5 Ways to Hand Finish Seams for Historical Fashion (and Beyond)
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- čas přidán 20. 10. 2022
- These are my 5 favourite ways to hand finish seams for historical fashion. All of them were actually used by people throughout history and I've seen many examples of these finishes on antiques in my collection! There are, of course, many other ways that seams were finished historically, but these are the ones I like the most with historical hand sewing.
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My video showing the English stitch: • ONE STITCH TO RULE THE...
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V. Birchwood
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Thank you so much for watching and I hope you enjoyed learning about these seam finishes! 🥰 If you'd like to help fund future videos like this one and historical sewing projects to come, become a Patron and receive a number of behind-the-scenes perks, including weekly polls and posts to learn about projects early and help make decisions: patreon.com/vbirchwood
o great very informative ,. , i love you vasi.
Hello! First off, thank you for your wonderful videos, as I am very easily able to understand your instruction and apply them. I am a newbie as in maybe a month to hand sewing. However, I've been practicing the stitches religiously in that time. I do have what might seem to be a dumb question but after watching a number of your videos (along with a few others) I am confused as to which finger (thumb or middle) am I supposed to wear a thimble? I've tried looking at some of your other videos, as you may have already answered this question. However, I am unable to find my answers. If it's not too much trouble, would you please let me know why some wear on the middle finger and/or thumb also, and I've seen you wearing it on both. This, I feel, might help me determine which finger is best for me. Many thanks
It's amazing to think that these techniques were used for generations but are largely forgotten about now
It’s so true! They’re incredibly efficient for hand sewing too. I wonder if any couture fashion houses that still do a lot of hand work use any of them.
I love hand sewing while chatting with friends, on planes, watching TV etc... It's just so satisfying.
Yes! Such a fun activity to do whilst doing other things 😊
I taught myself to sew so I ended up with a version of French seams. I put right sides together, fold down a shirttail hem and finger press it and stitch down the center of that.
Did you accidentally reinvent the mantua-maker's seam?
@@ragnkja I don’t know but I can make a simple dress in about seven hours
This sounds like a super cool stitch! 🥰
@@VBirchwood it’s really easy and fast, the more so the thinner your fabric. I just really love the way it keeps the raw edges safely tucked away. That’s always been a thing for me and as I’ve gotten older and gotten fibro it’s been good as the seams are soft. The problem is if you’re using thick fabric. I don’t work with wool as I’m allergic but I do use fleece. It’s fluffy enough to fold easily. Canvas also folds well but stabbing it is no fun ::glares at the cloak in need of repair:: I tend to take several stitches at a time unless it’s canvas or such which, again, speeds up sewing time. Which is good. I’ve got fleece coming in for my winter gowns. I plan on pockets and am debating adding hoods.
Thanks for sharing. I'm interested in trying out your version of French seam. What is shirttail hem?
I do wanna shout out the under-appreciated faux french seam! Aka _the one to use when you want french seams but it would make the order of operations too complicated_ - I find it particularly useful for welt pockets in loose garments and bags.
It's less work than felling down both sides, allows you to retain the seam allowance in case of future alterations, and you can't see even the tiniest felling stitches from the pretty side of the fabric.
It's also neat how the ribbon binding is basically a Hong Kong finish without the bias tape... and your 'Georgian method' of felling/whipstitching down linings is something I think many of us have instinctively done when putting in linings by hand. Just goes to show how we humans tend to converge on what works best! Also, like another commenter said, I'm inclined to call the last one a ribbon facing.
To do a faux french seam, basically you [1] Sew the seam as per usual (pretty sides together). [2] Fold each side of the seam allowance _inward_ towards the seamline, and bring the two halves together (trapping raw edges within). [3] Slipstitch or quickly whip/overcast them together, then press to one side. A running stitch or similar would also work, you'd just have to be more careful about not causing waviness... and of course this can also be done via machine.
@@camille.c Thanks for sharing. I totally forgot about the faux french seam. I suppose there is an ideal seam allowance for doing the faux french seam? I usually work with 1cm of seam allowance, and this is probably too small to do the second step.
I love hand sewing and use it for re-enactment clothes but also modern ones! So far mostly flat felling or felling down both sides of the seam allowance for thicker fabrics. Want to try the "Georgian method" soon when making a lined blouse :)
You will love the Georgian method! It creates such a beautiful (and simple) finish! 😊
I love to flat fell my seams as it’s so neat and tidy for unlined garments. Definitely over than serging.
