just bought my first pattern ;-)

I am going to handsew myself a shirt using backstitch the lady I bought the pattern off told me how to backstitch I am really looking forward to it and I can't wait to tell people I made my shirt myself

Good for you, Damian, something you make yourself is special! I have not made a garment by hand (except doll clothes eons ago), but have been sewing on a machine for some 65 years. The creative urge is strong. Ask here if you have questions as you get along.

Jean M.

I wouldn't backstitch the whole thing... Running stitch with a back stitch every 6-8 stitches was more the norm when hand seaming was common. Otherwise it's just too slow! and the seamline itself is too bulky. Also, for shirts, I'd strongly advise using a felled seam for the body, yoke, and sleeve seams. It's far stronger than a plain seam, and self finishing. Take a look at the seams on my web site, in the resources section. Felled seams can be done by hand as well as on machines: they were hand sewn long before sewing machines were invented!

Cuffs and collars are different. Plain seams will do just fine there as they are all enclosed by the finishing.

Get a copy of David Page Coffin's book on shirt making: it's got everything you'll need in it! :) Costs less than a decent shirt, and will last you a lifetime!

The pre-machine sewing books say to hem the fell down, but a simple running stitch doesn't shows on the right side any more than hemming does, and is much easier to accomplish. (And my running stitch is more durable than my hemming; I running-stitch *all* my hems.) (Well, except the ones I top-stitch by machine, of course.)

My favorite felled seam is one inspired by David Coffin's book: For half-inch seam allowances, turn one edge a quarter inch *to the right side* and press or baste it into place. (The first time, baste it.) For experienced seamsters, getting the edge turned to the *right side* is the hard part, because we are always and forever turning a quarter inch to the *wrong side*.

Now pin the parts right sides together with the raw edges matching, and sew half an inch from the fold.

You will take up a quarter inch on one edge, and three fourths of an inch on the edge that you turned . . . up. (The right phrase is "turned under", but this was turned the wrong way . . . )

This adds up to the sum of the seam allowances, and the original seam line will run down the center of the finished seam. Sewing the width of the original seam allowance from the turned-up edge works no matter what the original seam allowance was, and the width taken up in the seam is independent of the amount that you turn up, so you can eyeball this distance in perfect confidence that you won't mess up the fit. If the amount that you turn up isn't exactly half of the seam allowance, the original seam lines won't run exactly down the middle of the seam, but they will still lie exactly on top of each other.

Now press both seam allowances to the side that causes the folded allowance to cover all raw edges, and sew the folded edge down.

Details of pressing skipped. At least one old book says to crease the seam with your thumbnail instead of pressing it

-- pressing was a much bigger hassle in those days, and getting things to lie flat while you stitch them is much less of a hassle when you are sewing by hand. Not to mention that the fabric used for the lessons was unbleached muslin (which creases easily), and these kids weren't trusted with scissors, let alone hot irons. But they were considered old enough to draft their own patterns!

Note on the "inspired by" -- Coffin's flat-fell seam starts with 5/8" allowances, and overlaps the raw edges enough to bring the finished width down to 1/2". If I recall correctly (I don't have my own copy of the book), he also modifies the seam allowances on the pattern so that the seam ends up on one side of the seam line (as in the stitch and trim method) instead of centered over it.

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Disappearing markers are just maaahvelous for keeping your hand-sewing lines straight, and I also get a lot of use out of a reel of removable correction tape. I've been using the same reel for five or ten years, because I use only an inch per seam, shifting it frequently. (On a long seam, a second inch when the first gets too full of lint.) Long stretches of removable tape tend to remove themselves prematurely as the fabric is flopped around. Also, a very short piece makes it easy to follow a curve.

Joy Beeson