Basic Hand Sewing – TEX03A02

(Created by Gwyneth Carr)

Level of Content: Beginner.

Estimated Length of Class: 1 hour, combining lecture and practicum.

Course Description: This class will familiarize the student with the stitches used in hand sewing and how to apply those stitches in piecing together fabric. The class will also provide students with basic information regarding hand sewing materials.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this class, students should be able to:

Identify and use hand stitching tools (needle, thread, pins, thimble, awl, etc.)

Identify the basic stitches used in the medieval period (running stitch, overcast stitch, hem stitch, back stitch, blanket stitch, herringbone).

Identify the types of seams and seam finishing common in the medieval period (flat felled seam, open seam, rolled hem, double fold hem, applied facings, etc.)

Know the uses for each kind of stitch

Create a seam using running stitch and back stitch

Create a hem using hem stitch and/or overcast stitch

Suggested Teaching Resources:

Carlson, Jennifer. “Sewing Stitches Used in Medieval Clothing.” Last revision 25 February 2002. Access date 13 January 2007. http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/stitches.htm

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard and Kay Staniland. Medieval Finds From Excavations in London: 4, Textiles and Clothing c. 1150-1450. New York: Boydell Press, 2001.

Jones, Heather Rose. “Archeological Sewing.” Last revision 29 February, 2004. Access date 13 January 2007. http://heatherrosejones.com/archaeologicalsewing/index.html

Ostergard, Else. Woven into the Earth; Textiles from Norse Greenland. Connecticut: Aarhus University Press, 2004.

Syllabus kindly made for RUGA by Gwyneth Carr, January 14, 2007.