Hand Vs Machine Stitching

A hand sewn seam and a machine sewn seam. Hand sewn is on the bottom.

I was assigned to take "home economics" in 6th and 7th grade. In that class I learned how to sew, how to bake, and how to balance a checkbook I would never own. Back then, I thought it was a huge waste of time, but looking back, it was one of the few classes I ever took that taught me skills I still use every day.

Needle and thread hold together most of my products one way or another. I offer most products in both machine sewn and hand sewn variants. A few special items can only be hand sewn, and a few items are too large to feasibly sew by hand. These will all be clearly labeled.

A hand stitch forms a much more durable product, but also requires significantly more time and expertise to do well. A sewing machine does not simply do the same job faster, it accomplishes the task through completely different means.

The above diagram shows a cross section of a hand sewn seam. The small overhand knot in each hole not only prevents the seam from unraveling if damaged, that little detail is what gives hand stitching its beautiful, characteristic zig-zag pattern.

A machine on the other hand, produces what is called a lock-stitch. In a lock stitch, the thread never crosses all the way through the leather but instead the top and bottom threads loop (or lock) around each other within the hole and return to their original side. While this can be done many times faster than a person can sew by hand, the end result is inevitably a less durable product. When one stitch breaks, there is nothing to prevent the remainder of the seam from unraveling.

It is not just the difference in the mechanics of stitching either. When hand sewing, I can use thicker and more robust threads. If I tried running those threads through the machine they would immediately jam it up. My hand sewing thread is about twice as thick and has much greater tensile strength and abrasion resistance than my machine threads.

That said, for most of my lighter duty goods, a machine stitch is perfectly sufficient in strength. From a durability standpoint, I only strongly recommend hand sewn goods on items like wallets and key-fobs which will be receive a great deal of abrasive wear in regular daily use.

From an aesthetic standpoint, There are also minor differences which will be noticed by the connoisseur. A hand stitch lays in a more consistent zig-zag pattern, indicative of fine leather work, and the starts and stops of seams are much less noticeable than on machine sewn items.

A machine also leaves a light impression along the seam as the material is pulled through by the presser foot. This is only visible as flashing, or in the way light reflects a bit differently off those areas when viewed from certain angles. This is most noticeable at first and will become less apparent as the leather breaks in and wears in other areas.

The stops and starts of seams on a machine are also larger and more noticeable, and I will accept a small amount of meander on machine sewn items which I would not accept on a hand sewn item.

If impeccable stitching details are desired, the hand stitched option is the way to get that level of attention to detail. The machine stitch is offered to make my goods available to a wider audience and does come with compromises of both durability and aesthetics.