5 SEWING TECHNIQUES I LEARNT FROM LOOKING INSIDE VINTAGE CLOTHING! (AKA Garment Archaeology!)
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- These are my top 5 sewing techniques I learned from taking a look and studying the insides of vintage clothing. You can learn a lot to about garment construction by looking inside the clothes you own!
0:00 Intro
3:07 Thread belt loops
4:22 Hem tape
8:17 Hand stitching
11:03 Bias tape
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Evelyn
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#sewing #sewingtechniques #evelynwood - Jak na to + styl
What sewing techniques have you learnt from your own Garment Archaeology?
✂️ It's not about vintage clothes, but vintage sewing techniques to take your sewing further, I invite you to join me at Vintage Sewing School www.vintagesewingschool.com/
Making those loops for the eye of hooks and eyes
I NEED more tips on how to do button or snaps plaque (?) - the thing instead of zipper, used in the 30s - beginning of 40s. Doesn’t matter how much I look it up in old books and garments, FOR THE LIFE OF ME - can’t replicate it properly!!!😫. I made may be 5-6 skirts so far - I don’t think any of those have the correct snaps or button closure. With dresses - slightly easier, but not great either 😤
@@a.austin1357 do you mean poppers for tops or dresses, we hadnt heard of snaps in the 50s but I guess thats what they are, they snap together. You can buy these very cheaply in different sizes in any haberdashery in Uk not sure about USA. I still use them today. You may also mean Hooks and eyes for skirts, you can buy special ones now. There are also metal ones too, these are more effective.
@@loopywren "Poppers"? This is so funny! In my state, a popper is a little cherry bomb you throw down on the sidewalk or driveway, and they go, "POP!", popular on Independence Day and New Year's Eve for making extra noise.
Dearest Evelyn - I feel like a proud dinosaur! I still use these techniques in garment construction having learned to sew in the 60s. A little tip on thread loops - I finger-crochet the loops - fast and easy!
Janet you are no dinosaur! Just lucky enough to have learnt from the start the skills and craft in sewing!
I'm not sure how to call it, but yes I sort of do a make a little knot rope with my fingers to make the belt loops!
Janet, I think you just became a sewing hero in my books! Finger crocheted the thread loops?!?!? 😻🤩
Mum made clothes this way. With exquisite embroidery and smocking. I still have a few of her pattern books
Yes, this is how I learned to sew on the farm in the 70s and 80s as well. I didn’t learn to make the thread loops because we didn’t do those kinds of fancy finishes with belts, same for lots of hand stitching details. We were just making practical, durable, everyday clothes with the occasional wool suit or church dress thrown in. I did make a prom dress in 1987 that I hand sewed nine yards of grosgrain ribbon to a tulle underskirt. The most ridiculous thing I’ve ever made and I absolutely loved that prom dress. I still have the pattern.
I used that tecnique to make a button loop for the neck of a blouse, really fun to make
The zipper technique is called a lapped zipper. It's the first way I was taught to put one in a Garment. The vintage zipper packages used to show you how to do it. I have noticed that slot of patterns are made to be quick and easy with minimal fit.there is a time and a place for that. I have found out that once you make and wear a well fitted garment you are not as comfortable in an ill-fitted one. Did you know that there are different ways to make the thread loops? The first one I learned was a crocheted one,then one made from the buttonhole stitch there are at least two more that I don't recall what they were çalled. I still hand sew my facings and hems. I use hem tape and hem lace, depending on the project. Thank you !
I don't think I showed the detail enough of the lapped zip construction. It is not a regular lapped zip, It is made in a way that one side of the zipper stitching is invisible/ completely hidden under the lap. It is like an upgraded/couture lapped zip but no hand stitching!
That was the zip insertion method I learned at school - I also remember garments from the 60's having the little belt loops too:)
@@Evelyn__Wood that would be interesting. Do you teach this method?
@@denisehill7769 I learned that zipper method, as my first zipper, back in the 60's. It looked so neat and hid the zipper so well. It is my favorite method of sewing in a zipper.
