Faux Buttonhole stitches or no?

[Albern]

Originally Posted by a tailor

yes albern its true, a substantial foundation is needed to make buttonholes. on the coat front you have two layers of wool fabric and one layer of canvas between. on sleeves you need two layers of wool fabric and two layers of wiggan in between.
wiggan is the cotton reenforcement at the sleeve bottom.

Thank you "a tailor" for confirming this for us.

In regards to the wiggan where is it exactly? Would it be under the fabric at the bottom of the sleeve? I always thought that what felt like an additional layer was just the fabric being folded underneath itself.

 

[brittain]

Originally Posted by porcelain monkey

It's a personal decision. I have working buttonholes put on my Black Label suits.

same here. Some of my suits came with the faux stuff, but everything that comes with a plain sleeve gets functional holes.

 

[a tailor]

what i just wrote about is for real buttonholes. you do not need those under layers for faux buttonholes.

 

[Albern]

Originally Posted by a tailor

what i just wrote about is for real buttonholes. you do not need those under layers for faux buttonholes.

I see. Thanks.

 

[elippsis]

a little off topic but..I heard adjusting the length of the sleeve is difficult with functioning cuffs, but can it be done? and how much (length) can be done easily by your tailor?

Thanks.

 

[83glt]

Originally Posted by elippsis

a little off topic but..I heard adjusting the length of the sleeve is difficult with functioning cuffs, but can it be done? and how much (length) can be done easily by your tailor?

Thanks.
It depends. How much length will be added/removed, and if in doing this alteration the existing button holes end up too close to or to far from the cuff. Even worse, if you're shortening the sleeve and you end up with the cuff right in the middle of where the existing buttonholes are. Obviously that's not going to work and will just look silly. But if you're just making a minor alteration of say 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, you can probably get away with it on most jackets.

 

[83glt]

Originally Posted by cgo

I would like that however it might be costly no?
I think you can usually get it done for about $10 a hole. So $80 a jacket - assuming each sleeve has 4 holes.

 

[Albern]

Originally Posted by elippsis

a little off topic but..I heard adjusting the length of the sleeve is difficult with functioning cuffs, but can it be done? and how much (length) can be done easily by your tailor? Thanks.

Originally Posted by 83glt

It depends. How much length will be added/removed, and if in doing this alteration the existing button holes end up too close to or to far from the cuff. Even worse, if you're shortening the sleeve and you end up with the cuff right in the middle of where the existing buttonholes are. Obviously that's not going to work and will just look silly. But if you're just making a minor alteration of say 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, you can probably get away with it on most jackets.
I heard that depending on how the jacket was made, even with surgeon cuffs the sleeve can be lengthened or shortened from the shoulder. Again it depends on a number of factors which can include the amount of fabric available, how tapered (?) the sleeve is to be able for it to be re-fitted onto the arm hole, etc... It isn't impossible but if is done it is more complex, and requires more time and money.

 

[Journeyman]

Originally Posted by elippsis

a little off topic but..I heard adjusting the length of the sleeve is difficult with functioning cuffs, but can it be done? and how much (length) can be done easily by your tailor?

Thanks.

It can be done by a competent tailor, but it will be a lot more expensive than adjusting from the cuff end of the sleeve.

As an example, my tailor in Australia charges me $40 to shorten a sleeve at the cuff, but $160 to shorten from the sleevehead (at the shoulder). This is, quite simply, because the latter involves a lot more work.

Typically, a sleeve can only be shortened at the shoulder by a couple of inches, otherwise the sleeve will no longer fit into the hole at the shoulder. Also, if the fabric of the suit is patterned and the shoulder/sleeve/chest are pattern-matched (that is, the stripes/checks in the fabric pieces match up where they meet together at the shoulder), you will most likely lose this if you shorten the sleeve at the shoulder, unless you are fortunate enough to shorten the sleeve to precisely the same scale as the fabric pattern.

I hope that this helps.

 

[83glt]

Originally Posted by Albern

I heard that depending on how the jacket was made, even with surgeon cuffs the sleeve can be lengthened or shortened from the shoulder. Again it depends on a number of factors which can include the amount of fabric available, how tapered (?) the sleeve is to be able for it to be re-fitted onto the arm hole, etc... It isn't impossible but if is done it is more complex, and requires more time and money.
That's definitely true. Forgot about that method. As you said, it can't be done on every jacket, and I wouldn't trust but the experienced tailor to do it. I have had it done on at least one jacket with great results. It did cost more though.

 

[elippsis]

Thanks for all the great replies. I was actually thinking of very minor adjustments, about .25 or .50 inches...I assume that would be quite simple?

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by elippsis

Thanks for all the great replies. I was actually thinking of very minor adjustments, about .25 or .50 inches...I assume that would be quite simple?

yes