# Hand sewing?



## Shrarvrs88 (May 8, 2010)

Does anyone on here sew by hand (as in, not by machine?) very often? I have recently took it up as a fun hobby to learn and was curious if anyone else enjoys that sort of thing. So far I have made a few pillow cases, an apron, and am working on a set of bibs for my toddler, to learn how to do hand stitched button holes.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

I always have a hand piece to carry with me to appointments. I have done some of my favorite quilt tops by hand as well.
I like to say I have nothing against machine sewing, in fact I love my Bernina (sp) but it is hard to carry a machine to the doctors.


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## vickiesmom (Feb 25, 2005)

That is cool. I wondered if anyone did hand sewing.


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## Aohtee (Aug 26, 2003)

When I was growing up, hand sewing was the hallmark of fine tailoring. My mother would buy her dress's off the rack and remove the machine sewn zipper and hand sew it back in.

I hand sew many of the finishing touches to my clothing. Hems, facings, linings, buttonholes. I just finished a bag with an applique on it that is mostly hand sewn.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I am not much of a machine sewer, those things race so fast!
I did make an queensize scrappy log cabin quilt completely by hand.
The feel of it versus machine made is completely different.

It doesn't take long to hem a pair of pants or stitch a curtain by hand.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

You know I have never got the hang of machine hemming. Even when I am sewing for friends I always hem by hand.


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## PonderosaQ (Jan 12, 2004)

Call me old fashioned by I think hand sewn hems are far nicer and neater than machine done ones. Lots of little things are far easier to by hand than bothering to thread the machine up and then trying to get into little spots.


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## Shrarvrs88 (May 8, 2010)

Awsome! I was afraid I wouldn't find anyone, I have a machine, but it has some features on it I just can't get the knack of (and they say young people are good with electronics, ha!) and I always seems to think things through better when I do it by hand...(which is good since I enjoy going without a pattern, and end up wasting ALOT of fabric with my machine, lol.) I do like the machine, since it goes SOOO fast, and doesn't hurt my hands, but have recently fallen in love with a simple needle and thread. 

There's just something about it....

and it's true, it's so nice for apointments, and unlike a book, I can multitask while sewing. (I tend to lose myself in a book, not a good thing if I have my little one with me or am on the city bus, lol, nothing like missing your stop by a half an hour).


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## farmwoman59 (Aug 7, 2008)

I don't sew complete projects by hand but do finish them that way. I adore handwork and get teased by my family about always having something in my hands to work on. My mama made a king sized Grandma's flower garden quilt entirely by hand - it's one of her priceless pieces I inherited when she passed away. I can't imagine the hours it took to complete.


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## kyweaver (Nov 30, 2009)

I hand sew a lot of my handwoven fabrics. It matches the look of the fabric better. Otherwise,I do small projects by hand cause its faster than getting out the machine. And the machine tends to run away with me (I'm not very good . . .).


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## Countrystyle (Aug 24, 2003)

I have 3 machines set up and ready to go all the time and still do a lot of handsewing. Right now I'm quilting by hand a queen size quilt for my brother. Arthritis makes it a little harder but I figure - use it or lose it.


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## gmashomemade (Dec 2, 2009)

I've been trying to hem lace curtains on machine, which just eats up the fabric and bunches up the bobbin threads. I have decided to do it all by hand. It is just two panels for my daughter's french doors between the living room and dining room.

Diane


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## Michele of MI (Jul 8, 2009)

I have done a lot of hand sewing, although I do have two (very simple) sewing machines. I made some shorts for my dh, a jumper for my daughter, pants, and quite a number of other smaller things. I enjoy it, although I use my machine pretty regularly too. It's just nice to finish a project and be able to say " I did it by hand". I like to embroider designs too. And sleeves are so much easier by hand.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

I do my hemming by hand and all of my applique. It's quicker for me to do it by hand than machine. I always have take along projects ready to grab in little baggies so I can applique or flower garden pieces to work on when I know I'm going to be sitting in a waiting room or on trips. Doing by hand relaxes me.


