Made by Hand, Machine, or 3D?
I have some very sad news. Agreman Gimp is no longer. A friend reached out to see where I was buying my gimp these days. I had stocked up a while ago so hadn’t bought any in a while. I once did a group buy of gimp for people so since I figured I would reach out to Gutermann to buy some boxes and set up a little web store in the US to distributeRead More
One of the most frequent questions I get is “where can I find the threads you use for buttonholes?” My go-to gimp is Agreman and the silk twist I usually use is R753, both products by Gutermann. It has sometimes been challenging to find it at retail, especially in the U.S., but there is now a new source over here. I haven’t used them- the National Sales Manager at Gutermann is a friend and sheRead More
For Mike, who says he still doesn’t get it. I hope this helps. (Sorry that the illustrations are rotated from the photos, but maybe this will actually help) 1.Cut through the cloth, overcast, and lay a length of gimp. Do not wax the silk twist. Unlike regular buttonholes which start from the top, the twist must be anchored on the bottom of the hole (on the wrong side). Feed the needle through the slit, thenRead More
So I had another little moment of insight. Or maybe my thickheadedness deserted me briefly. I was contemplating my lapel buttonholes last week, the by now infamous asola lucida ones, that is, and finding them just too chunky, especially when compared to some nicer ones like the Tom Ford. The thread I am using is just too heavy. To wit Mine And theirs Silk buttonhole twist is only available in two sizes these days, theRead More
I think the Asolsa Lucida, or glossy buttonhole (the example above being from a Tom Ford garment), originated in the Abruzzi region of Italy as it is most commonly seen on garments made in this area. It is also very common in Paris, where it is known as the boutonnière Milanaise, though likely for the brand of gimp that was commonly used and not the city; it is worth noting that most of the grandRead More
The image above is the wrapper for an old spool of gimp, “vergolina” being the Italian word for gimp, and La Milanese being the brand name. I am guessing that this is how the French came to know gimp as “Milanaise”, and thus the Milanese buttonhole would have found its name. Conjecture, but likely. I’ve discussed this buttonhole a few times, mainly because I didn’t know how to do it and that was driving meRead More
I’ve been asked about my buttonholes a few times, mainly by people wanting to know how to do them. There’s a good set of printed instructions here but I have a few things to add to it. The type of cloth will dictate how narrow a bite you can take- loose cloth requires a wider bite, tight cloth you can get away with a narrower bite. It makes a difference in the appearance. Consider theRead More
A busy post box this week. A parcel came yesterday and today a notice that the post office is holding one; I’m hoping it’s the A&S I’ve been waiting for. In the meantime, I give you Saint Andrews. Thanks to HRoi for getting it here so quickly! Also known as Saint Andrews, Sartoria Santandrea produces garments for a number of better doors but is not so well known in North America except perhaps by fansRead More
I got an email from my Gutermann rep; Germany, it seems, has relented and will now allow me to order my gimp by the spool instead of by the box per colour- a box containing 5 spools of 100m of gimp which would make, I guess, about thirteen thousand buttonholes. That’s too much. Now if only they would relent on the silk twist as well. UPDATE If you are located in North America and areRead More