@@Evelyn__Wood This is the type of zipper application I first learned in school in the early 1970s home economics class/my mom. The sign of a well-sewn lapped zipper was the stitching on the other side NOT showing when the garment was on and zipped!. I believe you are thinking of a centered zipper where the seam meets in the middle over the zipper. Two completely different ways of sewing in a zipper. If you find a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Sewing from the 1960s or early 19070s, all the the techniques you mentioned are shown in there; including hand sewing linings (only way I was taught), using hem tape/hem lace (still available in limited colors at JoAnn Fabrics), lapped and centered zippers, and many others that would be new to you
This is just amazing! I remember my aunt taking us to the store back in the late 60’s and asking us what dress we wanted. She then drew it on a piece of paper and we came home and she sewed us the dresses! Then in the early 70’s she made us all Hot Pants outfits! We felt so lucky! My mom would use the material from flour sacks to make us clothes! I guess we were poor but I didn’t know it. 🤷🏻♀️
My mom taught me how to sew 🧵 at the age of 8. She was a seamstress and grew up in the 40s (I’m 61 now) . She taught me all the hand sewing techniques I needed to know and was very strict every time I made a mistake 🤦🏼♀️ (she’ll unpick everything and had to start again 🤦🏼♀️) Now that I’m old I can appreciate how much time she saved me teaching me all those fabulous techniques and sewing with finesse.
Now she’s 86 and has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t sew anymore but she’s still can tell good garment construction when she sees it .
Thank you for your wonderful videos . 🥰
Good morning Evelyn , todays video is amazing, you have brought back all things I was taught by my mum in the sixties.
I don’t know where I lost all these techniques over the years, perhaps having a break from sewing for 20 years.
I will be introducing all these techniques back into my sewing today.
Thank you for sharing.
My Mom taught me to sew when I was eight as well and, I am now 65.She taught me ,on a treadle model machine. I learned hand stitching as well. I even embroidered when I was 6 or 7.I was a perfectionist, even back then, so my Mom didn't have to tell me to pick it out, I would do it because I wanted it perfect. My Mom wasn't a professional but if you saw her work, you would think she was. She has been gone 22 years but I can still see those well starched feed sack dresses She made for me,and how proud I was of them.
@@reginafetty6374 good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I'm so glad your mom taught you all you know. I'n sorry she can't remember anymore.
I have seen those little pieces of tape on the inside of shoulder seams. They have tiny snaps and thus form a loop. You would pull them under your bra straps and close the snap, and your dress shoulder could never slide down to reveal your bra straps. I sometimes add them to existing shirts and dresses. That 2000's visible bra strap trend was one of the ugliest and most unflattering trends ever, thank you, Tom Ford...
Yes!!! I call these a 'bra keeper' , I learnt about these when I worked for a couture bridal company 🙂
Oh yes, those are the best! And so easy to do, wonder why they stopped doing them. :)
@@jillstedtenfeldt6799 In mass production every little saving counts, even if it is a fraction of a cent.
I was taught these sewing techniques as a teenager learning to sew some 50 years ago. Over the years, I have learnt time saving short cuts which do not result in the best appearance. Your video taught me to revisit these age old techniques. They sure yield beautifully finished garments.
You are so right! I have owned a vintage clothing shop for 22 years and this is how I learned to mend and sew. I’ve repaired and put back together so many things. Just looking at the inside of the garments is a wonderful learning experience. Most things were made so much better, with timeless and traditional details. Now I have taught myself to sew dresses for me from patterns! 😊 (with the help of your channel of course!)
How wonderful! I bet you had access to some amazing clothing to deconstruct and learn from!
This video takes me back to when I was learning to make my own clothes in the 60s.
I learned to sew in the 60's and 70's when sergers and rotary cutters etc. were just becoming available to home sewers. It was all so exciting and we gladly abandoned the old techniques because we got things done so much faster. It was fun and with three children quick was better. These days though, I have embraced the idea of "slow sewing" and have even made a few garments entirely by hand. It doesn't take as long as I always imagined it would and you have such incredible control.
Cynthia I think your right and love your comment. We always jump on new things that same us time, it would have been exactly the same with sewing!
Cynthia Sloan, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I was so surprised to see this video. It really made me feel old! All the techniques you mentioned were the techniques I learned when I was a girl. It was so interesting to see that these techniques are new to sewists today.
Back in Romania, and some >=45 years ago, my mother (dressmaker) made thread belt loops on every dress she made. And she always hand-stitched the facings and the hems. But then she only had a 1930er Singer machine, with a fixture for zigzag.
TrillianaEM, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I’m 68 years old and the sewing techniques in these garment were how I was taught in home economics. We had a very strict teacher which I didn’t realize then how grateful I should have been.
I did smile over your discovery of the lapped zipper method. That’s all I was taught in the ‘60s; invisible zips still baffle me! Great topic, and I love your pink striped dress!
Me too!
Sheila, I don't think I showed the detail enough of the lapped zip construction. It is not a regular lapped zip, It is made in a way that one side of the zipper stitching is invisible/ completely hidden under the lap. It is like an upgraded/couture lapped zip but no hand stitching!
Evelyn, the cream dress looks gorgeous. The overlap that hides the stitching looks like what my mom taught me to do. I believe we also used to cut seam allowances slightly wider just where the zip went. Then again, Mom learned to sew in the 1920s. She thought my school was teaching 14 year olds horrible technique (she may have been right - I never took another sewing class!).
