Sewing machine lore: what my mother would have told you

When I was researching my estate sale sewing machine on the internet (Kenmore, from 1966-67) to figure out if I could fix the zigzag mechanism, I realized that many people out there trying to use a sewing machine for the first time are making basic mistakes. And the only reason I didn’t make them was that I had my mother telling me what (and what not) to do. 

Here are some things you should know, courtesy of my mom, which are often too “obvious” to be mentioned in a sewing machine manual or by people who already use one:

Do NOT:

• Do not start sewing before putting the foot down; put that foot down!
• Do not push fabric under the foot; let the machine feed in the fabric at its own pace
• Do not sew over pins; it can break your needle

Do:

• Load a bobbin and put it into place according to the manual
• Thread the upper thread according to the manual
• Turn on the machine’s light when sewing
• Manually rotate the needle to pick up the bobbin thread, then set both threads over to the right side
• Put the foot down before starting to sew
• Before pressing the pedal, manually rotate the wheel to insert the needle into the fabric while holding down the needle thread with your fingertip (so it doesn’t get pulled out of the needle on the first stitch)
• Assist in feeding the fabric smoothly under the foot - don’t allow fabric weight to drag on either side and don't shove it in
• When you need to rotate the fabric, sink the needle into the fabric first, before lifting the foot 
• To "lock" a line of straight stitching from coming loose, use the backwards stitch on your machine for a quarter-inch or so
• When you are stopping sewing, manually rotate the needle so that it is fully out of the fabric before pulling the fabric away
• When you are pausing your work, turn off the light
• When you are stopping work, make sure to set the foot down, preferably on a slip of fabric
• The sewing machine is a machine; follow the manual’s maintenance instructions for cleaning (and possibly oiling)

Thanks, Mom!

Sewing linen

Linen fabric

Linen is an authentic period material, plus it is reputed to breathe much better than cotton, which stays damp. 

Simona recommended Fabrics-Store as good for basic linen, and they have sales running all the time.

For a smock or shift, linen color should be white, not natural, and the 3.5oz weight. 

For my first dress/kirtle, I got a heavyweight linen in red from Fabrics-Store, 4C22 Crimson Softened. I was pleased that this is a deep cherry red (as orangey-red is not my color). Their online reviews can be helpful in getting an idea of a color’s darkness and tone.

Working with linen

I had never worked with linen fabric before. There are definitely some things to know ahead of time - here’s a good basic tutorial.

Here are my particular pointers:

• Linen produces a HUGE amount of lint the first time through the dryer - stop the dryer every 20 minutes and empty the lint trap each time!
• If you have a serger or a helpful person in your life who does, serge around all your pattern pieces as soon as you cut them out. Just handling them will start threads coming loose. For the serger-less like me, zigzag around all your pattern pieces.
• You can pull a thread to get a perfectly straight cut.
• Linen irons like a charm, really crisp. This was especially nice when sewing down a collar lining, and I pressed all the hems before sewing.

A quick, period-appropriate, easy-to-wear head covering

I’m putting together a Low Countries set of garments, mid to late 1500s. So I wandered happily through the internet and found posts from some great SCA seamstresses/tailors, many of which were a bit daunting or at least involved for a real beginner like me. Like all the time I spent reading up on oorijzer (ear irons). Really. Like here.

Fortunately, besides delving into the mysteries of Low Countries ladies’ headgear architecture, Karinne of the Clothing the Low Countries blog mentioned a “tie up coif” in her 2013 projects post  which included a link to the original blog post and PDF pattern and instructions. Turns out this is period-appropriate for all sorts of European ladies going back into the 15th Century. Yay, a pattern - and it was simple (!!!).

I made a test coif out of my trusty bedsheet remnants. It looked goofy (sage green cotton?) but basically worked. One issue: I have really short hair. The tie-on coif should cover all the hair, so I bought a hairband - elastic fabric with two sticky stripes on the inside - which keeps the hair off my neck and in the cap. 

Then I chanced on a super-cheap linen square in a thrift store with a nice edge detail. It’s probably linen/cotton, but I liked it. And I was waiting on Fabrics-Store to put the white lightweight linen on sale. Impatiently.

I chopped up the square more like Sevenstarwheels’ alternate pattern layout in her blog post, not the one in her PDF pattern, because it put my square’s nice edge to better use. Something like this: 

Of course, I immediately needed to learn how to sew a rolled hem, which I had never done before. Back to the internet! I hand-sewed the rolled edge, and it was not that tough to do. I sewed the rest on the sewing machine.

I think it turned out nicely.

Making a smock or shift - practice smock

When I showed up at the Tuesday night Bryn Gwlad Populace in the Park and expressed an interest in making clothing, I was introduced to the friendly and fearsomely-skilled Simona della Luna, who spent the next few hours talking me through many topics, most importantly, how to get started from pretty much zero knowledge. Then they turned out the park lights. I went home and made a practice smock that week.

Pattern

The Elizabethan Smock Generator is great! You enter your measurements and it gives you measurements for a custom-fit pattern, plus assembly instructions.

Note that for ladies, the “From Shoulder to Hem” measurement means to “shoulder to mid-calf”. Knee-length is too short and will ride up under your dress.

Simona recommended this tweak: When taking your measurements, replace the “Around the widest part of the hand” measurement with your flexed elbow measurement - otherwise, your sleeve will be so narrow you can’t push it up. You want to be able to do work without getting dirty cuffs. 

Practice smock

Make a practice smock out of a similar-weight fabric to test the process and the fit. I followed the "Authentic Pieced Smock Pattern" process.

An old sheet worked well for this. But it was just long enough for the long body piece, and I’m 5’4” so taller ladies may find a sheet smock to be a bit short, or have to stitch on an extra section of cloth to get the right dimensions. 

Mine turned out encouragingly well. I was excited to show it to Simona. I had chosen to round out the hem shape when I hemmed it - fortunately she approved.  The only pattern change Simona recommended was to narrow the shoulder to shoulder measurement an inch or so.

Success!

And then fabrics-store.com did not put lightweight white linen on sale for a month, so my linen smock plans were delayed. To be continued…

testing 1 2 3

This is a first post to test the brand new blog.

Here's a link to my Instagram post today.