I just ordered Tailor Made v4 for my birthday prezzy from Alan. Yippeeee! Been wanting it for AAAAGES!
Maybe his replacement suit will be the first thing I design using it... Or maybe it'll be his mountain jacket. Dunno yet. Look out for developments in the New year: I have the fabric for both stashed away.
I watched a special the other night of David Foster music. One of the guests was wearing a gorgeous jacket tailored closely to him, with a soft leather collar and lapels. It probably cost a fortune, but it was the only noticeable garment worn by the guests. He wore it with jeans, and I'm too old to appreciate that look. But jacket was very nice.
Aha. And now you can make him a proper, $2000 or more bespoke suit, just like the ones out of Gieves and Hawkes or whatever Savile Row firm you prefer.
Although, I read somewhere the other day that all the old "Savile Row" firms are moving away from there to cheaper quarters, just like the newspapers left Fleet Street about twenty years ago. Wot's next, I arsk you? Will Bond Street stop being Bond Street? How about Oxford Street?
The only jackets Alan wears with jeans are polar fleece ones! A friend made her hubby a Loden style fleece jacket last winter, and she had to peel him out of it to wash it! I'm thinking this program will help a lot with this sort of thing. I've had the demo for a while, and been itching to get on with the real thing and print out some patterns... Plans include the suit with two pairs of trousers, a blazer and slacks, the mountain jacket (highly technical, with pit zips and pockets everywhere, and a zero ration of shoulder seams!), water proof over trousers, a kagool or two...
With James growing the way he does too, I'll never be stuck for doing 'the same thing again, mum, only bigger!'
> Click on Kate's Pages and explore!> > Yay!! And Happy Birthday Kate!!!Thank you. I'm having a quiet day... Dinner out of the freezer! Home cooked, but not today... :)
Bond Street had better stay! And Saville Row seems to be maintaining the Front of House there, but the workforce is moving out. A lot of them no longer stock such a huge range of fabrics, either. You see the swatches, but the rolls are no longer there to fling yardage over you... Much of what was the old back workroom space seems to have been expanded into by the shop front to accomodate the RTW and complementary ranges.
Oxford Street has long been the mecca of the tawdry, and could vanish forever without me mourning.
You can leave home, but it never really leaves you...
Better you than me! There is no way I would tackle a gents jacket for dh, with all that buckram, hair canvas, padding, padstitching etc. I'm even balking at making myself a dressmaker suit for next Spring out of the shantung I bought recently. I suppose I'll try a toile after Christmas is over.
And Saville Row seems to be maintaining
Oh, what a shame. In fabric shops, to this day, I like to hold yardage up and over me to see how it looks. I remember, shortly before we were married, I went to dh's tailor (who also did ladies wear) and had them make me a Harris tweed suit as part of my trousseau. We were moving to Montreal, Canada exactly a week after the wedding, so I figured I needed something warm for over there. I think they must have showed me at least a dozen rolls before we picked one. It was a two skirt suit, and I long since gave away the jacket and the straight skirt, but I still have the fabric from the pleated skirt, which I unpicked intending to remake it, but then we moved from Ohio to Florida.
I don't think there are any, as such... The software assumes a certain level of competence in the maker. I rarely use pattern instructions these days anyway. I tend to read them through to see if there are any surprises, and fold them away and 'rationalize' them into something more sensible!
For basic tailoring construction, you could go a long way and fare worse than a good book on tailoring methods. The methods are the same all over, it's just the design details that differ, and then not much on a traditional item like a man's suit or blazer. I like the following:
Menswear:
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._SS500_.jpgLadies Tailoring:
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I had this software once before on evaluation, and returned it. I already have and love Boutique and Celebrations.
None of the elements are particularly difficult on their own. They do take patience...
ARGH Harris Tweed! Woven barbed wire! Love the look, love the smell, hate the feel on my skin, and sewing it makes me itch all over, inside and out! Not an image you wanted... I'm just allergic to wool and lanolin, so it's not an option for me. I did make myself a beautiful Harris Tweed jacket out of a length Alan bought for me on our honneymoon, but it savaged me every time I wore it without at least 4 layers between it and me!
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