The leather craftsman Hiroshi Inai (read his story) takes two hours to hand stitch leather that would take only five minutes using a sewing machine.
One of the benefits of hand stitching is its strength. Hand stitching gives strength to leather goods. Machine stitching has a front thread and a back thread. The front thread loops around the back thread when it is sewn. If machine stitched thread is cut, the stitching will come undone for several stitches on either side. Hand stitching uses two needles and the “saddle stitch” method and will not come undone on both sides if cut.
The best thing about hand stitching is the beauty of hand sewn leather goods, thanks to the lines of waxed linen thread stitches.
The leather craftsman Hiroshi Inai uses "couture sellier" techniques which are French high end saddlery leatherwork methods. He believes that beauty is not about the visual look alone. The beauty comes from its totality, including its quality. The quality is an integral component of the visual look. So he insists on hand stitching, even though it is time consuming.
Hiroshi creates leather products for his label named “qan:savi.” The name is derived from an ancient Japanese concept in which aged objects are seen as dignified or divine.
The beautiful hand stitching with waxed linen thread will remain beautiful as you use the product over time.
View the qan:savi collection