Altering sleeve pitch

[bmiller]

Hey all,

I have a very nice Greenfield MTM that has a slight sleeve pitch issue that I did not notice at the time of pick up. I don't live in, or near (4 hours away) NYC. I am wondering if this is considered a risky altertation to have a another tailor do. I have a great tailor here, but I would hate to have something go wrong.

Advise/console me.

Thanks,
B. Miller

 

[TheFoo]

This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone to explain to me what 'pitch' is in the first place.

 

[Mr. Moo]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone to explain to me what 'pitch' is in the first place.

+1

 

[teddieriley]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone to explain to me what 'pitch' is in the first place.

doesn't this have to do with how the sleeve is connected to the sleevehead and how much the sleeve is turned forward or backward, using the shoulder as the axis? My understanding (which could perfectly be wrong) is that a sleeve that is off-pitch, in relation to the natural contours of a person's arms, can be seen in how the sleeve wrinkles. Just by looking at the sleeve you want to either rotate it forward or backward to get the sleeve to drape properly.

 

[bmiller]

Thats what I am understanding as well.

This might be hard because I dont have a picture handy, but...

So, when my arms are flat at my sides the rear half of the sleeve head developes a slight wrinkle. This should be corrected by rotating the sleeve slightly clockwise (for the right sleeve) in order to make the sleeve hang in line with my arm.

Now back to my original question... Is this a risky alteration? Would you be comfortable with having a different tailor that the one who made the suit do it? It is a fully hand sown shoulder FWIW.

 

[Roikins]

Yeah, from my understanding, it's related to where the sleeves are attached which will be based on a person's posture -- stands up straight with shoulders back, or slouching with shoulders pitched forward.

Mahon describes it in a blog entry.

 

[a tailor]

your right tedd.

this is how it is done.
the tailor places a chalk mark on the side of the jacket,this would be where the customers arm hangs. this is done where the bottom of the the sleeve is to be located. the sleeve is removed from the armhole and basted back so as to meet the chalk mark. the cautious tailor will check with a fitting here. re basting if need be and then sewing the sleeve, lining, etc back again.
changing the pitch is often called rehanging the sleeve.

 

[stickonatree]

Originally Posted by a tailor

your right tedd.

this is how it is done.
the tailor places a chalk mark on the side of the jacket,this would be where the customers arm hangs. this is done where the bottom of the the sleeve is to be located. the sleeve is removed from the armhole and basted back so as to meet the chalk mark. the cautious tailor will check with a fitting here. re basting if need be and then sewing the sleeve, lining, etc back again.
changing the pitch is often called rehanging the sleeve.

thanks for this, it is very insightful, as your constributions always are. would you know approximately how much this alteration should/would cost?

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone to explain to me what 'pitch' is in the first place.

If you stand normally with your arms relaxed to the side they will naturally sit a little bit forward with arms slightly bent. People don't normally rest their arms dead straight up-and-down at a 90 degree angle. However, cheaper RTW coats have their sleeves set as though the natural arm position were with you standing to attention, arms straight at nearly 90 degrees. If you do have your arms slightly forward, elbows a bit bent, on such coats the upper sleeve will wrinkles like if you were to put your arms up and forwards (in an angle akin to when you shake someone's hand).

As Alex says, a tailor will often put a chalk mark on the body of the coat during a fitting to indicate the angle that the arms sit when relaxed. This is the correct sleeve pitch, and the sleeve can be set to sit naturally at to accommodate that angle.

 

[82-Greg]

I think the original question remains, is this alternation one that should be entrusted only to the garment's original tailor a master tailor, or can any well qualified tailor do the alteration?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone to explain to me what 'pitch' is in the first place.
You have good sleeve pitch.

 

[Zandros]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone to explain to me what 'pitch' is in the first place.

Are there sleeve yaw and sleeve roll as well?

 

[bmiller]

As amusing as the pitch jokes are, I am hoping for some opinions reletively soon, as a few my suits and I will be doing some travelling soon-ish. I would like to get this taken care of before then if I decide to take this route.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jefferyd]

Some sleeves don't need to be rotated completely- most factory-made suits are pretty dry (not much fullness ) so you can open from the bottom to the top in the back only, raise the pitch notch and leave the front, which is more delicate, alone. If the sleeve is very full then more of it needs to be opened. If it's only your right arm, then chances are good it's a manufacturing defect- we work from front to back (carrying the fullness upward on the back) on the left side, but down the back on the right- if the sleeve setter was careless they can set the sleeve a little low at the back pitch notch, in which case you don't have to open the whole sleeve to fix the problem.

Fused suits, rotating the sleeve is not much of an issue because most layers are tacked together before the sleeve is set so not much moves. Canvas construction, as soon as you open it up everything is loose so the tailor needs to be more careful about getting everything back in the right place. The former, most competent tailors can do a good job, latter, I would be a little choosy about who does it.

 

[taxgenius]

Any tailor in NYC that you would trust with this?