I had become so discouraged with sewing. Just pulled out my machine after two years. So glad I found you. I am getting excited about projects again.
I’m so pleased to see these methods resurrected! When I was taught sewing in the late 60’s we had to make a book of all the different types of seams and hand stitches. Boy I wish I still had that book today. One of my favorites is the use of bias binding for hems, armholes and necklines. I never saw a pattern use that. But I notice it’s becoming more common in Indie patterns.
Yes I agree Donna, these types of techniques are making a come back!
I learned how to sew when I was 14-in 1969. I eventually made my own wedding dress. The details you present here bring back memedories. I prefer the stricter, more structured way. Fast sewing is used by me when I need a break.
The belt loop technique is also used on lined coats, although in a different way and at the hem. If a coat has a lining that is open at the bottom - not sewn closed at the hem, to stop it riding up the hand sewn loop is used. I always add them at every seam and the two front edges. The lining will end just below the coat hem stitch line. The one end of the loop is attached at the top of the coat hem and the other to the place on the lining directly opposite. It only needs to be about one or one and half inches long. I also use this loop to make buttonhole loops, usually on edge to edge openings.
Yes Ann, perfect examples of all the other things these loops can be used for! 😀
Ann William, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
Absolutely! and the same is very much true for historical sewing techniques- you can learn so much from extant garments. Though antique garments can be a little more difficult and expensive (to find and to store properly). Thankfully, channels on CZcams like Abby Cox and Lady Rebecca Fashions collect extant garments and have videos showing these garments, inside and out, in great detail. This is where I learned to use a ribbon to finish my seams (much like hem tape, really), or the afore-mentioned hem facings (also useful is to make that hem facing out of something stiff like tarletan or canvas, or use a bit of horsehair braid that the facing comes up over, in order to stiffen that hem. Stiffening hems is not only pretty (it helps to keep the shape of the skirt), its also functional- it keeps those long skirts out from under your feet, even when going up stairs. For me, it keeps the bottom of my skirt out from getting in my wheelchair wheels, and so it's a function I greatly appreciate! I also learnt how to do very tiny rolled hems, how to flat fell by hand, and so much more.
So my suggestion is to not stop at vintage. Even if you're not interested in making vintage or historical garments, it is still very much worth your time to learn both vintage and historical techniques. And thanks to CZcams, we don;t need to go and buy expensive extants in order to do so, and plenty of channels (like Evelyn's and Nicole Rudolph's, Bernadette Banner, Abby Cox and so many more) are taking the time to teach everyone these techniques. It's been such a gift, truly.
I totally agree and hope everyone watches these channels for even more inspiration! 😀
I absolutely love the vintage garments! I learned to sew this way almost 60 yrs ago. The end results are so lovely and make the difference between ‘homemade’ and ‘handmade’, the homemade look being homely😊 That is what Mrs. Marshall, at the Singer Sewing Center in downtown Lansing Michigan taught! This is a lovely fun channel! Thank you.
I'm surprised by the thread belt loops. They were quite common when I was a teenager (1980s). I remember them specifically because I don't wear belts, so I spent the '80s cutting them off dresses! (I also spent the '80s ripping shoulder pads out of things because I have linebacker shoulders--don't need any help! Of course that meant I usually had to adjust the shoulder seams.) My mom sewed a lot (learned in home ec. in high school in the 1960s) and she would use lace tape to tack down the hems on dresses she made for us. As little kid I hated it because I thought it was itchy.
Hard same here on the thread loops & shoulder pads in the 80s! Fellow line-backers unite!! LOL I also have slightly rolled-forward shoulders, so I liked the very *thin* pads because they evened out my line but those were nearly impossible to find! My grandmother (born 1926) taught me to oh-so-carefully rip out the ones I found so I could add snaps and then attach them to other tops/dresses. (And add "bra strap loops", or "bra keepers" as Evelyn called them up-thread.)
I used to not mind belts so much, but I'm very short-waisted/high-waisted so those loops were always, *always* in the wrong place for me. Sometimes, if they were long enough, I'd snip out the bottom end & just flip them up to be where I needed the belt. As I got older & learned that "dropped waist" & tunic length tops gave the illusion of my waist being in the "normal" spot, I just removed those loops completely. I've even had to remove some as recently as the last 15-20 years.
@@moniqueleigh LOL I think we must share some genetics somewhere. I am ridiculously short waisted--my last ribs practically sits on top of my hip bones and my natural waist is basically where "empire" waists sit. My legs, on the other hand, were clearly intended for someone six feet tall. 😂 But this is one of the reasons sewing is awesome!
