Continuing the look at these two dinner jackets, we start to look at the guts of the coats, the interior workings, starting with the hem felling. The hem has been blind stitched by hand (top left) using a very fine thread- thick wools are easy to do but a fine, tight silk is quite a challenge so I am impressed wit he skill of their hands. In a previous post we saw there was someRead More
Year: 2009
So before we go back to the pagoda shoulder, a side-by-side comparison of two dinner jackets, one by Brioni and one by Samuelsohn. This will be done in several parts as I am too lazy to get it all done in one shot. Samuelsohn is on the low price end of the full-canvas makes and Brioni on the higher end (in this case, the Brioni is easily four times the price of the Samuelsohn, ifRead More
The pick stitch is that little tiny stitch done along the edges of garments to keep the edge flat and crisp and to keep it from rolling to the wrong side. This was traditionally done by hand but machines have been developed which resemble it, some more than others. There are two types of machine pick stitch- one that resembles the hand stitch very closely on both sides, and one that doesn’t. Of the formerRead More
Just bought some cloth for my next suit. A 13/14 oz charcoal flannel from Minnis. We’ll look at constructing the pagoda shoulder when it arrives.
Karen asks about how to construct a pagoda shoulder, but first, a bit of background. Initially known as a “natural” shoulder as it followed the natural curved formed by the hollow between the clavicle and the acromion, the term has been appropriated to denote the round, sloped shoulder seen on Ivy League suits of type sold by Brooks Brothers, Southwick, Paul Stuart, and the like. If we no longer see the pagoda shoulder very often,Read More
I don’t know why I have always hated the term “pagoda shoulders”, but I do. Spalla insellata sounds a little better if you speak Italian but sounds pretentious to those who don’t. Well, whatever. But to something more important. I think that the survival of our craft depends not only on the propagation of the technique but also the survival of our suppliers. It’s getting harder and harder to find the necessary stuff for makingRead More
If you’re just joining us, back up one post first. We were discussing the ironwork involved in making trousers. David asked what the difference would be between a trousers done with this ironwork and one done without. So the first fitting I sewed the seams straight with no manipulation, no fullness, no stretching, no shrinking, and the result was this. Not a very nice line. The hem is turned up at the bottom so itRead More
We’ve been discussing trousers on the T&C forum & it occurred to me that I haven’t really looked at trousers on my blog. Largely because I feel that there is a lot less room for individual expression and nuance in trousers than in jackets, which I, of all people, should know is not really true. I explain. Working in the RTW industry in Canada gives me an interesting perspective in that I sell garments inRead More
Following up from the previous post, and because someone on Ask Andy asked for it, here’s a quick tutorial on sewing buttons on a suit. It’s a little different from sewing buttons on a shirt. Mark your button placement, make a large knot in a length of thread, thread the needle and insert it between the layers, 3/4″ away from the mark, and come out at the mark. Take a small stitch, forming a loop,Read More
Something I’ve been too lazy to do myself- a video on sewing buttonholes by hand. It’s in Japanese but I think the images speak for themselves. Slightly different technique from mine, I will try this one out and report (minus the paper template- how do they get that to stick?). And if anyone speaks japanese and feels inclined to translate I am sure there are many besides just me who would be interested. UPADTE: IRead More