Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Tailored Suit: Choosing Materials

You may recall, from this post, that I was considering a couple of different fabrics for the suit jacket:


Well, after harassing everyone I know, I opted for the aubergine wool above. Why?
  • The jacket I'm going to make is in a structured 40s-style and it has a peplum. Of the wools above, both having very high-quality, the aubergine has less drape, which will hold structure better. Don't fight your pattern, I say.
  • The aubergine wool also has a softer hand.
  • Having said this, two elements of the aubergine do concern me slightly (though not enough to prevent me from buying it): it's fairly thick (though not as thick as coating) and it has practically no give. I know, I know. Two bullets up I suggest that less drape is good. Here I am saying that a (corollary) lack of give may be undesirable. What I'm getting at is, I rarely do FBAs. Partly that's because, for whatever reason, the narrowness of my frame usually counterbalances the need for extra room in the chest. Also, I generally sew with fabrics that have a little bit of give - even the woven ones, or I sew the bodice on the bias. I will make a muslin - and I'm prepared to FBA as required, but I'd prefer not to. I hope that the fabric tension doesn't throw me from one camp into the other. Side note: Something tells me that the jacket is cut generously in the bust - just looking at its fit on Gertie (a woman with a gorgeous, small-busted figure). To close the loop on fabric thickness: I am intending to wear it for three-seasons but thickness can mess with drape and drape, on a curvy frame, is everything. I'm going to have to be careful. Here's hoping my intuition will pay off.
  • The lilac wool, while confection-y sweet, might be a bit hard to take from head-to-toe, especially as I'm making this to wear professionally.

Now, on the topic of lining, I could not decide. Here are the two, insanely beautiful options I considered:

As I just couldn't make up my mind, I bought them both. Which do you prefer??

Cerise Bemberg - this is exactly the same shade as the Ginger skirt. Freakish. Note that in this, and the lower photo, I used a flash so the aubergine is washed-out. It looks much deeper than this.


This is what I'm calling "jacquard" though, I think real jacquard is woven on top of the lining. I think this paisley is printed onto my lining. It's adds an excellent, mismatched element to the colour scheme.

You should know that the jacquard lining is not as soft as the cerise. It will not drape as supple-y (sp?) on the inside of the jacket - even though, it too is Bemberg (I think). While I think it's gorgeous, I may want the smoothest interior possible, and that cerise is like buttah.

Finally, here are the buttons options - plastic, vintage dead stock, all:



Would I prefer that these buttons were metal or glass? Um, yes. But the cerise ones will be perfect with the cerise lining. If I go with the jacquard, I'll need to reconsider whether to use the white pearl or the lilac ones.

You know I'm not one to demure on the topic of what something costs. I always want to know that detail - so allow me to overshare with you.
  • The wool was $32.00/ metre (the least expensive fabric I was considering - most were in the 40-45 dollar range). I bought 3.25m - 2 for the jacket and 1.25 for a pencil skirt. Note that, as I shorten everything, I generally don't use more than 1m for a skirt and, I suspect, I'll use about 1.75m on the jacket.
  • Buttons were under 15 bucks, and I bought 15 of them.
  • Lining was $8.50 / metre. I got 2 yards of each kind. I don't intend to line the skirt (I don't like lining, in general) but, if I do decide to, both of these linings are regular stock at the store.
  • Thread, shoulder pads, interfacing (of numerous varieties), silk organza etc. came in at about 50 bucks, all in.

Overall estimated cost to make this hand-tailored suit: $225.00.

I like to think I'm saving $600.00 - as the cost of a decent, RTW suit is approximately $850.00 (regular price).

A propos of suits and their cost: Once I spend a hundred hours on this, it will be unaffordable, regardless of what it looks like. $800 bucks for a tailored item - even an RTW one - is not unreasonable. So much time and skill, so many fine materials go into these garments. They should cost.

I've worn my Theory suit twice now. Even though the pants are not ideal in some ways (boringly complicated to get into - my issues aren't observable), I feel like a million bucks in it - and it shows. You can't put a price on the professionalism bestowed by a beautifully-fitting, tailored garment. Remember that.

So, what do you think of my options? Cerise lining or jacquard? Which buttons? Have you tailored a jacket and how long did it take? How much did it cost? Let's talk!

25 comments:

  1. Oh... I love those second buttons, they are just lovely. But.. the cerise buttons are perfect for the cerise lining. If you like the feel of that lining more, then go with that. I like the look of the other lining/buttons, but feel trumps look when they both look good.
    $32/m... I am still not that confident in myself. Good on you, a suit is definitely an investment piece and a good place for exceptional fabric.

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    1. I'm surprised to see that the lavender buttons (I think those are the ones you mean) are the front runners. I have this sense that everyone is going to be all over the cerise/cerise match. This is going to be interesting.

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  2. I'm always in the minority with my suggestions, but I'll share them anyway. I think you made a good decision to go with the darker suiting. I like the jacquard lining because it's fun (but the other option is good too), and the lilac buttons are my favorite. The ivory buttons are OK too, but I really don't like the red ones for this....just seems like it's too much, you know? But I think they'll be great on something else.

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    1. I'm glad you agree with the darker. It's not as exciting but I too think it will work best. I have to consider whether the cerise lining would go with the lavender buttons...

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  3. I think $225 is very reasonable. Not only are you getting a hand tailored suit, but you're getting HOURS of sewing pleasure (one would hope). You could very easily spend that amount on say, an evening out - which is over at the end of the evening!

