Mr Issac Singer did NOT invent the sewing machine. He’s a patent thief. The modern hole in the needle point lock stitch was invented by Elias Howe and it became the biggest patent infringement cases of the 19th century. ( Howe saw the modern machine needle with the eye in the point rather than the end in a dream, BTW)The reason Singer wanted to improve the machine make the sewing machine a necessity for every home had little to do with altruism and everything to do with money, he was a bigamist with two wives, both with several children and he had a couple mistresses and other children on the side. He needed money to support all of them. Search for these names:

Elias Howe.

Issac Singer

Walter Hunt

Here’s the wiki page on singer:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Singer

And here’s a brief intro on the whole sewing machine patent war:http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/sewing_machine.htm

I don’t know if that’s what your daughter has read on the singer website, but this is the unvarnished truth.

The reason his sewing machine achieved more fame than the others is that it was more practical, it could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. For a down payment of just $5.00, a purchaser could take the machine home and start sewing on it the same day. The Singer sewing machine became the first home appliance, and the Singer company became one of the first American multinationals. Even so, during his lifetime, the flamboyant Singer was as well known for his unconventional lifestyle as for his sewing machines.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyrensse/bio206.htm

AS THE OLD SAYING GOES NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF ALL INVENTIONS