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Archaeological Sewing

by Heather Rose Jones

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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