Jump to Table of Contents
Changes to this page:
essay on patience added 1 March 2016
impatience illo added 15 April 2016
chapter on seams made hypertext 18 April 2018
linked to 2019 diary, part one 4 January 2019
linked to 2020 diary, part one 6 January 2020
linked to mask essays in progress 24 June 2020
moved poncho-shirt diary 12 November 2020
corrected long-dead mailto address to current address
28 September 2021
20 October 2022
It appears to have been much longer ago than the September
before last since I updated the table of contents.
When I wanted to compare the Web copy of my sewing diary
to the intermediate notes, to make sure I'd transcribed
each one before deleting it, I discovered that one can't
get there from here. I've been devoting the crippled
computer to keeping the diary updated, neglecting all else,
and it turns out that nobody has had access to either that
file or the 2021 file.
I'll correct that Real Soon Now.
Meanwhile you can correct an older URL to 2022SEW1.HTM
Monday, 20 March 2023 added an item to the "spine index" of 2023
diary.
Thursday, 30 August 2023 corrected a typo. Will update spine
index Real Soon Now.
Monday, 9 August 2023 linked to two new project blogs.
Saturday, 7 September 2024 changed update date on bibliography
Table of Contents
Rough Sewing
This is more like a basket of notes than a
book.
On 28 May 1995 I wrote:
The art of sewing practical, everyday clothes for
the family is dying rapidly, so I intend to write
down what little I know in the hope that someone
of a future generation may be curious to see how
it was done.
Since then, I have been jotting down notes
whenever my sewing made me think of something that
a beginner ought to know, or some tip that made
work easier.
As you leaf through these notes, you will find
— perhaps to your surprise — that
rough sewing uses most of the same techniques used
in fine sewing. When you sew for practical
use, "saving time" is more likely to mean putting
off the day when you have to do the job again than
to mean shaving off a minute here and a few
seconds there.
Patience
The primary difference between a professional and
a dedicated amateur is that the professional does
it faster — in sewing, patience can nearly
always be substituted for skill. (For some
skills, the required patience means putting in ten
years as an apprentice, but let's ignore that for
a while.)
I'm facing armholes with bias tape today. A
professional, having done this hundreds of times
in the last few weeks, would simply sew on the
tape, relying on skill and experience to keep
everything lined up and at the correct tension,
and be done in a few minutes per armhole.
I'm pinning the tape around each hole carefully,
matching the raw edges and easing the curve, using
right-angle pins so that only an inch at a time
needs to be perfect. Then I carefully mark
where the tape overlaps, draw a thread two seam
allowances from the mark, and splice the
tape. Then I put in seam-line pins, getting
most of them by pulling right-angle pins that have
been secured. Then I sew a toe's width from
the raw edge, using the treadle machine so that I
can stitch slowly, and frequently turn the
handwheel.
It's taking the whole morning, but I get
professional results -- when my patience holds
out.
Here we have a major failure of patience. I could
pick out those stitches, press out the crease,
trim the facing to a uniform width, press in a new
crease, and re-stitch — but hey, it's
underwear.
A list of plain-text files followed by a list of even-more-fragmentary
HTML files.
I am now in the process of trying to organize this mess.
If you look for something and don't find it,
please write to me
and tell me what you looked for
and where you looked.
Also write to me when you find what you are looking for,
and it's half an article ending in a double ampersand —
nothing inspires a writer like knowing that somebody wants to read.
Plain-Text Files
Oops! I have discovered that some of these text files
contain angle brackets. Angle brackets in a file will
cause some browsers to attempt to display it as HTML, which
ignores line boundaries and multiple spaces.
It will take me a long time to correct the files.
In the meanwhile, if you view a file and it's all mushed up
into one paragraph, click on "view source", and your browser
will show you the file the way I wrote it.
