Suits Me Just Fine

It's Been A Long Time.

Since I made a suit, that is. Tailoring takes time and focus, and until recently. I haven't had much of either to spare. And, as I have stated here before, making welt pockets is a speed-bump for me. I can do them, but am not as proficient as I would like to be since I don't do them often, and really see them as an early obstacle in the suit-making process. It was a revelation to realize recently that patch pockets are an acceptable substitute at this stage of my like, and with that barrier removed, I have moved forward quickly.

Inspiration Gets The Ball Rolling.

When I sew, I like to "interpret" (OK, knock off) expensive menswear brands. Sewing is not usually a way to save money these days; ready-made clothing is inexpensive (at least it was before all the recent tariff hikes on Chinese goods, and those have hit Chinese fabrics as well). Most people, DTFM included, sew for creative expression and custom fit. Like many people, I have several Pinterest boards filled with images that have caught my eye and are waiting for "interpretation."

Thinking Italian.

Back in the early 2010s when I was a fabric buyer at JOANN, I traveled to NYC on a trend observation trip with several colleagues. One of our product development artists and I hit Etro, an italian menswear store. The fabrics in their garments were outstanding in quality and design. One suit in particular stood out to me (above right), made from a deep royal blue tonal paisley print twill fabric, and displayed with a brightly-colored printed cotton shirt in the store (not like the shirt on the right, above). The suit alone cost over $2,000. and the shirts average $400. (This is where saving money comes back to the conversation.)

It's All About Fabric.

Back at home after the trip, I searched our JOANN inventory and searched online, but could not find a blue tonal paisley in a quality that would work for a suit. All I found was a blue texture-print quilting cotton in a 108" wide quilt-backing width at fabric.com. Finding nothing else even close, I ordered it. I was able to find a bright shirting print and a brightly-colored (gaudy) lining fabric for the jacket. I prewashed the fabric...and then stopped. I got busy a work and eventually left JOANN and moved to South Carolina. The suit continued to be "on hold."

Fast-Forward to the Tailoring Shop.

A few years and double-digit weight loss later, I began to think about suit-making again. With my new 4-day work week and my decision to eliminate welt pockets, I began pulling suit fabric options from the stash (there are MANY options there). I wanted to practice on other fabric first before I started working on the Etro-inspired suit, to get the rust off my tailoring skills.

First Up? Test The Jacket Pattern.

I had recently purchased a crazy Simplicity suit pattern that knocked off those Opposuits found at Kohls, made from holiday fabrics. (You all KNOW I would wear something like that, right? Even with an eye-roll from Mrs. DTFM.) The great thing about the jacket was that it is unlined, and thus faster to make up, and it has a more modern cut.

There was a piece of black and white linen plaid in the stash, just right for a jacket, and I even found Pinterest inspiration.The test jacket came out fine for a test (I need to reposition the right shoulder pad a little) and I began to remember some tailoring skills. I even made up a shirt to go with it, mimicking the inspiration photo (above left).

One More Time, And Then We're Ready.

With the test jacket made, I moved on to a piece of brown linen I had picked up at JOANN probably a decade ago for a suit, and had even pre-washed it.

Tip: Pre-washing makes allows more stain-removal options later, if needed, and pre-shrinks the fabric. Check laundering instructions for your specific fabric, and before sewing, do with the fabric whatever you will do with the finished garment.

For the pants I used the Burda skinny jeans pattern referenced in an earlier blog post. I did widen the legs about 4 inches at the bottom this time, tapering up to a point 24" from the hemline for better wearing ease. This suit also came out well, and I added a few more tailoring touches I remembered along the way.

Ready, Set...Sew Italian.

Now it was time for the real thing. Usually I make a suit in the following order: jacket first, then pants, then shirt. If I make the pants first, I can wear them, and the jacket may never get made. However, I made the shirt first this time, using my long-out-of-print Burda shirt pattern, with a couple of tweaks: I added collar stay pockets to the collar and real sleeve plackets instead of bound slits.

For the suit, I used Weavers Cloth as an underlining. The jacket body, sleeve and pocket pieces were cut from the quilting cotton, the underlining and the lining fabrics, stacked in that order, edges trimmed evenly, and then sewed up in the proper sequence. As seams were sewn, I finished the raw edges on the serger (overlock machine). The pants were made from the cotton and underlining fabrics only and raw edges were also finished on the serger.

Tip: By stacking the lining fabric face-out on the bottom of the jacket fabric layers, the unlined jacket becomes a lined jacket with a nicer inside.

I'm pleased with the way this unconventional suit came out. Who says you can't tailor quilting cotton? Not me!

Until next time, keep those sewing machines humming, and don't hesitate to try something new or rediscover old skills!

danthefabricman@yahoo.com

@danthefabricman