting that there is a large community here on RUclips for both costuming from characters and costuming from history. The CosTube base has some extremely popular channels. Many of these enthusiasts are using the vintage machines, as their durability and simplicity are still valued today. Additionally, the ethos of making clothes that last, can be altered or remade, and/or making that particularly personal garment is prompting many sewists to reject fast fashion and its clothes that easily wear out or fall out of fashion.
Why isn't shows like this made anymore?! Didn't know it was even possible to make an episode about sewing machines this interesting! I also find the animations entertaining as well :)
Wow, great to see these episodes again after so long. I still have my Mum’s Singer machine she got from her Mum - early 50’s I think. Still goes great and I use it for making curtains and such - was the only boy in the family that learned to sew. I always liked the Bernina machines at School but have never owned one as the old Singer keeps on keeping on.
I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this video on RUclips. I watched all The Secret Life of Machines episodes on tv back when there was still intelligent content, and loved them all. It was a quirky science show that appealed to the do-it-yourselfer in me. And, of course, the later episodes always ended with the machine in question being blown up, which was more quirky fun. Thanks so much for making this available again.
This is my favorite technology show of all time. Thank you Tim, you are a treasure for humanity. I am so excited to re-watch these in the improved format. I remember burning copies I found on the internet around 2008 to give to my nephews who were still in grade school then, and one of them is now in college and studying engineering. I would like to think that these shows made some significant impact in his development! Btw, I remember getting a catalog from the Cabaret Mechanical Theater and ordering some of your kits back in the early 2000's. You were always so kind whenever I wrote to ask you questions. Thank you.
The way Tim captures real life and humor in his machines and videos is amazing. Who else would make a mechanical doctor who writes illegible prescriptions?
Excellent! Whether male or female, a machinist, an engineer, fabricator, or just a frugal DIYer, the sewing machine has an addictive quality. Once you collect one, there are a seemingly infinite number of variants to find. I call it “welding fabric together” and it is quite a useful hobby.
Hi, this has been a fascinating film and site to find! Having sewn and made my own and family's clothes since VERY young, aswell as hundreds of costumes for different shows and plays, it is MARVELLOUS to find out about how the machine works! I still have my singer treadle machine, (that I still regularly use, 112 years since it was originally purchased, and it is still going strong!) My mother bought it for me in 1975, from a charity shop in Bristol, for my 17th birthday! It cost £5! It came with the original monthly payment book that was used to pay for it on tick, (which I still have) and also the original instruction booklet! The latter, unfortunately, was lent to a friend of hers by my mother and was never returned, MUCH to my enduring chagrin, as there are a few original adaptation feet that came with it, that I STILL haven't been able to work out how to use!! 😤 I also have a BROTHER electric machine that I was later given to me by a friend, which is very useful for zigzag sewing, but my heart still belongs to my treadle!
Tim is a treasure and the father of all “makers”! I suspect many folks rediscovered sewing making masks for the COVID epidemic. It took me a few tries, but eventually I got it right and I was thinking if the principles this show taught me so many years ago!
My very old Family Singer and/or my antique thread failed me this past year when I needed masks. Many failed attempts at masks for Covid. Immunized now and planning on finding new thread and/or repairs to get us both up and running.
My late husband loved this series! And this episode was his all-time favorite, because I refused to let him take apart my Kenmore so he could see how it worked. Thank you for saving my machine!
I watched this series religiously back in the day when we had 5 or 6 channels that our rabbit ear antenna could pull in.. Now we have 500 channels with very little as good as this.
"The Secret Life of Machines" and "Connections with James Burke" are two of shows from my youth that I miss the most. I am so pleased to find this in my feed and look forward to rewatching it with my daughters.
We have a Singer 66 "Redeye" my wife bought years ago at a yard sale. We restored it after years of languishing in an attic and it's working perfectly - we used it to sew a mess of masks in April 2020 when they weren't available for love or money!
One of my earliest memories was using my mother’s old Singer hand cranked sewing machine without cotton to make perforations in paper. It used to keep me occupied for hours making ticket books that I could then tear off and “sell” the tickets. Little things pleased little minds!
This was wonderful to watch! Thank you! I have about a dozen machines, a couple of Berninas and the rest Singers. Younger folk are once again turning to sewing, and many people use their sewing machines to quilt. Quilters love the older, lightweight Singers called Featherweights. They sell for hundreds of dollars if in good shape.
I remember watching these on KERA in Dallas, around 1989-91. Loved the tongue-in-cheek animations, and just how homemade they felt. Nothing like it on American TV, even on PBS. Thanks for uploading these, which look amazing for being upscaled from PAL tape.
I loved this, thank you so much. I had my first sewing machine as a child, it was a hand crank child sized machine. I was mesmerised on how it actually worked, if only I had seen this footage then. I now have 7 sewing machines, two are old Singers (One hand crank, one electric 201k, recently given to me from my mother in law), a Mechanical Toyota (my first electric machine), a AEG machine (my first computerised machine), Brother machine (my main sewing machine I use now), a small Brother (I used for travel purposes) a Brother that I bought second hand from a friend because it does embroidery with big hoops, I don’t usually sew with it, but it’s probably more upmarket than the machine I use daily. Not included in the 7 sewing machines, I have my first embroidery machine (it only does embroidery and with a very small hoop) and I have two overlockers, so all in all I have 10 machines of some sort. I also have this contraption that looks like a stapler that sews. I’m passionate about sewing and my You tube channel is mainly about sewing, there is a bit of knitting, crochet ect. Thanks again for this video, so glad I found it.
