Sewing Machines in Cinema

My Top 5 List of Sewing Machines & Sewists On The Big Screen

Every time I see a sewing machine on TV, I yell “SEWING MACHINE!” out loud and try to name the make and model. My cat is probably annoyed with me, but I can’t help myself. Sewing machines are in my blood and I feel like I’ve been seeing them more and more on TV these days.

Here are some recent examples:

Above: Sprite released a commercial not too long ago that features a young woman working away on what looks like a 1990s-era Singer machine

Just in 2023, two different shows on HBO featured sewing machines. Perry Mason, a legal drama set in 1932 Los Angeles, featured an old Singer treadle machine. Gossip Girl, a show about rich NYC private school teenagers, featured a Juki TL-2010 semi-industrial straight stitch machine.

Also in 2023, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a popular TV show set in the 1950’s, released an episode that featured a Singer machine. I can’t quite tell the model from behind, but I think it is a Singer Touch-N-Sew (a technician’s worst enemy).

Has there been an uptick of sewing machines featured in TV shows, movies, and commercials, or is it just my recency bias? It is difficult to tell. Perhaps it’s simply a product of more television being produced, more opportunity for the prop people to slip in a sewing machine here and there. Perhaps it’s due to the DIY renaissance born during Covid lockdown. Or, perhaps I have a sewing machine problem and they are occupying the forefront of my mind more than they should. It’s probably a combination of all three.

Regardless, I have been inspired to put together a list the top 5 most iconic instances of sewing machines and sewists in cinema. These are instances where either the machine or the sewist play a significant role in the story, not just background filler.

I hope you all enjoy.

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Iconic Sewing Machines & Sewists in Cinema

Honorable Mention: Deadpool

Personally, I have never been a big fan of superhero movies. I had a few friends who know this about me and recommend I watch Deadpool for the reason that it’s a “different” kind of superhero movie. I agree that it’s a bit different. The movie is ironic and pokes fun at traditional superhero movie tropes. The hero is extremely flawed, far more than we are used to seeing in the typical superhero movie.

Still, I was not a fan. Superhero movies just aren’t my cup of tea. That said, there is a brief scene where the protagonist makes his own superhero suit and uses a sewing machine to do so. There is not a clear wide-shot of the machine, so I cannot confidently state the make and model, but let’s just say that it’s not a Bernina 770. The superhero suit appears to be made of spandex and I doubt an unexperienced sewist could successfully sew a spandex costume on such a machine.

However, I don’t want to be a hater. Deadpool makes my list as an honorable mention because it came out rather recently and is an extremely popular movie among the youth, especially (as far as I can tell) with young men. I tip my cap to any film that positively promotes sewing, sewing machines, and making your own clothes, especially if the film targets a demographic where sewing isn’t typically a popular hobby.

The protagonist even does a little bit of hand sewing to complete his super suit.

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5. Seinfeld - Season 8, Episode 16 - “The Pothole”