Things
tools
—
pictures of tools
notions
selecting and preparing fabric
types of sewing machines
calling-card sewing kit —
not finished; please nag
Techniques
selecting and preparing fabric
drawing threads
cutting out
marking
basted arrows: a
thread-marking tutorial
stay stitching
ironing, pressing, flattening, and creasing
easing and gathering
calculating pleated ruffles
seams
edge finishes
includes elastic and drawstrings
sewing on buttons, hooks, snaps
buttonholes
pockets major update
18 April 2018
making bias tape
ripping seams
mending
threading a needle
hand-sewing stitches,
illustrations from Jessup
securing thread ends
knots
winding spools
threading a sewing machine
machine-sewing tips
(updated 14 September 2010)
false-hemming a sheet This page is
for my personal reference, but I've included some
explanatory material.
Misc.
general advice
insufficient fabric
(updated 8 August 2020
annotated bibliography
book reviews (updated
7 September 2024
english to metric conversions
a crash course in math
(with special attention to bias tape)
wardrobes
fitting, pattern and design
Sue Felshin's Sewing 101 syllabus
Garments
shirts and nightshirts &&
pants
designing & assembling Broadfall Pants
ponchos
poncho shirt
Diary of a Poncho Shirt:
new on July 31, 2010. Shirt completed 14
August 2010. New shirt started 15 August
2010. File edited beginning 12 November
2020
women's underwear
follow-up to bra added April 2008
men's underwear
50's pleated and gathered skirts
aprons
Midnight thoughts on a six-pocket
apron
Assembling Bike Knickers personal
notes stashed here so I can find them when the
knickers under construction need to be replaced.
GARMENTS: slippers &&
Trapezoid Circle Skirt:
was: idle
speculation, now: project blog
Face Masks, Niqabs, and
Veils: Scattered thoughts, beginning
with an aborted tutorial. Begun in April of
2020, posted in June.
Other Projects
household linens, scarves, handkerchiefs, flat things
bags, including pillows and stuffed toys
HTML files
These files wrap to fit your window.
If the lines are too long, narrow the window or
make the type bigger.
If your browser refuses to wrap, viewing the
source might allow you to read the text.
You will note that this file has a "maximum line
width" style to make it legible on landscape
monitors. This style will gradually be
added to older files as I find time.
Misc.
My Linen Jersey:
two photographs, and all the boring details.
Bicycle jerseys are supposed to fit closely, to
prevent wind-flapping,
but I don't ride that fast any more,
and linen does a great job of protecting you from
the sun.
Both the jersey and this file were revised in July
of 2005. Further comments were added in
August.
Blog for replacement jersey begun in September of
2009. Blog resumed after hiatus in May of
2010. Final entry 16 August 2010.
Pattern used to design an overjersey in December,
2014. Construction detailed in my sewing diary.
Cotton
jersey begun in 2022 and reported in a separate project diary.
planning for
cotton-linen jersey begun in summer
of 2023.
ly-Stitch
Alphabet: A quick way to write on
textiles with a needle
Pattern Drafting: A circle with a hole in it (revised April 18, 2005) (copyedited May 16, 2007)
Pattern Drafting: Slopers: a few remarks (posted 29 January 2007)
Photographs of broadfall closures
Assembling broadfall pants
Photographs of shirts with and without bust darts
Sewing Bird: A clamp-type clothes pin and some string assist hand sewing.
A thread dispenser improvised from what was handy
Toddler Apron:
A doll-sized adaptation of an apron pattern that once circulated on newspaper.
Yarns: a photograph of some darning yarns
Point de Venise: overlapping rows of buttonhole stitch on the heel of a sock.
Sewing kits: Everything you need can be stored in surprisingly-small spaces.
Hand Sewing Stitches: I can't draw
worth a nickel, but I found a few diagrams of
stitches in a 1913 elementary-school
textbook. Images replaced with higher-resolution
scans 10 September 2013.
Embroidery Lesson: I've yet to
write the part where I describe the actual lesson,
but if you already have a lesson plan, you might
find this very simple medallion useful for
beginners.
