Hand Sewing

I am not exactly an ace with a sewing machine. I have had one for at most six months—less if you count from the time I actually took it out of the box. I have yet to complete a garment using it. (Although, I have started a simple dress. And actually now that I say that, I remember I have sewn one thing, a basic slip of 2 pieces of cloth that I literally put two seams in and hemmed. Added the button—and buttonhole—by hand.)

Using my machine isn’t hard, exactly; but I find that my level of precision is, well, vague, at best.

So when I saw on the main website I am using as my resource guide for this project a page about hand sewing that amounted to a challenge—Why not try it? It’s more authentic and it might be easier than you think!—I didn’t take it as a challenge. I took it as a safety net. “Why NOT try it?” I thought. I mean, I’m not planning to be stupid-dedicated to hand sewing for the sake of hand sewing. I don’t expect that I’ll actually be willing to, say, blind-hem stitch a 6-yard hem on my petticoat. (Note: I will if the blind-hem stitch feature on my machine sucks. I am that much of a perfectionist. But I’m trying the machine first on that hem!)

But. I’m not going to force myself to machine everything but the most complex of seams, either. In fact, I’m likely going to sew more by hand than with my Brother.

Why? Because, frankly, I’m more confident sewing by hand. It's the only way I've ever sewn, what little sewing I've actually done (mending and buttonholes, and the occasional replacement hem). But I am comfortable doing it, which is apparently more than many people who learn by machine-sewing. My hand-sewn stitches may not be the prettiest, but they are sturdy—and most of the time they won’t be seen, anyway. More importantly—well, equally importantly with the fact that not too many of them will be seen, because there is a serious aesthetic consideration in all of this—I know they will be right. I can be precise with my hands in a way that I am not sure I can be yet with my machine.

It’s kind of a vicious overlap: I’ll never get precise enough with my machine if I don’t practice, and yet I’m not willing to risk a costume of this level of importance to practice. Perhaps if I make it to the Renaissance Festival this year, with enough advance planning to make costume(s). I could do some simple dress(es) for that, and use only the machine except for the things not even experts would machine, and learn.

And in the meantime, I’m just planning to hand sew everything but the longest, most simple of the seams and hems. I’m starting by making my chemise entirely by hand, to get my stitching in top form and to get a time estimate for how long each piece will take…but that’s another post!