Date: 10/29/09 1:49 AM

What was the experience like? I imagine it would be very rewarding, relying only on your hands, a needle and thread. What did you sew, and how long did it take?
-- Edited on 10/29/09 1:50 AM --

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Date: 10/29/09 3:22 AM

I sewed everything by hand for my whole life up until I finally got a machine a few years ago. The last thing I sewed by hand was a wrap dress and it took 3 weeks. Now I can make the same dress in 2 hours.

I don't think sewing by hand was more rewarding than using a machine. Just more tedious. Had I known then what I know now, I would have bought a machine many many years ago.

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ChristianMarie.Etsy.Com

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Date: 10/29/09 8:06 AM

Thirty years ago (long before I really learned to sew) I made a set of chair cushions by hand for a set of four chairs. Each cushion took six hours, for a total of twenty-four hours of very tedious hand sewing.

It would have made far more sense to sew these cushions by machine. But I didn't have a sewing machine back then.



-- Edited on 10/29/09 8:07 AM --

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The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale.
Richard Dawkins

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Date: 10/29/09 9:13 AM

I made a button-on wrap skirt to go over my bathing suit out of a red cotton sateen a few years ago. It took me maybe five or six hours (?), but was only two pieces, front and back. I hand-hemmed it, thought I was all done, and then remember not knowing what to do for the button--oops! I ended up making a knotted loop out of some red twisted rope trim, and hackily sewing that loop onto the waistband-part.

I have to say, I do still have it and sometimes will wear it around the house or to the beach, but it amazes me how much better I've gotten over the last six years! Of course, getting a machine helps a lot too :)

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Date: 10/29/09 9:29 AM

I really enjoy hand sewing, when it is the best technique for the project. If something can be sewn just as well on the machine (provided I have a machine) then I won't hand sew. That's just my practical side making that decision.

The last item I completely hand sewed was this top. The beaded silk chiffon underlined with a stretch silk charmeuse was impossible to do on the machine. I also lined the top in another layer of the charmeuse and added a beaded edging at the hem. And an invisible zip in the back. Here is the outfit.

I know I have hand sewn other things in the past but I can't remember any of them now. It is a very pleasant and rewarding thing to do, IMHO.

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Liz

thefittinglife.blogspot.com

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Date: 10/29/09 10:03 AM

That's a wonderful piece, sewliz!

The last thing I made without a machine was SpongeBob curtains for my son's bedroom. I didn't sew it--I put it together by gluing it!

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Rank amateur sewer--or is it "sewist?"

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Reply to Sewliz
Date: 10/29/09 11:36 AM

Mighty elegant top, Liz!

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Reply to Sewliz
Date: 10/29/09 12:03 PM

That is exquisite, Sewliz.

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The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.



-Dorthy Parker

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Date: 10/29/09 1:49 PM

Absolutely gorgeous.

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The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale.
Richard Dawkins

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Date: 10/29/09 2:39 PM

I hand-sewed my 18th century shift, out of linen, with French seams (including doing one entire side seam *twice,* because it's very difficult to tell right side from wrong side on white linen. Sigh.). It took about six weeks of evenings, but by the time I was done, I was a lot faster (and neater) than when I started!

It was a fantastic project, and I loved every minute of it. I'm giving serious thought to doing another completely hand-sewn linen smock, this time a high-necked smock with a box-pleated collar and cuffs and hand-done blackwork. Next spring. :)

I used to be really self-conscious of my hand-done stitches; I didn't think they were uniform enough, or as tidy as my embroidery, or whatever. And then my husband bought me Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Fashion in Detail, which shows amazing close-up pictures of these fantastic historical garments--and their stitches look just like mine!! Suddenly, I was pretty d@mn proud of my hand-sewing. And now I want to do lots more. The only obstacle is time.

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~Gem in the prairie

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