English stitch and the "Georgian method" are definitely my personal favourites! English stitch because I'd rather only sew a seam once slower than twice, and Georgian method because it's so neat looking. I only really use extra ribbon or twill tape if I really have to since I am, if nothing else, a bit of a lazy sewist. I did, however, buy 100 meters of thin cotton tape for some of the trickier seam finishes and it has worked well! :)
So cool that you really love the English stitch and “Georgian method” as well 🥰 it’s funny how the English stitch feels like it’s taking forever but then once you realise that’s it and then garment is lined, it actually ends up saving so much time hahaha
I love hand sewing I find it very therapeutic. My grandma taught me to hand sew and I always use quilting needles. Enjoying your films you are a good teacher.
Thank you for the collection of seam finishings.
I am grateful that you continue to share videos with us
Thanks so much Catherine! So glad you like the video 😊
I'd call that last one ribbon facing when it's on an edge much like how we do bias tape facings today. One of my favorite seam finishes that's totally doable by hand is a French seam. With your fabrics wrong sides together, do a spaced back stitch about a quarter inch from the raw edge, then turn the piece so that the right sides are together, press and sew your seam normally. It's like a flat felled seam, but not stitched down. It's great on fine, floaty fabrics and ones prone to fraying. Also great for children's clothes since it's double stitched and won't irritate them.
French seam is my favorite, especially for long straight seams. I just use a running stitch, so it goes quickly, even though sewing the seam twice.
@@carolyng5235 I've only done it by machine, my hand sewing is usually embroidery, mending, or seaming hand knitted items. I like to do a back stitches every now and then with long seams for security. This way I know if one stitch comes undone, there's a stop
Thank you! I'm definitely going to reference this video often in my wardrobe making journey!
So glad it’s useful! 😊
This is a video to go to a playlist (it's on mine already)! I think it's so satisfying to see and they look so beautiful in the inside. It's something we don't have with modern clothes. Thank you V for sharing this video! 🥰
Aww thanks for adding it to your playlist! Something about hand finishing seams really does make the garment feel so lovingly made and high quality 🥰
Your hand sewing gets more beautiful and beautiful with every video! 😍
Thank you so much! 🥰
I love your Georgian method! When I worked in a liturgical garment shop there were some items we made by lining each piece individually, then handstitched each piece with a tiny ladder stitch. Of course, we machined a bagged-out lining for speed, but I really enjoyed the handstitching.
Thanks so much Fi! It’s nice to see this method still used on some garments sometimes, even when as a hybrid of hand and machine work 😊
I appreciate the compendium of techniques!
Thanks Erica 😊
I love to flat fell stitch. I’m working on a Tudor hand sewn cotton shirt. It’s taking a while. But I can see myself using historical techniques on some more modern shirts xx
Oh a Tudor cotton shirt sounds like so much fun! I highly recommending giving the English stitch a go for your modern skirt projects! 😊
Great video, very informative. Thanks
Really glad you liked it! 🥰
Thank You
gosh i was struggling with this the other day trying to finish some seams on an armscye of an unlined shirt, thanks vasi!! so useful as always😌 that last technique is probably my favourite, it looks so neat and reminds me of that bright tape u used on the hem of your berry dress
So glad it’s helpful Jae! 🥰 for the armscye seams I personally really love ribbon binding or just whip stitching the edges 😊 and so cool that you still remember the berry dress hem! It’s the exact same technique
Definitely need to learn these techniques because I am currently working on Edwardian underpinnings. However, I was doing French seams in the chemise that I am almost finished with.
Flat felled seams would definitely work super well for lots of under pinnings! French seams look really beautiful but they kind of scare me so I usually just go for flat felled seams instead as they feel a bit more straight forward 😅
Cool 😀
Those kind of videos are so helpful for a beginner like me, thank you so much for making them :) I'm so sorry that you were unjustly demonetized, this system is so absurd ! I know they tend to demonetize people who make content that is deemed "controversial" but it isn't even your case, it all just seems so random
Thanks so much Mélisse! Capitalism is fun, eh? 😅 I’m so glad the video is helpful!
