Topstitching 101- Tailoring #2

Salut everyone!

This past week in my tailoring class we were talking about a wonderful thing called topstitching. What is topstitching you ask? Well... it's exactly how it sounds! Usually the goal of stitching is to hold the garment together without you seeing the stitching, but topstitching goes on the top of the garment to give it some texture or to give a part of the garment some emphasis without going crazy. Picture!

So these jeans are topstitched around the zipper, around the waistband and the pockets. This one gives more emphasis than usual, topstitching is usually done with matching thread. But it doesn't have to be, you can do whatever color you want depending on what look you want. This can give it a deconstructed look if paired with certain materials. It gives it some texture and some visual interest. And I think it gives a garment more personality. Garments are kind of like people- we all have a personality and our quirks and things that make us special, and I think topstitching gives garments that.

It is super simple to do too, all you do is make a little longer stitch that what you've sewn the rest of your garment with so it is more visible, and voila! You have lots of creative liberties with it, you can do a contrasting color, a matching color, you can do it all over your garment, only in some places, etc. It's pretty awesome! Typically where you topstitch is around the zipper of pants, on jeans the pockets are usually done, on jackets usually around the sleeves and around the lapel sometimes, I've seen it on collars on collared shirts and on the plackets of button-down shirts.

Fun Fact!!! You can tell a more high-end garment from an inexpensive one if it has topstitching. It gives it a much more crisp and polished finish. It takes a more time and more thread to do so that therefore would make the cost of the garment go up. That's why cheaper stores don't typically have those elements in their clothes. When you see topstitching on a garment you know it's better quality, because the sewer put more time and effort into it. The customer knows they get quality when the work is shown on the outside not just on the inside. And now... Picture time!

Well, I think that is about it for me! I hope the next time you go shopping you start to see topstitching on the garments in stores!

As always, vivre la mode tout le monde!