What's all the hubub about hand stiching?

[Tobus]

Hand stitching seems practical to me because it seems to produce a better swing to the kilt and to give the klit a bit more flexibility under stress than machine stitching.

I'm asking out of sheer ignorance here, but how would the type of stitching affect the swing of the kilt?

[Barb T]

Doesn't seem to me that it would. What governs the swing is the relative depth of the fell (the stitched portion of the pleats) - too long and the pleats don't swing, too short and the pleats are "flippy" instead of "swingy" - and the weight of the tartan in the back of the kilt (so a kilt with identical fells and identical depth pleats will swing better in heavier weight tartan). I can't see what difference it would make whether they were hand or machine stitched.