Buying cloth

[old henry]

And cutting one way and on grain does take a lot of cloth.

[robert_n]

@ old henry:
Your comment about cutting with the grain is relevant to me. I've got some linen fabric of 2.4m width with my tailor. The weave is a sort of burlap, no pattern nor visible difference between warp and weft. Would it make any difference it he cut lengthwise or widthwise to form the panels? Is it important that all panels be cut in the same direction, either with the width or the length? Thanks.

[DFR]

Yes, getting a little extra is fair, but asking for ~40% more than what is normally required is a disservice to the customer.

It depends which of the various numbers you compare, we have several views espoused by merchants and tailors. Until the 'correct' number is established and we know more of the detailed reasoning behind the various views I do not think such an extreme interpretation is entirely fair.

And what did you decide to do in the end? You seek advice but not report the result.

[old henry]

I trust none of "the usual suspects" anymore ....NONE,,,,, but I do like Dougdale. Honest Folk.
And .. just to lay out a pant pattern correctly,, both with the nap and on the straight of grain takes a lot of cloth.
During the war cloth was scarce. Tailors would ingeniously squeeze a suit out of very little cloth. 2-7/8 to 3 yards.
And robert_n, you must cut lengthwise. Your tailor knows this.

[Leonard Logsdail]

Tailors and cloth merchant may differ in their opinion of cloth length required.For example,some tailors may ask 4 meters (2 pc suit in solid color) and the merchant says 3.8 would be sufficient.When it comes to patterned cloth the tailor will ask for 4.5/4.75m cause of pattern matching,but.LLcc recommended 4.25m is adequate,with 4.5m its 3 pc.

How is that?.When ordering cloth overseas,I have this dilemma.

murtadza

I cut everything "one way". 6' tall. 190lbs I will use 3 3/4 yards.

I had a discussion with a CMT house many years ago about the yardage they expect sent from their clients. For a 2 piece suit it was 4 1/4 yards. When I questioned this, they quite frankly told me that they could not be bothered to fiddle around and just wanted to cut without any thought. Well, without any thought meant that tailors were buying 1/2 yard more than necessary for every suit. if you add that up, during the course of one year, it's a lot of money. Whenever I send a CMT to this factory, I send 3 3/4 yards. they get the suit out!!

A story re the tailors of WWII. Cuffs were not allowed as they were seen as a waste of money. Save on enough cuffs and you eventually have another suit length!. The tailors used to measure outside and inside legs around 5" longer than the actual measure. "Opp's! It appears I have made a mistake, Sir, and you can have cuffs after all"

[leeds]

Hmmm, I see mine and others posts either deleted or amended to take out any links or mention of certain huddersfield cloth merchants and leave just the one.

Disappointing to see such behaviour, particularly with no explanation.

[lxlloyd]

I was at the Premier vision fabric trade show yesterday (the biggest in the world, many of the english mills had representatives/agents there) and will return tomorrow, and was looking at some of the newest fabrics (out of curiosity... really my business was in the "seduction" (silks and light wools and womenswear) rather than "distinction" forum (the names are fairly amusing.... especially when it comes to the trend forecasting terminology used to describe the colours and handle of fabrics in each section). Charles Clayton had some interesting ones.

PV is great for inspiration (if exhausting), however, buying yardage there basically necessitates the ability to provide invoices (you have to be registered as a company if you really want them to deliver, and some merchants/agents have large minimums (apart from the free metre sample). The choice can be addling though. At least my italian comes in useful twice a year!

On an interesting note, I note a trending towards increasing the amount of sable-based tones in suiting books to be issued for spring/summer 2014, especially paired with blue grey stripes or checks woven through. Also some interesting treatments to fabrics... I saw 100 percent silk that was stain and creaseproof. Fabrics that look like tweed but were the weight of chiffon. An one fabric that releases carbon dioxide absorbing (or deodorising) microcapsules into the environment around you so that you actually clean the air around you..... Technology is crazy these days. Also saw some really terrifying puce coloured metallic fabrics that I dread to see actualised into garments.