Get Out of Here:
a web site isn't part of the Web if there are no links to other websites,
so I scraped up a couple. dead links removed 16 May
2013
Old Web Log 2015 and earlier
Web Log dates of changes to Rough Sewing
Project Blogs
Pattern Drafting: A Knickerbocker
Diary: detailed description of making a minor
change to a pattern for short trousers
(posted July 13, 2008)
Making a Roll Pouch:
January, 2013
Making a pocket wallet:
20 October 2016
Making a pair of black
slippers: Begun 6 November 2014
Copying an 18th-Century
Cap: Begun 2023 October 14
Sewing diaries
Summer Dress: Begun 16 March
2011. Closed out at New Year, 2012.
Consists entirely of side trips.
Sewing diary for 2012,
January–June:
Sewing diary for 2012,
July–December:
Sewing diary for 2013,
January–June:
Sewing diary for 2013,
July–December: black bull-denim jeans,
repairs, reading the White manual, buying eyes and
rack dividers, starching edges for zig-zag,
herringbone pants Real Soon Now (snicker),
basting-thread sneer, propeller musing, slippers,
pillowcase measurements, flowered T-shirt,
spectacle-cleaning rags, shorten flannel-lined
jeans, briefs inventory.
Sewing diary for 2014,
January–June: mending, slippers, hat
(with pictures), snow-melt dams, briefs,
pillowcases from old sheets, lengthen sleeves,
T-shirt, madras pillowcases for futon pillows,
bike knickers, headlamp for sewing machine, bra
repair, drawing bias lines with a laser level,
patching a linen jersey, linen-blend pedal
pushers, change in embroidery-gig transfers.
Sewing diary for 2014,
July–December: pedal pushers continued,
…
Sewing diary for 2015,
January–June: ripstop overjersey,
patch taxicab jersey, sewed hardware cloth, fabric
for black slippers, houndstooth-print linen briefs
and bra, yellow cotton jersey, more embroidery-gig
stuff, another headlamp for sewing machine,
yellow-jersey briefs, <proposed>wool
overjersey</proposed>,
assorted repairs.
Sewing diary for 2015,
July–December: assorted repairs and
alterations, finished yellow cotton jersey, the
embroidery gig, new bodkin and other tools,
finished yellow-jersey briefs, indexed notions
pictures, bought ecru thread, new headlamp for the
White, yellow wool overjersey, linked to hypothetical
trapezoid skirt, made an embroidered-arrow
tutorial,
Sewing diary for 2016,
January–June: assorted repairs,
yellow wool overjersey, red ramie bras, slippers,
bouquet garni bag, trapezoid circle skirt,
embrogig.
Sewing diary for 2016,
July-December: assorted repairs, shirt
shortening, slopping-around pockets, waiting-room
work, muslin poncho shirt, cleaning the sewing
room, russia-drill hat,
Sewing diary for 2017,
January–July: winter doldrums,
cleaning up, bouquet-garni bag, assorted mending
and alteration, pillow cases,
Sewing diary for 2017,
July–December:embroidery gig, assorted
mending and alteration, sweat rags and skillet
wipes, not adding pockets to gauze-lined linen
dress, marking socks, hemp hat, making a sun visor
out of a deplorable hat, emergency tatting
shuttle, arrow tutorial, pumping bike tires,
scrubbing cookie sheets, old Singer needle, linen
bras,
Sewing diary for 2018,
January–June: assorted mending,
finishing the bras, new sheets, contriving to put
thirty-three yards of muslin on a shelf, not
patching tights, retrofitting store-bought tights,
binding cat quilts,
documenting a quilt binding,
frayed flag, armrest cover for computer chair,
musings on pleats, pockets for old T-shirts,
shortening grubbies at waist,
Sewing diary for 2018,
July–December: assorted mending
and alteration, sewing with sciatica, finish
pockets for old T-shirts, finish shortening
grubbies, reduce entropy in the sewing room,
plotting and planning bike jerseys and do-rags,
shorten worn pillow cases, stop-tear darning, size
up left-over printed linen, rice bags, found
webbing, hemp/cotton jersey (HCJ) briefs, wool
felt available,
Sewing diary for 2019,
January–May: HCJ briefs
continued, resistor code and the seven-segment
display, lit-crit of web sites, ad-hoc blanket,
matching stripes in lap seams,
another blanket and a sheet, mending &
alterations, yellow-linen woven bike jersey with
matching do-rag and scarf, rice bags,
Sewing diary for 2019,
May–December: linen jersey
continued, midnight musings on shirt vents (read
all of June), magnet pockets for curtains,
assorted mending and alteration, another gray
blanket,
shelf to the head, alter
coin-catcher of wallet, square snack bags for
storing elastic, joining elastic,
rantering, re-sewing buckle on
sandals, assorted afterthoughts to yellow jersey,
lost my fervor for poncho shirts, knife pockets on
tights, wooden fid
for undoing seams, darning silk, wallet,
meditations on a new coin purse.
