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Andrew Chen brought me down to the basement of the Self Edge Shop on Orchard St in the East Village where he has his 1960/70s Union Special chain stitch machine stored. While introducing me to the machine and the basic functions Andrew oiled it up in each of it’s many reference points (the exact number slips my memory). The machine has a few functions that it performs to create the hem. The first is that it naturally holds the denim in place to give you a straight line at the hem. The second, the Union Special folds the hem over for you so you don’t have to worry about creating an even hem. And the third is the actual chain stitching. Once that is all done and Andrew made sure there were no fold in the hem, the selvedge was flat, and there were no jumped stitches by advancing by hand every so often and scrutinizing his own work (he redid a hem cause he didn’t like it) he double knotted the thread to ensure that the hem didn’t come undone again.
This is definitely an abridged version of what Andrew has done and in no way can I describe the performance he did with the machine to create such a phenomenal hem. I just hope this gives a little bit of information about one aspect of denim.
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I had owned my RRL Slim Fit raw denim jeans for a little less than 8 months when the chain stitch in the hem came undone. I let the chain stitch take its own natural course for a while till one day I stepped on the loose thread and pulled out the entirety of the chain stitch in the left leg. Having noticed that right leg’s hem will soon follow suit and come to an untimely death I pulled the stitch out. I then took them to the one person I knew with a chain stitch machine and the knowledge to fix them up right, Andrew Chen of Self Edge and 3Sixteen.
Andrew Chen brought me down to the basement of the Self Edge Shop on Orchard St in the East Village where he has his 1960/70s Union Special chain stitch machine stored. While introducing me to the machine and the basic functions Andrew oiled it up in each of it’s many reference points (the exact number slips my memory). The machine has a few functions that it performs to create the hem. The first is that it naturally holds the denim in place to give you a straight line at the hem. The second, the Union Special folds the hem over for you so you don’t have to worry about creating an even hem. And the third is the actual chain stitching. Once that is all done and Andrew made sure there were no fold in the hem, the selvedge was flat, and there were no jumped stitches by advancing by hand every so often and scrutinizing his own work (he redid a hem cause he didn’t like it) he double knotted the thread to ensure that the hem didn’t come undone again.
This is definitely an abridged version of what Andrew has done and in no way can I describe the performance he did with the machine to create such a phenomenal hem. I just hope this gives a little bit of information about one aspect of denim.
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Can anyone explain the benefit of chain-link stitching on the hems? Is there any? My new Acnes have it but a pair of A.P.C’s I saw do not, so will I lose anything if I get a normal straight hem on my jeans?
Steve,
Actually the only real advantage of a chain stitched hem is the manner in which the fades occur along the hem line.
The way the chain stitch creates an alternate pull in both direction causes a pronounced roping effect to appear around the hem as it begins to fade. (particularly when the jeans began as raw, unsanforized denim and have been subject to a soak/shrink session.)
Quite simply, aside from the fading the process, or in many people’s case, the desire to maintain a certain level of “authenticity” in their denims, there is very little reason to opt for and go to the trouble of seeking out a tailor with such a machine. The truth of the matter is that lockstitched hems (like that of your APC’s and most other modern non-repro denim) are actually superior in terms of durability, meaning that they will almost never come unraveled unless cut. On the other hand, a chainstitch will almost certainly come undone at some point in it’s life. Beyond that, the lockstitch machines are quicker, more efficient (less thread), very simple to use and maintain and frankly, they’re much, much easier to come by.
Of course if your jeans started out with a chainstitch (ie: LVC, Flathead, Ironheart, 45rpm, etc) then it would certainly make sense to want to maintain that detail. Aside from that though, lockstitching is generally the preferred industry standard for many reasons.