how to hand-sew quickly and efficiently

recommendations that I like

• a compact sewing kit
• 5 tips to improve your hand sewing before you even begin to stitch — how to get quality needles, how to get quality thread, good sewing technique,

the bare-minimum basics, if you haven't sewn in a while

• anchor stitch   [2]   [3]
• half backstitch / spaced backstitch   [2]

general sewing advice (YouTube)

• ▶ Wendi Gratz, who focuses on stuffed animals [tie a knot] [straight stitch] [whip stitch] [ladder stitch]
• ▶ Bernadette Banner [2] — specific garments [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [more]
  • sewing kit
• ▶ Sarah E. Woodyard [great playlist] [spaced backstitch] [backstitch] [running stitch without occasional backstitch] [hem with a running stitch] [butted seam with a whip-stitch] (TODO: lots more stitches)
• ▶ Sunny TV, LOTS of mending [overlock] [overlock] [knitted-overlock] [overlock]
• ▶ Sara SJ Kim [overlock] [lots of garments]

thread and needles

Thread:

• What is thread weight?   [1]   [1]
  • For leather   [1]
  • For hand sewing with cotton thread, Coats & Clark's hand quilting thread is commonly used.
  • How to convert wt ⇔ tex
• What type of thread?
  • Cotton definitely breaks more often than polyester/nylon thread

older books   (archive.org)

🔍archive,org

Other people's lists of these:

• Sewspiratrice.com, Susan Wanjiru, five books
• Wearing History Blog, comprehensive
• Survivor Library, comprehensive
• Hassell Street Press @Amazon

Books:

• "Home and School Sewing", Frances Patton, 1901 [mirror] [Google Books]
• "Complete Sewing Instructions, The Russell Way" [2], Maude Russell, 1917 [Google Books]
• "Manuals for Public and Separate Schools: Sewing", The Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 1919
• "Practical Sewing and Dressmaking", Sara May Allington, 1913 [Google Books]
• "Simplified Sewing", Ethelwyn Dodson and Frances Reis Quinn, 1953 — only 36 pages long
• "Margaret J. Blair’s System of Sewing and Garment Drafting", 1863 — formatted like an encyclopedia

other resources

• reddit.com/r/HandSew/
  • getting started, 2020 [pdfs]
  • what stitch for beginners?, 2023
  • new to hand sewing, 2024