Sewing diary for 2020,
January–June: wallet continued,
found a thimble, found the basting thread, more
wallet, darned wool jersey, crochet hooks still
missing so I repaired a snag with an upholstery
needle's eye, hemmed gray blanket, failed to
figure out how to buy silk thread, started darning
silk tights, cobbled a ripped pillow tick,
shortened an underdress, marked knee hose, darned
the other silk tights, baseball-stitched hole in
poly tights, marked new gloves, hemmed a bed
sheet, patched flannel, repaired a wool jersey,
re-attached buckle to old sandal, broken stitches
in briefs, darning torn pocket,
neat trick for printing labels, more
mending, out of white 1/8" elastic but can't shop,
notes on darting sweat pants to make house pants,
masks, masks, and more masks,
photographed my ripstop overjersey, more mending,
frayed pocket opening on jeans, shortening
purchased pants, padded insoles for too-loose
sandals, observing a T-shirt collar, cases for
king-size pillows, niqab.
Sewing diary for 2020,
July–December: pillowcases,
one-tie mask, frayed hems on bras, dumped
Comcast, niqab musings, temporarily repaired
broken sandals, photographed my linen jersey,
assorted mending and alteration, linen sweat
rags, neck-hung magnifier, learned what a
"partlet" is, forgotten books, wallet revised,
worn flag re-hemmed, many references to
the mask diary, ripping a seam, bar
tacks mark sock pairs, air-erasable marks are
permanent, looking at my scrap collection,
sorted fabric on closet shelves,
added neckbands, not-sewing in a parking lot.
Sewing diary for 2021,
January–June: darning silk
tights, photo
of accidental sewing kit, continued
adding neckband, binding frayed bra necks,
split seam on silk
turtleneck, Easy Home sewing machine, Parkview
mask, gauze mask
on treadle, picture of
windbreaker, pleated masks, more mending,
replacing the phone
pocket on the yellow jersey,
sorted more fabric later,
Sewing diary for 2021,
July–December:
Sewing diary for 2022,
January–December: begin new veil,
beta briefs.
Sewing diary for 2023,
January–June: old shirt becomes
garden shirt, a dozen yellow underpants made of
curly jersey, many complaints about my crippled
computer, started work on
quilting-cotton bicycle jersey,
soft-muslin veil, shortened two pairs of sweat
pants and added velcro to pockets of second,
Sewing diary for 2023,
July–December: assorted mending,
Sewing diary for 2024,
January–June:
End Note
If you find these notes useful, help me to make
them better.
For example, "&&" marks spots that need more work;
I will, some day in the far future, search for
these spots and do the work. Is there one
that you think I should work on *now*? Is
there a spot that needs more work and isn't
marked?
Have I left out something important?
Included something pointless?
Is some explanation incomplete? Is some
point belabored? Which parts are
confusing?
Do you have a question I might be able to answer?
Most particularly, where do you look for
things? If I've put something in a place
where you'd never think to look for it, I can, at
least, put a pointer to it in the spot where you
do look.
Copyright notice: the usual. You may make copies
for your own use, and use quotes in reviews and other essays.
If you know how to download the entire site for
off-line use, please send me instructions or a
link to instructions that I can post here.
Mirror sites are welcome as long as you don't pass
off your opinions as mine. Do notify me
that your copy exists.
Please
notify me if you link
to this site.
Comments and
criticism are solicited.
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