Bespoke Cutter And Tailor

That looks like a cool exhibition, Hendrick. Some nice period pieces there.

I once went to see an exhibition on Gabriele D'Anunzio's impressive wardrobe:

https://trama-e-ordito.blogspot.com/2013/01/labbigliamento-di-dannunzio.html

There was a silk shirt that was made with french seams that were settled with tiny piqué stitches on the sides and undersleeve seams... quite beautiful indeed!

Cheers, Hendrick

PS With your jeans cut, you could treat them more like trousers, both in cut and construction (don't feel bound to convention). I've used lighter-weight denim (the sort of stuff that gets used for denim dresses) to make conventional trousers and reinforced seams are not required.

The cut/fit is usually far better than that of jeans, especially around the seat: A more-or-less straight CB line from fork-tip to waist (as is the norm with jeans) is never a good idea. Manufacturers do that because it's easier to sew a lapped seam that way, but it creates bagginess below the seat.

The only thing I don't like about denim is that it's not colourfast, so if making things more conventionally, pressing seams etc results in blue stains all over the ironing board cover, from the steam. In that respect, cotton suiting - especially chambray, if you can find it - is a far better option. Also, with the last batch of denim I used, it was out of true. I literally spent an entire morning stretching the stuff back into shape (which required a lot of effort!). Such is the nature of cheaper cloth.

Quote from: Schneiderfrei on June 29, 2025, 04:23:38 PMI a total coward, I mainly do french seams. In a shirt I prefer them, telling myself that I am sweeping away my footprints (Of stitching - so as not to leave any trace of the tailoring).

I'm starting to come round to the idea of using French seams in shirts, though I'll probably fell them flat towards the back using a 1/16th in. wide compensating foot.

My problem with conventional shirts-seams is that they're starting to look a little utilitarian to my eyes. Recently I've been looking at ladies blouses (no, not for that reason) and the seams (often French) look far more elegant. I like the idea of a cleaner-looking garment, especially in silk.

The argument for felled and lapped shirt-seams is that they're strong. But lets face it, how many of us are going to fell a tree while wearing a dress shirt? Do we really need all that seam strength? Arguably, if a garment is cut well there isn't sufficient stress on any seam to cause breakage.

That's a lot cleaner, well done.

Something I've been guilty of with my own trousers is adding a little too much ease across the seat. It's easy to forget that the cloth is towards the bias there and will have natural give. So long as things don't feel uncomfortably tight while standing, that give will allow sufficient stretch over the seat when sitting. Don't feel that you have to make things loose/baggy at the back for comfort.

Quote from: Hendrick on June 29, 2025, 05:59:49 AMI actually have never used a rolled hemmer foot on curves; they're fiddly enough on straight hems for my tastes!

I a total coward, I mainly do french seams. In a shirt I prefer them, telling myself that I am sweeping away my footprints (Of stitching - so as not to leave any trace of the tailoring).

In trowsers, I feel forced to baste tham, not having a friendly seamstress to reveal trade secrets.

The closest I got was to sign up to Mike Maldonado. But that was a long time ago.

Quote from: Gerry on June 29, 2025, 09:42:08 AMWith trouser draft No 1, you've created something akin to a box-pleat along the CB seam at the base of the seat. Excess cloth that has nowhere to go, other than to fold-in around the CB. Looking at your sketch of the final draft, the CB line resembles a jeans cut. Without the typical scoop found on most dress-trouser drafts, you're creating excess cloth in that area. That would be my guess as to why you have the box-pleat.

I'm assuming that the crotch width was narrowed in draft 2? That plus less ease has cleaned up the problem, but it's not the way to go for the dress trousers IMO.

Thanks for your insight. I've re-sewn the toile with a deeper CB curve and it seems to have remedied the problem. At this point I suppose it's just a matter of truing the toile to the pattern and adding ease. I think I went wrong in the first alteration when adding 3/4" to the edge of the CB seam, maybe it was not tapered sharply enough. Like you mentioned, it does seem a bit flatter.

With trouser draft No 1, you've created something akin to a box-pleat along the CB seam at the base of the seat. Excess cloth that has nowhere to go, other than to fold-in around the CB. Looking at your sketch of the final draft, the CB line resembles a jeans cut. Without the typical scoop found on most dress-trouser drafts, you're creating excess cloth in that area. That would be my guess as to why you have the box-pleat.

I'm assuming that the crotch width was narrowed in draft 2? That plus less ease has cleaned up the problem, but it's not the way to go for the dress trousers IMO.

Quote from: Gerry on June 29, 2025, 05:25:30 AMSeen from the rear, the photos towards the end of your thread look more normal than those at the beginning, which look very strange. They're like different trousers, and that makes it hard to give advice. Which set of photos more accurately reflects the fit, and why are they different? (or is it a trick of the light?).

With the earlier snaps, it's almost like the CB is going out at an angle then coming back inwards. Possibly something to do with your alteration? (which I'm not familiar with).

Apologies, messy formatting on my part. There are indeed two pairs, both with an alteration to straighten the seat angle. However, the second set (trouser 2) has also been slimmed in the crotch and thigh with Aldrich's method.

Wir Aendern Alteration:
from https://movsd.com/BespokeCutter/index.php/topic,694.msg5925.html#msg5925


Aldrich Alteration (Solid Line is After):


F-G is 1.5cm (9/16"), I-J is 1cm (3/8"), slimming at knee lines A-B and C-D are arbitrary.

Final Patterns:

The solid line is the original draft from Poulin, the black dashed line is the Wir Aedern alteration, and the red dashed line is the Aldrich alteration.

Hope this clarifies

oops, forgot; always put your iron down on the seam vertically!