    I love the cerise lining; to me, the jacquard looks like a fall/winter print, and I think the cerise spans seasons better. But I'm not so sure about the cerise buttons. It might limit you if you decided to wear something like a pale grey blouse. If I were making this (but we know I'm far too lazy for that) I'd probably do self-fabric buttons so that I can wear the jacket with any other color.

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    1. Must you torment me by mentioning fabric buttons?! I don't know that I have yet another skill-learning brain cell in this project. Maybe I'll do that next time (or keep some fabric to do this at a later date). It is a really good idea.

      You are so right about that being an utterly worthwhile $225. I spend that on a dinner out and this is going to keep me occupied for weeks - with something beautiful (we hope) to show for it at the end.

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    2. No, no - you don't make them! There's a place you send some fabric to and they make the buttons for you! They have lots of styles to choose from! Gertie blogged about it a few years ago:

      http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2009/09/belts-part-one-have-one-custom-made.html

      I don't think she has a website (I couldn't find one) but she seems to be THE person to have make your buttons or belts.

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    3. Oh, this is vaguely coming back to me now - honestly, my memory is a sieve. I'm going to look at that post more carefully. I can only imagine how much it's going to cost to have the finished buttons shipped to Canada :-)

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    4. You really are an enabler. I just called Pat (the lady who does this) and she's shipping out the catalog tomorrow. Had a whole convo with her. She needs about 2"x2" of fashion fabric per button. Takes about 2 weeks from the time she gets the fabric till the time I'll have the buttons (postage goddess willing). It appears I will be doing fabric covered buttons. Ahem.

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    5. See, that wasn't so hard, was it?!

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  4. I like the darker suiting (I think you're right about the lighter being a bit girlish head-to-toe, especially paired with the Starlet suit). And I love the paisley lining, but I think the slick feel of the cerise may be better for a piece like this. I also wonder if the printed-on-top pattern might start to wear off at some point, which would be tragic in something you want to be a an investment piece.

    For myself I would probably go with the pearl buttons (although the other options are great, too). But that's just me.

    Dammit, I want to make a suit! And there's no way I'm taking on a commitment like that right now (when I'm struggling even to work on a jacket for my husband). But I wanna! :)

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    1. T: I dont' think the print will wear off - it's pretty high quality lining (though that is a consideration). I'm actually trying to figure out how the paisley is on the fabric. It's a bit unclear, stupidly.

      OK, now we've got a plug for the pearl buttons. So many opinions. What will I do?? Note: I suppose I will like any outcome cuz I did choose all the stuff :-)

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  5. I am really pleased you went with the dark fabric.

    I prefer the plain lining, and (sorry) I agree with Gail about the buttons, I think covered buttons would be best.

    Gail, I really like your point about the entertainment factor of sewing. I had never thought in those terms before. Excellent justification for spending an obscene amount of $$ on sewing. Not that I needed any. 8-)

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    1. No agreeing with Gail! It's just upping my ante!

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    2. Oh, I'm REAL good at justifyin'!

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  6. My two cents ;-)
    One often hears that it is chic to match the jacket lining with your blouse. However I have a jacket with a turquoise lining and never really found a nice turquoise blouse to match it. And actually find it more difficult to match a top with it – so at the end I always try to hide it.
    And I have 2 other suit jackets lined with motif fabrics which I found easier to match with all kinds of tops (even tops with different motifs but in the same color family). Also I find those jackets more chic than the one with the brighter lining. Again really depends where/when you wear the jacket.
    About the buttons, sure fabric-covered buttons would be the best! I would use the orange buttons only if I already had a lot of accessories in the same color; same with the white pearl buttons. If (as it seems) fabric-covered buttons are not an option right now than I’d stay in the same color family (lilac buttons) so it’ll be easier to match with various colored tops.
    JJP
    I hope this make sense!

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    1. I didn't know that people match the lining to the blouse! Most of my jackets are just boringly lined in the same fabric colour as the jacket so I just worry about complementing that.

      And another plug for self covered buttons. Egad. Not another thing to figure out.

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  7. I like the combination in the last photo (I just asked my chappy and he also says the last one!). This fabric is lovely - great texture and colour. I just drool at the expensive wools in my fabric store. It will be nice to buy some for a project at some point - it will be interesting to see the difference it makes. You are so right about well fitting garments and I would add good quality fabric to that.

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    1. Any preference on buttons in the last shot? Lavender? Cream? Don't say self fabric covered, ok?

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  8. I like both of the buttons in the last shot better than the cerise. The cerise are lovely but will limit the wearability of the jacket, fine if you have closet full of suits but otherwise not so great. Of the two, I like the lavender.

    And I think the dark suit is the most versatile, but the lighter color will be lovely mixed in with more neutral pieces.

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    1. I'm coming around to the lavender buttons - or maybe this fabric covered idea (?!)

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  9. I can tell you don't want to hear this ... but if you're going to spend a zillion hours making sure this suit is a thing of beauty, then it's absolutely worth it (imho) to go for fabric covered buttons that scream elegantly refined tailoring, rather than plastic ones in a colour that may or may not complement your accessories ... Just sayin'

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    1. Don't panic! I just ordered the catalog from the woman in California who uses one's fashion fabric to construct covered buttons. I'm going to blog about it. It's all ok! :-)

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  10. Lovely! I vote for the cerise lining and matching shank buttons. It will give a modern twist to a vintage style :) Can't wait to see the finished product!!

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    1. That was my original intention (but of course I got sidetracked by alternatives and all of this great feedback). I may actually have the buttons covered in self fabric. There's a woman in LA who does this...

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