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
Category: ironwork
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
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 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