I was suddenly hooked on a RUclips video of a restoration of an 1894 Singer sewing machine that was in an absolutely atrocious condition, having been found in a farmyard exposed to the elements, as well as chicken poop, for decades. The restoration work is fantastic. And then I got thinking about my own modern Brother machine and, being an erstwhile motor mechanic, started to wonder how this amazing invention of mechanical sewing got started in the 1850s. A few videos later and then I came across Tim Hunkin's video of sewing machine principles. Fascinating to watch. I'll probably watch again, especially the human "machine" segment. Thanks for such an amazing explanation of how this marvellous invention works!
sold my unnecessarilly elecronic pfaff domesitic and now have two dozen pre 1965s, they are all works of art...thanks so much for sharing friend...Creator bless...doug
I remember this TV series. It was quite satisfying to have things so eloquently explained. Like this episode explaining the unseen goings on under the bed and inside the arm of the machine.
These programmes are bringing me such delight Tim! I remember watching them on telly and thoroughly enjoying each episode. I am now appreciating them even more for the engineering content. They are fascinating and the cartoons are a great laugh. Excellent craic! Thanks again.
I sat and watched, entranced and entirely motionless, right the way through. What a superb and often very funny documentary. Am subscribing and will share the videos with my mechanically minded son. By the way, I have and have had several antique sewing machines and especially adore the Willcox and Gibbs, which, tiny and simple as it is, has no issue sewing through either heavy canvas or silk gauze. My 1934 Singer 28 Kilbowie is almost as tough, and again, a joy. While I had a Bernina and now a Brother, have found the older machines the more reliable and happy-making, in the long run.
I always wondered how sewing machines work but it's never before been explained to me in a way I understood- your demonstration is ingenious, thank you 😊
I'm glad this vid was recommended on YT algo. I have a sewing business and it was great to see the workings of the mechanisms so expertly demonstrated. I particularly liked the human sewing machine and the subtle disdain of a younger Tim towards electronic bolt-ons attached to newer machines. I had an aha moment when I realised the mechanical doctor was made by Tim, my children and I know and love the bonkers machines at Southwold Pier - we living just down the road from there. I too reeled at the 'engineers fingers' in the videos presentation so it was funny to hear of the letters he received after the show aired, I can just imagine my old grandma having been one of the complainants!
Tim, I make animated scrap metal creations (mechanical horse, angler fish, smoking talking dragon, e.t.c) and have been learning with each creation. I have to say a huge thank you for sharing your years of dedication and studying in such great videos over the decades. It's a sheer treasure trove and you have such a wealth of wisdom through experience that's priceless. Thank you for inspiring us all!!
Thanks for the remasters! This brought back memories of watching this show with my late husband ( an engineering geek). I loved the "Secret Life of Machines". The bonus footage was wonderful. Tim always liked to tinker with things.
A friend of mine who makes firearms uses parts from old sewing machines. I've taken one apart and used a bunch of the pieces in my tinkering projects. Another great video! I especially love the animations.😊
It's absolutely true that modern electronic sewing machines are far more susceptible to breakage and obsolescence. I've only every used a few of the multitude of additional fancy stitches on my machine.
A bit more than a year ago, I saw a receipt of a sewing machine, decades and decades back (maybe it was from 1920s or 1930s?). It was an instalment purchase, and I'm pretty sure it was a Singer machine. I think the machine still exists, although I'm not 100% sure if it's the same machine still, or has there been another one purchased after that. The machine was bought in countryside in Finland, and I'm fairly sure it has been a 100 km distance to the nearest city where there have been any sewing machine shops at the time, so possibly it has been a travelling merchant who has sold the machine. I just thought that it must have been really a necessity back then, and also that how big of an investment a machine like that must have been. I really like these videos! I find it quite amazing how many of the inventions still in use have been done 100 or more years ago, and with many of the same principles still in use. And at the same time how little has changed in the last 30 years. Semiconductor control has become more common in most machines, but it already existed back then.
I have been looking for a documentary like this about the sewing machine for two years now and thank you so much for posting it. I stumbled across this as I was watching old Singer documentaries. I collect sewing machine and Maggie Snell is my idol!
So sweet and funny, Thanks a lot! I’m the proud heir of my great-grandmother’s Pfaff, which she got for school in the 1880ies and has been used in our family ever since. It comes with a small worktable (with a nice meter-band realised with millimeter-small wood inlays!) and the large wheel which is propelled by the “not ladylike” foot pedal, but it can also be detached and carried with its beautiful wooden casket, and then moved by hand. It wheighs around 10 kg I think, so those girls must have been pretty strong back then!
