Why pick stitching?

Is there a functional advantage to pick stitching?

I know a lot of people seem to like the way it looks, but it doesn't really appeal to me. It makes the lapels look a bit wrinkled to my eye. Why is it often considered a mark of a quality garment?

There is pick stitching and then there is pick stitching. I don't like too much pick stitching on my garments and the machine kind I tried to avoid if it looks to "machine like". The hand stitching you describe on the lapels where they actually wrinkle I find quite appealing when done right. Actually, I find that gorgeous. I don't like the two rows of stitching that people like Solito do on lapels and most RTW brands that do machine stitching do it badly. A subtle hand stitch though, is a thing of beauty.

It signifies hand work, even when done by machine. Some view it as a sign of higher quality.

Really good pick-stitching is often barely visible. Really bad pick-stitching, or faux pick-stitching is just that--a cheap attempt to make a cheap garment look hand-made when it's not. Like Kitons.

cuase it looks good.

Why pick stitching?

Why bevelled waist on the pair of shoes?

Why functional buttons on a sleeve?

Why alligator leather for anything?

Because it looks cool. Because it signify that some amount of handwork has gone into the process of construction.

But mainly, because it assumes high quality.

I'm a chef-instructor and I recall making crabcakes at my first cooking job. I really worked on getting them perfect when the chef came by and said, "Don't make them too perfect, I do want them to look handmade!"

Now really, how often have you seen crab cake and pick stitching in the same thread?

Originally Posted by Grayland

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I'm a chef-instructor and I recall making crabcakes at my first cooking job. I really worked on getting them perfect when the chef came by and said, "Don't make them too perfect, I do want them to look handmade!"

Now really, how often have you seen crab cake and pick stitching in the same thread?

Strange, would not the artisanal touch, "handmade", be better for the dish than the cookie-cutter machine made look?

Maybe that's why the guy is an instructor instead of a restaurant chef. Those who can, do, those who can't, teach.

Originally Posted by Grayland

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I'm a chef-instructor and I recall making crabcakes at my first cooking job. I really worked on getting them perfect when the chef came by and said, "Don't make them too perfect, I do want them to look handmade!"

Now really, how often have you seen crab cake and pick stitching in the same thread?

You don't. That's why you are now banned from posting. Just kidding.

Originally Posted by lee_44106

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Strange, would not the artisanal touch, "handmade", be better for the dish than the cookie-cutter machine made look?

I think that is actually what he was getting at.
I guess it is like the dimpled neapolitan shoulder, perfection in the imperfection.
How do you tell hand-made from machine made pick stitches?

By the way, Lee, that dog should ease off the Puppy Chow

It looks good when done right, especially on the lapels and back of collar, gives it a bit depth.

It is also functional. On the jacket edge there are four layers of cloth, the facing + seam outlet, the jacket body + seam outlet, then a layer of canvass plus edge tape ( most of the time but not always edge tape).

The pick stitch holds the multiple layers neatly together and adds structure so the edge does not roll over. When the edge rolls over you see the under side of the jacket body or the facing edge below the button and this is a bad thing. When the lapel facing is applied by hand and not by machine, the pick stitch is the only thing holding the cloth together. That is the way I learned to do lapels in my apprenticeship but it is rarely done today.

If you do not want pick stitching it is called a bluff edge. Still difficult to make because the outlets under the facing are stitched by hand to the canvass to keep the edge in place and create the structure needed to keep the edge straight.

Originally Posted by Grayland

Click to expand...

I'm a chef-instructor and I recall making crabcakes at my first cooking job. I really worked on getting them perfect when the chef came by and said, "Don't make them too perfect, I do want them to look handmade!"

Now really, how often have you seen crab cake and pick stitching in the same thread?

Originally Posted by lee_44106

Click to expand...

Strange, would not the artisanal touch, "handmade", be better for the dish than the cookie-cutter machine made look?

Maybe that's why the guy is an instructor instead of a restaurant chef. Those who can, do, those who can't, teach.

Don't worry Grayland, I get it.

I insist on it, I wont wear jackets with out it.
If I find a jacket that I love that doesnt have it, I add it.

Originally Posted by antirabbit

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I insist on it, I wont wear jackets with out it.
If I find a jacket that I love that doesnt have it, I add it.

Great idea! You can pick up cheap scarves in Time Square; why not have a guy add pick stitching to your jacket while you wait.