Self-tailoring

[Jingo Mastapone]

Ok, let's start talking about do-it-yourself tailoring. Is there ANYBODY here who knows about this and can shed some light? I'll kick it off with a specific question.

So many jackets I try on get these horizontal waves across the shoulders in the back. What causes this? Is it stretching because my shoulders are wider than average? What's the fix?

Here's another.

I like jackets to be nice and fitted through the waist area in order to create as much of a V shape as possible with the shoulders. In trying to bring in the side area I've moved the seam up the center of the back in just a little bit. This invariably fails for me. Even just a slight adjustment seems to bring disastrous looking spots. Why are suits so damned picky?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I do all my own basic alterations, but I shy away from altering the shape of the jacket. Way too hard for a non-skilled worker like me.

So many jackets I try on get these horizontal waves across the shoulders in the back. What causes this? Is it stretching because my shoulders are wider than average? What's the fix?

The bunching between the shoulders is a common problem, and without custom tailoring I find it quite rare to find a jacket without something like this. This results from too much fabric in the upper shoulder-neck area of the jacket. The collar needs to be lowered and the shoulder area 'rebalanced' (not sure if this is the correct term). A job for a professional.

Here's another.

I like jackets to be nice and fitted through the waist area in order to create as much of a V shape as possible with the shoulders. In trying to bring in the side area I've moved the seam up the center of the back in just a little bit. This invariably fails for me. Even just a slight adjustment seems to bring disastrous looking spots. Why are suits so damned picky?

This one's a bit easier. The shape and 'lie' of the fabric when the jacket is worn are dependent upon all the seams being in proper proportion to each other. If you change one, it's necessary to change several others, or introduce darts or some other corrective feature, to prevent 'spots'. Were I - as an amateur - trying to sculpt the waist area I would begin at the side seams, not the centre back seam. The side seams, it seems to me, are where most of he waist shaping is achieved.

I know we have tailors on the forum, and i hope they'll contribute here.

bk

 

[Qirrel]

Horizontal lines like that can be due to your jackets shoulders being too narrow, or it could be due to your shoulders being angled forward more than is normal.
It can be fixed like bk describes, but as far as I am concerned that method is a bit half hearted as the real problem is not just bunching of material, but too narrow back shoulder causing the jacket to rise and thereby causing the bunching.

Bk is right about the taking in of the waist. The centre seam can only be taken in a little before it drags the whole back area out of shape. Take in your jacket at the side seams.

Can you post some pics? Without them, everything is speculation.

 

[Tailor Tom]

My thoughts...

As a tailor of 25 years (both bespoke clothing and alterations for my clients), I can attest that with out seeing the coat on you, it is very difficult to say what is needed, let alone how to do it.

The "bunching of fabric can be attributed to a number of things...all of which need to be addressed in a different manner.

- Shoulders that pitch forward, the fronts of the coat need to be reduced and the back eased open.
- Square or high shoulders, the shoulder line needs to be changed and the collar reset.
- too tight across the shoulders, the center back of the coat needs to be let out.

It can also be a combination of these.

As for taking in the sides/back of a coat, again things can be taken in in various areas depending on how it fits.
- the center can come in, but this is not recommended, as it puts the center seam off grain. and can create V-shaped lines with stripes and patterns...never good.
- side seams can be taken in on the double (both side and back equally along the same seam) or either off the side seam or the back seam, depending on the fit, cut, drape, etc.

Taking a coat in too much, can put the coat off balance, since the pockets are in place and you can not change those seams, to do too much work to just the back can make the entire coat seem to pull around to the rear. This can cause even more problems.

All of these reasons is why one employs a skilled tailor to do such things.

 

[Orgetorix]

Why are suits so damned picky?

You're taking a two-dimensional item (fabric) and making it fit a three-dimensional object (the body) with complex curves and significant differences in circumference from the shoulders to chest to waist to hips.

And you're asking it to do so without causing any unsightly wrinkles, bulges, etc.

And you're not working with a rigid material you can just stamp into shape like a car panel; cloth is fluid and shifts and stretches and shrinks and can almost seem like it has a life of its own sometimes.

And with modern lounge suit coats you're trying to put in significant waist suppression without the benefit of a waist seam to make the cloth easier to shape.

And you're trying to just alter the coat by sewing, when the original shape was likely achieved as much by shaping with the iron as by cutting and sewing.

Plus you're trying to alter a coat that was made for the body of someone else (either the bespeaker if it's custom, or the fit model if it's RTW), and his body may be little or nothing like yours. And if you aren't a size 40, the RTW pattern was cut for a fit model who was a size 40 and scaled up or down to fit some theoretical generic ideal of what a man your size is shaped like.

Get the idea? Coats are amazingly complicated things, and a top-notch bespoke tailor is worth every penny of the several thousand dollars he charges for a custom suit. He combines the architectural skill of an architect with the fabrication skill of a master craftsman and a skill of discerning the particularities of an individual body that is unlike any other profession I can think of.

 

[Tailor Tom]

By jove, I think he's got it...

You're taking a two-dimensional item (fabric) and making it fit a three-dimensional object (the body) with complex curves and significant differences in circumference from the shoulders to chest to waist to hips.

He hit the nail on its head.

As a Tailor we are taught to shrink, ease, mold and stretch fabrics to form it into that body covering garments. Chests can be made to accommodate a full or flat chested man, armholes are eased/back-stitched to help create that curve as well. We place the waist-line at various levels based on the height of the man it is made for (or fit model). Sleeves can be rotated forward or back of the normal based on how a gentleman holds his arms. Shoulders can be cut for forward or square shoulders, let alone having a lower shoulder on one side. The specialized things go on and on.

These are just some of the reasons men become totally hooked on Bespoke/Custom suits.

My advice...No matter the price, find the best tailor to help you that you can. He is worth the price and you will be happy and look wonderful for it.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Ok, let's start talking about do-it-yourself tailoring. Is there ANYBODY here who knows about this and can shed some light? I'll kick it off with a specific question.

The best resource for tailoring questions is the Cutter and Tailor forum (http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/), though it seems to have gone down today. I'm hoping it's nothing serious, the information there is priceless...

 

[Nick D]

I've been spending a lot of time on the Cutter and Tailor forum, too. I've learned a lot there. I've got EvaDress' 1930s Sport Coat pattern, but it's needed a lot of adjustment. In fact, I've pitched the collar pattern piece entirely and am going to draft a whole new collar using a 1933 draft I found there, which I thought was appropriate. I'm still working on a muslin, I just really hope I can make it well enough I'd be willing to wear it in public. After that, if I can, I want to try doing a draft for a db suit.