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Cuff finishing

j

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I was just reinspecting the one Oxxford suit I kept of the three I found a couple of weeks ago (the other two had defects upon closer inspection) and I noticed something that I wondered if anyone else pays attention to. I was noting that the two sleeves are different lengths on me (while my arms are pretty much even in length) when I looked into the cuff and noticed that the underside of the "folded over part" (don't know technical term) of the buttonhole area was simply folded over and sewn down instead of mitred. I have done some cuffs myself and mitring them takes a minimal amount of extra time and IMO looks much better, although I bet 99% of people never notice much less care.

I don't know if I'm describing this so people can figure out what I am talking about but take a look at a few of your suits to see what I mean. I considered it sacrilege to find these hasty details on a suit with probably a few hundred visible stitches under each lapel among much other handwork. Does anyone else notice or care? Is my preference for mitres ridiculous?

Relatedly I think I may keep this suit and see if I can get it altered to fit me. It's just too nice to sell.
 

Alias

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Mitred sleeves look much better, especially when you decide to undo the buttons. I agree that the lack of finish cheapens the suit.

I always insist on my sleeve endings looking neat.
 

armscye

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For those of us unfamiliar with the term, what is mitreing of the cuff?
 

Alias

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I think this is what j is talking about. Behold my Photoshop sketching skills.
mitred.gif
 

j

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Good diagram. That's exactly what I was talking about. To mitre it, you do the measuring and basically fold the corner inside instead of out and over, iron and sew it from the inside then turn it out. It's easy once you figure it out. Looks much more professional.
 

A Harris

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Usually the "folded over" method you described is used on cuffs with working buttonholes, or so that working buttonholes can be added later. That way you can let the sleeve down or take it up a bit without the buttonholes getting in the way.
 

j

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I suppose that makes sense. Once the buttonholes are in, you couldn't undo the mitred one while the folded over one would be adjustable to some degree. When I finally get a suit made for me I will get it mitred and then buttonholed. Future owners will just have to deal with adjusting at the shoulder.
 

Bic Pentameter

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This post piqued my curiousity. So I checked my mtm suit today. The cuffs are mitred, but the bottom of the vents are not.

FWIW
 

j

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Never checked the vents before. Another thing to be picky about, I better go check them...
 

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