A Stitch in Time

I don't understand clothing manufacturers and thread. Every single one of my pants, no matter how high or low quality I purchase, needs to have the stitching on the buttons replaced regularly. Luckily, I have some needles and thread and can accomplish this, but I hate that I have to.

A friend of mine has a good theory: manufacturers need to cut costs wherever they can. The thread used is one of the few areas where they can do this. And, think about it, the amount and quality of thread used to make clothes adds up.

I think she's on to something.

If you have a standardized process by which a sewing machine makes one hundred stitches in order to hold a button on a pair of pants with your average type of thread, then, if you cut the quality of the thread or the number of stitches, the savings per button sewed could equal inches of thread saved. Those inches of thread are then available for another button. Over the course of a day's work, this could add up to industrial-sized spools of thread saved for the next day.

I am sure it is acceptable to them that their wearers have to have alterations done after a shorter period of time. It is not them, after all, who has to make these alterations; the seller of the pants (if a higher-end place) or the owners make these changes. Or the owner goes and buys a new pair of pants. Either way, I guess, is good for the pants business in the long run.

However, I keep getting stuck on this end result: I have to buy pants and immediately add a few dozen passes with my own needle and thread, or pop a button after only a few washes and wears!