Tailoring

[BRUTE]

brute had new clothes tailored and observed that it seems like a rather simple process to produce clothes. you buy some rolls of cloth. you take a handful of measurements. you cut some patterns from the cloth and sew them together.

the style part seems super simple. brute read a few books and looked at a few pictures, and now knows all about single-breasted or double-breasted, notched vs peak vs shawl lapels, number of buttons, venting, and so on. brute thinks the rest is practice and developing intuition.

brute has observed that humans react very favorably to brute's tailored clothes. it's almost as if clothes make the man.

has anyone had experience with producing their own clothes? specifically, brute does not want to produce faded jeans and nirvana t-shirts, but higher quality items like suits and dress shirts.

[vexed87]

I say, if you enjoy it, give it a go. Tailoring would be just like any other productive hobby. Eventually you get good enough at it to make money, assuming you can stomach the start-up costs of equipment and initial failures.

I see it being no different from woodworking, or baking, in other words a useful skill to have. I do basic tailoring. Adjusting trouser length, repairs etc. I have no need to tailor my own clothes, much like I have no need to bake my own bread or build my own cabinets, but one day, it may be a useful skill to have, in the mean time, I have fun!

[jennypenny]

the style part seems super simple

It's the sewing part that's hard.

It can take a couple of years of regular sewing to develop the skills for tailored garments with intricate hems, seems, or shoulders. It's nice to make a garment with the exact shoulder placement or a custom fitted rise with a good zipper and fastener. The problem is sewing long enough to develop the skill and sewing often enough to maintain your skills. When I'm sewing regularly, I can whip out a blind hem with no problem. If not, it can take me hours to get it right.

I think there is more value in sewing 'expensive' garments than sportswear. The issue I see for EREs is that we own so few garments that it might not be worth it. It was for me since I'm sewing for 5 people and we're tall and need alterations frequently. For someone only sewing for themselves or who doesn't need 'dress' clothes, I'm not sure it's worth it unless you like to do it. (like most hobbies like gardening, etc)

Bluenote started a thread on this topic recently ... viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7083&p=106357#p106357

[workathome]

It sounds like he means doing it for others as an income source, rather than just maintaining/building personal clothes. I'm sure if you're good at it you'll get plenty of business over time, but it might take a while through word-of-mouth, etc.

THUS SPOKE WORKATHOME

[saving-10-years]

@BRUTE. I have sewn wearable clothes in the past. Things like skirts/trousers and blouses for work. Its far less easy than it once was because there are fewer places where you can buy suitable fabrics (in the UK most department stores used to have huge ranges but now hardly anything there). Good suits require good quality fabric. Not so easy to buy this online and very expensive if you make mistakes in the ordering or in the cutting of sewing.

As @jennypenny says the skill is in the sewing and formal tailoring is particularly difficult. With all the layers of cloth, lining and interlining at certain points you are dealing with complex construction where it all can go horribly wrong. Currently teaching DS to sew starting with cushion covers (straight seams, basic use of sewing machine). We'll progress from there but not aiming to get to making suits from scratch. Far too difficult. Adapting them is okay and I hope he will be able to do this before too long.

Of course @Brute may have a different idea of what a suit is. Or how constructed. The above advice applies to human clothing.

[BRUTE]

brute thanks all humans for their valuable input. he was considering tailoring more of a semi-productive hobby, not to necessarily make money with it. sounds like it is reasonable to start slow, with some repair work.

[C40]

I recently converted a shirt from long sleeve to short sleeve (the sleeves had developed holes at the elbows). I learned that clothes making takes a lot of work and is not nearly as simple as I initially imagined.

Given that clothes are currently quite cheap, even when bought new, I don't think it's worth it monetarily to produce clothing yourself. The only case where it makes sense is if you already have the equipment and you really enjoy doing it whether it saves any money or not.

[jacob]

@brute - You might look into Borsodi's writing just for kicks. He was into weaving his own cloth.

[Riggerjack]

Measuring, and patterning, then sewing, a jacket that functions as a jacket is not beyond the skills of the hobbyist.

Making a jacket that drapes, and looks like a tailored jacket is a whole other level of skill. Similar to the difference between the garage woodworker, and a Finish Carpenter or furniture maker.

As with many other skills, the seeming simplicity, is a mark of the skill of the practitioner.

I would recommend helping make costumes at an amateur theatre company as a way to practice sewing without spending too much of your own money. LARP, SCA, or other costume intensive groups will always be a place to gain experience, if theatre doesn't appeal.

Good luck.