Are you an experienced sewist and wondering how you can sew faster? Below are 11 tried-and-true tips on how to speed up your sewing. Some tips may seem strange to you at first: 😉 like not to use pins or not to press seams. But these historical sewing tips really make sewing faster! 😀 Continue reading 11 Tips On How To Sew Faster
Category Archives: Sewing & Crochet
4 Tips When You Don’t Have Enough Fabric For Your Sewing Project

If you don’t have enough fabric for a sewing project you have in mind, you can still make it work: Below are my 4 favorite tried-and-true methods when you don’t have enough fabric for your sewing project. Continue reading 4 Tips When You Don’t Have Enough Fabric For Your Sewing Project
6 Ways How To Sew A Placket – Historical Sewing
If you sew a lot, especially if you sew historical costumes, you’ll have to sew a placket sooner or later. Most plackets aren’t difficult to make but there are some things to keep in mind.
Learn what placket to use for what purpose and to sew six types of historical plackets: hemmed placket, bound placket, extension placket, continuous bound placket, faced placket and a placket in a flat felled seams. Continue reading 6 Ways How To Sew A Placket – Historical Sewing
How To Make A Handwoven Dress From Scratch
I started the handwoven dress with a cone of beige cotton weaving yarn: I wove the yarn into fabric, washed it, dyed it and then sewed it into a dress. It was a lot of work but I love how my handwoven dress from scratch turned out! 😀 Continue reading How To Make A Handwoven Dress From Scratch
Handwoven Corset Top
Because my modern 18th century recycled denim stays turned out so comfy I made another DIY corset top! 😀 This time I used handwoven fabric in blue and white for my corset top. The corset top laces up the back and is closed with hooks and eyes at the center front. It’s constructed using lapped seams and the old German stitch (also known as baseball stitch), and it’s unboned except for the two necessary bones at the back. Continue reading Handwoven Corset Top
How To Sew A Historical Peasant Bodice
Sew a simple unboned historical peasant bodice with front lacing for historical reenactment or as modern cottagecore lace-up corset top!
In the past, peasants and other working women often wore simple unboned bodices or lightly boned stays. My historical working woman stays are based on antique rural stays. This historical peasant bodice features a low neckline, shoulder straps, spiral lacing at the center front and princess seams at the back. You can make it completely unboned or just lightly boned. Continue reading How To Sew A Historical Peasant Bodice
How To Make An Edwardian Dip Waist Belt
Because the post about my handsewn Edwardian rayon taffeta dip waist belt is so popular, I’ve written a tutorial how you can make your own Edwardian dip waist belt! 😀 Continue reading How To Make An Edwardian Dip Waist Belt
Overhand, Overcast, Hem & Whip Stitch – What’s The Difference
All these handsewing stitches are similar but they’re not the same! Overhand stitch, overcast stitch, whip stitch and hem stitch – these four stitches are all slanting handsewing stitches. But do you know the difference? Continue reading Overhand, Overcast, Hem & Whip Stitch – What’s The Difference
How To Sew An Edwardian-Style Bra
Learn how to sew an Edwardian-style bra that is so comfy you can wear it instead of a modern bra! 😀 Continue reading How To Sew An Edwardian-Style Bra
How To Sew An Edwardian Hip Pad
My Edwardian hip pad is inspired by antique Edwardian hip pads, like the Scott Ventilated Hip Pad & Bustle. But for a better fit under Edwardian straight-front corsets, I actually used the bottom part of an antique corset to draw the pattern! So my Edwardian hip pad pattern might look different than the typical crescent-shaped Edwardian hip pad patterns that are sold today. But antique Edwardian bustle pads came in various forms like this or this antique hip pad. And I find that this shaped hip pad fits better under Edwardian straight-front (aka S-bend) corsets: It fills out the bum, creates the fashionable wide hips of the Edwardian era without destroying the fashionable straight-front of Edwardian corsets. Continue reading How To Sew An Edwardian Hip Pad