Abstract

This article explores the role of the domestic sewing machine as an agent of sociocultural transformation in the Atacama Desert between 1879 and 1960. Through a historical and ethnographic methodology, it analyzes how this technical artifact reconfigured sewing practices and gender relations in mining and Indigenous communities in northern Chile. The sewing machine not only facilitated the adaptation of clothing to extreme environmental conditions but also enabled the incorporation of new textile technologies, technical knowledge, and forms of domestic labor. It is argued that the widespread use of the sewing machine and clothing contributed to the consolidation of new distinctions of gender, class, and ethnicity. © 2025.