Stitches & Seams

Ease

There’s two ways (that I know of) where you talk about “ease” in sewing. First you add (or remove) ease on a garment so that it is larger (or smaller) than the actual measurement. An early period tunic has more ease than a late period form-fitting doublet. A corset is constructed with negative ease. Second you talk about easing one…

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Stitches & Seams

Prick Stitch (also sometimes called pick stitch)

Make a seam. Iron (or finger press) the seam open. Working from right to left (if you’re right-handed) on the face of the garment work a back stitch where the stitch showing on the face of the garment goes over 1-2 threads leaving a little tiny stitch showing. On the back the stitch will be much longer. This will hold…

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Stitches & Seams

Basting Stitch

A long loose stitch used to hold two pieces of fabric together. This is normally either hidden in seam allowance or intended to be removed once the garment is completed. This is one of the pieces of the skirting to my son’s new doublet. To give the skirting a bit of body I’ve added some linen canvas interlining. First I…

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Stitches & Seams

Slip Stitch

I use the slip stitch for rolled hems, attaching linings and for applique. This is a stitch my mother taught to me and I use it on practically every garment I’ve ever made. I am right handed so if you’re left-handed you’ll have to do the mental gymnastics to reverse this. For my example I’m using brown button hole thread…

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Stitches & Seams

Anatomy of woven fabric

A loom holds the warp threads. The weft threads are then woven into the warp threads in a particular pattern. These are compacted to create fabric. The area at each edge of the warp where normally the weft threads change direction is referred to as the selvedge. When viewing a piece of fabric the warp threads will run parallel to…

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Stitches & Seams

Flat-felled seam

My favorite seams for making tunics is the flat-felled seam. This seam works well on straight or only slightly curved edges. This type of seam is used on the sleeves of the Viborg Shirt which has been dated to around 1018AD. I normally sew this together with the “flap” on the outside of the garment. It’s really up to you…

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Clever Hacks, Stitches & Seams

Voodoo Magic with Eyelets

My first YouTube video. Be gentle. Machine done eyelets on a Janome 6600 using an Elna eyelet plate. The Janome will do eyelets.. but it sews a circle. It’s not actually holding threads open or reinforcing the hole. In order to use the Janome eyelet you have to piece the fabric and you end up with raw thread sticking out.…

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Stitches & Seams, Tayloring

Taylor’s Thimble

“Goals. Someday I want my garb to hang like a well made suit.” – Posted by me on Facebook Feb. 5, 2017. Thank you eBay. Stupid things that make me absurdly happy. 1600-1700 brass open top thimble From Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns(p. 9): The tailor Contemporary sources demonstrate that tailors needed relatively little equipment to set up a workroom. In…

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