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Sew on.

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When Hollywood actress Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl (born November 24, 1978) is an Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American actress and former fashion model. Biography Early life Heigl was born in Washington, D.C. was recently spotted with her newly purchased BERNINA sewing machine Bernina is Swiss company that manufactors sewing machines. History In 1893, Karl Friedrich Gegauf (founder of the Bernina Sewing Machine Factory) constructed the first hemstitching machine in the world., the Swiss company rejoiced. Their campaigns to encourage creativity and remove sewing from the cupboard of time-gone-by, where many people had chucked it along with handwritten handwrite tr.v. handwrote, handwritten, handwriting, handwrites To write by hand.

[Back-formation from handwritten.] Adj. 1. letters and pen-and-paper games, had received high-profile recognition.

"The biggest challenge this industry faces is not competition. It's the image of sewing," says BERNINA International AG owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hanspeter Ueltschi. On display in his office are several generations of sewing machines, from the first BERNINA household sewing machine--made of iron and thus "very heavy"--to the latest models with plastic bodies and computerised display screens. "Do you like this?" he asks, pointing at the recent BERNINA 830.

"It looks sleek and appealing," is my honest reply. "One of our priorities--besides a good sewing machine--is a good-looking sewing machine sewing machine, device that stitches cloth and other materials. An attempt at mechanical sewing was made in England (1790) with a machine having a forked, automatic needle that made a single-thread chain. In 1830, B.," he admits of his endeavours to present sewing as an "attractive, inspirational hobby" rather than a housewife's pastime.

The sewing landscape

As a trend for handicrafts trickles into society following the global popularity of so-celled 'sewing cafes' (like an internet cafe The high-tech equivalent of the coffee house. However, instead of playing chess or having heated political discussions, you browse the Internet and discuss the latest technology. CDs, DVDs, games and other "cyber stuff" are also generally available., but with sewing machines) and TV shows like Project Runway Project Runway is an American reality television series on the Bravo network that focuses on fashion design. Its contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are usually restricted in their time, materials, and theme. (in which fashion designers compete to create the best clothes), Ueltschi has high hopes. BERNINA's (used as shorthand for BERNINA International AG) subsidiaries include American quilting quilting, form of needlework, almost always created by women, most of them anonymous, in which two layers of fabric on either side of an interlining (batting) are sewn together, usually with a pattern of back or running (quilting) stitches that hold the layers fabrics manufacturer Benartex Inc. and Brewer Sewing, a company selling sewing supplies. "We don't just want to make the best sewing machine. My vision is to cultivate the sewing landscape, he says.

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Ueltschi has implemented his entrepreneurial ideas since 1988, when be replaced his mother at the helm of the only family-owned sewing machine company in the world. His list of achievements includes establishing America as a key market, building a manufacturing outlet in Thailand, expanding into new markets (such as Russia and India), and introducing the computer age to the business with the artista 180, BERNINA's first sewing computer.

This model is a world away from the days of the inaugural sewing machines, in the mid-eighteenth century, German engineer Charles Frederic Weisenthal tried to create a machine to propel the sewing needle. His designs facilitated the invention of the first household sewing machine, reputedly reputed adj. Generally supposed to be such. See Synonyms at supposed.

reputedly adv. Adv. 1. by American mechanic Elias Howe in 1846. Meanwhile, at a workshop in small Swiss town Steckborn in Canton Thurgau, one of Ueltschi's ancestors was fashioning the foundations of BERNINA.

Solid as a rock

He was an engineer and an inventor," says Ueltschi of his great-grandfather Karl Fdedrich Gegauf. Gegauf's impressive talent developed during ah apprenticeship at an embroidery machine factory. He subsequently opened a workshop for the manufacture of his own invention--monogram embroidery machines.

The keen-eyed inventor's involvement in the textile industry led him to a realisation: hemstitching was quite simply laborious. In 1893, be created a machine to help--the world's first hemstitch

sewing machine. Capable of sewing 100 stitches per minute, the machine caused Gegauf's name to become synonymous with synonymous with adjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as the mechanical production of hemstitching: the practice was commonly referred to as 'gegaufing'.

Gegauf's son Fritz took over the business in 1926 and ventured in a new direction. "My grandfather wanted to go into the home sewing business," explains Ueltschi, In 1932, Fritz created his first household sewing machine. It bore the brand name BERNINA-inspired by the 4,049-metre Piz Bernina in St. Moritz. "My grandfather looked at the mountain and said 'that's solid, like a rock' [-like our sewing machines]."

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In 1932, the first BERNINA sewing machine was built in Steckborn and BERNINA became the sewing machine brand of the Fritz Gegauf AG. By October 1937, 20,000 machines had left the factory. In 1945, Fritz introduced the world's first portable zigzag machine to the market. He expanded the business internationally, too. "After World War II he started to sell BERNINAs in 10 countries," Ueltschi tells me. "I learned a lot from him. He was a perfectionist perfectionism n. 1. A propensity for being displeased with anything that is not perfect or does not meet extremely high standards. 2. and always put 'quality first'."

