Tips and tricks for hand-sewing (historical and otherwise) - The Dreamstress

By A Mystery Man Writer

Description

A lot of people are astonished when the hear that I sew entire 18th century garments by hand, and mention that they find handsewing hard and intimidating. Here are 5 quick tricks to make it a lot easier – whether you are hand-sewing your own elaborate historical garment, or just sewing on a button or mending a tiny seam. 1. Use good needles (and the right kind). There are different qualities of needles, and different types of needles, and it’s important to have the best quality needles you can afford, and to use the right type the type of sewing and the type of thread you are using. Yes, a packet of good, high-quality needles can cost you up to $9, whereas the bargain store have them for $1, but the last time a student brought in bargain needles to a class of mine we ended up tossing the whole packet because they were all blunt (really blunt. The tip of each was FLAT). You may spend more money initially to buy really good …