Machine stitches that look hand-sewn

[JohnH]

Hi All,

I came across some machine stitching on one of my kilts that looks like it was hand-sewn. I bought a black kilt off eBay a while back that was too long. I knew it would be, but the price was so low that I figured I could just hem it & save a lot of money. After it arrived, I saw that it's embroidered logo (where the kilt pin goes) was too close to the selvedge.

So, after building my first kilt, I had the confidence to tackle it from the top. After dismantling the top of the kilt, I opened up the seam to put in the new strap hole & found, to my surprise that it had been machine stitched. From the outside it looks just like hand stitches, but there are 2 interlocking threads in there.

It's a bit difficult to see because it is black on black. My question is; how was it done & can we do it ourselves without having to buy an industrial robot?

[ccga3359]

We have our own crests made up for my Coast guard unit. All we have is a floppy disc with the coded instruction for an embroidery machine. Several places can do embroidery such as Stitch-It (found in most malls in Ontario) they also have numerous patterns already, you may luck out and find designs such as the rampant lion and such.

[JohnH]

I had looked into that possibility, but I guess I didn't look hard enough.

Can't do that now as I have cut 2" off the top already.

[ccga3359]

I had looked into that possibility, but I guess I didn't look hard enough.

Can't do that now as I have cut 2" off the top already.

I believe that this is the proper way to shorten a kilt though. Besides you keep the original embroidery and selvage.

[davidlpope]

Is there anyone out there with info about machine sewing the pleats in a way that looks like hand-sewing? I've sewn lower priced kilts which are topsewn down the edge of the pleat. But I've also seen kilts where the stitching on the pleats is basically invisible. Closer inspection makes it seem like the stitching is by machine.

Cordially,
David

[ccga3359]

I don't think that machine stitching will ever look like hand sewn. Hand sewn pulls the thread into to fabric that a machine can't. The only hing you can do is to get thread that matches as close as possible the colour of the fabric. Also sew the visible portion of the pleat face up as the underside is never as neat as the top side. And try a longer stitch.

[pdcorlis]

Ask Rocky - he knows...

[The Wizard of BC]

Actually that technique is used by many kiltmakers who machine sew but don't want anyone to know. It involves laying the fabric good face to good face so that they are aligned properly for the taper, making a line of stitching, then folding the pleat back to cover the stitches.

It takes quite the finesse to get everything aligned blind. Rocky is a master at it.

[JohnH]

Thanks Steve, I thought it might be like that, but decided that you could only do it with an exotic machine. It really does look very convincing.

[RockyR]

It's not that people (like me) that machine sew don't want people to know, we just want to hide the stitches as best we can. Sewing "inside out" as I call it, works very well for that.

Basically, you have to put the "good sides" together and match up the horizontal stripes. Then you have to pin each one down (using about 10 pins) to make sure it doesn't shift. Sew the line and open up the fabric. If the horizontal lines give a "stair" effect (i.e. they don't match up perfectly), you have to rip out the pleat (and all the work you just did) and re-do it. My rule of thumb is if the lines are off by 2 threads or more, it should be re-done.

It takes me about the same ammount of time to make a kilt this way as it does Barb... we had this discussion when she came into the shop last August. I machine sew as much of a Premier as I can b/c I hate hand sewing. I can't avoid it on the horsehair canvas reinforcement or the lining, but I CAN do it on the pleats without showing stitches.