Ethical Dilemma Involving Sewing Leather! Yes Really!

[Tugadude]

Perhaps, if you don't get any satisfactory response, you can stress hand stitched in your own ads. Such as, "All straps hand stitched using two needles and premium, waxed thread, unlike some other companies which use machines." Or something like that.

[Gregspitz]

I will update this thread when I get a response from the email I sent.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Tugadude]

Good luck!

[Gregspitz]

here is the "hand Sewn"strap from the back

[Techsew Ron]

here is the "hand Sewn"strap from the back

hand sewn..with a machine.

[gottaknow]

I do see some hand sewing, and some badly adjusted machine sewing. But their claim of hand sewn is for the most part accurate, even if it's just the loop.

Regards, Eric

[soccerdad]

If only the loop is hand-sewn, then it would be correct to say it's "partly hand sewn" or "includes hand stitching" or whatever. But to call it "hand sewn" without qualification implies that the whole item is stitched without use of a machine. At least, that's how I hear it.

[soccerdad]

This is a gray area in some ways, I agree, as I think more about it.

Does it help to look at this question in another medium? One take: If I make a table from wood, my preferred method is to mill rough-sawn stock by machine (power planer, table saw, etc.), then cut the joints using traditional, meat-powered hand tools (hand planes, hand saws, chisels, rasps, etc.) and smooth the surfaces with a hand plane. If I were taking care to be accurate, I might describe the table as having hand-cut joinery or hand-cut mortise and tenon joints, and then go on to describe the qualities of surfaces from a smoothing plane versus a hand-held power sander, etc. I could not call the table "completely hand made" or the like. If I set up a drill press or a mortising machine to cut the mortises and used a router or band saw to cut the tenons, I would not call the joints "hand cut" even though I operate those machines with my hands.

Another way to ponder it might be in terms of David Pye's "workmanship of risk" vs. "workmanship of certainty." Workmanship of risk describes hand-guided work that could fail at any moment because of human error. Workmanship of certainty describes a type of production where the outcome is more or less guaranteed. If I understand correctly, the type of machine sewing we are talking about with the watch bands is hand-guided and so could fail for want of skill or concentration or other human error. In that sense, you could make a case for calling it hand sewn, and maybe that's what Ron was getting at. Flip side, strictly from a language point of view, to my ear, the first connotation of "hand sewn" is stitching done without the aid of machine.

Getting back to the start of this thread ... in advertisements for public consumption, companies should use language so that consumers can understand their meaning. If "hand sewn" means "hand guided sewing machines" to people working inside the leather industry, that's fine inside the confines of the factory. Every field has its own lingo, and sometimes words overlap with common parlance even when meanings don't. So, if "hand sewn" means "no machine" to John and Jane Q Public, then that's the meaning companies should stick to in advertising.

Disclaimers: I'm just trying to think this over during lunch on a Tuesday in February. I make no claims to omniscience, and I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow. I imply no value judgements regarding machine vs hand work -- high quality work (and garbage) can come from both methods. I expect others to offer different views, and I look forward to hearing them.

[Gregspitz]

I think it takes skill and know how to operate an industrial sewing machine which is proven by all the threads here with people asking questions on how to do this and that.

My favorite part of making straps is sewing them with one of my machines! Hats off to those who hand sew also though!

Great discussion..thanks for participating!

[Gregspitz]

here is another one on a $450 strap different company...knots showing on the top..my worst nightmare!!!

oh the humanity!!!