A family philosophy

The family tradition continued in 1965 when Ueltschi's mother, Odette Ueitschi-Gegauf, took to the helm, Under her management, knee-activated presser foot lifters, electric foot controls and machines with stitch memory, stretch-stitch and computerised buttonhole buttonhole n. 1. A short straight surgical cut made through the wall of a cavity or canal. 2. The contraction of an orifice down to a narrow slit, as in mitral stenosis. functions were created. However, being a successful female company owner in the 1960s was not Odette's only remarkable feat. "My mother was the first woman to appear on the cover of Bilanz [Swiss business magazine]," Ueltschi says with pride.

Now owned by the fourth generation in the Gegauf line, BERNINA International AG honours a philosophy defined by its second generation: "when you give, you get back." Ueltschi's declaration that the company does not exploit employees needs no proof. One member of staff has a cheerful workspace with so many plants that it looks like a corner of London's Kew Gardens. Their longest-serving employee has just celebrated his 50th year of loyalty.

Sewing is believing

Perhaps enhancing the happy atmosphere are BERNINA's picturesque Steckborn headquarters. The company name stands out in bright red letters from the roof of the factory that slumbers beside Lake Constance. That the factory is in the same location as it has been since 1932 does not make it old fashioned.

A bust of Fritz Gegauf welcomes visitors. Hand-sewn cushions splash prettiness across the furniture. In the factory's Creative Centre--where customers can experience the product range and take courses in sewing--are myriad colours with rows of bright bobbins and displays highlighting what you can make with your BERNINA. The cheerful

layout is mimicked in BERNINA shops (including the stylish flagship store in Zurich, which opened last year).

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One display honours Swiss-Japanese fashion designer Kazu Huggler, who will help BERNINA launch a new product this autumn. Currently "top secret," it is a product that Huggler hopes will help others "find the joy of creativity." She has used a BERNINA since she was a child. "They [indirectly] enabled me to set up my label," she says.

In December 2011, BERNINA assisted Huggler with a project to support teenagers at the tsunami-destroyed Takata High School in Japan. Huggler says, "I sewed at that age and t thought that maybe I can give [these children] some moments of joy." BERNINA donated five BERNINA 330s to this end. "Part of business is also giving goodwill," adds Ueltschi.

Stitching the future

This year, BERNINA will celebrate its 80th anniversary. Certainly, the company's longevity is hardly surprising. The machines are good quality--Ueltschi shows me a machine with a clear plastic body that reveals its intricate, metal intestines. They are also long lasting. Today spare parts are still available for machines that were built in the 60s and 70s. Meanwhile, in developing new machines, innovation is

integral to company culture. BERNINA were named Best Innovator in 2007 by A.T. Kearney and Bilanz magazine. "We have good engineers, who have the freedom to innovate," explains Ueltschi.

Although the strength of the Swiss Franc is a hurdle, Ueltschi has great aspirations for the future of the company. "The fifth generation should be secured," he says, hinting at his ambitions for his two children. "t hope BERNINA will be a successful, private company for another 100 years."

He adds that he hopes I will be a BERNINA sewing machine owner soon. Sadly there is no freebie in my press pack--but as I leave, with a copy of the company's Inspiration magazine containing craft ideas, perhaps I could be tempted.

The BERNINA world

* BERNINA is the sewing machine brand of the Fritz Gegauf AG. BERNINA has formed part of the company BERN Bern or Berne (brn), canton (1990 pop. 937,365), 2,658 sq mi (6,883 sq km), W central Switzerland. The second most populous and second largest canton of the country, Bern comprises three sections—the Bernese Alps, or 1NA International AG since the beginning of the 1990s

* BERNINA International AG has 962 employees and operations in 50 countries

* The BERNINA range includes machines for sewing, embroidery, overlocking (to sew, cut and neaten neaten tr.v. neatened, neatening, neatens To put into order; make neat.

neaten Verb

to make neat Verb 1. simultaneously) and quilting

* The BERNINA 830 is one of the company's best sewing and embroidery computers, with a speed of over 1,000 stitches per minute

* Sewing accessories are available as well as embroidery and fashion pattern software

Information

BERNINA machines start at CHF CHF In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Swiss Franc. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 1,000 and come with a four-year guarantee. Cheaper models are available in the bernette range www.bernina.com

Shopping tip

BERNINA Zurich

Talacker 35

8001 Zurich

T 044 221 00 44

Save the date

'Fashion meets storytelling' Learn more about Kazu Huggler's creations

Where: KAZU Atelier, Neptunstr. 2, Zurich

When: 23 June. 16:00-18:00

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