My mother had one of those old electric Singers and I recall playing with it as a child... I was a curious 10 year old, when I saw all those levers knobs and bobbins, and opened stuff to see inside, I never understood how it all functioned... Sadly, the machine is long gone decades ago and I've forgot all about it, but this episode brought back memories of that old machine and I vividly remember all those tiny details you explained. Now thanks to you, it all came together and hit me like lightning how it worked! I wish I had that old machine to look at once again and remember my mother who used to sew for me... (I'm a bit sad) Anyway, thank you so much!
This has been so incredibly useful today as I don’t have my sewing machine and I need to make a quick repair - and all I have is a spare machine needle. It’s slow going, but it’s working! Thank you for the detailed demonstration of how a machine functions!
i loved this series back when it was first out back.. in the 80s? I had already watched Cosmos and then found Connections and later came across Secret Life of Machines. I loved how simple and sort of primitive it all was. It made the mechanisms so accessible. Thanks for remastering it and bringing it back. The end notes are wonderful.
Cosplay gave me a reason to learn how to sew. I had my grandma teach me and I'm happy to be carrying on the family skill the would have been otherwise lost!
Thanks so very much for posting this. I remember this specific episode. It's how I learned how the machine worked, how to thread it, and how to use it. I was not taught by my mother who sewed, or my grandmother who was a seamstress. Completely self-taught.
I have had any number of sewing machines to support backpacking, climbing and kayaking over the years. I'm not good at it but it all sticks together thanks to, what to my mind, is a miraculous machine. This film is fascinating.
Sewing definitely alive and well in this neck of the woods, Tim, if the users of Watford Recycling Arts Project are anything to go by. The scrapstore is well used by members from a large area here at its base in Northwood Hills right on the edge of North West Greater London, and our stocks of fabrics are popular not only with established stitchers but also with large numbers of students from schools and the London art schools and fashion colleges. And can say this goes equally well for all scrapstores up and down the country, so you can rest assured sewing machine use is very much happening. The phone number/location of one's favourite and cherished sewing machine technician is a covetously traded asset among afficionados!
Excellent that Tim Hunkin's still kicking. Also how wonderful these episodes were made in 1990, when examples of beautiful old equipment were still found in the junkyards.
My mother (from Guyana) was encouraged by her Swiss co-worker, an RN, to buy a Singer sewing machine in the early 1970s. Mom was self-taught and her work won prizes at the Canadian National Exhibition for several years.
I threw my cams away. I just use straight stitch and zigzag . I made all my childrens clothes for school until their 8th grade. Then they wanted to have their own styles. I have used the same machine since 1961. Still love it.
I could listen to Maggie Snell for hours. What a soothing presence!
If she’d had an ASMR channel she would have hit a million subscribers before she knew it
The Bernina machine behind TH during the intro - my mother bought this model in about 1966. She was an experienced dressmaker and said she wanted the 'Rolls Royce' of machines, this one costing more than triple her previous PFAFF model, which she bought when she was demobbed from the WRAF in 1945. I inherited the Bernina in 1983 and it's still going strong.
The human sewing machine demonstration is a modern performance art masterpiece.
I imagine Lilliputians doing this.
I kept being worried for the poor bobbin man getting stabbed in the process.
The description of the tensioner by comparing it to the young woman’s left hand was possibly one of the best illustrations I’ve ever seen.
Child labor
You had to use polystyrene? squeeeeeek
My Family Business supplied a lot of the information and the machines for this. Good to see it re-mastered and on youtube.
What did your family do? did they work for the bbc? or were they research people? Always wondered how that worked?
Tim Hunkin: "the magic of sewing machines ... hardly ever tangling up" Me to my sewing machine: you hear that you little shit
Jo lives in the real world 😊
@@TheOtherBill Yep. I use a very simple machine, no electronics or fancy embroidery stuff. I keep it lubricated and it's set up properly and still manages to produce the most inextricable knots :D
Thanks Jo, for the chuckle and biggest smile in a while!
So true! 🙂
You get really angry and proceed to batter the living daylights out of it 😂
I own a rotary singer and an electronic singer. These machines are both very heavy and both have their own virtues. I make small dolls on my rotary. I make quilts clothes, etc on my electronic. Absolutly love both machines. Been sewing since i was sixteen. I am now seventy and still love it.
That is amazing! I hope you can pass on your knowledge to a younger generation.
I'm keenly undecided on what impresses me more, the fact @ 70 you're stil sewing or that you watch and comment on RUclips. I hope you're not a dog ;)
Takes me back to my childhood, my Dad had a foot pedal powered Singer machine that Dad used to sew a 10 sleeper canvas camping tent that we used on fishing trips. My Dad worked in a leather factory where he sewed many different items. My Mom was a seamstress and she sewed all our curtains and clothing. Those were the grand old days when we made and fixed almost everything, not like these days when things are just bought and thrown away.
Tim, you were making documentaries in the 80’s that rival the quality of documentaries in the 2020’s. Truly timeless. Thank you for remastering these!
It is much better than the modern ones. For those tell you some history and show portraits of the inventors but never explain how the thing actually work.
Back when people actually tried.
"Rival"-or "thoroughly beat"?
Uh, a hell of a lot of old documentaries(most probably) are fire and don't attempt to be cinematic before being informative.
