Sewing Machine For Sale

How did people sew outfits without sewing machines and patterns.?

I can't imagine sewing a simple outfit like that so I can't imagine how people sewed elaborate outfits of royalty without those tools.

Public Comments

1. Sewing machines and patterns didn't start that movement, they only made it easier. The tailors back then were probably well trained people with nimble fingers who used needle and thread.
2. Believe it or not, they did it all by hand. For more elaborate outfits, such as for royalty, an entire team of seamstresses would work on it. Sometimes it could take many months to complete a set of clothing. Even with today's technology, the most elegant and elaborate outfits are done partially by hand. A machine just can't add the human touch.
3. When I was a kid, my Gramma made patterns from newspaper, but she did have a treadle sewing machine. She was good!
4. They would have had to have a pattern of some sort. No one can just start cutting fabric into pieces and know they will all assemble into a perfectly fitting garment. As for the sewing machines - anything they can do can be done by hand.
5. Many early garments (and quite a few ethnic garments still) were simple loom widths of fabric, with some minimal seaming. If you're interested in these sorts of garments, look for a book called "Cut my Cote" (no, that's not a mistake). Some very dramatic garments are essentially built of rectangles, triangles and circles. For instance, click on Folkwear patterns 113, 118, 128 and 150 ( http://www.folkwear.com ) Or look at the ubiquitous "bog coat": http://www.sewingconnection.com/sc12hart.htm in a simple form, and here in wearable art form: http://www.larkinart.com/wearable/bogcoat/bluebog/index.html And you can pretty much generate anything else by a process known as draping or modeling on the stand -- you start with some fabric, and drape it on the person or mannequin, and remove anything that isn't part of the garment. <g> This is the process you typically see in Project Runway -- though I suspect that most of the contestants normally work with flat patternmaking. Examples: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/maybe_i_can_still_drape.html http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/muslin_never_looked_so_good.html And reverse engineering someone else's garment isn't so tough once you know how to sew stuff together... :-) At least not most of the time: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/pattern_puzzle_collar_2.html
6. Remember back then that the elaborate outfits for royalty and ceremonial costumes were sewn by professional tailors, who began apprenticeships at very young ages. They'd take years before they were skilled enough to even CUT the patterns and fabric, much less design them!
7. By Hand
8. By hand