/The Reckless Conversations/
EPISODE 6
The Finishings
Finishings are the secret language of garment making. They are small details that reveal how much someone cared when they made it.

In the early ateliers of Europe and Asia, how you finished a garment said everything about your craft.
A clean finished seam, a hand-rolled hem, an edge bound neatly — these weren’t decoration. They were discipline. They kept fabric strong through wash and wear, long before the term ‘sustainability’ existed.

In China, the insides of traditional robes, especially high-status garments, were bound with fine silk tape, protecting embroidery and giving garments the same grace inside and out.
And across Southeast Asia, batik and kebaya makers would finish hems by hand, stitch by stitch, to prevent snags & preserve the integrity of the cloth.

At Reckless Ericka, we carry that same belief.
Inside every piece, you’ll find clean seams, smooth edges, and hems that hold their shape.

On sheer fabrics, we use piping or French seams — techniques that enclose every raw edge so nothing frays, nothing irritates, and the garment feels as graceful inside as it looks outside.
When we do use overlock, we choose the four-thread finish — stronger, more secure, and more durable than standard three-thread seams. It reinforces the fabric without adding bulk, built to last through years of wear.

For hems, we choose what the design calls for.
- A rolled hem for floaty silhouettes — light, airy, barely there.
- An interfaced facing, about four to five centimetres deep, for garments that need structure and weight.
Each finish is chosen for how it supports the fabric, the shape, & the life of the garment.
Because finishing, to us, is invisible design — beauty you can’t always see, but you can always feel.

 
    




