Why I refuse to use a sewing machine
Medina, Fez, Morocco
Documented by Nour Benkirane
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An Amussu regional coordinator has visited this artisan in person, seen the workspace, and confirmed they make what they sell. This is the strongest verification we issue.
A sewing machine stitch uses one thread looped through itself. If the thread breaks anywhere, the whole seam can unravel. Saddle stitch uses two needles and two threads locked through each other. If the thread breaks at one point, the rest of the seam holds.
Cultural context
My uncle told me to never buy a sewing machine. He said it would make me faster and worse. I was eighteen and I thought that was old-fashioned. He was right. The speed you gain is not speed in the work — it is speed toward mediocrity. A machine stitch penetrates the leather with a rotating hook. It stresses the leather at the perforation. You can feel the difference when you hold a saddle-stitched piece — the thread sits in the leather, not on it. When a bag I made five years ago comes back to me for new stitching, the leather at the original perforations is still clean. I have never seen that with machine-stitched leather.
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Nour Benkirane
Leatherwork — bags and belts · Medina, Fez
Verified in person— what this means
An Amussu regional coordinator has visited this artisan in person, seen the workspace, and confirmed they make what they sell. This is the strongest verification we issue.