Hand Stitching and Finishing Techniques
I have posted six new tutorials on hand sewing. Â The majority of the content I wrote about four months ago for a worskhop handout, and I am very happy to finally have it converted to tutorial format on my web site.
New menu page for tutorials on hand sewing.
Medieval Hand Stitching – Basic Stitches (Start Here)
This first section on basic stitches describes what supplies you will need, how to start and end your thread, and the basic stitches upon which most other stitches are based.
How to Hand Sew Hems and Edges
This tutorial illustrates several basic and common ways how to hand sew hems and edges on a medieval garment.
How to Hand Sew Seams
This tutorial illustrates several common ways how to hand sew seams on a medieval garment, both by assembling and then finishing the seam allowance, or by finishing the garment pieces before assembling.
How to Hand Sew Eyelets
This tutorial illustrates two methods of sewing eyelets found on extant medieval garments, and discusses variations for corsets and hiding metal grommets.
How to Hand Sew Buttonholes
This tutorial describes how to hand sew buttonholes, especially for medieval reenactment.
How to Make Fabric Buttons
This tutorial describes how to make fabric buttons for medieval garb, starting from a square piece of fabric.
Medieval Hand Stitching and Finishing Techniques (pdf)
This handout is by no means comprehensive, but is instead intended to be a practical guide to hand
stitching and hand finishing your medieval style clothing. Even if you make most of your garb on a
sewing machine, hand finishing can provide a lovely finishing touch of authenticity in those places
where a machine sewn seam would be the most visible.
The handout pdf may be copied and distributed for free for educational purposes, but it may not be altered.