Yep! So many modern “documentaries” are rubbish. I see a lot of attention starved ego maniacs with an iPhone making documentaries about THEMSELVES making a documentary, with flashy seizure inducing editing and cluttered with crappy music blaring the whole time.
The animation of the bobbin forming a stitch is a rare masterpiece...beats so much of todays flashy stuff. Has me watching our sewing machine with a much improved understanding of what I have previously considered to be quite magical! And what a lovely lady with her quiet enthusiasm for old machines, another candidate for a fascinating story or two.
A big thank-you to Norman Margolus for keeping alive the fabulous work of Mr. Tim Hunkin, and a huge thank-you to Tim Hunkin and crew for producing the footage in the first place, fantastic!
And Tim is producing NEW content too on his channel, relating mainly to "maker" subject matter.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere With plenty of mentions of China Wuhan Covid...awful.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere😮😮😮 I've just found this channel and am in grave danger of never doing anything ever again (but learning EVERYTHING)
@@SpectrumOfChange It's great stuff for sure. Be sure to watch all of the episodes of "The Secret Life of Machines". They're all great.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere thanks, I'll check those out. I like to tinker, so that series should be great.
This is so refreshing
The Internet has so many painfully wrong descriptions of how sewing machines work.
Thank you Tim
The rotating needle is the real secret.
@@brodriguez11000 Not really, it's the oscillating hook and bobbin mechanism that is the magic, just as Tim said.
If my needle spins, then work is too hard fo me.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Indeed. That animated sketch was about the clearest explanation you could ever get.
The next time I fire up my modern Brother machine I'm going to take a much closer look at the bobbin action and interaction with the needle. What would be marvellous is a machine made from transparent plastic so one could watch every movement in detail.
I found it amazing when he said, That sewing machines are designed to last a lifetime. When was the last time you heard that sentence spoken about any modern product?
you can still get sewing machines made now that haven't been changed from the ones made in the 70's and 80's they last along time with the care
I have a sewing machine that is over a hundred years old and it still works.
@@Taneth That is so brilliant. I would really love to have one. Do you have any advice or wisdom to impart to someone who is considering purchasing an old machine?
@@mickerphillps2529 Your absolutely right. My first machine was from the 70's (used) and it worked long and hard. A couple of years ago I purchased my very first NEW machine. I know that it will last forever. How nice would it be to have a lovely vintage model to use in my videos. Do you have any recommendations for a really good seller/collectors? I would love to pursue their wares.
@@Faeriehood I couldn't tell ya, not a collector myself, this thing spends most of its time in storage. It took a bit of work to get it moving at all.
Absolutely wonderful! Tim Hunkin is the David Attenborough of the mechanical world! :-) xxx
Absolutely! :D
Took me 20 minutes of this video to work out who Tim Hunkin's voice reminds me of - it's Jeremy Hardy.
i wasnt aware that Tim Hunkin was a eugenist - you learn something every day
@@grantm6514 Awww, lovely Jeremy Hardy. RIP
Calling Attenborough a eugenicist is quite a stretch. He has said nothing about breeding humans intentionally to produce a change in their qualities. Population control is not the same as selective breeding. People say they are the same for dramatic effect but it isn't very reasonable.
Ok youtube recommendations, you win this one. I have two old singers, one treadle that was my grandmothers and one of the early electric ones. They both still work beautifully.
No idea how I found this. Just made me love my inherited Singer all the more.
I have a 1919 Singer that I had planned to restore “someday”. Someday just arrived! Thanks for the inspirational nudge!
As a boy of about 13 or 14, my mum taught me how to use her big fancy, Singer, sowing machine - that was as big as a sideboard! I didn't like the fashion at the time for flared trousers and preferred 'drainpipes' so I took my own trousers in as a boy! Different times, lovely memories. Thanks Tim - always wondered how they worked mate.
I absolutely loved this series. Even my (then) wife, a technophobe, was into them. I love the practical demonstrations, especially the sewing machine. My mom was a seamstress and I "helped" her with her sewing from a young age, but I never understood what a bobbin was for or how it worked. Until I saw this. Then it clicked!
Lovely film. Happy to report that here in Panama the idea of home sewing is still very much alive. Plenty of old Singers and other makes still helping their owners produce useful and creative clothing.
I watched this on television with my dad in the early 90's when it first got broadcast here in the states. I spent the past 15 or 20 years trying to remember the name of the show so I could look it up and, lo and behold, saw on reddit that you'd remastered and reuploaded it. This absolutely made my day, and the sewing machine demonstration has stuck with me through all the years. Delightful to see it again. Thank you!
It's a great feeling to find something like this after all those years.
Same!
Me too, that intro tune is one you'll never forget
Tim Hunkin simply a genius in transposing complicated machines into laymans terms. The series "Secret Lives Of" must have inspired so many youngters to become engineers. Lets not forget Rex Garret a most brilliant practical engineer, the real do it chap that every employer would like to have.
Finally...Thanks Norman an excellent rework for without your efforts we may have lost video for ever....
Remastered "Secret life..." is probably best recommendation to my by RUclips ever. I love everything here, from intro tune to end comments. What a humble and ingenious man. I could watch forever this series.
