The (mis)adventures of an amateur alterationist

[Choeki]

Suit alteration study Part 13

So now, the jacket is ready to wear in public:

I decided that it was best to wear it with only the two center buttons fastened so that I could show the odd vest underneath.

Total time taken up to this point is about 32 hours. I suppose I'll have to practice making pocket flaps another time. However, I may have to install a few internal lining pockets if I ever plan on wearing it during the summer (where I won't be wearing an overcoat) so I can carry my cellphone in the inside of the jacket along with my notebook and pens.

Anyway, here is a photo of me wearing the suit to work with my white wool fedora on Saturday:

And here is a photo of me later that day in Tokyo for a Christmas party:

The guy on the left side of the photo is a friend of mine who I usually discuss style issues with, while the guy on the right is an acquaintance I know from a website for foreign residents of Japan (I obscured their visages at their request).

I got a lot of positive compliments from strangers there as well as for my choice of hat (although I took it off for most of the night as it was quite hot in the restaurant). Unfortunately, since there were a large number of smokers present (it's still okay to smoke inside bars in Tokyo) the suit smells a bit stinky despite airing it out for a few days. So next on the agenda is a good Japanese-style home-dry cleaning...

 

[Jovan]

A prime job.

 

[jcw122]

Looks good! I'm afraid to sew a missing button onto something haha

 

[Mid-fogey]

Most Impressive...

...especially considering the work is done by hand.

Living as we do near Colonial Williamsburg, you see a bit more hand produced work here, albeit for historical reasons. A few months ago there was an article on one of the tailors in the historic area of Williamsburg and his work. It was quite impressive. Because the craftsmen in the historic area are required to preserve their craft, and do research as well as interface with the public, they produce items of the eighteenth century using authentic materials and techniques.

There are also people who do historic reenactments of the eighteenth century military regiments, it's not unknown to sew entire garments to ensure they are perfectly correct. Machine sewing is, I understand, scoffed at. I remember reading in the local paper about two college students at the College of William and Mary who were busy sewing up their uniforms.

My surmise is there is a body of work out there that tells how to hand sew pants, vests, jackets, etc. While the style of eighteenth century mens garments are different, I suspect they are constructed in a generally similar fashion

 

[Dr Doran]

Choeki, fine work. Bravo.

Now about transforming a shirt's barrel cuffs to French cuffs, which you mentioned. Are you simply taking off the button and making an extra hole? This won't, of course, give the folded over look that French cuffs have ... but it will let you wear cufflinks, vastly preferable to buttons.

Or do you have a method of making them fold over?

 

[Choeki]

Choeki, fine work. Bravo.

Now about transforming a shirt's barrel cuffs to French cuffs, which you mentioned. Are you simply taking off the button and making an extra hole? This won't, of course, give the folded over look that French cuffs have ... but it will let you wear cufflinks, vastly preferable to buttons.

Or do you have a method of making them fold over?

I've been off a while due to work constraints (mainly due to being laid off with the rest of the foreigners at the end of the school year in March), but things have settled down now that I plan on returning to the US.

Nevertheless, regarding shirt cuffs the plan was to simply remove the barrel cuff and make a French cuff out of a spare shirt made of the same material. Most of my current shirts have the "convertable cuff" that is simply a barrel cuff with a button hole sewn into the side where the buttons are attached. I have one Cricketeer dress shirt from Men's Wearhouse (purchased more than 10 years ago) with French cuffs, so I plan on using it for a guide. That particular shirt is now too large at 17.5 inches at the collar as I now wear 16 or 16.5, however the cuffs are just fine.

Before I leave Japan though, I need to pick up some patterns at the local sewing store for dress shirts, vests and neckties as well as a few meters of Japanese and Chinese woven and printed fabrics. I found a few new ideas from a locally produced men's fashion magazine called "Leon" (jokingly referred to as an "oyaji style guide") regarding details in suit jacket construction that I plan to use on the number of half-lined suits I have from Japanese department stores as well as the particular suit in this thread (I'll post images later when I have time). Also, I still have a stack of alterations to work through so I may post some of it here if it goes beyond something simpler than just taking out the seams or shortening cuffs...

 

[RevWarTaylor]

Hello

VERY nice job!!! Very impressive from begining to latest post. I have one suggestion on the buttonholes, is that they should be cut first and then bound off. Find some good silk buttonhole twist (www.silkthings.com) and make sure you use the buttonhole stitch which will leave you with a really nice knotted end....have fun with those buttonholes!!!

To put the pressure on even more, check this quote out from a 1933 finishing manuel:

"Above all, tailored buttonholes must be neatly and correctly made. The tailored garment that is perfect in every other particular will have an amateurish appearance if its buttonholes are poorly cut and improperly worked. Tailors and other persons in the trade take great pride in the buttonholes they make, and many of them judge the skill of another by the buttonholes alone."

Hehe looks great keep it upp!!!:eusa_clap
Neal

 

[Dr Doran]

Choeki, if you can send more on French cuffs, I'd love to see it. Your pictures are wonderful.

 

[WA]

Here are some books to learn from.

Classic Tailoring Techniques by Patricia Flaherty Meyers, Roberto Cabrera (1984)

Tailoring Suits the Professional Way, by Clarence Poulin

How to Make Mens Clothes, by Jane Rhinehart

Stanley Hostek wrote four books.

Cabrera's book I think is the best in construction. Poulin has patterns and fitting. Hosteks has pressing and fitting (coat book), hand sewing book, pants book and a vest book. Rhinehart's book has a nice pants system and method of construction and something about shirts.

There are still a few tailors that sew with no machine. These are very fexible garments, because the seams are hung together instead of nailed together. Some groups of tailors refused to use sewing machines clear into the 1920's. Some tailors even into the 1950's complained about how uncomfortable machine sewn garments are. One place I was reading it said to at least hand sew the last 12 inches of the top of the inside leg. And, of course, always the seat seam is hand sewn. Shoulder and sleeves are always hand sewn, so some tailors say, not mention the collar and hems. Actually, when it comes down to it, there really isn't much to machine sew if one wants to use a sewing machine. If the whole garment is better hand sew then why use a machine. Sewing machines are nice for "quick" garments.

 

[Nigel Fisher]

That is a huge project for an amateur, and it looks as if you did a wonderful job on it. Kudos!