@@VeretenoVids Hahahaha! My waist isn't quiiiiite that high (but within speaking distance of it), but yes, crazy long legs! Oh! Do you have the normal to slightly longer than average torso thing happening, too? Oy. Swimsuit/body-suit shopping is a bloody nightmare. Sorry, designers, yes my torso is on the longish side, but no my waist *isn't* way the hell down there around my hips. My husband is 6'2" with a slightly long waist, and I'm not quite 5'8", but we have the Exact. Same. Outseam.
@@moniqueleigh My torso appears to fall within the average length these days, but my arms are "too long." It's better these days, but when I was a teen the sleeves on everything were too short. Oh and I was a swimmer so I know the hell of shopping for suits. Fortunately competition suits always had a long torso option so I didn't have to spend my life pulling my suit out of my nethers. The the upper arms on shirts were always too small to fit those muscles. Now I have the same bulk, it's just, erm, not as firm. 😂
When I first learned of hem facings it blew my mind!! Once I thought about it I realized how much easier it makes it plus it looks so much better!! Takes no time to make up and ends the frustrating hours of trying to turn the hem without the material waffling!! Adding historical finishes into garments help it look and feel better!!
I Luuuuuve my hem facing too! And my mind was totally blown too when I found out!
The first time I saw someone do that, I just couldn't understand, why it had never occurred to me, to do that. Hem facings. It's so obvious...😅
I agree those circle skirts especially, are so much easier making the facing hem.
In the USA, you can usually find the hem tape where you find bias tape packages. They are usually poly vs rayon now, but there is also the lace tape and poly bias hem tape. They even have iron on (not my personal choice).
Oh lucky! I have to have it shipped! And good to know alot of our friends here can likely find it at the shop, thankyou!
I'm old. None of these were new to me. I'm 64. My mother, who was born over a hundred years ago taught me to sew this way.
I've used the belt guides on garments and have a robe and several purchased dresses with them. My grandmother began teaching me to sew in the 60s so I learned that hidden zipper method and to also use lace binding on hems with a final hand stitch. It took forever to do circular skirts. I also was taught to handstitch inner collars and to tack the facing at the shoulders. You showed some new things so this was a very nice lesson and reminder. Thank you. By the way, that ruffled dress is gorgeous!
Many years ago, I sewed lots of clothing. The prettiest zipper I ever added to a garment used the lap method and tiny hand stitches. It didn't take much longer than trying to keep a zipper straight while sewing it in place by machine.
I like how analytical you are 😊
💝✂️ I discovered a way to sew faster and easier even as a beginner, I talk more about it in my channel, I hope it helps those who need it. ❤️💞
😁😁😁😁 You got me!
I too still love handsewing As a seamstress myself, I use a lot of these techniques myself!!
Karen Barker, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
@@austinconnor5297 I think that we are now over the worst, but I think that the English have it in one, when we say 'Chin up and keep going!' Our businesses have suffered alot, especially the smaller ones and the high streets.
How is it going your country?
You look wonderfully cute in your summer outfit. I thought old video. Then I saw it is new and realized your in summer there in Australia. It's warmed up to 30. It won't be long and we'll be switching seasons with you. Sorry but I can't wait.
I have oodles and oodles of hem tape in the sewing supplies I inherited from my great aunt. She was a seamstress from the 20s through at least the 60s, continuing to sew for herself until her eyesight failed in the late 80s. I got all her buttons, notions, rick rack, lace, zippers, etc. I raised five kids, and every time clothes needed a patch, I went to her vast supply of iron-on patches. Thirty years after she passed, I’m still using her stuff.
I think my favorite vintage technique is using bias tape for facings - armholes, necks, and even for narrow hems.
Dearest Evelyn! I love that you are “rediscovering” the techniques that we all learned in the 1960 and before! It means that we are actually NOT dinosaurs and our skills are being passed on rather than becoming extinct. ❤️ I feel so valuable right now! And I love watching your videos. Thank you for taking the time to pass on valuable information. You are a treasure!
I just realized why the couture clothing and accessories are so expensive: They use the vintage techniques as well as very careful hand sewing. The attention to detail is what makes the clothing!
Just wanted to add a little something to the belt loop chain. It's also used to keep a lining attached to the garment, hem to hem, if sewn separate. This technique is also used on draperies.
Love your channel. You are a gifted instructor.
The subject of your video was very interesting to me. I’ve sewn since 7 years old in the 1960s. I have a nightgown that my German grandmother made for me when I was 6 or 7 and it was all sewn by hand. It is one of my most treasured things I have. The thread she used was finer than what you would see today. All of the seams French seams, stitched by hand, of course. Every stitch is so beautifully made and the whole nightgown is a work of art and love.
