Hand Sewn Clothing?

I have some good friends who firmly believe that hand sewn clothing is the only way to reenact and have the best impression. I have met other people who couldn't tell the difference between hand stitched or machine sewn item. So what is the big fuss?

I don't wear all hand sewn items. As a matter of fact I currently have one blue and white checked hand sewn shirt(as seen in the picture on the left). I sewed it myself and I think I did a fine job. It took about 40 hours to sew by hand. I did make a few errors, nothing noticeable.

I do not own any other item that are hand sewn. I have mended my trousers, haversack, frog and cartridge box. But I have not gone to the far outer edges and pulled the seams out of my clothing and hand stitched them back together for that "period look." I am not saying I am not tempted, but I have my time invested else where, for now.

That is what it comes down to, time. And if not time, then the money to buy the thing that took somebody almost 4 times as long to hand sew the item. The look is outstanding, if you know what you are looking for. By the time you have gotten good at sewing and/or buy a good quality item you really can't tell, unless you flip the item inside out to see the seam or look closely at the top stitching to see if it is really hand sewn.

Personally I would love to wear all hand sewn clothing to specs, with proper colors, and made by the actual manufacturers from the 1850's and 60's. I have a hard enough time paying the bills and taking the wife out dinner.

In the end, Civil War Reenacting is about educating people on what happened. If you can't afford, don't have the time, or the skill/know-how to have hand sewn items, then don't. I won't look down upon a person who doesn't have hand sewn items. I firmly believe we are all in this together and we need to support each other.

So, if you see a person who is criticizing a someone for not wearing hand sewn items, remind them, "This is not the 1860's. They are doing the best they can." I do have some friends who are bivwakers, hard-corers, bushwackers, so on. Their impression is far better than mine, because they don't sleep in an A-Frame, have a cooler with Powerade in it, carry their cell phone, have a bag of medications/medical supplies(my medic pack that travels in my mini-van with me always) and baby supplies and children(Sam, my 2 year old son pictured on the right, inspecting the troops). I take all of the above. This is our vacation spot.

As for the hand sewing thing, it is easy. As a matter of fact I am going to show you how to hand sew a shirt, pokes, a haversack(tapestry style), a camp dress, a pair of drawers and anything else I may need to make. If a paramedic can do it while he is waiting for his next call, then any person who sits in front of the t.v. can do it.

-Medic