Sewing a Rolled Hem by Hand
Shirts and other similar garments of the mid-19th century were often hemmed with what is known as a rolled hem, a very narrow – 1/8″ or …
Finishing up the Shirt
I finally finished up the pleated-front shirt project. First off was hemming the shirt with a rolled hem, entirely by hand. This is a fun little …
Attaching the Collar
Continuing on with the shirt construction, I started putting the body of the shirt together by gathering the back into the yoke. This makes the shirt …
Attaching the Pleats to the Shirt Front
With the pleats done, it’s time to attach them to the shirt front. The long sides are pinned and then basted securely. The long edges at the …
Pleating the Shirt Front
With the shirt drafted and fitted, I began work on the pleated front section. Linen has a tendency to skew out of square due to the nature of the …
Drafting and Fitting a Shirt
I recently started a new project, an 1860s civilian pleated-front shirt, both for myself and for teaching those members on Historical Tailoring …
Standing Collar Construction
A reader asked me a question the other day on collar construction and I thought it was suitable for a more in-depth article rather than trying to …
The Running Stitch
The running stitch is the most basic of stitches and forms the basis for a number of other stitches. Surprisingly, it’s not actually used all …
How to Sew on a Button
We’ve all experienced a loose button or two in the past, or even lost a button completely. In this tutorial, learn how to attach buttons using …