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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

This is something on my to-do list. Although my concern is that hand stitching doesn't "lock" the way machine stitches do. I was told there's a way to do this, but then the person who told me disappeared so I never found out how. Is there a certain stitch you can use that secures the work?


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## Aohtee (Aug 26, 2003)

vigilant20 said:


> This is something on my to-do list. Although my concern is that hand stitching doesn't "lock" the way machine stitches do. I was told there's a way to do this, but then the person who told me disappeared so I never found out how. Is there a certain stitch you can use that secures the work?


A hand sewn lock-stitch involves two needles. One coming up thru the material and another going down thru the same hole.

Google leather and saddle stitching. They have excellent videos showing how to do the stitch.


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## stirfamily (Jun 18, 2002)

I love hand sewing. Did most of my quilting by hand until now my eyes are so bad I can't see to keep my stitches even. So I have switched over to machine quilting. I do so miss hand sewing though. 
karen in NE Indiana


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## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

More power to you ladies. My hand sewing mostly looks like a drunken blind woman did it. I figure out a way to do almost everything by machine and it looks better for it.

I know a lot of people find it relaxing but it tenses me up terribly. My shoulders, elbows and hands hurt and I always get a headache.

My grandmother pieced and quilted lots of quilts by hand and I have several which I treasure.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

I can sit and hand applique all day and the kids don't mind but let me sit down at the sewing machine and it's like bugs to a light. They want to help, want to sew or just stand over me to see if I'm doing it right I guess.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I do a fair amount of hand sewing. I have a Grandmother's Flower Garden I hand pieced and hand quilted. It was something I could take along when I was doing private duty and having to sit in the patient's room for 8 hours with little to do. Haven't done anything that ambitious since.







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## viggie (Jul 17, 2009)

Aohtee said:


> A hand sewn lock-stitch involves two needles. One coming up thru the material and another going down thru the same hole.
> 
> Google leather and saddle stitching. They have excellent videos showing how to do the stitch.


Thank you!


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## ELOCN (Jun 13, 2004)

Cyngbaeld, that Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt is just beautiful! What a wonderful heirloom to pass on to your children or grandchildren, etc. Fabulous!


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## Shrarvrs88 (May 8, 2010)

I agree that that quilt is exceptional! Something I am hoping to learn is quilting.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Thank you, ladies.
My Granny Pearl taught me to quilt when I was 15. She always had a frame set up in an empty bedroom.


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## sewing nana (Oct 18, 2002)

I hand stitch alot. Grandmother flower garden in progress. Small homespun from scraps. Penny rugs. Lots of things cut out.... Plastic tote stays in the truck, just in case.... Happy stitching. 5 GC working on hand things.


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## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

Terri in WV said:


> I can sit and hand applique all day and the kids don't mind but let me sit down at the sewing machine and it's like bugs to a light. They want to help, want to sew or just stand over me to see if I'm doing it right I guess.


Isn't that the truth!


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## sewsilly (May 16, 2004)

I, too, have an amazing sewing room, with modern equipment , but I love a hand sewn project. 

Last week, while clearing out some stuff, I found a dress that I'd made myself right about the time I married (30 years ago). I had an old pitiful sewing machine, so I'd done the long seams on the machine and finished the dress by hand... my handwork was so very beautiful! Made me inspired to do more finishing that way now, even if I don't have to.

Recently made my daughter's wedding gown. MUCH of it was done by hand.

http://hometojumpingoffplace.blogspot.com/2010/05/bridal-portraits.html

ANd last but not least, I work at a historical state park. Having recently completed my training as an historical interpreter, I need a reproduction outfit. I have all my fabrics and am ready to set about on an authentic backcountry farmwoman's garb, naturally made entirely by hand, as there were no machines in 1780.