I have my High School Domestic Science sewing workbook 1962/63. We learned all these things and I looked up seams yesterday as I am about to sew some sari fabric into a fine bedcover. It is thrilling to me to realise I might be properly skilled, if out of practise. Evelyn, you are inspirational!
It's not shown in the finished garment, but one 'old' method I have picked up again is hand tacking. I recently did a V-neck around a woven top. I wanted to make sure it didn't move so I pinned it then hand tacked it down. It really didn't take that long and held the neckline down beautifully.
Diane Morrall, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I like using the tread loops with snaps to tether your bra strap to the dress. I had to do a lot of hand sewing techniques in school back in the 70’s I don’t make clothes very often any more, maybe I need to go back to it.
Sheryl Wickenheiser, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
My mom is 78. I remember she used to sew on a sewing machine when I was little but when K grew up she gave me her machine. So many years ago, I brought to my mom nice vintage sewing machine with the cabinet and all only to realize she never opened it. So, I bought her a modern sewing machine. My mom put it on top of the old one and never used it again. I was upset for long time why she is always hand stitching, thought that this is not necessary...untill I saw her hand stitches! What an art! So nice, even and precise, I spent hours looking at her garments and examining stitches and she is amused with me, laughing at me. She said sewing this way relaxes me and I have full control. And control is her mojo. 🤣
Hi Evelyn, I went to the dressmaker school in 1985 and my teacher taught us almost all the technics you showed us., at the beginning I did not have a sawing machine, so I sewed every piece of cloths by hand, at the hem we used lace, bias tape, ribbons, etc., when I finally got my sewing machine I tried to do French seams as much as I could, I still use the zipper technique when I sew clothes and the invisible stiches. I love very much this video!😍
I learned to sew quite some time ago in the last century . . . and many of these techniques were taught in school at the time. Thread belt loops, rayon hem tape, hand stitching facings were taught. Hand stitching was very important, and tidiness was prized. Placket zippers were standard sewing to hide the zipper, and side zippers were on the way out but still used - especially if there is a patterned print across the back which you do not want to break up.
Over time, especially using vintage patterns, I learned about bias tape for facings on necklines and armholes, but the commercial tape is pretty awful in general, so I started to cut my own. Finishing of seams with zigzag was the norm, but felling and French seaming was also taught as each has its purpose.
It is only through watching sewists on CZcams that I learned about facing a hem, which I have yet to do, but think is great. Hems on full skirts can blow up in a wind, and weighting them is useful for modesty. Lightweight chains are useful for such hems, too.
I have to admit that I had a bit of a laugh here because to me all this is a normal part of sewing - but I am a relic from another age - and am glad to see that sewing is reviving as an art, not just a means to put out a lot of cheap clothing.
Another motivator to help me progress from "sewist" to "dressmaker".
💝✂️ I discovered a way to sew faster and easier even as a beginner, I talk more about it in my channel, I hope it helps those who need it. ❤️💖
I adore people going through vintage garments from whatever era and having a peek at how things were put together and how they differ from now.
I learned to sew under the tutelage of the good sisters at a convent school. The goal was to prepare the girls to run our own households after marriage. In my late teens and early 20s, I realized that less and less of my friends plied the needle. As an adult, I have seen county fair entries that look so clunky on the inside that it's made me wonder if the ladies who made these garments were familiar with hand sewing at all. Thanks to the good sisters who taught me to hand sew, there are county fair judges who have called other judges over just to look at the insides of my fair entries. They refer to it as "couture touches", which they may well be, but I call it just good old conscientious stitching. Thank you for a very interestig video!
Love the vintage sewing they did. Love your videos. God Bless You
💝✂️ I discovered a way to sew faster and easier even as a beginner, I talk more about it in my channel, I hope it helps those who need it. 😘💞
Lucille Daub, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
As I’m watching this video I’m thinking all these are techniques that I learned in sewing class in high school. Then I remembered at 67 years old and nearly 50 years sinc high school, I guess those techniques would be considered vintage!!! Oh my. Thanks for bringing these techniques to light again for the “less vintage” generation.
All of those technics were still used in Europe when I learned sewing as a young woman in the 70s. We always used hemtape and also a stiffer tape when we hemmed pants, so when the hem touched the ground, the fabric would not get damaged. That stiffer hemtape was sewn in with a tiny bit showing in the back of the pant hem, thought not really visible when one stood up. My mom was a seamstress and I learned some things from her, thought she seldom used patterns and or instructions and that often confused me a little. My aunt did handsewing for upscale ladies suits, Dirndls and things like that. She showed me a lot of little details. I also helped as a teen already to take garments apart to be resewn into something else. Often whole suits or fancy dresses. When I was younger I sewed about everything for my family, specially the kids and me. Than it started to be cheaper to buy things and I had less time to sew too. I did more quilting and things for several years. Now I'm getting back into sewing, prefering to upcycle clothes to making them out of new fabrics. The technic for the almost invisible beltloops on dresses I also use to hold inside pockets in place by making a longer string to attach at the waist, so the pockets hang straight. It's also great for bra stays, with a tiny snap to attach it.
