Editors: Hitty Henrietta and Charlotte Hitty
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Mrs. Poppy's Tips: Sewing With Hankies |
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Mrs. Poppy's Tips: Sewing With Hankies |
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Sewing with Hankies is not too hard, but it can be a little different from other sewing and can require some special techniques. My name is Mrs. Poppy, and as Head of Mountain Ash, a Branch of Ash Grove School, I do a lot of sewing! Most of our doll students are permanent residents and girls always need new clothes! We find that hankies provide the best fabrics, prints, and laces for a variety of beautiful Hitty clothing. Here are my seven most important tips for sewing with Hankies! |
| Tip 1 : Avoid Starch and Fray Preventors! I have found that most hankie fabrics are just too delicate for starch if you intend to sew with them. Once, after washing and lightly starching a piece of hanky fabric, I traced the bodice pattern lightly onto the fabric with a pencil. It shattered along the pencil line from the pressure! It was a thicker cotton, and I had more, so I washed out all the starch and tested the rest of the hankie for strength, and it was just fine. I have had a similar, but worse problem with fray preventor products. These products will usually cause my hankies to shatter along the edge of the seam, wherever they are used. |
| Tip 2 : Be Flexible! Hankies come in a myriad of prints, styles, etc. Be willing to let your hanky guide your project! Hold your hankies up to your Hittys to get a good match with something flattering for your doll. Be willing to adjust patterns and appearance of your dress to take best advantage of your hanky. What if you have a part of your hanky set aside for sleeves, but the flower print is just a little too big to get a whole flower on your sleeve? Make your sleeve pattern a little bigger and puffier! |
| Tip 3 : Use Sturdy Hankies! Some old hankies are just too aged to sew with. No matter how pretty they are, don't be tempted! I once made a delicate, empire-waisted dress for Hitty and when it was done, I noticed a tear on the sleeve that hadn't been there before. The next day, I tried to put it on her and the back seam split. It's not worth it! Pretty soon the whole dress shattered. Before sewing, take a tiny part of the hankie fabric between your fingers and test the strength by trying to make a tiny tear. If it gives easily, don't use it! Don't worry, brittle hankies can still be used for curtains, sheets, travel wraps, etc. |
| Tip 4 : Take Tiny Stitches! Most Hanky sewing has to be done by hand, so it is important to be able to do a tiny, strong backstitch. Visit this page at Sewing.org for backstitch instructions and basic hand-sewing tips. |
| Tip 5 : Follow The Lines! Some hanky fabric is so soft and flexible that sometimes it is hard to measure and cut. Pay attention to the weave of the fabric when cutting out straight pieces. Even if the hankie is not a perfect square anymore, if the weave is even use the weave as a guide to penciling and cutting straight lines. If your dress pieces are cut neatly along the grain, this will cause less fraying on straight edges. |
| Tip 6 : Pin, Pin Pin! Hankie fabrics are very flexible and fine, and they can shift easily while sewing. Always pin your pieces together, or better yet, baste, before setting your final seams. |
| Tip 7 : Leave Wide Seam Allowances! Remember that it is easy for light fabric to fray along raw edges, so leave generous seam allowances when you design patterns. You can always cut the seam allowance smaller after you sew the seam, and these fabrics are light enough that they are usually not too bulky anyway. |
Practical Hitty Newsletter Copyright (c) Sara Cole 2002
