Stitching in Men’s Suits

The stitching obviously holds all the parts of the suit together, but that applies to the styling as well as the construction. The stitching demonstrates the quality of the work of the designer or tailor – high quality suits require firm and neat stitches on different parts of men’s suits.

When it comes to the construction of a man’s suit, hand stitching is always associated with a better finish – and because of the amount of handwork required, and the degree of expertise involved, handmade men’s suits command a higher price than off-the-rack machine-stitched equivalents.

The hand stitching of men’s suits is seen to best effect in the details; seams, pockets and buttonholes all hold up better even when the suit is used extensively. The hand stitching will not tend to pucker in the way that machine-stitching can.

More generally, though, a handmade suit will be more flexible. It will adjust according to the movements and rhythm of your body, and over time will settle into the best shape for your body. If you have come across suits that move according to the motion of the wearer, they are, by all means, handmade.

Machine stitching is the norm for off-the-rack and many made-to-measure men’s suits. Hand stitching may result in a suit that hangs better and conforms more easily to the wearer’s shape; but machine stitching has improved substantially in recent years, and the cost advantages remain considerable.

Machine made suits are durable, and machine stitching can certainly beat the hand-sewn alternative in terms of the precision and tightness of the stitch.