I find on vintage clothing they also pinked the seams, to prevent fraying. I got my first pair of pinking shears today! I'm so excited to use them! Thanks for this great lesson in Garment Archeology! ❤
Pinking shears, I used to use my moms for cutting up paper when I was little. She was not happy! I have just recently got my mom to buy me a pair of pinking shears, such a great tool.
Yes, most are pinked edges I've found!
Congratulations on your pinking shears! You will love them.
I was told a while back that a bias tape binding was the lazy way. I learned the "lazy" way, also. It's very challenging!
I can’t had stitch invisibly to save myself. I made a couple of dresses in home economics in 1963 that were fantastic. The only criticism my teachers had was of my hand stitching. I may need to go back and learn from the beginning.
Sue K, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I just made a pair of wrap around palazzo trousers. I hand stitched the entire rolled hem.
I love the result and I loved the process.
I hand sew where ever I can. One advantage is greater control of the fabric manipulation. Especially armholes, basting them in first makes a huge difference to the success of setting the sleeve in.
Evelyn, I really enjoyed this. I learned to sew from my mom on her 1955 Singer 319w, which I inherited. Your video is so timely to me right now as I am starting a womens' and girls handmade clothing business. My mom used all of the techniques you described. I have been struggling with decisions over seam and hem finishing because I do not love or even like overlocked seams. I know they are useful, but not so pretty, in my eyes. I also inherited many sewing notions, threads, zippers, bias tape, lace, and many spools of seam tape! Thank you for this video, it gives me confidence to incorporate these methods I learned so long ago, into my sewing.
That's wonderful Mary! I used all these techniques on my own clothing label when I ran a fashion label too! I think yours will be a pocket addition and point of difference 🙂
@@Evelyn__Wood Thank you, Evelyn! A pocket addition is just what I had in mind.
@@tsunamisitka good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I love the belt loops as well as the threaded bra/shift strap holders with snaps. I add those to all my garments.
It would be valuable to interview the dressmaker to Princess Catherine as the fitting is perfection. At times older gowns have been altered to bring them into a more modern style. I'd love to see that interview. Also, I purchase woolen suits, coats from thrift stores to convert the wool to felted wool for crafting projects. It is a great learning experience while disassembling the garment. All the tailoring padded stitches that help mold & form the garment is fascinating.
Wow!!!!, you are talking about REAL SEWING,
This is really interesting. I am sitting here watching this video while I blind-stitch the hem on a dress I'm making. I remember always using hem tape especially for heavier fabrics. And the zipper technique is how my mom taught me. Thanks for showing us these garments.
That is a lapped placket zipper. It can be sewed in by hand using stitches so small it is almost invisable. Sometimes the lining was added after the garment was finished. The lining was added to help the garment hang better and last longer.
Have you ever seen or read a Taunton's "THREADS" magazine? Each issue always reviews an antique garment? Instructions on how to reproduct a beautiful detail found on an antique garment (featured on the back of the magazine) are alway in the magazine. This Spring's issue has pictures and instrutions for the crisscross cape like collar (sometimes called a"bertha" collar) on a 1930's dress. That dress would be high fashion right now. I love this magazine; however, it has become hard to find on the magazine racks.
You can subscribe to Threads and have it delivered to your mailbox. They also have an online subscription if you would like to view it online as well.
I have a subscription to Threads. I love it.
You are so right! My mom taught me to sew all these techniques! There were several of us sisters that she sewed for. Our first "job" in learning to sew was to do the handwork. We stitched by hand the round yoke facings of our flannel nightgowns!
(I don't have an overlocker or serger!) Keep up the good skills!
The concept of flat lining instead of constructing a separate lining and joining the two was mind blowing to me. I now flat line the areas of a dress that are a bit too sheer, instead of lining the whole thing. Additionally, for coats and blazers, the idea of interlining the fabric instead of just relying on modern interfacing. Hello, structure!
Jennifer Andrew, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I loved this video. I do remember a few of these techniques in my youth. My dear mother sewed and used a few.
Jane Campbell, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I remember seeing the belt loop technique on ready to wear as well in the 60s. It just sort of went away after that!
Daxxydog, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
All of these are things I learned to do when I started sewing (I was 8). All my hem/seam tape is bias tape.
