The Flat Head

[Cold Summer]

Awesome wear on those, looks like they've been frequently washed, too.

[Cold Summer]

My 1001s are at nine months of real wear and I just gave them wash number 5, they look awesome.  Hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures for y'all this weekend.  

 

I'm looking forward to the arrival of fall so I can start wearing my flannels again.  Also, I have a few FH things up for sale in my FS thread, check it out in my signature.

[itsbenhere]

Does anyone have any experience with flat head's rayon as it ages?  I seriously dig their new atomic shirt, but i'm afraid that a $300 shirt made out or rayon is a bad idea... it seems like a really delicate fabric?  thoughts?

[kiya]

Does anyone have any experience with flat head's rayon as it ages?  I seriously dig their new atomic shirt, but i'm afraid that a $300 shirt made out or rayon is a bad idea... it seems like a really delicate fabric?  thoughts?

 

From my experience i've never found another rayon shirt that ages in such a nice way as Flat Head or RJB rayon shirts.  They "break in" as a vintage rayon used to, starting off very slick and cool to the touch and over time becoming very soft, almost like a finely brushed cotton.  Some of my older rayon shirts from Flat Head feel like a completely fabric compared to how they felt when new, they're almost like a thin brushed cotton with a very fine texture.

[itsbenhere]

thanks kiya!  do you notice any pilling in the fabric, or does it only get soft?

[kiya]

thanks kiya!  do you notice any pilling in the fabric, or does it only get soft?

 

Yup, light pilling does take place as it should on any good rayon.  

A poorly made rayon will never have any pilling anywhere on the fabric, it'll react to wear over time like a polyester fabric. 

Edited August 26, 2014 by kiya

[edmond]

how do you wAsh rayon? will they shrink when they touch water?

[Ceffyl]

Hi folks, quick question: since I started out with raw denim, I've been washing my jeans using special detergent for dark-coloured clothes. Am I wasting my time with this stuff? After all, I don't actually want them to stay dark. Should I just use regular detergent? 

[reallypeacedoff]

Dude, I use a little bit of whatever and usually a hot wash, hang dry... Never been bothered with the marketing of denim only stuff. My jeans have turned out fine (I think).

 

SE05BSP

 

SExI14

 

 

[tmadd]

Hi folks, quick question: since I started out with raw denim, I've been washing my jeans using special detergent for dark-coloured clothes. Am I wasting my time with this stuff? After all, I don't actually want them to stay dark. Should I just use regular detergent? 

 

When I buy detergent, I buy Woolite dark because there is no harm to using that with my non-denim clothing, and the idea that it might be marginally better for color vibrancy in everything (not just the jeans) makes it worth the extra couple bucks to me when it's there…plus it makes it easy for me to decide what to grab.  That said, if I need to wash my jeans, and I don't have it around, I'll use whatever is around that doesn't have bleach in it.  I also prefer using liquids to powders, but even that isn't a rule.

[Maynard Friedman]

Ceffyl - I use Ecover non-bio liquid.

[B-Sandy]

Took a couple quick progress pics of my 3002s. Worn a little over a month, washed once. 

 

[YoloMyPillow]

Turn the jeans inside out and turn the seam allowance over in that area - this will give you a good view of the seam.

The outer leg seam is traditionally done with a double chainstitch type. There are a lot of advantages to this stitch class, but a skipped stitch or missed loop can easily show the main disadvantage of the stitch class - it can unravel.

I would think that TFH's inline QA/QC system (quality assurance/quality control) will check these seams directly after sewing. As the others have pointed out we rarely see or hear about unraveling outside leg seam unraveling with TFH's jeans...

 

I got concerned only when i noticed this hole in the outseam, so i thought they might have missed a stitch.

 

 

But it seems that when i turned the jeans inside out, the stitching looks fine (to me at least)

 

 

the only thing i noticed is that the stitching in that particular area appears a bit more sparse and not as tight as the rest of the outseam. 

[edmond]

again thats. good point but can we move on? and thank you for pointing out this outseam stitch to us . we will try to qc/qa all the outseam stitches on our pairs.

[okisan]

what Ed said.

 

i have some Iron hearts that have it worse than this, and have been since day one. it's been 18mths now since i first put them on and it has amounted to less than nothing.

