Hand Sewing And Machine Sewing In One Product.

[Ricchini]

Hey guys,

I have been lurking on here reading many of your posts for a long time and I appreciate all of the help and guidance this website has provided me.

I'm also sorry in advance that this post seems like a miniature life-story about how I stumbled into the world of leather craft.

Sewing is a skill I didn't think I'd ever be able to attain. I can be sort of a bull-in the China shop type guy sometimes, and I didn't think I would ever have the patience and dexterity for all of this.... I'm a very mechanical guy and it dawned on me one day that I've only ever worked with hard materials, so I figured that I needed to learn how to 'build' things using soft materials. So I went out and shelled out all 800 of my remaining dollars on a industrial sewing machine. Why? I really don't know... I just wanted a machine like that as a resource in my workshop one day.

When the machine was sold to me, I didn't have any intention at all to make leather products. I actually didn't know how to sew at all prior to purchasing this machine. The man who sold me the machine kept listing leather as a selling point, but I honestly wasn't planning on sewing any leather with it......

.....It was soon after I randomly purchased this industrial sewing machine that the world of leathers opened to me.

Keep hanging in there with me... I'm getting to the ultimate question.......

I'm currently going to school to be a product designer, and I recently noticed after our last project the kids who built their furniture pieces using CNC machinery ended up having very cold/sterile 'almost too perfect' pieces. The people who built their furniture pieces using traditional hand-tool methods ended up with warmer pieces that possessed the human element, the 'character' so to speak. I think this is analogous to the hand-stitching vs machine stitching debate. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.....Both have a time and a place that's best fit to the situation of whatever it is you're sewing.

I understand that there's advantages to using a hand saddle stitch, namely the strength and the "handmade" aesthetic/ that comes through in the final product, in addition if one stitch breaks it is less likely to unravel the whole line of stitching.

Obviously using a sewing machine to sew things affords one tremendous convenience like copious time saving, precision stitching, identical tension on every stitch etc....

Is there anybody out there who uses both machine sewing and hand sewing in one product?

I really like the look of hand-sewing, I like the mental stimulation of knowing that using a combination of glue, rivets and stitching it's built like a brick-shit house. I also like the convenience and effortless precision of using my sewing machine......

Have any of you utilized both hand-sewing and machine sewing in one product? Are the two aesthetics compatible?

Thanks again for reading, what may have seemed like my entire life story. And thanks again to the people who contribute all of their experiences and knowledge to the site.

[zuludog]

I have only sewn fabric by machine so far. As I only make small items in leather, hand sewing has suited me; I also like it as it is relaxing or satisfying

You mention the comparison of hand - and machine - made furniture. I don't make furniture, but I found Paul Sellers on YouTube. His videos are relaxing to watch, the sheer pleasure of watching an expert craftsman at work

So, to make it clear, search for 'Paul Sellers' on YouTube.

[LumpenDoodle2]

Hello, and welcome :-).

I've just started making belts and holsters, and I am happy to mix both machine and hand stitching. I hand stitch the holsters, but apart from a few areas, the belts are machine stitched.

I work on the principle that hand stitching suits a holster, but asking me to do the same with a 44+ inch belt, would just make me lose the will to live. As long as it looks tidy at the end, and the customer likes it, the job's done.

If you go onto youtube, you can view a vid of the construction of a bespoke, handmade wallet. It takes about 16 machines to make that wallet, including cutter press, skiver, sewing machine etc. Nothing wrong with that, after all, a sewing machine is just another tool, like a burnisher fitted to a dremel or grinding machine, or cutting leather with a laser cutter.

I think that a lot of it has more to do with the finishing touches you give the thing you make, rather than the road you take to get there (IMHO).

[25b]

I guess I am a little different...I saddle-stitch most items...not so they look crappy and handmade, with "character"...I want my saddle stitching to look as consistent as machine stitching. THAT is the sign of an excellent craftsman. People that see my work don't believe it's hand stitched and I take that as a compliment.

I don't think I'd mix machine and hand stitching on the same item...but that's just me. There isn't anything at all inherently wrong with doing that, in my opinion...it's just not something I would do.

[ramrod]

i would mix them - and i have. i made a beautiful pair of riding chaps for a friend. it was all hand sewn except for the zippers running down each side. those were machine stitched. i figured with such long, straight runs, i could do it in less than two minutes if machine sewn. after that, it was all by hand.

if i had to do it over again, i would make them the same way. what a time saver, and there is no compromise in quality. i made sure to let the client know what i had done.

[SmokeyPoint]

I mix machine and hand sewing, but only on things that are sewn MOSTLY with the machine. I can get a better look and more consistent corners hand stitching than I can with a machine. Because I don't have years and years on the machine. Generally on something that mixes both, I machine sew everything I can, then sew D-shields, Buckle shields, etc., by hand. Also there are things that need to be sewn on that simply can't be reached during the assembly process with a machine.

So, here's the rub - you need to do everything you can to match the hand stitching as closely as possible to the machine stitching. Same thread. Same stitch length. Machine stitches lie in a straight line, so using european pricking irons are out. Etc., etc.

Mixing straight machine stitches with slashed hand stitches may be a design element you intend on doing, so it's not that you can't do it that way. But if it's just machine sew this and hand sew that at random, your product will look like two different people made it and somehow joined it together. Or... it will make you look bipolar.

[johnv474]

I do not personally prefer to sew by machine, but I would mix them in some applications. In many situations, the stitching is not visible, such as in a turned tote bag (which is sewn inside out). In such a case, the added value of hand stitching could be outweighed by the expediency of production. So long as the stitching holds, I think few people care enough to pay the extra cost. In visible areas I would prefer hand sewing and using that as a selling point.