Sewing Time

[MillerTime]

I was curious. I couldn't find the answer so I'll guess I ask. How long did it take to completely hand sew a pair of pants? I know they where good with a needle so I really have no clue. Thanks.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Sewing Time

Wheeler & Wilson ran an ad comparing the time it took to hand-sew different clothes and the time it took to machine sew them, to show the economy of using their sewing machine.

For pants, the time to sew by hand was:

Cloth pants, 5 hours 10 minutes
Summer Pants, 2 hours 50 minutes

That compared to 58 minutes and 38 minutes, respectively, by machine.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[1stMaine]

Re: Sewing Time

Comrades,

Which shows how easy it was for the contractors to make large deliveries in reasonable times. figure 1oo sewers on machines could be expected to make 1000 pairs of pants in one day. Run the factory in two shifts for 6 days a week, and that's 12,000 pairs of pants a week.

Of course, you'd probably need more than 100 sewers to allow for breaks, luncc, etc, but still, when you got large concerns with several hundred sewers working, it was entirely possible to turn out large amounts of goods in a rather short period of time.

Respects,

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Sewing Time

It took me about 90 min per day, five days per week, for about 5 weeks. That includes laying out the pattern and cutting cloth. That's a little less than a week working full time. However, considering that I lack experience of someone doing this for a living and my short working periods, I probably lost quite a bit of efficiency.

How much faster could it go? I'd be amazed to see it done in under 25 hours... but I've been amazed before! ;)

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Sewing Time

Felling the seams takes longer than the rest of the work. If you're not lining pants, that cuts some time off, and if the cloth is already cut, that takes a LOT of aggravation out of them. (Can you tell what my least favorite part of sewing and quilting is?) Five hours sounds pretty reasonable.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Sewing Time

I'd hazard a suggestion that the Wheeler/Wilson times were for basic seaming only--not felling or finishing.

[jhuether]

Re: Sewing Time

I just finished a County Cloth "Other Issue" side-seam pants kit. With felling and buttonholes it took just over 18 hours. I keep track of time by seeing how many times I listen to Chris Edwards' "Blood on the Border" cd. Maybe not the most effective way of keeping time, but it works. Not doing the cutting of the pattern saves major time, and headache.

I agree that working in short shifts loses major efficiency. But to be honest, everytime it comes to flat felling the main seam of a pair of trousers I tend to let it sit for a few days. I have to work up the motivation!