I liked the "disheveled" appearance thing, that's exactly what an artists hair "should" look like. Amazing work mate, so good :)
I remember seeing an episode in school. We had a laugh at his crazy hair. He looked like he'd been electrocuted.
I remember watching "The Secret Life of..." back in the 80's as a kid - thanks for the memories of the best decade in the last 50 years.
Wow. I've sewn miles and miles without being able to visualize what goes on while the needle is at the bottom of its orbit.
@MichaelKingsfordGray Don't worry, Michael, everybody knows your name...you must be so proud of yourself.
Reddit sent me to a video on LEDs. I watched every moment presented by this homely British man who spoke with authority of his lengthy LED experience. I blurred my eyes and tried to imagine the 30-something version of this person. Maybe an outsider... 1980s bad hair cut... Clearly an artist.
Cut to this evening when I'm laying in bed and RUclips decides I should watch more about the vintage sewing machines I've been rabbit-holeing.
This time a beautifully zeitgeist 1980s presentation complete with animation and hand made diagrams and a presenter that made me blur my eyes and imagine him now. Probably still tinkering, teaching... Less hair... Clearly still an artist.
It wasn't until this week that I have ever seen your material, but it's right up my alley. Good job. Thank you.
It is curious why, but the human tableau as a demonstration of relatively complex activity is very effective. I remember, in the early 1980s, using this method to teach students how a simple [computer's] Central Processing Unit and its memory worked. What was most striking, was how much their actually taking part in the tableau, reinforced their understanding manyfold. Yet another excellent video from Tim, thank you.
Tim Hunkin is a national treasure. A pleasure to see a program that is both so entertaining and wonderfully informative
I always liked how Tim looked like he’d just been working on the machines. It made the program real and you knew he knew what he was talking about. I was brought up in the 60s and I used to love my mother's old treadle machine.
Absolutely! Bring on the DIRTY FINGERNAILS and the DISHEVELLED appearance! Astonishing, isn't it, what people like to get all worked up about!
It brings a lot of hope to me, Sir, to see you speaking again about these wonderful documentaries. The world has become so much idiotic and we don't see these kind of shows anymore. Your shows are all GOLD in youtube😍
I absolutely loved these programmes and the way they stripped away all of the froth and explained what was really happening inside the machines. The perfect simple demonstrations of the concepts were brilliantly done.
This is the show that got me interested in fixing and building stuff
Outstanding. This should be shown in every HomeEc class, if they still have those.
I teach sewing and tell my kids to watch this video every year. I am happy to see this remastered.
Dear Tim - I LOVED watching this series when it was new, and as a life-long sewer myself, I always would send people to this episode because the 'human sewing machine' is one of the best explanations as to why those two separate threads become one line of sewing! BRAVO! Love the remastered version!
I had been asked to fix / setup a machine by my wife .... I might actually be able to do it now I know what the parts do and why!. Thanks for a great program.
I recommend a you tube channel named “AndyTube”. I have learned to completely disassemble and repair my own antique and vintage singer machines by watching his videos.
My great grand mother had a treadle Singer sewing machine. Us kids would crawl under the table and hand pump the treadle for hours. It never got old.
Just what me and my sister used to do at our great grandmother's! :)
Did you ever learn how to sew. I'm 50 and used to watch all these programs and I just got my first sewing machine a month ago. : )
There are a few hundred thousand people signed up for The Quilting Board, an online community dedicated to that craft. You'll also find multiple quilting, as well as other types of sewing project videos on RUclips, and there are dozens of websites and blogs where quilters share their joy of quilting. Larger cities in the US often have a few shops that sell quilt patterns and fabrics, and usually they offer lessons and workshops. There are also quilt guilds and guilt shows around the country, and even cruises devoted to that hobby. Another sewing related hobby that is quite popular is machine embroidery. Starting with the basic mechanisms of a sewing machine, but with the addition of an arm with a hoop that moves stretched fabric in every direction within one plane, and a computer that reads designs and translates them into these movements, all manner of marvels are achieved. Thanks for the handy run through of sewing machine history.
Last I checked Walmart still sells fabric.
I can't wait to start sewing again. I've just spied an old 1927 Singer (converted to electric by yours truly). Sewing is strangely therapeutic. I have a new house and so I'm going to be making curtains, duvet covers, pillows, pillow covers, cushions, cushion covers and so on. I know it sounds ludicrous that there are male sewers out there and I am very embarrassed to have such a hobby (born out of necessity as due to Teh Rona I'm having to make do and mend as there are no clothes shops open) but it's about making things for yourself just like hunting and fishing where you catch and make your own dinner but with a lot more comfort after a 12 hour back shift where you can collapse onto the sofa with a comfy large cushion and pillow and encounter this strange thing called "sleep" that everyone talks about but that you've never experienced.
God, these were good programs. I remember watching these on TLC when we first got cable TV in our house. I have often thought about these episodes over the years. Thanks Tim for posting these again. I cannot tell you how happy I am that these have been preserved.
Craig
Same situation here. I was already kind of a gear head at a young age. I watched all of these shows when they came out on TLC. Tough to say how much influence they probably had on my life. I always kind of liked the version of "Take Five" as the closing music.
