The more you know...

[schneidergott]

[The_Sartorialist]

Third video shows the shaping of the front part and ends with basting the shoulders. That woman is quite experienced and has some skills, she's quick, too.

The white stuff she irons onto the back is fusible interlining, meant to give that area some additional support and crispness. This is actually not a widely used method in bespoke tailoring (although it actually works quite well)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD-oHdmDOxE

Schneidergott, am I right in understanding that the fusible interlining is what takes the place of the stitched canvas in traditional bespoke suits? If so, then I would presume that's the fused method which many of the RTW manufacturers, as well the custom tailors in Singapore employ, since virtually no Singaporean tailor produces a suit with a floating canvas.

[marcelo]

I am quite surprised, for I thought fusible interlining would never be used by a tailors - only in the RTW industry.

[Costi]

The white stuff she irons onto the back is fusible interlining, meant to give that area some additional support and crispness. This is actually not a widely used method in bespoke tailoring (although it actually works quite well)!

Schneidergott, what on earth is it about it that works so well?! It may make the tailor's work easier, but the "crispness" you write about is not a desirable effect and the glue completely ruins a good cloth's own spring and drape, making it stiff and lifeless. To me, this is like putting mineral water into a good wine to drink "spritzer"...
The rest of the story is useful and interesting, thanks for posting the links.

[fishball]

I think 95% of the Hong Kong "custom" tailor used fusing.
In my own experience, the fusing actually work better on thin fabrics, it add some "body" to the cloth.
The Zegna 7-8oz cloth if not using fusing, after few months, most of them will have some "wave" along the edge stitching. It almost can not lay flat.

[schneidergott]

[Costi]

Schneidergott, why waste your time and talent working with flimsy cloth? If a cloth needs glued interlining to give it some body and make it workable, I wouldn't want a coat made from it. Not to mention what happens to fused interlining after a couple of dry cleanings or, God forbid, if it rains!
It's not just a matter of softness, even if the interlining is fine and the glue is of good quality, the cloth turns lifeless, flat, like a sheet of paper.
In my experience (as a customer, not as a tailor), particularly if working with lightweight and light coloured cloth, if the tailor uses fusible interlining to reinforce certain areas, they will most often show, as in those areas the cloth will look and behave differently.

[marcelo]

This discussion is all the more interesting for I wouldn't even dare ask my tailor if he uses fusible interlining. But now that he is on the verge of retiring and I see I will have to find another one - on the assumption I will find one - it is a question I will have to be so bold to pose.

[The_Sartorialist]

I tend to take my cue from inspecting the underside of the coat lapel to see whether there are padstitches (which indicate a canvassed lapel as opposed to a fused lapel). Granted, a canvassed lapel is by no means indicative of the method of construction of the front body, but I suppose it's more likely to have a jacket body that is canvassed than fused, if the tailor bothered to canvas an aspect as 'minor' as the lapel?

Then again, short of ripping your garment apart to peer at the insides, God alone knows which section of your jacket may contain fusible interlinings. The veracity of your tailor's claims will undoubtedly be dependent solely on his honesty, a trait that may not always be present in every tailor (especially those based in the Far East!).

[marcelo]

The veracity of your tailor's claims will undoubtedly be dependent solely on his honesty, a trait that may not always be present in every tailor (especially those based in the Far East!).

There used to be in nineteenth century France a saying: "qui dit tailleur dit voleur". – But thanks god these times are over.

[schneidergott]

[Costi]

I guess it is just a matter of make price, right? If you pay premium, you should get premium! (Premium might vary in different countries!)

Therefore we agree that a floating canvas is "premium" work (often better looking garment, keeps in shape longer, no damages when dry cleaned or accidentally soaked, molds to the body with time and wear, develops a nice "patina", natural exchange of heat and humidity between body and environment). It takes significantly more time and skill to make, so it should cost more than fused. Actually, I would say it's the other way round: the fused should cost less, because the floating canvas is the "standard" for tailored garments.
Of course, if a tailor is not trained to make a hand padded canvas, a fused interlining may prove better than a poorly made floating canvas, but the fused interlining is just as good as it is, no matter how skilled the tailor is. A competent tailor can produce a hand padded canvas that is vastly superior to a fused one. Graphically I think this could be represented like this:

Sartorialist, there is a simple way of testing whether fused interlining has been used on any part of a coat: try to pinch between your fingers the topmost layer of cloth and compare to how it feels when you do the same to the sleeve or back (where there is never any interlining): if it feels the same, and you can tell that there is a distinct layer of thicker "cloth" beneath it, then it's made with a floating canvas. If it feels thicker and stiffer, fighting back when you try to roll it between your fingers, then it's fused.

[schneidergott]

[marcelo]

Lieber Schneidergott

thanks for this. I will have the question in mind before commissioning a coat at a new tailor. One further thing which occurs to me is that, if fusible interlining have been in use even among "bespoke" tailors, then it seems I have to assume it is always used in MTM, right?

[Costi]

Costi, you would have to add cloth weight to your diagram. The heavier the cloth the less interior work is required.

I agree - it would be the third dimension piercing the screen

Marcelo, I don't know what is usually the case - perhaps Schneidergott, whom you asked, knows better - but I can attest to having seen MTM offerings with floating canvas, although machine stitched rather than hand padded.