SewingTurn of the century sewing in Detroit, Michigan Antique Singer sewing machineSewing is an ancient craft involving the stitching of cloth, leather, animal skins, furs, or other materials, using needle and thread. Its use is nearly universal among human populations and dates back to Paleolithic times (30,000 BC). Sewing predates the weaving of cloth. Sewing is used primarily to produce clothing and household furnishings as curtains, bedclothes, upholstery, and table linens. It is also used for sails, bellows, skin boats, and other items shaped out of flexible materials such as canvas and leather. Most sewing in the industrial world is done by machines. Pieces of a garment are often firstly tacked together. The machine has a complex set of gears and arms which pierces thread through the layers of the cloth and semi-securely interlocks the thread. Some people sew clothes for themselves and their families. More often home sewers sew to repair clothes, such as mending a torn seam or replacing a loose button. A person who sews for a living is known as a seamstress, dressmaker, tailor, or garment worker. "Plain" sewing is done for functional reasons: making or mending clothing or household linens. "Fancy" sewing is primarily decorative, including techniques such as shirring, embroidery, or quilting. Sewing is the foundation for many needle arts and crafts, such as applique, canvas work, and patchwork. General sewing methodsMachine sewing is the most popular method. Hand sewing is still done to some extent for finishing and repairing garments. Sergers are becoming more popular for home use, but are not capable of all the functions of a traditional sewing machine. Because of this, people usually purchase a traditional sewing machine first, and purchase a serger at a later date. Sergers prices typically start at two to three times the cost of a traditional sewing machine.
General sewing applicationsAlmost all of these methods can be done by either hand, sewing machine, or a serger; however, the specific techniques used can be quite different. Some methods are not appropriate for some applications, even though it may be possible to replicate another method. As an extreme, you could technically duplicate serging with hand sewing, but it would take at least several hundred times as long to do the same work. Furthermore, some techniques are not possible with other methods: making an embroidery stitch called a french knot is easy by hand, but impossible by sewing machine or serger.
Occupations requiring sewing
Sewing tools and accessoriesSewing box (~1955) with sewing notions
Notions (objects sewn into garments or soft goods)Closures:
Finishing and embellishment:
List of stitches
References
This page about Sewing includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about Sewing News stories about Sewing External links for Sewing Videos for Sewing Wikis about Sewing Discussion Groups about Sewing Blogs about Sewing Images of Sewing |
|
Finishing and embellishment:. If two strings or singers are slightly out of tune, the higher-pitched one is said to be sharp with respect to the other. Closures:. In tuning, sharp can also mean "higher in pitch". Furthermore, some techniques are not possible with other methods: making an embroidery stitch called a french knot is easy by hand, but impossible by sewing machine or serger. Less often one will encounter half or three quarter, or otherwise modified, sharps. As an extreme, you could technically duplicate serging with hand sewing, but it would take at least several hundred times as long to do the same work. There also exist double-sharps, which look like and raise a note by two semitones. Some methods are not appropriate for some applications, even though it may be possible to replicate another method. Under equal temperament, B sharp is the same as, or enharmonically equivalent to, C, and E sharp the same as F. Almost all of these methods can be done by either hand, sewing machine, or a serger; however, the specific techniques used can be quite different. The note C sharp is shown in musical notation in Figure 1. Sergers prices typically start at two to three times the cost of a traditional sewing machine. The Unicode character '♯' (U+266F) may display as a sharp sign on some computers, and '𝄪' (U+1D12A) may display as a double sharp. Because of this, people usually purchase a traditional sewing machine first, and purchase a serger at a later date. More specifically, in musical notation, sharp means "higher in pitch by a semitone," and has an associated symbol (), which looks somewhat like a "#" (number sign). Sergers are becoming more popular for home use, but are not capable of all the functions of a traditional sewing machine. In music, sharp means higher in pitch. Hand sewing is still done to some extent for finishing and repairing garments. For alternate uses, see Sharp (disambiguation).. Machine sewing is the most popular method. This article is about the musical notation. . Sewing is the foundation for many needle arts and crafts, such as applique, canvas work, and patchwork. "Fancy" sewing is primarily decorative, including techniques such as shirring, embroidery, or quilting. "Plain" sewing is done for functional reasons: making or mending clothing or household linens. A person who sews for a living is known as a seamstress, dressmaker, tailor, or garment worker. More often home sewers sew to repair clothes, such as mending a torn seam or replacing a loose button. Some people sew clothes for themselves and their families. The machine has a complex set of gears and arms which pierces thread through the layers of the cloth and semi-securely interlocks the thread. Pieces of a garment are often firstly tacked together. Most sewing in the industrial world is done by machines. It is also used for sails, bellows, skin boats, and other items shaped out of flexible materials such as canvas and leather. Sewing is used primarily to produce clothing and household furnishings as curtains, bedclothes, upholstery, and table linens. Sewing predates the weaving of cloth. Its use is nearly universal among human populations and dates back to Paleolithic times (30,000 BC). Sewing is an ancient craft involving the stitching of cloth, leather, animal skins, furs, or other materials, using needle and thread. Singer: The New Sewing Essentials by The Editors of Creative Publishing International ISBN 0865733082. zig-zag stitch. whipstitch (or oversewing stitch) - for protecting edges. topstitch. straight stitch. stretch stitch. slip stitch - for fastening a folded edge to a flat piece of fabric, or to another folded edge. sailmakers stitch. running stitch - for seams and gathering. padding stitch. overlock. lockstitch. hemming stitch. feather stitch. darning stitch. cross-stitch. chain stitch. buttonhole stitch. blind stitch (or hem stitch). blanket stitch. basting stitch (or tacking) - for temporary fixing. backstitch. back tack. trims (fringe, beaded fringe, ribbons, lace, sequin tape). rivet. interfacing. heading. grommet. eyelet. elastic. bias tape. zipper. snap. hook-and-loop tape (often known by brand name Velcro). hook. eye. chinese frog. toggle. button (buttons can be sew-through or have shanks.)
tracing paper. thread. thimble. tailor's chalk. seam ripper. scissors. rotary cutter. pincushion. pin. pattern weights. pattern. needle. measuring tape. dressmaker's or tailor's shears. bodkin. bobbin. awl. Upholsterer. Tailor. Sailmaker. Quilting. Hatter. Glover. Dressmaker. Draper. Corsetier. Cobbler. Embroidery or machine embroidery: artistic embellishment. The term "serging" is commonly used to refer both to the act of sewing with a serger, and the type of effect the serger produces. Serging: uses multiple threads to produce a stretchy and secure edge finish or seam that keeps raw edges of fabric neat. Machine quilting is most common, but quilting "purists" and traditionalists do all quilting by hand. Quilting: sewing together layers of fabric and/or fibrefill to make warm blankets and clothing, or used for effect. Mending: using general techniques and specialized methods such as darning to repair textiles. Dressmaking/Tailoring/General: general techniques to create clothing and other textile projects. Virutally all commercially-sold clothing is completely made with one or more specialized industrial sergers. Serging is ideal for stretchy fabrics or fabrics that should have neat edges. Also used for creating artistic effects. Serging: trimming the edge of fabric and overcasting all in one step, sometimes with the option of stitching as well. Electric machines are by far more common. Sewing machines can be electrically or mechanically operated. Machine-sewing: using a machine to produce similar effects to hand-sewing, but at a much quicker speed. Hand-sewing: using a needle and thread with your hands to produce stitches. |