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I deconstructed a suit, and i've got q's

johnnynorman3

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I had an Ebay purchase gone wrong (only $30 out of pocket, so no big deal). Luckily the pants are cool on their own. But I digress.

So, instead of trying to hawk the thing on Ebay (I doubt I could've gotten anywhere near back what I paid, if I were honest), I'd deconstruct it. So, here's what I found. The chest did have a "third interlining" of canvas and what appeared to be a soft cotton material draped over the canvas. But, then "fused" onto the front material was what I presume to be the "fusable material." I basically started tearing it off and it pretty much seemed like an iron-on patch type deal. You could see the glue residue on the wool.

So, my question is, why would you need to put fusing like that when you already have a canvas chest piece? Honestly, it seems like the fusing might add some durability to the wool, which is a good thing. I didn't think that it made the wool all that much stiffer, and it was an old suit and I didn't see any bubbling. So my feeling is that the most important things are (1) a good canvas chest piece and (2) canvas in the lapels [this one DID NOT have canvas in the lapels -- it depended on the extra body given by the fusing]. But I just don't get why you'd need to put fusing in when you have the canvas chest piece (note: I understand why'd you do it in the lapel if you don't have canvas there, but why elsewhere?).

Could somebody answer this?
 

Alias

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Was the jacket of lightweight wool? If so, the presence of fusable material might be to give the jacket more shape.
 

BGW

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My understanding is that "fusing" refers not to a lack of canvas in the jacket, but rather to a means of securing the canvas interlining to the wool itself.

So while almost every suit has a canvas interlining, the difference referenced on these boards is that sometimes the canvas is glued in place, and sometimes it is sewn in place.

I could be way off base here, and am posting mostly as a way of verifying my intuition. Correct away.
 

johnnynorman3

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The canvas was indeed stitched in. It basically was stitched in on the sides (imagine a square piece of canvas, with the stitching around the perimeter, such that the middle is "floating". So, the fusing had nothing to do with the security of the canvas.

It wasn't a lightweight wool. It was actually a winter/fall weight. Initially I thought the fusing might have been to give body. But I just don't think that makes much sense.
 

j

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As you said, the suit depended on the fusible interlining for body in the lapels. Undoubtedly the use of good canvas interlining stitched in loosely and floating around in there would require a great deal more handwork and add to the cost of the suit. It's mainly a cost cutting measure.
 

j

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By the way, post some pics if you can.
 

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