Learning to hand sew - where / how ?

[jgcunningham]

You mean I too can progress from sewing scout patches onto uniforms to making my own kilt? If so, this thought has opened up a whole new line of thought for me, thanks.

Yeppers. This is basically what I did. I started out at sewing just a few things by hand to machine sewing. I'm a guy. I can run a machine. And it kind of has a gas pedal like my truck. Coolness. Then I made my first machine kilt. Then I desired a hand-sewn tank. So I bought Barb and Elsie's book. Now I've made two by hand.

TIP: Just remember. If you have big fat pickle fingers like me, it helps to use longer needles, not necessarily thicker ones.

[Barb T]

Finding someone who does hand quilting might be a place to start. If you go to a store that sells fabric for quilting, they should be able to direct you to someone who could spend an hour with you. It truly won't take more than an hour to get the basics down.

Having said that, anyone who sews by machine does lots of tasks by hand. So, you really ought to be able to go to anyone who sews by machine and get the help you need. Even though these people don't sew major seams by hand, they will know how to thread a needle, knot the thread, stitch a blind stitch and a basting stitch, etc. That's what you'll need to know if you want to make a kilt.