I use a nice hard square pillow; have used the pin method, but also picked
up a modern (and cheap) Third hand gadget that I pin to one corner and have
lots of room to manipulate the piece at hand. This winter, I found a repro
sewing bird that attaches to a table edge (ie. a wooden tray stand) and do
such jobs in style. One handsewing tool I would not be without!
kathleen
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 11:46 AM
Subject: Re: [h-cost] hand rolled hems
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
_______________________________________________
h-costume mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
