Spinning wheels are believed to have originated in India between 500 and 1000 A.D. By the 13th century, they were seen in Europe, and were a standard piece of equipment for those making fiber into yarn.

It occurred to him that a mechanical spinner could be designed in which many spindles, set vertically and side-by-side, could spin a number of threads from just one horizontal wheel. Hargreaves began constructing just such a machine in 1754; fourteen years and many prototypes later, the spinning jenny was complete.