It took several steps but finally we are getting close to finishing the hand sewing part of the fast and easy pouch. There are just some last hand sewing stitches left and then we can start with the next part and have some fun with the “embellishments”. 😀

Just some last hand sewing stitches… *lol*
I tell you, I can already see the light at the horizon, it is already shining at the red, green and blue tassels of the pouch… 😉

Todays motto is:
“Last seam finishing for the pouch”

After following the last instructions of my latest postings for this tutorial – “Chain stitch”, its “practical application for decorative hand sewing” and “how to start a new thread” – we need just one last hand sewing step to finish this pouch. Yes, we definitely need one last proper seam finishing! 😀 [emember_protected not_for=4 do_not_show_restricted_msg=1]…I am sorry, but this content is restricted to users with Premium membership.

…but lets begin at the beginning – today we will start where the last two postings ended.

We just worked and hopefully also already finished the chain stitch* row around the top of the pouch. (*= or any other stitch you’ve chosen to use here like back stitch, stem stitch,…)

Short side note:
This line of stitches is rather important because it defines the bottom of the drawstring casing for the pouch.

During the last years I have tried out many different pouch shapes. Based on this experiences I think that a pouch with drawstrings going through the inside of the top material of the pouch without a defined drawstring casing looks just bulky and not very beautiful. My personal opinion in this case is: better a too big drawstring casing than none at all. Even a pouch with a too big drawstring casing looks still more beautiful than one without.

…and now back to the chain stitch line. There is one very easy way to finish the row of chain stitches properly but unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of this step. Therefore I will do my best to describe it to you:

Finish your line of chain stitches until there is just enough place for one more chain stitch left. Now you won’t add another normal chain stitch – instead you will connect the end of your chain stitch row with its beginning.

You just need to use your needle crossways (at a 90° angle) from the left or right side and take the first two threads of your very first “chain” on top of your needle. Place your needle carefully between the threads of your chain (on top of your needle) and the fabric (underneath your needle) and pull the needle through. Now you can complete your chain stitch as usual. Finally it should look like an endless line of chain stitches. Well, this step sounds much more complicated when you have to explain it to someone else than it actually is… 🙂

I always think of this step as a “reversed chain stitch”. I normally use this technique when the “next” chain stitch is already finished and I just want to complete my row of chain stitches to “close”/”complete” a pattern.

Btw. this works very well if you are finishing a round or triangle shaped pattern of chain stitches like I used it for my 14th century hood with daggings and long liripipe and also for some other projects…

Now, that we just completed our row of chain stitches, we turn the pouch inside out again.

The next picture shows the drawstring casing at the bottom and the surplus fabric of the drawstring casing at the top. The line of stitches you can see going from top left across the picture to the right side is the back view of my row of chain stitches which define the drawstring casing.

Now we are going to work with this surplus fabric of the drawstring casing and will turn it into a proper seam finishing.

Take the upper half of your surplus fabric and flip it by 180° to the inside – like shown at the picture below. The upper half and its fraying fabric border is now hidden between the remaining and still visible half of the surplus fabric of the drawstring casing and the fabric of the pouch at the other side.

At this point I normally do a “long” stitch through the seam which is going from my current line of stitches to where I will continue working my next line of stitches as you can see on the picture above.

My personal opinion is that long lines of thread on the “surface” of the fabric should be always avoided unless they are part of an used technique – regardless if this surface is located on the inside or the outside. I think this is especially important when it comes to pouches, sleeves and everything else where hands are involved,…

Whoever already managed to get caught with a ring or bracelet in a thread inside a pouch or sleeve and then tried to get the hand out again, knows how awkward this can be… I have to admit that this happened very often to me while I was new to hand sewing and didn’t know how helpful a proper seam finishing can be. Nowadays I am very glad that my seam finishing obsession prevents me from experiencing such moments again. 🙂

And now we are finally working at the seam finishing for the top of our pouch. Always fold about half of your surplus fabric to the inside and make your stitches which sew the top of your seam to your outer fabric. They will secure the border of your fabric at the inside and keep it from fraying.

