My very first hand-stitched garment

My very first garment stitched entirely by hand: cheeky high-waist undies 😄

This project was 100% inspired by @louisaowensonstroem’s interview about hand sewing on the @checkyourthread sustainable sewing podcast. Sewing by hand is not something I thought I’d ever want to try – but Louisa made some great points about slowing riiiight down while still enjoying the making process, project portability (like knitting!), and the resulting durability of the items.

I bought her booklet “How to hand sew a tank top” to learn how to hand sew stretchy clothes, because the internet was really not very helpful for once. It’s short and sweet, and has very cute illustrations. I had planned to sew another Axis Tank for my first hand-sewn garment, but I’m behind on laundry so underwear went to the top of the list.

I used a pattern I drafted to my measurements last year, with organic cotton jersey and some leftover lingerie elastics. I sewed the enclosed gusset and side seams with a small back stitch (stretching the fabric lightly), and finished the side seams with an overcasting whip stitch. I applied the foldover elastic on the legs in two passes: on the inside with a zigzag stitch, and on the outside with a small whipstitch. I attached the waistband with a back stitch, then pressed the seam upwards and whip stitched it to the inner layer of the waistband (so the stitching doesn’t show on the outside).

I spent quite a bit longer making these than any of my previous lingerie projects, but I kind of cherished the time spent working each stitch – I could see progress with my sloppy stitching, and I found the process almost brainless and very restful (life is giving me serious insomnia these days, so that aspect was much appreciated). And now that I’ve spent so much time on them, they’re most definitely my favorite!

Have you ever considered sewing by hand? I won’t be sewing everything by hand, but will definitely be doing more going forward! You only need a few stitch techniques, fabric, and low tech gear (needle, thread, thimble, scissors).

#handsewing #slowfashion #diylingerie #sustainablefashion #selfdrafted