Garment sewing: Looking homemade? Ok or not?

[peanutter]

Really interesting difference even in the vibe behind the phrases "home made" -v- "hand made". Interesting!

The former suggests the thoughts of shoddy, cheap, can't afford to buy, Amelia Sedley making funny old shirts for Georgie, etc.

The later suggests vintage, bespoke, tailored, unique, etc.

As for "it looks home made" I don't know that occurs to me or comes up much in that context - but whether something looks good and of good quality absolutely does.

For example, we used to wear a lot of hand made clothes when I was growing up - some was obvious (knitted things from Grandma) which were poo-pooed at primary school as being povo, but esteemed at high school as being unique and lovingly made - and some were not obvious, just as nondescript things sewed by my mum, which you wouldn't necessarily know weren't off the shelf.

As a grown up, it's really about quality.

For example, I commented on a client's outfit a few weeks ago - it wasn't my style, but I could tell it was stylish, and I was very surprised to learn that she had made it, and that she made most of her clothes. Now, I would never have guessed that - not because I had any reason to think that she couldn't sew, or sew well, or because I was surprised someone would be stilled enough to make her clothes, but because it was her! She is an incredibly busy woman, who bills at around $600 an hour, and I never had pictured her sewing. In the same way that my clients probably can't imagine me coming home and having tickle fights with my kids, and then doing some watercolours. But my point is that it's all about quality, not where it was made, in my opinion.

Home made often also means reinforced stitching, buttons sewed on properly, and the zips done well - things that you don't always get off the rack these days. So in a lot of ways home made is actually much, much better

[Phteven]

The quality of mass produced clothing these days is so awful that I would imagine that hand-made would be much better.

[Lenny]

Hand made. Beautiful. Such a craft.

All those mass produced stuff where the cotton hasn't been lined up properly and they twist and don't sit nicely. I adore seeing my little nieces in hand made clothing. It's mostly easier for girls, I really mean that. Boys shirts and shorts with all the pockets etc are beyond me.

My mum knitted two beautiful jumpers for my boys. They are just stunning. It tears me up that the eldest is so badly irritated by the wool that he refuses point blank to wear his. I know how much work went into them.

I would have loved some more store bought clothes as a child. Mum made lots of basic clothes out of old curtains . Now I appreciate it more.

[Astrid]

It is interesting and I suspect the responses would be quite different if I asked elsewhere.

I have read comments about "ill-fitting", which I find odd, as many commercial clothes can be ill-fitting. Commercial clothes are made on such different machines, that are made specially to just sew one thing. How can home sewers compare?

I think I like the concept of hand made with care

My mother used to make my school uniforms in the early year. The Uniform department sold the correct fabric and patterns. There actually was no way to tell the difference between home sewn and commercial, as they were made from the exact same fabric. It must have been common enough to home sew 30 years ago for them to actually sell what was needed.