As many other expressions of couture, the making of gloves is a meticulous job with a beautiful result. The quality of the materials and the skill of the craftsman can turn a simple pair of gloves into a work of art. This is the process for the glove, in which the selection of raw materials and processing techniques are fundamental.
The manufacture of quality gloves is handcrafted from start to finish, where machines are only in a helping role.
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Selection of Hides
The choice of the hides is the preliminary stage and is important for the correct implementation of the entire production cycle. Hides with natural defects are discarded and then the hides are divided by thickness. The hides will be refined (honed) and dyed before further proceeding with the first process phase.
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Tannery and Tanning
The creation of a glove occurs in the tannery. The first work of the tanner is to give a new lease of life to the skins. The skins are then trimmed and drenched in whitewash for a week. Moreover, they are prepared for the tanning, an indispensable step that stabilizes the state of the skin and makes it rot-proof. Finally come the last steps: the softening of the skins that give them flexibility, the dye and the choice of the thickness of the skin.
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Cutting
This is where all starts. The hide is “pulled” on wooden boards to prevent sagging and future slacking, hand cut with scissors, precision lines and cardboard calibers. Gloves and thumbs are cut separately and matched based on shades. In table cutting, excessive spacing is stretched out of the skins before the gloves are cut, but they nevertheless leave a fit for adaptation. This ensures that the gloves do not run long, but retain their excellent fit.
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Sewing and Finishing
The split glove is then assembled in the sewing phase. The forks, strips of leather between the fingers, are sown to the glove and the back of the palm is joined. This gives the glove its body. Once sewn, the glove is finished by adding the various distinctive details of each model such as buttons, decorated cuffs and straps. Another particularly critical point in hand-made is their consistency. Even a slight deviation in the sewing footprint immediately affects the size of the glove and its fit, so the work of seamstresses is really millimeter.
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Finished by hand
Once the leather has been cut, the pieces that make up a glove are sewn together by either hand or machine known as a “pique anglais”, and the lining inserted. In the case of covering, gloves are also affixed to labels on material and care instructions and size designation. The gloves are then dressed on iron plates before ironed and polished to give them their final shape and finish.
