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Methods

The working methods you choose will depend on the degree of authenticity you want in your clothing. The basie tools - scissors, needles and thread, pins - are unchanged sińce the Middle Ages but the modern sewer has many new aids, from iron-on interfacing to overlockers (sergers). Some of these are useful time-savers, but other tasks can still only be done by hand. This chapter concentrates on hand methods which are not covered in detail in modern sewing manuals.

Hand or machinę stitching?

Hand stitching and garment construction have evolved over thousands of years, with the sewing sometimes worked from the right side. The sewing machinę has altered the way garments are put together, with morę of the work being done from the wrong side.

1. Oversewing (top-sewing, seaming)

For joining selvedges or folded edges on all kinds of materiał. If worked neatly and near the edge it will open out fiat without the need for pressing.

For each stitch, push the needle through only one or two threads away from the edge. Keep the stitches close together. When the seam is complete, flatten the stitches with your thumb or index finger nail.

Oversewing should not be confused with overcasting, which is worked wide and loose over a raw edge to prevent it fraying.

You should consider how much hand sewing you will use as it will affect the construction of your garment. For instance, a hand-sewn shirt (Fig 7) would be madę with two-stage seams and the sleeves set in after the side seams are sewn, with felled hems (Fig 2) round the neck, sleeve ends and lower edge. A machine-sewn shirt (Fig 8) would be morę efficiently madę with overlocked seams, the sleeves sewn on fiat, and the side seams and sleeve seams sewn in one, with the folded edges of the neck, sleeve ends and lower edge held down by a row of straight machinę stitching.

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2. Hemming (felling)

For holding down a folded edge.

a.    Used for finishing off edges; also in two-stage seams for unlined garments (Fig 6).

Keep the folded edge narrow: six threads' depth for the first fold and twelve for the second. Flemming should be close and firm, with the stitches forming an even zigzag.

b.    Insert the needle at 45° to the folded edge, pick up a couple of threads of the fabric immediately under the fold, then pass through the edge of the fold. Keep the stitches short and closely spaced.

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