It is weird. The term “handmade” is considered a mark of quality in fashion, but “homemade” has an entirely different connotation. When someone says something looks “homemade”, it often implies that it doesn’t look professionally made. No brand wants their garments to look unprofessional – including brands who do produce their pieces in a home studio. So how do you avoid a homemade look and instead imbue a garment with polished quality? There are a few areas that make all the difference.
Seams and finishes
The difference between homemade and professional-looking clothes is found in the seams. They aren’t constructed in the same way. This difference starts even before production in the pattern itself. Home sewing patterns use large seam allowance – often ?” – whereas factory-made clothing uses much smaller seam allowances and they vary based on the type of stitch and area of the garment. Smaller seam allowances allow more precise sewing, plus they are optimized for the type of machine that sews each stitch.
The stitches used on each seam is another tell of homemade versus professional garment construction. A homemade garment might use fewer types of stitches or use ones that aren’t quite right for the fabric and situation. For example, you might see seam allowances zig zagged or pinked instead of overlocked on the inside. While, at certain times in history, these types of finishes were common on factory-made garments, they aren’t what you see in garments today. A homemade garment without the standard finishes can look unfinished.
Other stitch differences come from similar workarounds. For example, a homemade garment might use a single needle lockstitch (your classic straight stitch) where a chainstitch would be more appropriate for the stretch of the fabric. The look of the stitch is similar, but the function is not ideal.
Using the industry standard seams and appropriate stitching for the fabric and area of the garment will instantly make a garment look more professional. Customers might not know why, but they see your brand as more legitimate.
Machinery and equipment
The reason why homemade-looking garments use fewer types of stitches and use workarounds is that the typical home studio doesn’t have the breadth of equipment that a professional apparel factory does. These machine constraints end up showing up in the garments.
We already talked about the seams and finishes, but the quality of sewing can be affected too. I will tell you, it is much easier to get professional-looking results from industrial machines than from home sewing machines. It takes a very skilled sewer to be able to get professional-level results from amateur equipment.
It goes beyond machines too. Factories use different machine feet, binders, folders, and other machine attachments to precisely control and speed up sewing. Some things like bindings that are tricky to do manually on a home machine are super easy to do with the right industrial equipment. Homemade-looking garments often suffer from inconsistent quality without the proper tools to assist the construction.
It is understandable that a home studio has fewer machines than a factory. An individual has more limited space and budget and it doesn’t make sense to invest in expensive machines you won’t use often. If you plan to be the one producing your brand’s garments for a while and you want to level up your production quality, though, I recommend investing in industrial tools and equipment where you can. They are actually less expensive than many fancy home sewing machines and will do the job much better.
If you can’t invest in more or better machines yet, you can design your garments and choose fabrics with the machines you have in mind. Playing to your strengths here not only avoids a homemade look, but buys you efficiency, consistency, and sewing speed.
By the way, this strategy doesn’t just apply to brands making their garments in a home studio. It is the same approach I use when working on the technical design and patternmaking for my clients. Early in development, I ask the factory what machines and capabilities they have and design the garment construction accordingly. When there is a mismatch between the desired finishes and machinery available, even a highly skilled, professional garment factory produces homemade-looking results.
Processes and standards
Factory production processes are developed for efficiency, consistency, and quality. There is more purpose and, you could say, rigidity to the order of operations. Specialized machines sew only a certain way with certain seam allowances. All of this planning results in sewing standards that give factory-made garments their quality. If you are producing your brand’s products yourself in a home studio, it can be tempting to overlook process development.
Do you sew the style the same way every time? Have you found the most efficient way to construct the garment? The order things get sewn affects the quality and sometimes even the feasibility. (If you’ve ever sewn yourself into a loop that you couldn’t turn right side out, you know what I mean). Professionally sewn garments use the order of operations to not only create the garment, but to enable its functionality and control its quality.
Taking the time to develop efficient processes and set sewing standards for your brand refines the end product. A homemade-looking garment can look like a first experiment where you had to work it out and make adjustments as you went along. A professional looking garment looks like it was made with a plan because it was. Test your process beforehand so that by the time you start making production orders, you know they will meet a high standard every time.
Ultimately, it is not the fact that it is made at a home studio that makes a garment look “homemade”. It is a lack of the right machines, equipment, and processes for the job that give it an unprofessional appearance. Wherever you produce your garments and regardless of whether you yourself are doing the sewing, design seams appropriate for your fabric and production capabilities. When you do, the clothes you make in your home studio can rival the quality of even the best factories.