I'm in the UK and now 75 years old. I used to make belt loops like that and for many years I only knew how to insert a zip by using the lap zip method. When I first noticed people sewing at the same width both sides I thought it was quite strange as it was far more difficult to hide the zip teeth. Something we would now find quite funny is the way we secured a line of machine stitching. I learned to sew on a manual machine so there wasn't even a reverse function let alone a securing function. We had to hand sew the ends of the threads to secure them. The alternative was to tie the threads in a knot and then trim the excess thread. However, if we tried to get away with this our 'needlework mistress', who had a deep voice, would be heard by everyone in the needlework room telling us "there will be no bulls' horns in this room!"
I just discovered your CZcams channel this morning and you are lovely. I learned many of these techniques in home economics class I guess in the 1960s I had a wonderful teacher. The Hem tape I always like to choose the lace the lace type but if I didn't find it my hands are always finished like that and I also learned very early on to hand-stitch the facings around the neck and the arm holes. When I was a teenager and a young woman I would make bridesmaid dresses for all of my friends weddings. One time it was 14 dresses long and purple and white lace down the sleeves down the front that was quite a job and they were beautiful. I also have some clothes for myself but that Faded by the wayside many years ago. I do miss being able to sew due to an injured hand. I am going to watch your videos and see what was done in the forties and fifties and what I was taught in school in the 1960s that I always used thank you and God bless you and your talent
Evelyn, I enjoyed this video. I know when I first started sewing in the 1970s, the patterns used to tell you to hand stitch the facings all the way around. By the 1980s they were saying to tack the facings at the shoulder seams. I prefer to hem by hand. When I sew, I take my time.
oh thankyou for the techniques! I am going to have to try some of these!
Wow! Very educational for me. I would always watch my mom sew by hand. Now I will finish of my garments with hand sewing. Thank you!
I have purchased many items with the threaded belt loops.
Roberta Bersani, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
Decades ago I was shown how to make a tiny version of the threaded belt loops. They can be used instead of a buttonhole, to loop over a button (usually on the neckline) when the fabric doesn't overlap; or rather than using a hook and eye, use a hook and a hand stitched loop.
There was the zig-zag explosion in the 60s & 70s that even as a kid I did not like the look in clothes, but every sewing machine had them as the modern way to make stuff. Now people seem to want to recreate factory serging. Prior to zig-zag, all the machines were straight stitch and it would be good to see the types of garment construction techniques that those machines excelled at, and the methods used to get great results. Even machines from the 30s/40s that did not have reverse tacking technology may provide more insight into how garments were constructed back then.
What an amazing video idea! I LOVE seeing your "garment archeology" lessons. ❤️ The vintage dressmaking details are my favorite part of sewing (thread loops, hem tape, lapped metal zippers, hand stitching, etc)! Thank you for sharing your incredible knowledge.
Hallie I do have a few videos on my channel looking through vintage garments, I'll have to make a play list so they are easy to find!
Hallie Hasslinger, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
So awesome! I'm only a beginner sewist but I think I did see the bias tape finish on the free tessuti athina top!
Charlotte Kramer, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I feel really old! My mother taught me all those techniques!
I recently used up a 50 year old rayon taffeta seam/hem tape from my grandmother's sewing machine cabinet. All I see in shops in the US is the stretch lace, which I'll use, and fabric hem tape that has some weird iron on adhesive.
I feel compelled to comment, too - another dinosaur here! I'm in my 60's and learned all these techniques, then learned all the NEXT wave of techniques, then threw away my rayon hem tapes, then picked up the next generation's great ideas ... well, you get the picture. I have a challenge for you. Why don't you visit a seniors' home and interview a bunch of elder sewists? Take along some of your older garments and get them to tell you how they would have made them!
I learned to sew in the 60’s. I have always used either hem tape or hem lace for my hems. That was just the way I was taught.
So excited about your vintage sewing school 🤩
Belt loops are commonplace, and also used for attaching the lining to a garment, so that it doesn't 'separate', particularly on jackets and skirts. We also used either French seams or flat-felled seams to finish seams before overlockers, which I still do as I believe that if I'm going to the effort of making a garment, then I'm going to do it properly. Those loops are also used for attaching lining to dresses & lined slacks, just about an inch & half at most.
I always use nylon lace for hems as it's finer & prettier if the wind blows, however ... if it's a full skirt that can blow up in the wind, then very small weights are added to the inside of the hems of garments. I doubt very much that Queen Elizabeth had a floaty dress that didn't have weights in the hems of her dresses. I also thought that was just common practice to have the zipper covered by the wider part of the seam. Who on earth would sew a garment & have the zipper showing? I'd consider it a fault either in the pattern, or in the construction. It's also like self-covered buttons, bound buttonholes, etc., etc., etc. Maybe it's the difference between people who buy cheap throwaway clothing that's taken over from the good old fashioned 'dressmaker' garments that one expected when paying for quality garments. I think that if one intends to spend good money on a pattern, fabric, zipper, thread ... and then put their valuable time into sewing an article, then it should be done correctly.
