fusing question...

over on axe andy someone posted a thread about someone New Delhi making suits and jackets really cheap. on a whim i emailed thinking that i wouldn't hear back but they replied. was thinking of having something wild made, but i posed the question on canvassing and here was the response:

Dear Mr.Discostu004,

By "fully canvassed", do you mean non-fused, hand basted canvass lining
or
do you mean fully lined? We can make non-fused sport coats since the
fabrics
are thicker for sport coats. However, for the lightweight suit fabrics
we
find that the non-fused method doesn't produce a very neat appearance
in the
final product. It also costs more ($90 for fused tailoring and $135 for
non-fused tailoring). I'll scan some samples and send them to you soon.

Regards,

Sachin Vaish


which is the best of the options given?

This is an odd response. I'm not sure what he means. If I had to guess, I would say that they use a very rough or heavy or thick (or all of the above) canvas on their hand-canvassed suits. This would indeed make a lightweight fabric look stiff and possibly "lumpy."

However, the remedy -- use lighter canvas -- is so obvious that I can't imagine this is what they mean. Unless, like some tailors, they simply don't like padstitching lightweight cloth, which is admittedly a pain in the a$$. But, come on, these guys are in Delhi, they ought to have extensive experience working with lightweight cloth.

Why "non-fused method doesn't produce a very neat appearance in the final product" ? Ironing; the final touch of a tailor, especially in a fully canvassed coat, and a hard part to do, also you need a special heavy iron.

There were actually some threads on this a ways back (too lazy to search).

Anyhoo, there was the opinion that for lightweight fabrics (8 oz or so), that fusing was actually better under some circumstances. I think it had to do with humidity and how the fabric responded to it where fusing would actually hold up better than a good ol' hand-stitched canvas.

Yes , some of the recent lightweight fabric ("tasmanian", super-super-super-something) are actually thought for indutrial construction of suits, that is iron press (and not hand-ironing) and fused canvass.

Very interesting. I wrote to Vaish but didn't get a response. Did you only ask about whether or not the suits were fully canvased?

As I'm not going to New Delhi anytime soon I was hoping I could get Vaish to copy a jacket. $135 is a great price for that amount of work.

i simply emailed him and said i was NOT going to be there, but could he make a jkt based on measurements and he replied he could, then said he would scan some swatches. i replied back something about canvassing and could i pick things like 1/4 lining, ticket pocket etc and that was the response i got. pretty quick response too

Very cool, discostu. I would be very interested in hearing how the experience goes, if you choose to have Vaish make something for you. I'm thinking maybe a two piece seersucker for next summer.

Is it $135 plus fabric?

i figure if it's cheap i could get something loud and garish with a goofy lining.

I would guess it's $135 excluding material costs. Vaish has pricing details here: http://www.indiamart.com/vaish/ And in addition to fabric from European mills, they stock Indian material from Raymond: http://www.raymondindia.com/oc_divis...uctprofile.htm I agree. A price like that is begging for an outlandish, or entirely unnecessary garment.

how much is a rupee?

2.2 cents. or 1 USD = 45 rupees.

That was going to be my next question, along with How much fabric am I going to need for a suit, or for an overcoat, in meters?

what is this "super 150s blended with polyester"? is this a souped-up john travolta circa 1977 look?