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This page last modified February
29, 2004
Archaeological Sewing
by Heather Rose Jones
copyright © 2001, 2003 all rights reserved
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Linen
Linen has a high tendency to ravel, so the techniques used with it pay strong
attention to finishing edges especially by turning cut edges under so that they
are not exposed. (Since linen garments are more likely to be washed than silk
ones, seam finishing is more critical here than for silk.) Sewing thread is typically
linen.
Linen - Seams: Overcast Stitch and Variants
Overcast of (overlapped selvedges) (Fig. 51)
- Egypt: Fine linen, two pieces joined at the selvedge overlapped slightly
and overcast-stitched. [VogelsangEastwood 1993 - Fig. 2:1]
Overcast of selvedges RST (Fig. 51)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Joining two single selvedge edges
place the two edges right sides together, overcast, and flatten. (Fentz 1998,
Seam III)
Overcast of (single-fold edges RST) (Fig. 52)
- Egypt: Fine linen, cut or selvedge edges joined right sides together and
sewn either with a running stitch or folded into edges and overcast. [Vogelsang-Eastwood
1993 - Fig. 7:20]
Linen - Seams: Running Stitch
Running stitch of (edges RST) (Fig. 53)
- Egypt: Fine linen, cut or more typically selvedge edges joined right sides
together and sewn either with a running stitch or folded into edges and overcast.
[Vogelsang-Eastwood 1993 - Fig. 7:20 ]
Linen - Seams: Modified Running Stitch (see diagrams) and Variants
Modified running stitch of (fabric and lining, single-folded towards each
other) (Fig. 54)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Joining two double (lined) pieces
(body sides) each pair of outer and lining fabrics have the edges turned slightly
under where they face each other; all four folded edges are lined up right
sides together and sewn with a modified running stitch right along the edge
the needle skips the first fold on each pass. (Fentz 1998, Seam VIII)
Modified running stitch of (fabric and lining, single-folded towards each
other & edge of (running stitch of double-fold folded back RST)) (Fig. 55)
55a(prep. of first edge)
55b (joiningof edges)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Joining a lined piece with a single
thickness (sleeve to body) the single-thickness piece is given a double turnover
which is folded back away from the wrong side (i.e., so there are two folded
edges) and then has a running stitch very close to the edge. This is flattened
out and the resulting folded edge (of the turnover) is placed right sides
together with the two folded edges of the double-thickness part (folded as
in the preceding), and they are sewn together with the same modified running
stitch as in VIII, except that only the first part of the doubled-fold is
skipped. (Fentz 1998, Seam VII)
[joining linings when main fabric has no seam] Modified running stitch of
(main fabric folded RST & linings single-folded toward fabric) (Fig. 56)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Joining two lining pieces (at the
shoulder) when the outer fabric has no seam fold the two edges back
(towards the outer fabric), fold the outer fabric right sides together to
form an edge, line the three folded edges up and sew with the modified running
stitch (i.e. skipping the first edge on each pass). (Fentz 1998, Seam VIa)
[finishing lining when fabric continues] Modified running stitch of (main
fabric folded RST & lining single-folded toward fabric) (Fig. 57)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Finishing a lining edge in the
middle of the outer fabric (bottom of the lined section) as the preceding,
but with only one folded lining edge. (Fentz 1998, Seam VIb)
Flat-felled-type: running stitch of RST + overcast of (single-fold edge to
fabric) (Fig. 58)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Joining two single cut edges (flat
felled seam) place right sides together with one edge extending slightly and
sew with a running stitch. Fold the extended edge over the other cut edge,
flatten, and sew to the main fabric with an overcast stitch. (Fentz 1998,
Seam V)
Linen - Seam: with applied binding
?Running stitch? of RST + hem-stitch of (tape with single-fold edges to sides
of seam) (Fig. 59)
- Medieval: All non-edge seams (as well as the neck edge) are sewn right sides
together and then a straight-grain tape, with the edges folded under, is placed
over the opened seam and hem-stitched at each edge. (The neck edge presumably
begins with the tape being sewn to the right side of the garment then folded
under and hem-stitched on the inside. [Jones 2001, St. Louis shirt, France]
Linen - Edges
Overcast of (narrow rolled edge) (Fig. 60)
- Egypt: Fine linen, bias-cut hem, rolled and overcast (also found on straight-grain
cut edges). [Vogelsang-Eastwood 1993 - Fig. 2:1]
Hemstitch of (double-turned edge) (Fig. 61)
- Egypt: Fine linen, straight-grain hem, turned twice and hemstitched. [Vogelsang-Eastwood
1993 - Fig. 2:1]
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Hem on single layer: double fold
the edge to the inside and sew with an overcast (hem) stitch. (Fentz 1998,
Seam I)
- Medieval: The hems (sleeve and bottom) have a small, double-folded edge
with hem stitch. [Jones 2001, St. Louis shirt, France]
- Medieval: There is a wide hem in the main, silk fabric formed by double-folding
the bottom edge of the garment, but the precise stitching is not identifiable.
There is a linen lining with a narrow double-rolled hem that reaches just
to the top of the main hem, to which it is sewn in some fashion. [Müller-Christensen
1953]
Linen - Edges: with Applied Facing
Modified running stitch of (fabric and facing single-folded toward each other
+ single-fold cut edge of applied strip RST) + hem stitch of (selvedge edge
of applied strip to facing) (Fig. 62)
62a (step one)
62b (step two)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Hem on double layer fold both edges
to the inside, take a narrow strip with a selvedge edge, and fold the cut
edge over; place this right sides together with the pair of folded edges and
sew with the modified running stitch (skipping the first edge every time).
Then fold the selvedge over to the inside and sew down with an overcast (hem)
stitch to leave a projecting folded edge of the binding. (Fentz 1998, Seam
IV)
Linen - Other Uses
Cord ties as fastenings
- Egypt: Ties for the neck opening are formed by sewing a number of individual
threads through the edge individually, then twisting and plying them. [Vogelsang-Eastwood
p.120]
"Quilting"-type: Running stitch of (lining with Z-fold tuck & fabric)
(Fig. 63)
- Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. "Quilting" two layers together
make a very small Z-fold and do a running stitch through all three layers
of the Z and the other fabric. (Fentz 1998, Seam II)
Misc.
- Medieval: The garment (at least the upper part, if not the whole) was lined
with linen, but the details are not given and cannot entirely be retrieved
from the photos. At the seam lines, the linen lining seems to be sewn to the
main fabric (as well as the lining pieces being sewn to each other). At the
edges, there appears to have been an additional linen tape facing, similar
to #39. [Geijer et al. 1994]
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