Singer, contemplating his future, became interested in Phelps' work, manufacturing sewing machines for J. A. Lerow and S. C. Blodgett. Phelps welcomed Singer's interest as the design of the mechanism was faulty and purchasers kept returning the machines for repairs. Singer examined the sewing machine with the eyes of a practical machinist. He criticized the action of the shuttle, which passed around a circle, and the needle bar, which pushed a curved needle horizontally. Singer suggested that the shuttle move to and fro in a straight path and that a straight needle be used vertically. Phelps encouraged Singer to abandon the type-carving machine and turn his energies toward the improvement of the sewing machine. Convinced that he could make his ideas work, Singer sketched a rough draft of his proposed machine, and with the support of Zieber and Phelps the work began.
Singer continued to be active in the sewing-machine business until 1863. He made his home in Paris for a short time and then moved to England. While living at Torquay he conceived the idea of a fabulous Greco-Roman mansion, which he planned to have built at Paignton. Singer called it "The Wigwam." Unfortunately, after all his plans, he did not live to see its completion. Singer died on July 23, 1875, of heart disease at the age of sixty-three.
[93] _The Proceedings and Debates of the 43rd Congress_, First Session, 1874 Congressional Record, vol. 2, part 3, petition read to the House by Mr. Creamer on April 7, 1874. In part 4 of the same, Mr. Buckingham read a similar petition to the Senate on May 19, 1874. Both were referred to the Committee on Patents; an extension was not granted.
ADAMS, CHARLES K. Sewing machines. In vol. 7 of _Johnson's universal cyclopaedia_, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1895.
ALEXANDER, EDWIN P. Sewing, plaiting, and felting machines. Pp. 341-353 in _The Practical Mechanic's Journal's record of the great exhibition, 1862_. 1862.
----. On the sewing machine: Its history and progress. _Journal of the Royal Society of Arts_ (April 10, 1863), vol. 2, no. 542, p. 358.
AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. _The life and works of George H. Corliss._ (Privately printed for Mary Corliss by the Society.) 1930.