The Four Stitches I Use For Everything

Hi there!

I've been burying myself in work and all sorts of other mundane tasks in life and realized I haven't made any time to make a post in a while. So, here you go! Have a post!

Today I wanted to take a moment to talk about some mending techniques that may make your experience in the SCA a little easier when the inevitable happens: you rip your clothes.

I often start out this discussion in live classes with the power of the words we use to describe the outfits we wear in the SCA. You will often hear people refer to them as their “costume” or “garb” or anything else they can come up with. The words we use to describe what we are wearing will guide us on how we are going to treat the garments.

Costumes:

I try to avoid using the word “costume” when I talk about my SCA clothing. Anyone who has worked in, or near, theater knows that “costumes” are made for a variety of sizes, ages, and genders. In the parts of the costume you can’t see, there are pins, clips, hot-glue, Velcro, and pretty much anything else you could possibly come up with to hold a garment that isn’t made for the wearer in a way to imply the garment was made for them. In other words: costumes aren’t clothes. They eventually get destroyed when you can’t rig them to work anymore and you throw them away.

Garb:

The word "Garb" often lends an image of clothing. Clothing, especially in the timeline that the SCA aims for, was expensive and took some time to make. (For freaking ever if you're waiting on me). In our modern recreation of period garments, we often go a little crazy in the jewelry aspect while neglecting the actual fabric/clothing. It can be argued that the clothing was a lot more desirable than the jewelry at that time because, well, COLD. You try hanging out in a drafty house or long-hall in ratty, one-layered garments with holes in them and then tell me if you like your necklace and brooches more than an extra tunic with no holes in it that fits correctly. Because “garb” points towards “clothes” in our (my) mind, it is a subtle way to instill the necessity to mend and fix our garments in our brains. If you can convince yourself of this, you will be more likely to care for your SCA clothes better, and will be more likely to fix any holes rather than wearing it until it “dies” (fabric basically disintegrates around you).

Okay, now that we have the difference between “costumes” and “garb” settled (according to the gospel of me, that is), let’s talk about a few stitches that may help you keep your clothes in a nicely maintained aesthetic which will also lend itself well towards authenticity. (If you work in your clothes, you’ll eventually have holes in them. Period).

So, what do you do if you have holes in your pretty outfit? Or maybe you want to have a chance to tell everyone how awesome you are because you sewed the whole garment together by hand (hats off to you). Here are a few of the stitches I utilize in my day-to-day SCA garb creation/maintenance.

Running Stitch: 

The primary stitch of stitches. This is the hand stitch you’ve seen in everything from Disney’s “Cinderella” to Kindergarten “sewing” projects. The needle goes “in” on one side of the fabric and emerges on the other side. You will then sew back through the fabric to the original side and repeat. (see above) This stitch is not the most stable of stitches and is not much use to hold a garment together by itself. It is utilized quite frequently as a basting stitch, a simple embellishment on garments, or perhaps to top-stitch over attached fabrics to the garment.

Back Stitch:

 This technique is the closest hand-stitch to your sewing machine’s stitching (it will look like a running stitch on one side and a stem stitch on the other). With this stitch, you will utilize a seam allowance and the thread will support the fabric on both sides without any gaps on one side. You will be sewing your stitches on the top of the fabric (what you’re looking at) backwards. Begin by bringing your needle up through the fabric about a stitch length’s into the seam you with so sew. Going back one stitch length (a few threads), you will insert the needle to go back to the under side of the seam. You will then take the needle to come back through about two stitch worth’s forward and repeat the backward stitch again. (see above). This stitch is my go-to for when I am sewing two pieces of fabric together and want strength and a lasting seam.

Whip Stitch:

This stitch is my favorite finishing stitch. If I’m going to be sewing my garment by hand, I will make my first seam attachment with a back stitch (or a sewing machine if I’m not sewing the entire garment by hand). After I have the seam attached, I like to sew it down so it can’t fray from raw edges or bother the heck out of me by tickling me all over.

Allow me to introduce you to the whip stitch! (I think you all probably have used this stitch before whether or not you called it a whip stitch).

This stitch circles around the area you are sewing. You will come up on one side of your seam, go directly across the seam, and insert your needle back to the underside of the fabric at the same level as the spot where the stitch originated. Insert your needle to come back to the top side of the fabric a stitch-length down from where the needle originally started and repeat. (See above). You can use this stitch for almost anything and it makes a lovely finishing stitch whichever side you have on the outside of the garment. (When you have completed your seam, one side of your stitch will be a straight across, even stitch and the other side will be a diagonal stitch going across the seam).

Sailmaker’s Stitch:

This technique is one of the best resources I was ever given when I started in the SCA. I couldn’t afford the most durable of fabrics for my garb and I was constantly finding holes torn into my dresses. Nothing that would ruin the dress, mind you, but big enough to be an eyesore and a potential problem in the future.

Enter the sailmaker’s stitch! This stitch was utilized to repair torn sails (bet you’re surprised by that since the name totally doesn’t imply that at all). With sails, you need the maximum amount of area, and you want it to be smooth so the wind doesn’t catch on anything and tear it up. Our above techniques would fail abysmally if we were trying to fix a tear AND not have a big pile of fabric wadded together where we folded it over and sewed it together. Implemented correctly, you will end up using the thread to form a patch of sorts as you attach the two edges together with the thread filling in as “fabric” in the middle. (See above).

To perform this stitch, you will need to anchor the thread by starting your stitching above the start of the tear. How far or close you place your stitches will be determined by the fabric’s strength and thickness. If it is a thin, delicate fabric, the holes created by your needle will actually tear the fabric apart if you put them close together. If the fabric is thick and strong, the fabric will hold together better with more stitches. After you pull the needle up to the top side of your fabric you will have it enter the tear (or the middle of the fabric if you are starting slightly above) to make your first stitch. You will then have the needle come up on the other side of the tear from your first stitch. Repeat the pattern on this side and have the needle return back to the underside of the fabric through the rip. The stitch is a figure-eight pattern along the tear that gently pulls the fabric edges together to press against each other where they were originally connected before the tear.

Pay close attention to your thread tension and you will have a pretty snazzy mending job without puckers or threads poking through. (Visit my YouTube channel hereto see the video tutorial on this stitch).

There are myriad other stitches out there to learn and utilize in your journey, but these four stitches will help you create and maintain anything you would need to create gorgeous garments in a period and structurally sound manner.

Good luck and, as always, feel free to reach out here, my Instagram, or my YouTube channel if there are any questions or topics you would like me to go over!