When did the French Seam as we know it come into use historically? Catherine
-----Original Message----- From: Carol Kocian <[email protected]> To: Historical Costume <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, 9 May 2009 10:43 am Subject: Re: [h-cost] CC27 historical judge talks about workmanship and historical On May 9, 2009, at 8:11 AM, [email protected] wrote: > But period correct fabrics are more than available (easily), like > fulled > wools, (admittedly I do live near several of the best wool > mills in > Europe), Must be nice! :-) It's all a matter of compromise — the correct fulled wools may be more expensive, or perhaps someone wants a particular color and can't find it in the right weight. I've thrown wool into the dyepot and then had it come out fuzzier than it started. > and flat felled seams are just as easy as french on a sewing machine. However there is the idea that machine sewing should not be visible in pre-machine tie periods. Of course there is also the argument that good backstitching looks like machine sewing on the top side. :-) And then there is finding a linen thread smooth enough to run through a machine. > Overlocking may be necessary, but only if you're using the wrong > finish or > technique, and hand overcasting using something like > whipstitch is just as > easy, if a little more time consuming (not > much when you take into account the setting up of the machine) - > and I can't think offhand of a period when overcasting wouldn't be > correct - it was around during early medieval times and tudor > times, and it still was by victorian and mid 20th century. While overcasting can be found, it still depends on which garment and/or which fabric. 18th century shifts and shirts were flat-felled, for example. In reenactment, we have the luxury of concentrating on one time period and can learn the details. I'm a big fan of basic standards for groups. Within that, individuals learn and make their own compromises. There may be a conflict of technique vs. the overall look — the machine French seam with the non-offensive exterior appearance. Judges of competitions have a difficult job of determining which compromise is better than another, not to mention comparing work portraying different time periods! -Carol _______________________________________________ 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
