Hand sewing question
Jun. 23rd, 2007 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stellar_muddleFor those of you who hand sew (there are probably a couple of you reading...), a few questions.*
1. Are you left or right handed and/or don't care?
2. Running stitch - left to right or right to left?
3. Favourite stitch?
3A. Most often used stitches?
4. Favourite seam finishes?
5. Comfortable/average stitch length**?
6. Decorative stitches?
7. Secrets you are willing to pass on/tips you wish someone had told you years ago?
8. Favourite references/recommended reading? and/or horror tales..
9. Prefered thread/needle/fabric combinations?
10. Is it something done for pleasure? Do you find it relaxing or is it a chore to be gotten past as fast as possible?
* Getting my A into G and teaching a class on hand sewing at the local Collegium in August. Be good to know what are things I have just picked up and what is common practice, shortcuts etc. I may also road test references/ideas here or in later posts.
** Let's assume a nice medium weight linen. Of course it is going to vary depending on the fabric used. Ditto on your answer to question 4. Want to track down a bunch of references to get an idea for stitch lengths in different times and places, but will be limited by what is extant and what it is made of, since that will really affect things - the joys of small number statistics in certain areas.
1. Right handed.
2. Right to left. Needle generally goes right to left.
3. Whip stitch on hems where only picking up a thread of the fabric on the outside. Just from an invisibility perspective.
3A. Back stitch. Tend to do most seams that way, though if the fabric is light, I will mainly running stitch with the occasional back stitch to anchor.
4. Currently run and fell, with the finishing stitch basically hemming/whip stitched so it is as invisible on the outside as possible.
5. 2 1/2 to 3 mm, though it varies.
6. Mammen cushion herringbone. The threads going across the join seem to hold things together better than standard herringbone.
7. Good lighting!
8. Sewing Stitches Used in Medieval Clothing (more a catalogue)
Archaeological Sewing by Heather Rose Jones.
Museum of London "Textiles and Clothing"
Woven into the Earth
Patterns of Fashion 1
9. Wool/wool, linen/linen, silk/silk, though I have used silk for sewing wool as the colours matched and it was what I had. Cotton if the others aren't available. Polycotton last resort.
10. Fun and relaxes me - you don't want to see me when pissed off at a sewing machine and they don't travel on buses well.
1. Are you left or right handed and/or don't care?
2. Running stitch - left to right or right to left?
3. Favourite stitch?
3A. Most often used stitches?
4. Favourite seam finishes?
5. Comfortable/average stitch length**?
6. Decorative stitches?
7. Secrets you are willing to pass on/tips you wish someone had told you years ago?
8. Favourite references/recommended reading? and/or horror tales..
9. Prefered thread/needle/fabric combinations?
10. Is it something done for pleasure? Do you find it relaxing or is it a chore to be gotten past as fast as possible?
* Getting my A into G and teaching a class on hand sewing at the local Collegium in August. Be good to know what are things I have just picked up and what is common practice, shortcuts etc. I may also road test references/ideas here or in later posts.
** Let's assume a nice medium weight linen. Of course it is going to vary depending on the fabric used. Ditto on your answer to question 4. Want to track down a bunch of references to get an idea for stitch lengths in different times and places, but will be limited by what is extant and what it is made of, since that will really affect things - the joys of small number statistics in certain areas.
1. Right handed.
2. Right to left. Needle generally goes right to left.
3. Whip stitch on hems where only picking up a thread of the fabric on the outside. Just from an invisibility perspective.
3A. Back stitch. Tend to do most seams that way, though if the fabric is light, I will mainly running stitch with the occasional back stitch to anchor.
4. Currently run and fell, with the finishing stitch basically hemming/whip stitched so it is as invisible on the outside as possible.
5. 2 1/2 to 3 mm, though it varies.
6. Mammen cushion herringbone. The threads going across the join seem to hold things together better than standard herringbone.
7. Good lighting!
8. Sewing Stitches Used in Medieval Clothing (more a catalogue)
Archaeological Sewing by Heather Rose Jones.
Museum of London "Textiles and Clothing"
Woven into the Earth
Patterns of Fashion 1
9. Wool/wool, linen/linen, silk/silk, though I have used silk for sewing wool as the colours matched and it was what I had. Cotton if the others aren't available. Polycotton last resort.
10. Fun and relaxes me - you don't want to see me when pissed off at a sewing machine and they don't travel on buses well.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-06-23 09:08 am (UTC)2. Left to right.
3. I sew from the right side as described in Woven into the Earth; I guess that's a running stitch, but not as we know it, Jim.
3A. right sided stitch, whip stitch, button hole stitch
4. I fell the seam allowance either separately, or together and whip to the ground fabric. In some cases I'll just whip stitch the edge.
5. 2-3 mm.
6. Rarely. I do 14th C. If I decorate, it will generally be tablet-sewing.
7. I wish someone had shown me how to sew from the right side. Makes for tighter seams and a lot less work as I don't have to hold up the fabric.
8. Woven into the Earth, Textiles and clothing
9. linen thread for almost everything - most appropriate for me. Silk thread for finer work or actual silk. I often use a bronze needle.
10. I don't need new clothes, so every garment I make for myself is more about the journey than the product. Like to try things out. Definitely prefer handsewing, it's much easier around the tight corners, plus I don't have to 'set up', I can just pick up, stitch for a while and put down.
For references, the york finds have details on stitch length in viking times. I also do a class on handsewing, which in its last incarnation happened at collegium but took too long on the preamble and never got round to the practical. If you want to peek at the notes I have, let me know.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 10:38 am (UTC)For the talk, I'll try and have the handout as more of a bibliography than instructions as I know there are good instructions elsewhere (no use reinventing the wheel) and this gets around copyright issues for releasing the notes to CD. I am not certain what sort of audience I will be aiming at as I know there is quite a range of abilities for the people here. I'll bring needle and thread and fabric for newcomers to try various stitches and take them away with them, since I think that will help them more. If no newcomers, it will turn into a roundtable discussion of what people like/dislike/advise etc. I'll bring what books I have - MoL Textiles and clothing, Woven into the Earth, PoF, a basic Singer book on sewing techniques, and paper copies of the referenced websites for people to look at. If noone turns up (I am talking at 10am on a Sat, so I can see people sleeping in... :)), I'll have plenty to read and Z and I can go over the tent talk we are giving later.
WRT to the right side sewing, from looking at WitE, I think I can see how it is done. I assume it is generally done on a board or a table? - unpicking from sewing my knee onto the fabric I was playing with was fun... Looks like being a really useful technique for the upcoming Sture doublet project in sewing on the velvet and silk strips.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 07:44 pm (UTC)my advice is to keep it very simple to start with. Most people who don't already handsew are intimidated by the idea. The class I run show three things: how to stitch from the right side, how to do a button hole, and how to set a gore when sewing from the right. That's in addition to talking about stitch length and thread choice etc, and showing good and bad examples (guterman linen bad, compare it to bobbin lace linen and you'll know why). Also talking about waxing, and not using lengths that are too long etc. Essentially what you need to know to begin a successful project, and no more...
I stitch with the fabric on my lap, but to do it you kind of need a hand underneath it so you don't sew yourself in. That hand is needed to manage the seam, it doesn't need to carry any weight.