Btw. the stitch for the seam finishing, which you can see at the picture above, is the same very basic stitch which I already used for “Step 2 – hand sewing the sides“. While there are several possibilities when it comes to medieval seam finishing*, there are not many different stitches involved and this very basic and easy stitch is one of them. With some practice this stitch can be executed rather fast and looks very decorative on the other side. It really just needs some practice to achieve a regular stitch length, slant and spacing. 🙂

*= Thanks to some very important textile finds, some very ambitious textile archaeologists and some really awesome publications about this finds, we can nowadays chose from a nice variety of documented medieval seam finishing techniques.
This seam finishing techniques mostly differ in their purpose, the involved materials and how they are folded/connected. I will discuss other seam finishing techniques as soon as I will need them for a new project.
If you are interested in this topic you might like to take a look at this two interesting links which I found while I was surfing through the internet: “Archaeological Sewing” & the PDF file “Stitches and Seam techniques“

Fortunately every seam finishing also has an end. Like you can see on the picture above, I normally make about 2-3 stitches over the same small space to “secure” the thread.

Then I “sew” and “secure” a little bit more of the thread with at least 2-3 long additional stitches. Actually I do the same like I described it in my “Step 3.2 – hand sewing – how to start a new thread & hide it .2” – just with the difference that I am finishing a thread here and not starting it…

Though this last short and long “securing” stitches might seem like unnecessary extra work to you, they ensure me that this thread won’t show up on the surface again and the end of the seam finishing will never get loose. Well, last but not least – it gives me a good feeling and just takes some extra stitches – therefore I think it’s definitely worth it.

The last seam finishing is done – about what shall I write next?
Hmmmmm… what do you think about tassels? Well, we will see… 😉

PS.: Btw. are you in the mood for a small personal secret? Well, I can share it with you because my sweetheart can’t read it. *giggle* 😀

Today I took my hand painted 14th century backgammon game and packed it in this pouch and sent it accompanied by some books on its way to the USA. He still doesn’t know that he will get this pouch and the backgammon game as a late birthday present. I really can’t wait to see his face when he unwraps it… *more giggle*

You can find all postings about this project in the category:
Craft with Racaire – #2 fast & easy pouch

Short overview of the postings till now:
Step 1) Fast and easy pouch tutorial & how to work with “rapports”
This posting explains how to calculate the needed fabric for the easy pouch tutorial. I also added some extra information: “how to work with rapports” (repeating patterns).
Step 1.1) Hand sewing stitches: Running Stitch…
This posting is an in-depth description of the first and most basic hand-sewing stitch you will need for this tutorial – the Running Stitch.
Step 1.2) Hand sewing stitches: Back Stitch (and Stem Stitch)…
Another in-depth description of a basic and helpful hand-sewing stitch you will need for this technique – the Running Stitch.
Step 2) Hand sewing the sides
Here you can find a detailed step-by-step photo tutorial about how I hand sew the sides of the “fast and easy pouch”. It includes all important basic steps for this process including the pinning, how to start with the sewing, how to secure your thread from slipping,…
Step 2.1) Hand sewing the corners
Another detailed step-by-step photo tutorial that shows you how to hand sew the nice pointy pouch corners of your fast and easy pouch.
Step 2.2) How to start a new thread & hide it…
Here you can see how I start a new thread while I am working at a seam finishing and how I hide the beginning of the new thread as well as the end of the old thread inside the seam.
Step 3.1) Hand sewing the top – pinning
This posting is about how I pinned the top of the pouch for the final hand sewing.
Step 3.2) Hand sewing – how to start a new thread & hide it .2 🙂
Sounds similar to “Step 2.2” above but is very different – in this step-by-step tutorial you can see how I start and hide a new thread in an already finished seam.
Step 3.3) Chain Stitch and how to use it for hand sewing
Another in-depth description of a basic embroidery technique – the Chain Stitch.
Step 3.4) Chain Stitch and how to use it for decorative hand sewing
This step-by-step photo tutorial shows the practical application of the Chain Stitch for decorative hand sewing as described in Step 3.3 above.*
Step 3.5) Chain Stitch & how to start a new thread
This detailed photo tutorial explains how to start a new thread while you are using Chain Stitch for decorative hand sewing (or embroidery).

* You can find an example of Chain Stitch used for a medieval inspired embroidery project here: 14th century hood with daggings, long liripipe & decorative chain stitch embroidery