Are you 'progressive'? Should it matter? Yes...and no....

When I began on this mission to obtain a PhD, I wanted to seriously question my own stance on the progressive movement in living history. For the record, my own definition of 'progressive' means something along the lines of progressing your interpretation toward a high degree of accuracy through constant research. Sometimes, for me, that research includes making or doing a thing.

This past year, my project has been to completely overhaul the kit and clothing for both Pierre and myself. Yes, I completely remade our wardrobes. The pieces I was happy with from before, even got altered to better fit within my parameters of accuracy. Breeches had the legs and inseams re-done for better fit, new gowns were made, accessories made and acquired. When I presented all of this for my studio exam in late April, I impressed myself with what I had accomplished. In yes, a year.

This year, I will finish up a few things left on my to-do list, but I am back to constructing clothing for other people again. I am also teaching others how to construct their own clothes. The project last year helped me to better understand my own practice, what my stitching looked like, and how long it took me to create garments. I wrote everything down, and made notes here and on Facebook about my process.

And here's what I have learned...

You can still be progressive, and own partially machine made garments. Yes, you can. It's not always the machine that causes you to be less progressive, but the construction methods you use. Huh??? Aren't they the same thing? Nope! Case in point...

This is Pierre's new shirt, entirely hand stitched. You can clearly see my stitching line on that seam. It looks like a machine made it, but no, I did, with my hand and a very fine needle.  You can't tell the difference, unless I am working at making my hand stitches look like hand stitches. This shirt took fourteen days to sew, working most of the day, m-f. Nobody can afford that kind of time, I know I can't...especially when sewing for other people.

It's not whether I use machine or by hand, but 'HOW' the garment is put together. You see, there are certain methods you use when machine making a garment that were developed to make the construction process faster, when the sempster as working in a factory. There are methods used in historical garment making that you just cannot accomplish with a machine; that lovely laying stitch that produces the top stitch on the garment edge when you lay the lining in a garment; anything regarding the front fall of a pair of breeches.

These things matter, those old construction methods. If you hand stitch everything, but use modern methods of garment construction, to my eye, it looks no different than if you had made the garment by machine.

Sorry folks.

Top stitching is a modern invention, so is bagging out a garment. Learn the older methods of garment construction. And please, don't look down on that trusty machine It can save you boatloads of time, and will fool even my old eyes...if you use it correctly, and in a historical construction method. You will need to still hand stitch some seams!

And how about we lay off the side-eyes...nobody has the time to entirely hand make their wardrobes like I have this past year...not if they want to be dressed and ready for an event before the end of the decade. Let's work towards helping each other out to look more progressive. That starts with teaching each other construction techniques that would have been used...

but that's for another post.