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Out of interest what are the benefits of a hand sewn garment vs something that is tailored, but using machines? Edit: not sure why I am being downvoted, genuin

Out of interest what are the benefits of a hand sewn garment vs something that is tailored, but using machines? Edit: not sure why I am being downvoted, genuinely curious if there is a material difference or if it is just the more ethical thing to support.

droopyEyelids 3y ago
GP put a parenthetical in their post that indicates they mean tailored (the way you're using it)
harimau777 3y ago
I think I chose my terminology poorly. I was avoiding the term "tailored" because to me that could imply something custom made (e.g. taking someone's measurements and then making a suit or dress pattern specifically to fit them) whereas I mean something made individually but using an off the shelf pattern. However, to your question: To me I don't see a lot of advantage in hand sewing for most applications. However, that's not the area of sewing that I specialize in, so someone who was really into it would likely have a different opinion! That being said, I can think of some specialized situations where hand sewing would be necessary or have an advantage, and I'm sure there are others that I don't know about: There are certain specialized hand stitches that can produce unique effects. For example, blind stitches (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_stitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_stitch) can be used to join fabric without a visible stitch thread. Smocking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smocking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smocking) is a specialized hand sewing technique for creating ruffles or gathers in fabric; either to make them form fitting (without using elastic or knit fabrics) or for decoration. A lot of the characters in House of the Dragon wear clothing with gathers in them that sort of look like scales; that's smocking. Certain things like sewing on sequins can be done with a machine but it's a machine that most people don't own. My favorite example of this is sashiko (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashiko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashiko). Sashiko is a beautiful Japanese style of embroidery originally developed to reenforce fabrics. However, it is generally done using a running stitch (the basic up and down stitch with a needle such that there are visible gaps between each stitch) which most sewing machines can't do. The most obvious application is historical reenactment. That could be done either to achieve a period appropriate effect (for example one of the techniques I described above) or just to maintain authenticity.
- ActionHank 3y ago
  Thank you!

droopyEyelids 3y ago

GP put a parenthetical in their post that indicates they mean tailored (the way you're using it)

harimau777 3y ago

I think I chose my terminology poorly. I was avoiding the term "tailored" because to me that could imply something custom made (e.g. taking someone's measurements and then making a suit or dress pattern specifically to fit them) whereas I mean something made individually but using an off the shelf pattern. However, to your question: To me I don't see a lot of advantage in hand sewing for most applications. However, that's not the area of sewing that I specialize in, so someone who was really into it would likely have a different opinion! That being said, I can think of some specialized situations where hand sewing would be necessary or have an advantage, and I'm sure there are others that I don't know about: There are certain specialized hand stitches that can produce unique effects. For example, blind stitches (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_stitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_stitch) can be used to join fabric without a visible stitch thread. Smocking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smocking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smocking) is a specialized hand sewing technique for creating ruffles or gathers in fabric; either to make them form fitting (without using elastic or knit fabrics) or for decoration. A lot of the characters in House of the Dragon wear clothing with gathers in them that sort of look like scales; that's smocking. Certain things like sewing on sequins can be done with a machine but it's a machine that most people don't own. My favorite example of this is sashiko (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashiko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashiko). Sashiko is a beautiful Japanese style of embroidery originally developed to reenforce fabrics. However, it is generally done using a running stitch (the basic up and down stitch with a needle such that there are visible gaps between each stitch) which most sewing machines can't do. The most obvious application is historical reenactment. That could be done either to achieve a period appropriate effect (for example one of the techniques I described above) or just to maintain authenticity.

ActionHank 3y ago
Thank you!