In Need of Hand Sewing Help

[Kehle]

I don't know how to do anything by hand and I never really cared to learn until now, but I have this troublesome little trim going on top of a shear fabric and the machine seems to hate the combination so I realized it'd be easier to do it by hand. . . . if I only knew how.

Any helpful links out there to teach me? I tried to google it, but if anyone has anything better that'd be awesome.

Thanks everyone.

[Taffy Saltwater]

Fold your fabric edges over twice, so you don't have any raw edges.  You could also put some fray check on the raw edges to help keep them from fraying while sewing.  Pin your trim every couple of inches w/new pins (to help prevent snags).  You could either do a straight stitch or a whip stitch.  The best way to do hand sewing is to just jump into it or it becomes daunting.  Let us know how your project turns out.

[LadyElizabeth]

I'm going to give a bit of a description here that might be WAY too simplified for you, but not knowing your level of sewing, I'm just starting at base knowledge.

Thread the sewing needle, and put a knot at the end of the piece of thread where they meet once it's thru the needle.

You'll want to start the needle thru the material such that the knot you made is on the under side of your fabric so it doesn't show.

Then just bring the needle back thru the fabric roughly 1/4th of an inch or so away from where your needle and thread originally went thru.  Now your needle should be on the "under side" of your fabric.  And just continue this pattern all along your fabric.

Now there are multiple stitches you could use with different width.  Like you could have the stitch on the "outside" of your fabric be much small than the stitch on the "inside" of your fabric so you see the thread less from the exterior. 

You could also go back THRU the holes you made first time around with a second set of stitching, going opposite the way you sewed it thru the first time. 

Or you could do a "whip" stitch (i believe this is the name) where you sew along the edge of whatever your sewing.  So not in a straight line,

"normal straight stitch" = put needle thru "inside" of fabric and take needle out of "outside" fabric.  Then thread back thru the "outside" of the fabric towards the "inside" of the fabric. Repeat.

"whip stitch" = put needle thru "inside" of fabric and take needle out of "outside" fabric.  Then go around edge of fabric and once again put the needle thru the "inside" of the fabric and take it out of the "outside" of the fabric.

[gem]

This might be helpful, too: http://www.vertetsable.com/demos_handtech.htm

If you can get ahold of an older sewing book (from the 1960s or earlier), they're often a great source for the things current books leave out (like handsewing, darning, etc).

[Kehle]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I ended up playing with it on the machine after taking a long break to calm myself from the frustration. When the teeth would hang onto the fabric or the foot wouldn't let the trim under I'd just stick the needle in it, lift the foot, and wiggle it free for the fabric or manually move it for the trim, using the turn wheel on the side of my machine in those difficult parts. Hand sewing still scares me. Lol

Here's a peek at what I was dealing with.


The little stripes that go across the sleeve didn't give me troubles, it's when the trim on top met the trim that goes across that the machine would throw a tantrum.