I just found this today and it was delightful!. You remarked that sewing is now a niche hobby that not many folks do anymore, I think you are mistaken about that. Perhaps people no longer sew their own clothes (although I do know many who do) but there are loads of other things one can sew. I have sewn for over 40 years, I do not make many garments, but I have made dozens of quilts. I also make costumes and enjoy upcycling clothes and other fabric items. I also have taught sewing to kids and adults. Most of the folks I teach say they want to make their own clothes for a variety of reasons, can't get a good fit, want something unique, and so on. I enjoyed the updated comments, particularly seeing you sewing some trousers on a lovely old Bernina as I have that model in my collection! (I currently own 11 sewing machines). Your program was interesting, informative and very entertaining! I'm so glad I found it and have shared it on my FB group for Vintage Sewing Machines.
It's worth noting that there is a large community here on RUclips for both costuming from characters and costuming from history. The CosTube base has some extremely popular channels. Many of these enthusiasts are using the vintage machines, as their durability and simplicity are still valued today. Additionally, the ethos of making clothes that last, can be altered or remade, and/or making that particularly personal garment is prompting many sewists to reject fast fashion and its clothes that easily wear out or fall out of fashion.
i so remember this show fondly. my son and i would watch every episode and make us laugh. plus the reggae music intro was wonderful
Why isn't shows like this made anymore?! Didn't know it was even possible to make an episode about sewing machines this interesting!
I also find the animations entertaining as well :)
Wow, great to see these episodes again after so long. I still have my Mum’s Singer machine she got from her Mum - early 50’s I think. Still goes great and I use it for making curtains and such - was the only boy in the family that learned to sew. I always liked the Bernina machines at School but have never owned one as the old Singer keeps on keeping on.
I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this video on RUclips. I watched all The Secret Life of Machines episodes on tv back when there was still intelligent content, and loved them all. It was a quirky science show that appealed to the do-it-yourselfer in me. And, of course, the later episodes always ended with the machine in question being blown up, which was more quirky fun. Thanks so much for making this available again.
This is my favorite technology show of all time. Thank you Tim, you are a treasure for humanity. I am so excited to re-watch these in the improved format. I remember burning copies I found on the internet around 2008 to give to my nephews who were still in grade school then, and one of them is now in college and studying engineering. I would like to think that these shows made some significant impact in his development!
Btw, I remember getting a catalog from the Cabaret Mechanical Theater and ordering some of your kits back in the early 2000's. You were always so kind whenever I wrote to ask you questions. Thank you.
The way Tim captures real life and humor in his machines and videos is amazing. Who else would make a mechanical doctor who writes illegible prescriptions?
Excellent! Whether male or female, a machinist, an engineer, fabricator, or just a frugal DIYer, the sewing machine has an addictive quality. Once you collect one, there are a seemingly infinite number of variants to find. I call it “welding fabric together” and it is quite a useful hobby.
Hi, this has been a fascinating film and site to find! Having sewn and made my own and family's clothes since VERY young, aswell as hundreds of costumes for different shows and plays, it is MARVELLOUS to find out about how the machine works! I still have my singer treadle machine, (that I still regularly use, 112 years since it was originally purchased, and it is still going strong!) My mother bought it for me in 1975, from a charity shop in Bristol, for my 17th birthday! It cost £5! It came with the original monthly payment book that was used to pay for it on tick, (which I still have) and also the original instruction booklet! The latter, unfortunately, was lent to a friend of hers by my mother and was never returned, MUCH to my enduring chagrin, as there are a few original adaptation feet that came with it, that I STILL haven't been able to work out how to use!! 😤 I also have a BROTHER electric machine that I was later given to me by a friend, which is very useful for zigzag sewing, but my heart still belongs to my treadle!
No amount of computer animation will ever beat the simplicity and clarity of this explanation. Absolutely brilliant.
This was a back-of-my-mind mystery for almost 70 years. Thank you.
Excellent. I've been sewing since I was a kid, 35 years, but never really conceptualized what all the movements were for. That was a gift. Thank you.
This is how all historical documentaries should be made.
Tim is a treasure and the father of all “makers”! I suspect many folks rediscovered sewing making masks for the COVID epidemic. It took me a few tries, but eventually I got it right and I was thinking if the principles this show taught me so many years ago!
forget plastic straws.....watch out for the 20 billion masks per month ending up in the sea....
My very old Family Singer and/or my antique thread failed me this past year when I needed masks. Many failed attempts at masks for Covid. Immunized now and planning on finding new thread and/or repairs to get us both up and running.
@@katherineharra8434 alas that 'vax' did not immunize you or stop you passing on BS.
Mr. Tim Hunkin is indeed a genius! He effortlessly translates complex machines into basic layman's terms. Brilliant Indeed!
I’m 54 years old and have always wondered how a sewing machine works. Now thanks to you I now know.
Thank again.
I'm 74 and have just found out! I previously thought it was magic 😂
My late husband loved this series! And this episode was his all-time favorite, because I refused to let him take apart my Kenmore so he could see how it worked. Thank you for saving my machine!
This is excellent. I have my mother’s 70 year old Singer and my pre-digital Pfaff I purchased 40 years ago. Both still work perfectly.
