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A More Sustainable Adventure

DON’T SKIP LEARNING THESE HISTORICAL SEWING TECHNIQUES | Historical Fashion Made a Little Simpler

By letter2self on November 8, 2022



Anytime historical fashion can be made a little simpler, it’s a good thing. These are the 15 historical sewing techniques that I feel are must-knows, certainly learning can make your creative journey easier.

I’ve just passed the 1-year mark of my sewing journey, and I’ve been reflecting upon and taking careful note of what construction methods keep showing up again and again (specifically for 18th century fashion and 19th century fashion). Upon examination of my notes, these are the techniques that I feel I constantly see, and if you enjoy historical sewing from these periods as well, there’s a good chance you’ll come across these methods too.

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While I won’t be demonstrating every single technique, I do mention other videos I’ve shot in the past that do explain some of them in greater depth, and down below I’ve included videos that have helped me in my first few months of historical sewing.

Hand Stitching:
My 7 Essential Hand Sewing Stitches video – https://youtu.be/QB-iDDvAZhM

Lining Garments the Historical Way:
I explain these in the video. In summary;
For the “Georgian Method”, wrong sides to wrong sides, place your lining against your fashion fabric and slightly stagger the edges so the lining is just a tiny bit smaller and further from the edge of the fashion fabric. Whip stitch all around the edges being sure not to go out onto the right side of the fashion fabric (stitching into the fold essentially).
For the “Victorian Method”, cut a duplicate of your fashion fabric piece in your lining and flatline your pieces by basting them together, wrong sides to wrong sides, and treating them as one. The seam allowances will be exposed and you’ll need to finish them using a method like whip stitching or with a silk binding.

Pleating:
For knife pleats and box pleats – https://youtu.be/w2XNjSNPlGA
For cartridge pleats – https://youtu.be/EqtDbM1ZQrM

Shortening or Lengthening the Torso of Your Pattern:
This video was helpful – https://youtu.be/0UfhQaHKZ_Q

The English Stitch:
I explain this briefly in the video, but here is a full tutorial I made on the stitch – https://youtu.be/zN1MaEV6pvU

Constructing Princess Seams:
This was a helpful video – https://youtu.be/djduB8IGqmc

Stroked Gathers:
https://youtu.be/__zWnZFta5U

Pattern Matching:
https://youtu.be/Rfj4S1FBv3g
https://youtu.be/oCH7oHQfSl0
https://youtu.be/lH4i94wdvU4

Piecing:
My tips are, make sure you always leave enough seam allowance to connect the two pieces and try to choose areas that will be the most inconspicuous if possible.

Preparing Fabrics for Sewing:
My Fabrics Care Crash Course – https://youtu.be/laDmj17cYSk

Two-Piece Sleeve Construction:
https://youtu.be/4ldQjyTbgFI

Grading and Scaling Patterns:
This one is quite complex and really depends on what you need to do. Here are some helpful videos –
https://youtu.be/9NMIIFLuX5M
https://youtu.be/EFT5Hv-3JwE
https://youtu.be/xQhIL0n2RdA
https://youtu.be/2lE72BSQ_VA
https://youtu.be/lGVTgXftt9U

Time Stamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:52 Technique No. 1 & 2
4:08 Technique No. 3 & 4
5:40 Technique No. 5 & 6
7:24 Technique No. 7 & 8
8:30 Technique No. 9 & 10
9:22 Technique No. 11 & 12
10:47 Technique No. 13 & 14
11:39 Technique No. 15
12:40 Conclusion & End Screen

All music is from Epidemic Sound.

#HistoricalSewing #MustKnows #HistoricalFashion

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