About
Bideford Sewing Machines
Hi, I am Terry & I have grown-up with Sewing machines & knitting machines being disassembled & scrutinized on my Grans large dining room table since the early 1980's by my Grandad & his Brother. (Their father setup "Bideford Sewing Machines" 90 years earlier)
Those images stuck in my mind; niggling at me & they are what are driving me today to keep your machines operational. My Grandad (TED WEEKS) (pictured on right) was a very kept man but he gave clear instruction when it came to use a sewing machine; there is an order in which things must be done. He was young when deployed to parts of Africa & Southern France in 1940's & witnessed things that were not much talked about. Passed away in 2017 I am glad he got to hold my little girl & he stood over me as I disassembled my first sewing machine while working with his son - Jim Weeks (My Uncle) now retired from Barnstaple Sewing Machines. Thankyou Jim & Yo & thankyou Gran & Grandad x
Established in 1892 approximately by R.Weeks (My Great Grandfather) who was an apprentice with Singer based Bristol - R.Weeks was given a shop in Bideford, Buttgarden Street. Until he took it upon himself to repair the sewing machines that came through his door; Singer did not like this and took away the shop - this was the start of Bideford Sewing Machines, originally started at Park Lane, Bideford.
TED WEEKS (2016)
1st Class RAF Hurricane Mechanic
My grandad (TED WEEKS) RAF Hurricane Mechanic during World War 2; was stationed in parts of Africa & was in France when war broke out; with Germans just down the road & advancing on his position he dropped his camera & other belongings to get back to England. After war had ended he worked with his Father & alongside his brother for a short time before setting up North Devon Sewing & Knitting Machines, on Clovelly Road. My grandparents also had wool, cotton, kniting & machine shop along Grenville Street in Bideford; with a couple of small shops in Barnstaple which were run by family members up until the middle of the 1990's before being forced out by over inflation.
Terry with his Gran MAVIS WEEKS whom manages to this day; all operations that keep the business ticking over.
Today large scale clothing manufacturing has gone back home along the Silk Trade route & so to has the production of all types of sewing machines.
Today the basic concept of a working sewing machine's patent has been copied
& as the original brain behind the design is no longer here to fight for the right - no-one cares.. & that is a real shame....take some time out & think about it for a few seconds or minutes.... Just think "How would you get your self to work in that new suit just tailored"? or "What would be holding your shoes together" if it was not for the sewing machine that had increased strength in textiles, the quality in look/style & the quantity of productivity?
A few of the greatest minds in the world were in a room 1 day & they produced a working sewing machine - gained the PATENT & went all out on full time production; producing some of the finest machines in the world which eventually would also help man take the first steps on the moon July 20th 1969 & to also enable mankind to safely land on MARS on 18th FEB 2021 - Now that is a thread that I would like to follow through history.
The history of the sewing machine is long and interesting. Here is a chronology of the many significant events in mechanical sewing's past.
1656 English needle makers given Guild regulations by Oliver Cromwell
1679 Charles II prohibits the import of needles
1730 Milwards found a needle factory
1790 Thomas Saint invents his chain-stitch machine
1800 Balthasar Kreme invents his chain-stitch machine
1807 Edward Walter invents his sewing machine
1812 The Scambler Co, Birmingham, gold plate the needle eye for the first time
1830 Barthelemy Thimmonier invents his chain-stitch machine
1843 Walter Hunt invents his lock-stitch machine
1845 Elias Howe invents his chain-stitch machine
1860 Jeans become the first ready-made clothing in the USA.
1864 Frister Rossmann start producing in Berlin.
1882 First proposals to standardize machine needles.
1892 R. Weeks joins Singer in Bristol as an apprentice.
1897 Thirty sewing machine factories are by now established in England.
1901 R. Weeks promoted to manager of the Singer Shop in Barnstaple.
1926 First punch card sewing machine.
1942 R. Weeks retires from the Singer Company and starts Bideford Sewing Machine Service.
1942 Germany replaces thirty different needle sizes with a metric standard system.
1950 R. Weeks jnr. and E. Weeks join the business and North Devon Sewing Machines is started.
1966 E. Weeks jnr (Jim) joins the business and Barnstaple Sewing Machines is started.
1970 R. Weeks snr retires.
1974 Sewing machine needles to be standardized at existing 900 different needle systems.
1976 R. Weeks jnr retires.
1980 Singer factory on Clydebank closes.
1985 Aged 8 Terry helps TED & MAVIS WEEKS with customer data entry.
1987 Terry makes his first Knitted jumper on a Knitting Machine.
1988 TED & MAVIS WEEKS stop attending South Molton, Holsworthy & other markets.
2013 Terry Bowden joins forces with JIM WEEKS of Barnstaple Sewing Machines.
2017 TED WEEKS at 99years of age reluctantly winds down North Devon Sewing Machines.
2018 JIM WEEKS winds down Barnstaple Sewing Machines
2019 Bideford Sewing Machines is re-established.