Garment archeology, I love it.
Thanks that was a super video. I saw the inside of a Christian Dior dress once. All the hand overcasting was amazing.
Hem facings are the bees knees for curved hems. I discovered one in an old cocktail dress of my mothers and have used this whenever a curved seam needed the slightest bit of structure. So worthwhile.
Hem tape is the best for a curved hem that needs to be gathered. It creates such a neat finish.
There is so much to learn from vintage and antique garments. My collection is a bit older than vintage as my interest is in the 1890s and early 1900s. The hand finishing can be amazingly beautiful. My favorite thing to see though are their mistakes. Sometimes you can tell that whoever made the dress was in a hurry. Makes me feel better about my own rush jobs. 😂
Thank you for sharing how you learned there techniques! I find it so interesting to learn about what kind of skills people had in earlier decades! 🌸⭐️
When I took sewing in college, our instructor would take some of us to a couture dress shop so we could see the techniques they used to take the garment to new levels as you pointed out today. It helped me back then and I appreciate the reminder you pointed out today.
I sew all my hems by hand and use hem tape. It makes for a smoother look. I learned how to make the belt loops when I worked in a dressmaking shop when I was 19 yrs old. I am so impressed with the sewing skills of women in former times.
Many decades ago I learned to make belt loops with a needle and thread using buttonhole stitching but it was just too fiddly so I started using matching fine crochet thread and crocheted the belt loops with a crochet hook. It was much faster and I liked the look better.
Love this video! 💗 My mom taught me to sew in zippers like the one in the cream colored garment. That looks like a hand picked zipper, too! I have recently started using that technique. It is surprisingly strong, and really lovely.
Lynn, sounds like you had the right start! Though I don't think I showed the detail enough of the lapped zip construction. It's not a hand picked lapped zip, but It is made in a way that one side of the zipper stitching is invisible/ completely hidden under the lap. It is like an upgraded/couture lapped zip but no hand stitching!
Lynn Shepard, good evening how are you doing, how’s the pandemic situation over there in your country?
I’m glad you talked about bias tape. I don’t know anything about vintage sewing but I use tons of bias tape. It just gives the garment a different feel.
Love these tips!!!
I've learnt so much from you, thank you for sharing all this knowledge and tips for free! It's amazing that I can access this knowledge, and I so appreciate you sharing this!
It certainly upgrades every garment when you take the time to observe vintage techniques and apply them appropriately. Thanks for your insights. You do a great service to your sewist followers!
Awww thanks for watching Linda 😀
I loved learning your vintage ways you found. Love your videos.God Bless You
💝✂️ I discovered a way to sew faster and easier even as a beginner, I talk more about it in my channel, I hope it helps those who need it. 👍🏼💖
This is very informative. I like the hem facings.
At school many moons ago making a corduroy skirt we were taught to use bias binding on all the seams to help with fraying but also more importantly to reduce bulk.
I enjoyed your class with the result that now I have to do much work :)) because I have to change my 1 year old 1950s dress inside and outside. Not onIy the seams and the bias! thank you soo much.
I have a fun day in my sewing room and got lots done. Now I get to sit and watch you work. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! Thanks for sharing!
This was super interesting to watch and learn from! Recently as I’m shopping in clothing stores I do more looking at garment construction and material composition than actually trying on or buying anything!
Awesome video...
Plz add more vintage sewing techniques to improve our sewing.
I’ve been using a vintage apron pattern and was amazed at how much hand sewing went into the finishes. I also inherited my great aunt’s sewing supplies and she had all different colors of that hem tape. Thanks for explaining how it was used!
Max Mara does the same loops in its famous cashmere coats, this technique is not forgotten by modern clothes makers. The same with rayon tape on hems.
I love hand-felling seams, there's something I find really zen about it, and I didn't even know it was a thing until I started watching historical sewing videos... most of the handmade garments I've explored had unfinished edges, most of the storebought ones had serged (overlocked) edges and the only place I ever saw hand sewing on modern clothing was men's dress pants hems. With a bit of practice, I've figured out how to do nearly invisible stitches for felling and hemming so even when my thread doesn't quite match, it still works!
Thanks for this video. I’m lucky enough to have been taught by my mother who learnt to sew in the 50s and 60s. The only thing I had not tried was hem tape. I will have to try that.