Shaping the underarm

I was discussing techniques with a tailor by email and was having trouble describing something so I thought “blog post”. We typically find two types of tailored sleeve in men’s suiting- English tailors often cut what is known as a 50-50 sleeve, whose under sleeve is roughly the same width as the top sleeve. More common today is a sleeve with what is known as a “false forearm” because the forearm seam is offset fromRead More

IRONWORK, or Why I Hate Steamers

I’ve ranted a few times about the many reasons I dislike the use of steamers on tailored clothing, but one of the reasons which I failed to fully explain was ironwork. Tailors use heat and steam to transform a flat piece of cloth into a 3-dimensional shape, only some of which occurs due to seams and darts, the rest is worked up with the iron (thus, ironwork). Here’s a look at what goes into theRead More

The trouser- fitting & completion

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

The one-piece back

We’ve been talking a lot about shaping and about the back, and recently voxsartoria posted some photos of some garments he’s having made with a one piece back; there have been a few questions about it so let’s look at the mechanics of the back of the jacket. Sorry about the crappy Iphone photos. EDIT- dumb me is assuming everyone has seen vox’s suits since he’s posted them on every imaginable forum except the russianRead More