A small sewing tool for cutting and removing stitches, built as a handle joined to a forked head with a sharpened edge set at the base of the fork and, on many models, one point ground to a fine taper for working into a tight seam. A sewer slides the sharp point under a length of thread inside a seam, lets the thread settle into the fork, and lifts the tool so the edge at the fork's base cuts the thread; working along a seam this way frees it to be pulled apart and resewn. Exactly when the modern seam ripper was invented is not established, though a patent from 1898 already refers to a seam ripper by that name while claiming an improvement on the tool then in standard use.
Facts
Introduced When (Circa)attested by 1898 (US patent by John Edward Fisher describing a similar device as an improvement on the standard tool of the time); the exact date of invention is not documented 1 OriginThe earliest known patent for a device close to the modern seam ripper, filed by John Edward Fisher, issued in the United States in 1898. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Seam Ripper (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, closing sentence
It is unclear when the modern seam ripper was invented; an 1898 patent for a device roughly similar in shape uses the phrase "seam ripper" and claims to be an improvement on what was standard at the time.
See also, patent citation
US patent 604675A, Fisher, John Edward, issued 1898-05-24
Lead paragraph
A seam ripper is a small sewing tool used for cutting and removing stitches.
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