Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs Rhone-Alpes France

French inventor Barthélemy Thimonnier, having settled in 1823 in a suburb of Saint-Étienne and worked as a tailor here, had in 1829 invented the sewing machine, which chains stitches at 200/minute, and signed a contract with Auguste Ferrand, a mining engineer, who had made the requisite drawings and submitted a patent application.

The patent for his machine (#7454) is issued on July 17, 1830 in the names of both men, supported by the French Government.

The same year, he opens (with partners) the first machine-based clothing manufacturing company in the world.

It is supposed to create army uniforms.

However, the factory is burnt down, reportedly by workers fearful of losing work following the issuing of the patent.

Thimonnier then returns to his hometown of Amplepuis and supports himself as a tailor again, while searching for improvements to his machine.