Does anybody here hand sew?

[starfairy]

As in, make an actual garment hand sewing only? I know people do little things still, but I really feel like hand sewing is a dying art! I am trying to hone my skills, and right now my 12 1/2 yr old is sewing herself a simple skirt to wear to a Ren Faire....

anybody else into hand sewing???

~Anne-Marie

[PumpkinSeeds]

I just fininshed hand quilting my first quilt.

[starfairy]

cool! Did you teach yourself or take a class? We are self taught here, but hoping to find a mentor!

Blessings,
Anne-Marie

[PumpkinSeeds]

I taught myself using the Fons and Porter book called, "the complete quilters guide"

I'm totally into quilting now. I started quilting in december and I've made 5 quilts already (well, 2 are not quite finished yet, almost!!)

[Lilac Moon]

Yeah Pumpkin, it is so nice to see other quilters out there. I've been quilting for years. My grandmother taught me, she did piece work and had a quilting frame hanging in her living room. When I was young she would give me scraps and a threaded needle, after several years she let me work along side her. All of her quilts were handsewn.. it wasn't until I was an adult and took a course with Georgis Bonesteel did I learn to machine quilt. I do use the machine for piecing blocks, but I still handsew my applique and hand quilt my tops.
Anne Marie, you are right ... it is a dying art. They have machines that embrodier... very convient and very sad.

[khrisday]

I was wondering the same thing. I have two machines, but both are broken, and I want to sew! I just mase myself some cloth pads, and they were so quick and easy that I want to try soem clkothes. We are reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books right now with the kids, and I figure if Ma could do it, then so could I!

[TigerTail]

i have been sewing wool dipe covers, and am going to start fitted dipes soon... i have been embroidering forever, but only recently started actually putting stuff together again since i was a kid and got discouraged with the damned machines. i remember making finger puppets as a girl scout for kids in a children's hospital; that was great fun and i have many scraps saved for such a project (i want to make puppets for the boys; i imagine nowadays a hospital prolly wouldn't welcome 'homemade' gifts.)

let's keep this thread going; i thought i was the only one out here making teeny, tiny stitches it was cool in winter, in front of the fire, listening to bluegrass- i felt like i was making dolly's 'coat of many colors' (which i actually got to see on 'graham norton'! it was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes!)

suse

ps i had thought of quilting all these wool scraps- what a warm quilt, and i can't imagine throwing out all of this good wool! but don't know where to start- can you tell me if this is feasible, and where to begin?

[khrisday]

Today I made a Waldorf style knotty doll all by hand. Sewing by hand is sort of therapeutic for me, and I love seeing the results.

[EmsMom]

Oh, I love to handsew. I have mostly used it to make quilt blocks and do the actual quilting stich, but I also enjoy mending by hand and have made many dolls and doll clothes by hand. Sometimes, I just cannot bear the noise of the sewing machine! Or the hassle of getting it out and winding a bobbin and threading it. With handsewing, I just grab my sewing basket and I am ready, even for sewing outside.

SuseyBlue: You can make quilts of out of wool, but probably leave out the batting. You can also use wool scraps to make hooked rugs or "penny rugs" (you can probably find books in the library).

[Queen Gwen]

I'm with EmsMom...sometimes it seems quicker and easier to sew things by hand than mess with the machine. Plus I'm better able to make-it-up-as-I-go-along by hand, which probably hearkens back to a childhood designing and handsewing/crocheting clothes for my Barbies.

Dd has been reading the Felicity books from American Girl and is absolutely intrigued by all the handsewing. She said they were expected to stich 20 stitches per inch. She keeps asking if I can sew that fine (yeah, but I'm not that inspired to do it that often). A couple of years ago she kept bugging me to show her how to use the sewing machine; now she wants to do everything by hand. And she's dying to quilt. Why haven't I helped her do it yet? Gees.

[khrisday]

I knwo what you mean, Gwen- my son desperately wants to learn to crochet, and I have been putting off getting him some stuff way too long.

[Queen Gwen]

Hey, we did crochet just last week! I finally taught her single crochet, and she spent hours working on it. So maybe I'm not such a slug after all.

(sorry to hijack the handsewing thread!)

[MomOfHeathens]

I've always hand sewn everything because I can't use a sewing machine to save my life. I make throw pillows, wall quilts, mini wall quilts, baby blankets, quilts, dream pillows, and anything else I can come up with to sew.

Honestly though I would LOVE to learn how to use my sewing machine because there is so much more I want to do and can't do because hand sewing takes so long. Some thing though I think I will always hand sew just because it's a 20 year old habit for me.