Button hole machine

About the sound

The Dürkopp button hole machine 555-2-W, constructed in 1931, is an exhibit of the Museum Wäschefabrik in Bielefeld. In the linen works of Th. and G. Winkel it fabricated button holes at 2000 stitches per minute for bedclothes , knitted fabrics and women's and men's clothes until the 1960s. The machine was solely operated by women. After laying out the fabric the seamstress used the machine to sew two columns and the final bar tack. With the last knotting stitch the machine automatically lowered a blade and cut through the button hole.
The sounds of the machine are created by the gear of the electric motor, by the stitching motion of the needle and the punch of the blade when the button hole is cut.

Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski / Jonathan Nicolai / Anna Pietzuch
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski / Jonathan Nicolai / Anna Pietzuch
Photo: Konrad Gutkowski / Jonathan Nicolai / Anna Pietzuch