What is not commonly known is that goods produced by sewing machine at the time were considered inferior to hand sewn items. Tailors hated the idea of the sewing machine, they were highly skilled, some acquired their trade in Europe and believed that the new technology would put them out of business The higher quality officers uniforms are usually hand sewn and tailor made while less important items would be machine sewn if a machine was available. There were sewing machines available in the South prior to the War. City directories reflect quite a few ads for several different manufactures, and even though not as prolific as the North they were available. So, if you did contract work for the Richmond Depot and had a machine you used it. What Ive noticed in the North Carolina Museum of History, several flags are machine sewn, several are not. Some partially sewn by hand. Although theres no way to prove it, the depot probably had a few machines on hand to sew the three pieces of red bunting together in one long run, cut it at approx 48 inches and bundled it with the stars, edging and saltire to distribute to the hundreds of ladies to assemble.