sold on hand sewing

I remember a conversation back in my early days of branching out from sewing modern clothes with patterns into the wilder woods of sci fi and historic costume. Someone (not sure who - dora_took?) told me of the joys of hand sewing, specifically the ability to work on a project anywhere and the finer control.

I couldn't get on board. It seemed like it would take too long to finish anything, and that it would be hard on my hands and wrists.

Several years and my discovery of the Elizabethan seam page later, and I think I get it.

For period correctness, it can't be beat, but hand sewing has advantages in other settings as well: for short projects where it would be a waste of thread to create a bobbin and thread the machine, or for small items where control to the millimeter is needed (hello trim). Corners and narrow hems are easier and faster than using a million pins and attempting to shove the whole thing under a sewing machine foot.

I was right about it being hard on my hands though - my left hand cramps from holding pieces together and the fingertips of my right get chewed up from pushing the needle through. The correct use of a thimble (HT shemhazai) minimizes the wear and tear to some degree but I still try to limit myself to an hour at a time.