Am looking forward to it.

dawn


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## Stiffchick (Jul 18, 2012)

I love to sew by hand too. I have a machine, I got from my mom and it works fine, but I find it hard and painful to sit at it for any length of time. I also have psoriatic arthritis, and untill recently was home bound. For hours at a time (And for a few years too) I have been working on an English paper pieceing quilt top. I got all my hexagons basted (and extra too lol) and all my flowers pieced together. The past few months I have been slowly pieceing them together. Since I have regained my freedom from my home, I find I am working on it less than I was. It is however football season again, and with one tv and a DH who watches pro, college, highschool and little league football, I found myself pulling it out of the closet to work on again. one would think hand sewing and hand quilting would be counter productive with Arthritis, but as someone in a earlier post pointed out, use it or lose it. It keeps my hands moving enough to keep them straight!


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## BamaSuzy (May 10, 2002)

I do 99% of my quilting by hand, do basically all hems by hand and just ENJOY the process of sewing by hand (although I currently have three machines and may be getting another)....it is just SO RELAXING and I think it helps me think things through when I have a big problem to think about.

It is not a lost art from the look of these messages AND that quilt is gorgeous!


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

I do all my heming by hand. I worked for an Interior Design workroom. We did lots of stuff by machine, but when we made drapes or any curtains we hand hemed them. The owner refused to buy a comercial blind stitch because her customers liked the handmade look.

I do lots of machine sewing but do all the finish work by hand like heming and tacking down facings as such.


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## HorseMom (Jul 31, 2005)

I admire people that sew by hand. I'm just so afraid my work would fall apart that I've never tried it. I don't think I would have the patience of the finess to do it well. In art class in 8th grade we had to hand stitch a tiny wall hanging for Christmas. I remember we would do a few running stitches, then back stitch to lock our stitches. Maybe oneday I will get the patience to learn to hand quilt. I'm not very good at machine quilting so I don't think it could be any worse by hand, lol! Kudos to all you hand sewers!
Heidi


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

When my daughter got married in August, she wanted me to add "traditional touches" to her wedding. My time was limited so I had to buy the pillow cases with white on white embroidery and hand made lace, extensive work that took many hours, exquisite.. it was a vintage set on ebay which supplied the "old" portion of the tradition. Then I hand beaded crystals on it...that really sparkled it up. I made her earrings and pendant by hand so those were "new." The garter I had stitched from vintage wide cream colored ribbon, I had my son hold the elastic out against my leg and hand sewed it to get that ruffled gathered result and then made a lace Rose out of piece of lace left over from my wedding dress which I beaded vintage crystals into. I also got some vintage handkerchiefs to give her for the wedding as something to hand the crying ladies...LOL She had her own blue item. I supplied the bridesmaids and maid of honor earrings of course. She just loved the little things I did and it was fun. I do a lot of different things by hand and I do hand sew many little things. The embroidery work not so much but when I do, it is always nice to see I can.  

Last Christmas, I hand stitched Betty Boop squares with solid colors, then added some beads, crystals and pearls....three quilted covers which I then made the pillows for...my daughter just loved them! This year I think I am going to make up Sea shell shaped pillows and have some fun with those. It was so nice to see how appreciative my girls are with hand made gifts. 

When I was 5, my Grandma taught me to sew by hand and I made a dress for my teddy bear, now it is 44 years old. I still have the teddy bear and the dress!!! He has been with me through thick and thin. He sits perched behind my bed and I see him every day. There is a great deal of satisfaction that comes from hand work and it stays with you.


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## TenBusyBees (Jun 15, 2011)

My grandmother believed it wasn't a proper quilt if it was done on a machine... piecing or quilting.

She also firmly believed you were not a proper lady if you couldn't hand stitch.

When I turned five I was expected to start piecing 4-patch quilt blocks. Ugh! I hated sitting there each afternoon piecing those silly blocks while the rest of the neighborhood was outside playing. LOL!

AND, on top of that... I was expected to master hand stitching before learning how to sew on the machine.

I can't tell you how thankful I am to her now. 

(And you know what? My 5yo dd is learning to piece 4-patch quilt blocks. I made her a little sewing box for her birthday and she is over the moon.)


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I make a small hand sewn quilt for each grandchild. I am still working on the sixth (little girl is a month old- I'm way behind!). I like to hand sew and hand quilt.


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