History of Sewing
Hand sewing is often considered an old fashioned art. Historically, people usually sewed clothing by hand for centuries before the first machine used for sewing was ever invented. However, today, hand sewing is mostly found in custom tailored boutiques or high fashion houses which are preparing garments for the runway.
Machines used to assist in sewing date all the way back to the eighteenth century. They were invented to help people working with complicated sewing jobs. Yet with these original machines being so expensive to purchase and use, only the rich could afford it.
Basics of Sewing
To sew by hand, a thread is placed into a needle and passed through the fabric onto the other side. This is repeated again and again until the final result is obtained. You can perform simple hand sewing stitches onto clothes yourself. It is very important to learn the five basic stitches so that you can start creating your own clothes. These are the straight line stitch, the back loop stitch, the blanket stitch and the running stitch. You should practice each of these stitches until you feel confident enough to perform them on your own, which shouldn’t take much time as they can be mastered quickly.
What are their advantages?
As you might expect, hand sewing is very monotonous and takes up a lot of time. An advantage of using a machine is that it can help to mitigate this and thus make work faster. One type of stitching includes embroidery stitches - a skill which requires high expertise. Well known examples of these complex designs include the celtic cross or the flags of different countries.
Using a machine to complete this as opposed to hand stitching inevitably saves energy and therefore the length of time taken to complete the patterns. It is also easier to do complicated stitches because in modern machines, they are programmed with specific patterns for all types of clothes.
There are many other advantages to using such machines. Firstly, they can prevent injuries that come with hand stitching as your fingers and hands can be in full sight the whole duration of the stitching. As well as this, it is not difficult to transfer the skills of hand sewing to a machine.
For example, to make a shirt, you will need a sewing machine that has a button feature, thread and needles, just like you would if you were hand stitching. Sewing machines can also be used even if you do not have any prior knowledge in hand stitching. With the help of modern machines, you will be able to sew your own clothes in no time.
On top of this, you can also sew delicate fabrics and other accessories. Whereas human error may be heightened when working on these types of delicate fabrics, machines can also sew delicate fabrics and other accessories without a problem.
What are the Disadvantages?
The disadvantages of using a machine are very much related to the quality of work. One of the most common problems when using this machine is that you may initially find it difficult to determine the correct stitch length. Because the bobbin thread is very thin, you need to practice quite a bit to get a precise measurement. Sometimes you can even miss the center mark of the stitch which will result in an improperly designed garment. There is also the disadvantage of thread getting caught up in the eye of the needle. This can cause the stitching to become uneven leading to an imperfect garment.
It should also be noted that if you are looking to become highly proficient or even a professional seamstress, then you may need to take classes before you can practice. Whilst the machines can be suitable for beginners, there is a vast range of complicated stitches and options that are programmed onto them. In order to use these in a proactive manner, lessons are highly recommended to be able to make full use of this range of options.
Even if you are just a beginner, taking classes will make you familiar with machines and fabrics. When you have more knowledge about the machines, you can think of what new machine you would want to buy for yourself as opposed to just jumping into a shop and picking one that may not be suitable for you.
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