The first sewing machine was the invention of perhaps Thomas Saint, an Englishmen. In 1790, he patented a machine that had many of the features of the modern chain-stitch one. It was mainly intended for work on leather. But it was never used and the inventor made no profit by it.
In 1830, a poor French tailor called Barthelemy Thimmonier invented a sewing machine which had resemblance even more with the present model. This was actually used in France but a mob of angry workers wrecked the plant and the machines as they feared that they would lose their jobs otherwise. Thimmonier died in poverty.
Almost at the same time in New York, Walter Hunt invented a machine with a curved needle and an eye at the point. The needle passed a loop of thread through the cloth which was caught by a second thread, forming a lock stitch. But Hunt failed to obtain a patent!
The honour of patenting first practical sewing machine, therefore, went to Elias Howe. In 1851, Isaac Singer also obtained patent for his sewing machine. There was a dispute between Howe and Singer over who had the priority, and Howe won the case. So he was able to obtain royalties from practically every type of machine then in use.
Now, there are numerous kinds of sewing machines, including special machines for sewing leather, felt hats, quilts, and buttons etc.