DESIGN YOUR OWN LAPEL

[a tailor]

The next time you order a m2m or custom suit would you like to have some-thing different in the lapels style? Yes you can have that, and also you can be your own designer with this....
Its some-thing called a *shaper. they are found in m2m and custom work shops. They are the size and shape of the finished lapel. the tailor uses it to mark out and then cut out the shape of the finished lapel. this is before the front tape is sewn, and the facing is sewn in place.
*I have been told shaper is not a proper word, but thats what most tailors call it.

Here is how you can make your own shaper. See the diagram.
Take one of your coats be it 2 or 3 button. Place the fore part of the coat face up on a sheet of paper.and trace the shape all around That long straight line is the break line.It runs from the crease of the collar to the top button. dont forget to mark in that short diagonal straight line, thats the gorge line.
You now have your basic lapel shaper. using this you can make changes in shape and size. you can design your own lapel.
cut it out and give it to your tailor with the understanding that you realize that the finished product will be close to this and not be exact to the nth degree. After all he will need to make it fit into the new garment.

If you make that first copy of a finished lapel out of cardboard, keep it as a base from which to make other future lapels.
Why stop there, have you thought of making different shaped pocket flaps?



notice the dotted lines at the bottom of the diagram. A reminder that you can also make shapers for the curve of the quarters of the jacket.

 

[RDiaz]

Very interesting. Not sure my tailor offers this possibility, though. What about an armscye shaper so that the chest of the coat doesn't end up sitting on my biceps?

 

[a tailor]



Very interesting. Not sure my tailor offers this possibility, though. What about an armscye shaper so that the chest of the coat doesn't end up sitting on my biceps?

Hey Diaz can we have a couple of pictures, and a description?

 

[RDiaz]

Well I think this should go in a different thread, but I mean, on most of my coats the armscye is cut following the green line in this picture, and I believe if it was cut following the red line it would allow for more ease of movement:




Do MTM programs usually allow for such a thing? Maybe the tailor could send the factory a "shaper" for the armscye as well?

 

[a tailor]

RDiaz
this picture is a good helper. But there are more questions.
Are the shoulders too wide?
Is the chest too wide across the front?
Is the armhole much too deep?
do you have fore ward shoulders like the tutorial
Is there too much overlap at the front by the buttons.

 

[RDiaz]

The shoulders on my jackets usually have no extension at all, though I want to start getting soft extended shoulders. I usually get some extra room at the back, but front chest is lean. Armholes are going to be high on my future jackets, and my shoulders are slightly more forward pitched than usual. It's not something I want to get fixed on current jackets, but on future ones - all part of an ongoing process, as I want to squeeze the most mobility I can out of the MTM block pattern. So that's why I was asking if the tailor can actually do something about the armhole pattern on a MTM program, not unlike the lapel shaper thingy. Of course I'd pay some extra cash for the extra work...

 

[a tailor]

Diaz
If that red line is where you wish it to be,then try the fore ward shoulder pattern change.