Sewing

Sewing is stitching cloth, leather, furs, or other materials, using a needle and thread. Sewing can be done on a sewing machine, or by hand.

A sewing machine

"Plain" sewing is mostly done to make or mend clothing and household furnishings such as curtains, sheets, upholstery, and table linens. It is also used for sails, bellows, skin boats, banners and other items shaped out of flexible materials.

"Fancy" sewing is done to decorate materials, such as embroidery or quilting.

Sewing is an important part of shoemaking and bookbinding. Wounds are often sewn shut.

If a thread becomes loose in a sewn item, the stitches may unravel and require restitching to repair them. In repair sewing, pulling the threaded needle in and out of the fabric at the same lengths and places as the other remaining stitches can make a repair nearly invisible. Replacing a missing button on a garment follows the same procedure, although there are different possible ways to place the thread to sew on a button. While repairs are usually sewn by hand, most garments are created using a machine, which can range from simple to complex.

Sewing Media

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  Sewing Fisherman's Wife by Anna Ancher, 1890

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  Seated woman sewing a kimono, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, in the early 19th century. Different cultures have developed diverse sewing techniques, from methods of cutting fabric to types of stitches.

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  A sewing bird or sewing clamp provides a "third hand" to hold fabric taut. Watercolor by Frank McEntee, National Gallery of Art, Index of American Design.

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  Early 20th century sewing in Detroit, Michigan

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  A woman sewing as a street vendor in Bangkok, Thailand.

• Sewing with an 1894 Singer sewing machine.

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  Bangladeshi women sewing clothes.

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  Henri Lebasque, Jeune fille cousant, c. 1925

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  A tailor fitting a suit in Hong Kong.

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  Hobby sewer cutting out fabric for a dress