Sewing Techniques
Due to the practice of making and remaking of clothing, it was important to construct garments in such a way that taking them apart would not damage the fabric. Dressmakers used few, but strong, stitches as possible. Linings were attached loosely all with the purpose of one day making something new.
Perfection was not a priority in the 18th century. Dressmakers strove for efficiency, whilst keeping as much of the cloth intact as possible, for later reuse.
Today, cut raw edges are overcast in order to create a neat finish to the interior of a garment. Eighteenth century originals often show raw edges, especially along armholes and skirt panel seams. When possible, the selvage was used as a finished edge.
As cloth was usually woven between 45 to 50 cm wide, dressmakers needed to piece together panels to the right size, especially when creating the skirts, which depending on the supports, used up a lot of fabric. Our finished reproduction has a skirt circumference of 304 cm.
running stitch- the most basic and quickest stitch. It is made by rocking the needle in and out of the fabric, often taking several stitches before pulling the thread through. It is not a strong stitch, so it is used on low stress areas, such as hems and skirt panels.
back stitch - made by a bringing the needle up through the fabric, taking a stitch to the right, meeting the stitch behind it, then bringing the needle back up to the left of the previous stitch. This is a strong stitch used in high stress areas like the centre back, shoulder, and sleeves seams.
whip stitch- a small tightly spaced diagonal stitch used to join edges, like those on lapped linings.