I recently found and love your channel. I was wondering I'd you also live in an older home? Our home is over 100 years old and is never happy with modern things. Also, how many older ways do you incorporate in your life?
Thanks so much! I do live in an older home, though haven’t always. We grow a lot of our own food and I enjoy that whole homestead side of things, but my beliefs and values are all very modern and I work in tech/marketing as my day job! 😊
Great information! What pattern did you use for the white top in the opening of this video?
Thanks so much! It’s actually a vintage Chloé blouse I found on Etsy a couple years ago! It had so many historical elements that I bought it to wear as sort of historybound and it works really well with my historical skirts I think! 🥰
I'm currently working on a dress for a formal dance for my duaghter. She opted for the 10 gored princess from TV and the Armistice blouse. We are currently working on the skirt in a really pretty periwinkle silk dupiani. While we have mostly machine stitched it due to time constraints, I have some twill tape that I plan to line the hem of the skirt with. I'm also making a petticoat to fit under it that will attach to the inside lining piece while I didn't sew them up together a one garment I have it so that they come together for the boning channels and will be treated as one piece when it comes time to add the inside lining. To the main part of the skirt. That way the petticoat is sandwiched between the two pieces and adds a little bit of poof to the skirt. I'm hoping to finish it off today. I need to start work on the Armistice blouse. This will probably be the most complicated part of the whole ensemble. If I can I plan to flat fell the seams and I will be doing the buttonholes by hand. I'm trying to do as much historical sewing on this as possible. Anyways another great quick tutorial. I was quite surprised to see you again. Three weeks in a row now. Are you back to posting weekly? Or was his just a quirk?
Hi DesertRose! Your daughter’s formal dress sounds amazing! How has it turned out? My apologies for the response delay by the way, I’ve been working really hard on new content for the channel. This video was posted with the regular content schedule, but the schedule is going to get a bit mixed up for November and December as I have extra content coming out this upcoming week too! I hope people will enjoy the extra video for November 🥰 I’m posting this week’s video in about an hour, so I hope you enjoy it!
@@VBirchwood her dress came out beautifully. She is super excited to wear it tomorrow evening. Its been a long time coming. I'll have to see if I can remember my information for Instagram and show you her dress. ❤
With the ribbon technique with no liner will it keep the fabric from fraying?
I tend to use finishes like these even on my otherwise machine-made garments, because I HATE overlocking/serging with a passion. It's an irrational sensory thing: I hate the way it looks, the way it feels, the way it makes the fabric lie, how horrible it is to unpick if you want to alter or upcycle something. Ugh, it's just the stitchwork of the devil! I really enjoy felling seams in particular, it's very satisfying, and it can make a project which otherwise feels rushed and boring into something which feels special and valuable.
I can definitely understand hand finishing even machine made garments! There’s something about a hand finish that gives a garment such a beautiful and high quality feel.
I am on the process of sewing a Garibaldi blouse currently, by hand. Because it is linen and a little sheer I have flat lined it. I have put in piping the armscye, so now I am setting in the sleeve and I have 5 layers of fabric and then I plan to enclose it with bias tape, as I understand this is historically typical, but that is going to be very thick. Did I miss something, or is this just "normal"?
Is what you are calling the english stitch also called the mantua makers seam? Or are these used for different things? Terminology isn’t always universal so I just wasn’t sure if they are different terms for the same method or if they are different/used for different things. Thank you so much for this video! I always find the most difficult part of researching historical garments to be the finishing of them so this is incredibly useful.
You’re very welcome! 😊 the English stitch and the mantua maker’s seam are different things! There are a few clever “line and seam in one” type stitches in the 18th century, but I tend to prefer the English stitch as I find it to be more secure (and more fun!)
Going back to this video, I'm wondering if you would also use one of those methods for the inside of a cuff (folded in half) or if a back stitch along the edges would be enough? Obviously you don't have to answer, but maybe someone else here in the comments would have an idea?
For the inside of cuffs, I basically do a double fold and then I go and whip stitch the cuff down 😊 but yes, you could absolutely use something like the Georgian method for example
@@VBirchwood Thank you so much for your answer, I'm going to try that 😊
I suppose people of the past were very economical with their fabrics and they would join scraps of fabric to sew new things from them. What would be the best method for this purpose?