I watched this series religiously back in the day when we had 5 or 6 channels that our rabbit ear antenna could pull in.. Now we have 500 channels with very little as good as this.
"The Secret Life of Machines" and "Connections with James Burke" are two of shows from my youth that I miss the most. I am so pleased to find this in my feed and look forward to rewatching it with my daughters.
Yep - Connections was the other one. I bet we're exactly the same age :)
We have a Singer 66 "Redeye" my wife bought years ago at a yard sale. We restored it after years of languishing in an attic and it's working perfectly - we used it to sew a mess of masks in April 2020 when they weren't available for love or money!
One of my earliest memories was using my mother’s old Singer hand cranked sewing machine without cotton to make perforations in paper. It used to keep me occupied for hours making ticket books that I could then tear off and “sell” the tickets.
Little things pleased little minds!
This was wonderful to watch! Thank you! I have about a dozen machines, a couple of Berninas and the rest Singers. Younger folk are once again turning to sewing, and many people use their sewing machines to quilt. Quilters love the older, lightweight Singers called Featherweights. They sell for hundreds of dollars if in good shape.
I used to look forward the each episode of The Secret Life of Machines in the 1980s. They were all excellent.
I remember watching these on KERA in Dallas, around 1989-91. Loved the tongue-in-cheek animations, and just how homemade they felt. Nothing like it on American TV, even on PBS. Thanks for uploading these, which look amazing for being upscaled from PAL tape.
I loved this, thank you so much. I had my first sewing machine as a child, it was a hand crank child sized machine. I was mesmerised on how it actually worked, if only I had seen this footage then. I now have 7 sewing machines, two are old Singers (One hand crank, one electric 201k, recently given to me from my mother in law), a Mechanical Toyota (my first electric machine), a AEG machine (my first computerised machine), Brother machine (my main sewing machine I use now), a small Brother (I used for travel purposes) a Brother that I bought second hand from a friend because it does embroidery with big hoops, I don’t usually sew with it, but it’s probably more upmarket than the machine I use daily. Not included in the 7 sewing machines, I have my first embroidery machine (it only does embroidery and with a very small hoop) and I have two overlockers, so all in all I have 10 machines of some sort. I also have this contraption that looks like a stapler that sews. I’m passionate about sewing and my You tube channel is mainly about sewing, there is a bit of knitting, crochet ect. Thanks again for this video, so glad I found it.
I was suddenly hooked on a RUclips video of a restoration of an 1894 Singer sewing machine that was in an absolutely atrocious condition, having been found in a farmyard exposed to the elements, as well as chicken poop, for decades. The restoration work is fantastic. And then I got thinking about my own modern Brother machine and, being an erstwhile motor mechanic, started to wonder how this amazing invention of mechanical sewing got started in the 1850s.
A few videos later and then I came across Tim Hunkin's video of sewing machine principles. Fascinating to watch. I'll probably watch again, especially the human "machine" segment. Thanks for such an amazing explanation of how this marvellous invention works!
sold my unnecessarilly elecronic pfaff domesitic and now have two dozen pre 1965s, they are all works of art...thanks so much for sharing friend...Creator bless...doug
I remember this TV series. It was quite satisfying to have things so eloquently explained. Like this episode explaining the unseen goings on under the bed and inside the arm of the machine.
These programmes are bringing me such delight Tim!
I remember watching them on telly and thoroughly enjoying each episode.
I am now appreciating them even more for the engineering content. They are fascinating and the cartoons are a great laugh. Excellent craic! Thanks again.
I always wondered how sewing machine worked, but never looked it up, this made my day, thank you.
I sat and watched, entranced and entirely motionless, right the way through. What a superb and often very funny documentary. Am subscribing and will share the videos with my mechanically minded son.
By the way, I have and have had several antique sewing machines and especially adore the Willcox and Gibbs, which, tiny and simple as it is, has no issue sewing through either heavy canvas or silk gauze. My 1934 Singer 28 Kilbowie is almost as tough, and again, a joy. While I had a Bernina and now a Brother, have found the older machines the more reliable and happy-making, in the long run.
I always wondered how sewing machines work but it's never before been explained to me in a way I understood- your demonstration is ingenious, thank you 😊
Best explanations of the chain and lock stitch I've ever seen.
I'm glad this vid was recommended on YT algo. I have a sewing business and it was great to see the workings of the mechanisms so expertly demonstrated. I particularly liked the human sewing machine and the subtle disdain of a younger Tim towards electronic bolt-ons attached to newer machines. I had an aha moment when I realised the mechanical doctor was made by Tim, my children and I know and love the bonkers machines at Southwold Pier - we living just down the road from there. I too reeled at the 'engineers fingers' in the videos presentation so it was funny to hear of the letters he received after the show aired, I can just imagine my old grandma having been one of the complainants!
Tim, I make animated scrap metal creations (mechanical horse, angler fish, smoking talking dragon, e.t.c) and have been learning with each creation. I have to say a huge thank you for sharing your years of dedication and studying in such great videos over the decades. It's a sheer treasure trove and you have such a wealth of wisdom through experience that's priceless. Thank you for inspiring us all!!
