Category: Canvas
A brief heads-up for the tailors out there. I’ve been seeing some of what I consider to be inferior quality canvas cropping up and if you’re not accustomed to looking for this, you may not notice it. So next time you are shopping canvas, bring a loupe or a magnifying glass. The canvas is woven from yarns which are twisted; the animal hair will be mixed with wool, cotton, and maybe other fibers and twistedRead More
Since my last post, a reader emailed me to tell me that the initials of the cutter would be found on the label, those initials being “TH”. I assume this must mean Terry Haste, former MD of Huntsman, but was he there in 2000? I’ll have to go back and read the book again. Or do some more homework. But in any case, we’re not evaluating the cutting here, only the sewing. It’s just funRead More
Preparing the canvas The shoulder is arguably the most discussed and the most controversial element of a tailored jacket; the whole garment hangs from the shoulder, and the shoulder receives much of the strain from movement. There are perhaps as many ways of constructing, or “expressing” a shoulder as there are tailors, but there area few general shapes, or silhouettes. Some of the names have become muddled throughout the years, but I am going toRead More
I went to visit a friend of mine today. She started in the business as a machine operator (seamstress) at Samuelsohn; today she owns the company which makes their, and the majority of North American manufacturers’, canvas fronts. She has special double-needle jumpstitch machines with custom-built forms. This machine doesn’t sew like most, whose presser foot and feed dogs feed the fabric- the operator feeds it through at their own pace. They can control howRead More
We hear the terms `pad stitching` and `padded lapels` frequently but not everybody understands the significance. One of the important principles of tailoring, and which distinguishes tailoring from ordinary `flat`sewing, has to do with the fact that concentric arcs or circles become longer as they radiate from the centre. In easier terms, picture the starting line of a circular race track- the starting point of each lane is in a different spot because the outerRead More