I love hand sewing.  I love the connection I feel to past seamstresses when I sit down in a quiet place and work.  It’s meditative.  Why I don’t do this more often is a mystery.  I suppose I was feeling uninspired; using the time old argument of ‘not enough time.’

Then I attended a workshop by The Modern Maker.

I had the distinct pleasure of taking his workshop on the construction of female doublets. Eight hours spent learning hand sewing techniques, garment adjustments and story time from Spanish tailoring books.  If you have the good fortune to learn from Matthew, do so. He is an amazing teacher and a wealth of knowledge.

More than the technical skills, I left feeling inspired so I decided to start by sewing a women’s shirt by hand.

I’m hemming all the edges by hand then plan on joining the pieces together with a fagoting stitch.  

Today I finished the first sleeve.  There’s no logic as to why I started with the sleeve; just seemed the thing to do.  I’m using a running stitch to on the little hems.

I’m also tracking the time on the production of the garment.  I’m interested to see how long it takes.

The other thing I’ve decided to do is join the 100 days of A&S challenge.  Not all of my projects will be historical in nature, but I’m excited to share even the small bits of what I’m working on and having a reason to get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis.

Today is Day One!