Sewing Question: eyelets by hand or by machine?

[threadwalker]

Do you do your eyelets by hand or by machine?

Does it depend on the garment? (bodice, kirtle, cotte hardie, saxon, etc)
Does it depend on where? (front, back, side)
Is there a cut-off, such as, more than 20 = by machine?
Do you do both hand and machine on the same garment?
Does it depend on whether or not it will be seen or what kind of stress it will be under?

If you do eyelets by machine, what kind of eyelets does your machine make?

I have a gadget that attaches to my machine that will do zig-zag in a pattern that leaves a donut shaped stitched area. It won't cut the fabric, so I have to do that part, but the stitching is "done". Unfortunately, sometimes when I cut it out, I snip the stitches and I end up doing a little handwork anyway.

Feel free to expound on your opinions and point of view. I truly am curious.

Comments

[falzalot.livejournal.com]

oooh! oooh! oooh! Never done eyelets!!!!

But, um, I suppose one of these days I'm going to have to, since I have a kampfrau dress started, so I guess the answer will depend on what somebody teaches me to do. :->

[erzimagdalena.livejournal.com]

Does it close up the front? You could use hooks/eyes. They did. :-)

[falzalot.livejournal.com]

oooh! it's one of ysabella_dolfin's patterns, so I guess it does! WOO! Saved again!!

[erzimagdalena.livejournal.com]

I wish I had the option!
By hand. Sigh.

[beanolc.livejournal.com]

By hand 'cause I still haven't gotten the tool yet for my machine.

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

By hand. I think one of my machines has an eyelet option, but I've never tried it. I think if time were an issue I'd do the ring-thing.

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

You focus on Rennaissance garments. What if it were an earlier period, like cotte hardies?

[tusya1300.livejournal.com]

I do my eyelet's by hand... reinforced with embrodiry thread around the whole.. but the work extrememly well, for me.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

By hand, because I dislike the look of machine-made eyelets or buttonholes on historic garments. (I love the machine buttonholes on my modern stuff, but it just stands out too much on the medieval stuff.) I hate them -- especially since there always end up being so many any time I need them. Fortunately I don't feel compelled to do anything really extreme and "pretty" -- just a poke with a bodkin, four stitches around to hold things in place, then a round of overcasting. A few times I've gone whole hog and done neat little buttonhole stitches that fill up all the space, but usually the eyelets aren't going to be very visible (for points on hose etc.)and the difference between overcast and buttonhole wouldn't be visible anyway. I don't tend to have garments where the eyelets are going to get a lot of stress (no tightly laced bodices) so I don't know if that would change my habits.

[duchessletitia.livejournal.com]

By hand. I actually love doing eyelet holes. There is something satisfying about it. (But I also like doing hems)

[etaine-pommier.livejournal.com]

I think I am beginning to join you in the hem world... that's just weird :-)

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I've only done them once so far, but that was by machine. I made them for my gothic cote and there were a jillion of them - a double row up the front for the spiral lacing, and down both sleeves, so I could thread the buttons through with a ribbon, like an example from the Museum of London book. So about 40-50 eyelets, all told. I'd have never finished them if I had to do them by hand.
I don't cut the holes out, though. I just poke them with an awl until they're big enough to thread the ribbon through.

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

I just started doing something like that. I take a fat needle and lace the ribbon straight through.

[etaine-pommier.livejournal.com]

It depends. Front-laced things generally get hand-done. Side-laced things depend on how much time I have. And I don't do much that back laces, but I would probably do those by hand.

My machine has a free-motion needle, though, so it actually does round eyelets in one step. That's part of why I bought it :-)

[lifeofglamour.livejournal.com]

I do all mine by hand, because I don't have a machine that does eyelets. Often when I am pondering the starting the 12th of 40 or so eyelets I wish very, very hard that I could do machine eyelets, but this not-having-a-machine scheme keeps me from having to make that hard decision.

I like to think that if I had a machine I would still do my eyelets by hand, but I bet I would do non-visible ones by machine, and then that laziness would creep inexorably out to visible ones but only on the back, then on to all eyelets and..well it would be madness - madness I say!

So it's best that I don't really have a choice. :-)

Good questions...

[aastg.livejournal.com]

All my eyelets are sewn by hand. The technique varies based on the amount of stress the closure will be subjected to.

I've only seen one machine that could do a reasonably sturdy eyelet (Eilis's old Kenmore).

I'd consider doing eyelets by machine if I had to make 20 cotehardies for someone's court, but failing a mammoth project like that, I'd always prefer to do them by hand.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I'd like to learn how to do eyelets by hand. The one time I tried them I pulled them almost closed so I clearly need help.

The 12th night dress eyelets were done by my housemate on her machine, bless her. Since they were black on black I didn't mind at all.

[maryanneg.livejournal.com]

By hand. My machinewon't do them, but I get more satisfaction out of the handsewing parts of making things anyways.