Adding Mechanical/Working buttons (surgeons cuff) to a Sport Coat

[allaboutshoes]

I just got a Canali SC here on SF (same one as posted Here), and the buttons came in a bag with the cuff basted and had no buttons. My question is: does this require a special machine to make the holes and put the buttons on OR can any tailor do it? I dont want to screw it up and its a gorgeous SC. Thanks!

 

[Nicola]

Don't button holes predate electric power?

Ask your tailor how much they want for working cuffs then decide. The cost is the bigger issue.

 

[pvrhye]

Originally Posted by Nicola

Don't button holes predate electric power?

Ask your tailor how much they want for working cuffs then decide. The cost is the bigger issue.

Don't mechanical things predate electric power?

 

[LukeM]

Originally Posted by pvrhye

Don't mechanical things predate electric power?

This is mechanical:

no electricity here

 

[pvrhye]

Originally Posted by LukeM

This is mechanical:

no electricity here

So's a stick wedged under a rock.

 

[allaboutshoes]

Can we stick to the topic here? LOL
@LukeM: Great picture

 

[allaboutshoes]

Edited title to say"Adding Mechanical/Working buttons (surgeons cuff) to a Sport Coat"

 

[CYstyle]

A skilled tailor can do handmade buttonholes. Where I live it's 10-12$ a button depending on who you go to.

Your average tailor wouldn't have the machine anyhow, button hole machines are expensive and large. if you bought it new it would be somewhere around 7-10k probably. With a machine you just run it through and it sews and cuts a buttonhole in a few seconds.

 

[allaboutshoes]

Originally Posted by CYstyle

A skilled tailor can do handmade buttonholes. Where I live it's 10-12$ a button depending on who you go to.

Your average tailor wouldn't have the machine anyhow, button hole machines are expensive and large. if you bought it new it would be somewhere around 7-10k probably. With a machine you just run it through and it sews and cuts a buttonhole in a few seconds.

So you're saying I would have to go to a specific tailor which has this machine?
Can I leave the cuffs without any buttons?

 

[CYstyle]

Pretty much any tailor can finish the sleeves for you and sew on the buttons, should only take them like 10 minutes.

but for working buttonholes
you want to find a skilled tailor who can do the work, where do you live

 

[allaboutshoes]

New York

 

[allaboutshoes]

Would it make sense to just have them sewn on without being working? Or should i go to the efforts to make them working?

 

[stubloom]

Your typical alterations shop will not have a button machine.

The Alterations Department in a high-end store such as Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom or Saks Fifth Avenue might have a button hole machine. Not all locations have one as they run $10K+ each. In Phoenix/Scottsdale, for example, only 2 of those 4 stores has a button machine, and, at one of those stores, they haven't been able to get their machine to operate correctly since Aug 2009.

If you have a very good relationship with a personal shopper or a particular salesperson at any of those stores, and that store has a button machine, you might be able to convince that individual to accommodate you. Expect to pay about $7.50 to $10 per button hole (machine made).

 

[allaboutshoes]

Wow... x8 buttons=$80!!

 

[allaboutshoes]

Why do higher end brands leave the cuffs undone? What is the function? Why not just sew on the buttons?