 

your jeans are fine. wear & move on.

[regedit]

that's normal.. nothing to be worried.. 

[Foxy2]

I got concerned only when i noticed this hole in the outseam, so i thought they might have missed a stitch.

 

 

...

the only thing i noticed is that the stitching in that particular area appears a bit more sparse and not as tight as the rest of the outseam.

The effect that you see in this picture is called "grinning" or "seam grinning" - it is normal and the amount of grinning depends on the stitch density/stitch count, the stitch type/class and the machine settings to allow for excess thread length to be available within the seam.

Going into the details here has got very little to do with TFH and would probably irritate most here - rest assured that your pair seems to be fine in this regard.

[YoloMyPillow]

thanks guys, i wasnt trying to be overly concerned (if thats how it appeared to be)

 

on a side note, just over a month in and im starting to see some evo. being my first pair of raws, it's a really exciting time. 

[SuperJackle]

I know how it is. Especially on your first pair of high dollar jeans. I went through a few pair of 3sixteens etc before I bought a pair of rjb, and never had experience with any of these "nuances" in the japanese brands such as weird stitching areas(BTW my rjb's have them in multiple spots). Its alarming when you drop that kind of money and immediately think you got a bad pair.

[saintkeat]

Since we're on the subject of Flat Head stitches, I thought it might be interesting for some of you to know that a lot of the stitching on my pair is coming apart.

As far as I know, my right back pocket has stitching coming off the bottom to the point I can pry the piece up. On the left of the same back pocket, there's stitching coming loose to the point its a pretty big hole into the pocket. I can almost stick two fingers in and feel my wallet.

 

Quite a bit of stitching on the inseam has come off but I'm not too concerned because it's just the outer stitch.

 

Stitching at the bottom of my fly has come off completely. Can almost fit a pinkie through the hole.

A bit of thread came off on my right front pocket but that's completely normal and fine.

 

I'm holding off any minor repairs just to see how far the stitch quality has fallen. If anyone is clueless which pair I'm breaking, its the 3001-A. If you guys need any photos let me know. I'm a little disappointed because I've been taking it pretty easy on this pair (because my life has been more about work and less adventuring now).

[Mikeyone4life]

I bought a pair of used Flat Heads my friend found at Buffalo Exchange and they were a nightmare. They were bought with maybe 2-3 months wear tops, looked almost new. However, after a week or two of me wearing the back rise seam's stitching was falling apart and it didn't take long for the crotch to fall apart. Never had an experience like that with jeans. Within 3-4 months I did probably just as many repairs.

[itsbenhere]

Flat head's stitching may not be the most robust, but I seriously love how it looks once it's been worn a while...i'm surprised that the pair danny showed had no problems as it looked pretty worn in.

[tmadd]

That's cotton stitching. No excuses for skipped stitches, but stitches breaking is a result of a materials choice that is a considered feature of the jeans.

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

Everything that motivates The Flat Head originates in the 1950s and their denim and fabrics are unparalleled. 

The fading of the cotton stitching is a must for some yet its weakness disappoints others. Most jean styles are now being introduced with a polycotton constructional stitching option but at a considerably higher price point.

[Broark]

Figured I would ask here as well as the SE thread.

Curious if anyone has this wallet in particular: http://www.selfedge.com/wallets?product_id=802

I'm in the market for a new wallet and was curious to hear some impressions.

[Cold Summer]

Keat, have you washed your jeans yet?  I've found that with cotton stitching, regular washing is the difference between stitches that last a long time, and breakage.  It's probably more of an issue with FH because their loomstate denim is rougher and puts more stress on the stitching than a softer sanforized fabric. 

 

Anyway... here are my 1001s at nine months' real wear time and five machine washes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Quoise1203]

Those might be among my favorite flatheads ever. Great looking jeans.

[reallypeacedoff]

Looking awesome CS!

[saintkeat]

I've washed this pair 3 times in the last 7 months. That's more than I've ever done I assure you.

Most of my denims go between 8-12 months before the first wash.

[Grim Jarno]

Really nice evo on those Jean CS! Love the vibrant indigo color I'm definitely going to wash my 1001s more often then I used to.

Do you also have a recent fitpic??