Definitely! In most of the antique garments I own for study, there are many pieces combined to create one bigger piece. It’s known as “piecing”. What you would do is simply cut multiple pieces out until you get your desired shape, but be sure to add seam allowance on any joining sides. Then I would just back stitch them together to create the finished shape and finish the raw edges inside as you would with any other seam.
@@VBirchwood Thank you for your help.
After one has filled up the bobbin, threaded the machine, and got all the bits together you could have done a whole seam anyway
How do you keep stitching in a straight line when hand sewing?
Practice I think! I used to stitch much more side ways but now I just try to sort of intuitively feel where I’m going. I also sometimes will thread trace, mark with chalk, etc. It gets more uniform the more you practice. I’ve probably spent about 2000 hours of my life now hand sewing over the course of the past 2 years or so when I started.
if i'm stitching on grain, or across grain, i can hand sew along following the weave of the fabric. but for angles and curves, chalk lines are my friend.
I always wondered if historical garments survived longer because of hand sewing.
I think you really might be on to something here! I’ve found small back stitches to be far more secure, for example, than many machine-made garments
@@VBirchwood
A backstitch is more elastic than the lockstitch that is typical of most sewing machines, so that probably helps.
@@ragnkja correct me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming a lockstitch locks the fabric in place? If so, than that makes a lot more for historical garments because of how structured they are.
@@CHLOEDEATHGOD
A lockstitch is made of two threads that "lock" together every stitch. There are animations that show how a sewing machine does this, including on the Wikipedia article about sewing machines.
@@VBirchwood I agree. Anytime I hem something on a machine it does not seem to last very long. I always either assumed it was how cheap my thread is or the cheap sewing machine. Probably a little of both all 3 now that I think about it. Oops!
Dear V,
I am still interested in sewing together with you; individually, or in a group. I am certainly willing to compensate you for your time.
Where is the best place to talk about the logistics of this?
To clarify, I don't believe it's actually "lessons", per se, that I want, unless in the future, I come across a technique that tutorials aren't helping with.
I don't know if this is something that you would be willing to do.
Either way, thank you for reading this far.
Dear Catherine,
This sounds like fun! I still offer 1-1 “lessons” but really they can be anything. It’d be quite fun at some point to host a sew-along perhaps. I have no idea on which platform or when, but I’ll have a brainstorm about it. Feel free always as well to send me an email to vbirchwoodhistorical at gmail dot com
(Put “at” and “dot com” instead of the symbols so my comment doesn’t get taken down 🥰)
@@VBirchwood excellent!
Thank you!
I always tell myself I'm going to finish my seams nicely & with ribbon or felling them...... However I'm a lazy potato and usually just tell myself I'll finish it later... Which usually means I don't 😂
To be fair, not finishing your seams is incredibly historically “accurate” 🤣
@@VBirchwood it's true, people in the past were lazy too!
@@LiljaHusmo
Lazy, busy and/or forgetful, just like us.
@@VBirchwood Sure, the fabrics were generally more tightly woven, so resisted fraying, & gowns were often only sponged clean, rather than whirling around in a washing machine!
You just... not using a thimble is one of the most stressful things I have ever seen. How are your fingers not shredded up?
I’ve tried using thimbles, but I can’t get used to it. If you hold the needle a certain way you rarely hurt your fingers in my experience, but it’s not as fast.
@@annamarie5988 What kinds of thimbles have you used? Personally, I only use soft thimble that go over the first knuckle of my middle finger. I've tried hard thimbles, but found them profoundly unpleasant to work with (although it could be that they were too big. I'm not too anxious to try them again, though, as I like the one that I've got). I'm glad you found a way that works for you :]
@@elladaniells1322 I tried those hard ones and persisted in trying to find the perfect size, but even the best fit doesn’t work for me. I have not tried those soft ones. I should give them a go!
*IF YOU ARE MACHINE SEWING ACCURATELY* there is very little difference in the speed of hand sewing to machine sewing...
By the time you have trademarked both pieces, sewn 4cm, stopped to check alignment, sewn 4cm stopped again, finished, and pulled out all the thread marking, its almost the same as just hand sewing the seam in the first place. And one of the biggest jumps in your sewing professionalism is STOPPING sewing to seam allowance and start sewing to thread marking...!!!