Thanks for the remasters! This brought back memories of watching this show with my late husband ( an engineering geek). I loved the "Secret Life of Machines". The bonus footage was wonderful. Tim always liked to tinker with things.
A friend of mine who makes firearms uses parts from old sewing machines.
I've taken one apart and used a bunch of the pieces in my tinkering projects.
Another great video!
I especially love the animations.😊
Congratulations for depicting one of the silent wonders of engineering.
It's absolutely true that modern electronic sewing machines are far more susceptible to breakage and obsolescence. I've only every used a few of the multitude of additional fancy stitches on my machine.
3:41 always made me wince, 2mm from being speared in the fingernail by what looks like a medieval torture device
my nana did it a few times after she got a motor installed on her treadle machine.
Sounds like one too
A bit more than a year ago, I saw a receipt of a sewing machine, decades and decades back (maybe it was from 1920s or 1930s?). It was an instalment purchase, and I'm pretty sure it was a Singer machine. I think the machine still exists, although I'm not 100% sure if it's the same machine still, or has there been another one purchased after that. The machine was bought in countryside in Finland, and I'm fairly sure it has been a 100 km distance to the nearest city where there have been any sewing machine shops at the time, so possibly it has been a travelling merchant who has sold the machine. I just thought that it must have been really a necessity back then, and also that how big of an investment a machine like that must have been.
I really like these videos! I find it quite amazing how many of the inventions still in use have been done 100 or more years ago, and with many of the same principles still in use. And at the same time how little has changed in the last 30 years. Semiconductor control has become more common in most machines, but it already existed back then.
I have been looking for a documentary like this about the sewing machine for two years now and thank you so much for posting it. I stumbled across this as I was watching old Singer documentaries. I collect sewing machine and Maggie Snell is my idol!
So sweet and funny, Thanks a lot! I’m the proud heir of my great-grandmother’s Pfaff, which she got for school in the 1880ies and has been used in our family ever since. It comes with a small worktable (with a nice meter-band realised with millimeter-small wood inlays!) and the large wheel which is propelled by the “not ladylike” foot pedal, but it can also be detached and carried with its beautiful wooden casket, and then moved by hand. It wheighs around 10 kg I think, so those girls must have been pretty strong back then!
The lapse between minutes 9:41 to 12:44 is a completely exquisite ASMR so unique! I enjoyed that part the most 4 sure!!!!!😊
My mother had one of those old electric Singers and I recall playing with it as a child... I was a curious 10 year old, when I saw all those levers knobs and bobbins, and opened stuff to see inside, I never understood how it all functioned... Sadly, the machine is long gone decades ago and I've forgot all about it, but this episode brought back memories of that old machine and I vividly remember all those tiny details you explained. Now thanks to you, it all came together and hit me like lightning how it worked! I wish I had that old machine to look at once again and remember my mother who used to sew for me... (I'm a bit sad) Anyway, thank you so much!
I simply love the old cast iron machines. They'll so beautiful ❤
This has been so incredibly useful today as I don’t have my sewing machine and I need to make a quick repair - and all I have is a spare machine needle. It’s slow going, but it’s working! Thank you for the detailed demonstration of how a machine functions!
i loved this series back when it was first out back.. in the 80s? I had already watched Cosmos and then found Connections and later came across Secret Life of Machines. I loved how simple and sort of primitive it all was. It made the mechanisms so accessible.
Thanks for remastering it and bringing it back. The end notes are wonderful.
Cosplay gave me a reason to learn how to sew. I had my grandma teach me and I'm happy to be carrying on the family skill the would have been otherwise lost!
Wow I remembered watching some of these episodes as a kid. They were the best! Thanks for uploading them!
I had forgotten about this series and how much I enjoyed it. Thanks for remastering and sharing it again.
I enjoyed watching "Secret Life of Machines" all those years ago. Boy time does fly by. Thank you Tim and Rex.
Thanks so very much for posting this. I remember this specific episode. It's how I learned how the machine worked, how to thread it, and how to use it. I was not taught by my mother who sewed, or my grandmother who was a seamstress. Completely self-taught.
I have had any number of sewing machines to support backpacking, climbing and kayaking over the years. I'm not good at it but it all sticks together thanks to, what to my mind, is a miraculous machine. This film is fascinating.
I don't normally watch long videos, but this was fascinating, humorous and well worth it.
Sewing definitely alive and well in this neck of the woods, Tim, if the users of Watford Recycling Arts Project are anything to go by. The scrapstore is well used by members from a large area here at its base in Northwood Hills right on the edge of North West Greater London, and our stocks of fabrics are popular not only with established stitchers but also with large numbers of students from schools and the London art schools and fashion colleges. And can say this goes equally well for all scrapstores up and down the country, so you can rest assured sewing machine use is very much happening. The phone number/location of one's favourite and cherished sewing machine technician is a covetously traded asset among afficionados!
These are absolutely fantastic thanks Tim.
Excellent that Tim Hunkin's still kicking. Also how wonderful these episodes were made in 1990, when examples of beautiful old equipment were still found in the junkyards.
They were filmed in 1987 and broadcast in the U.K. in 1988.