Sorry for the late reply myself, but..... I'm doing some silk organza scarves (not historic, before anyone panics [1]). The fabric is 60" wide, so the hand rolled hem is very long - and I hate hand-sewing with a red passion, so I'm always trying to figure out how to make it easier and faster. And I hit on something this weekend. As long as the finished part is longer than my forearm, I can pin the edge under my right elbow (I'm right-handed) on a table, and hold the unfinished part of the hem in my left hand, rolling the hem toward me with the left hand's fingers. This keeps the hem taut, while rolling at the same time. I can then use my right hand to stitch what the left hand is preparing. Make sure that the table-chair setup puts your elbow no lower than normal height, or you'll be bending your back, which is Not Good. This goes fast!
Hand-sewing really is the best a lot of the time. I was applying a beaded ribbon trim to a belt recently, and tried to do it three times with the machine, before I gave up. And there's no other way to finish the interior seams of a GFD. The hand-sewing is just the only way for a lot of things like this. (I call it my Laurel's Object Lesson.) BTW - don't know if anyone mentioned it, but using silk thread on a silk organza really works best, and you don't have problems with the thread sawing through delicate organza fibers. The only problem I've found is that the available colors of silk thread are somewhat limited. Melanie / Lijsbet [1] I was working on Harry Potter costumes at an SCA business meeting once. People were worried! ;-) -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Catherine Kinsey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >I sent a file with illustrations to the original poster > >privately, since this list doesn't take attachments. > >It also helps to use a >sewing clamp as a third > >hand to keep the fabric taut. > > > >Melusine > > > > May I also request a copy? > > This thread came up at a very good time for me, I already have the > cursing part down :). > > Thanks, > Catherine > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
