Mod to Suedehead

[Ivyskin89]

These are made with cotton, hemp, and elastane. I wonder if the elastane would help them hold a crease? To permanently crease my trousers I leave the iron sitting on a spot for several seconds with the steam on and then I roll it hard with a rolling pin.

 

[Ivyskin89]

12 years ago Levi's made a white 511 for urban outfitters that had a permanent crease. They were 97% cotton 3% elastane.

 

[Thin White Duke]

12 years ago Levi's made a white 511 for urban outfitters that had a permanent crease. They were 97% cotton 3% elastane.

I don’t think the elastase has any contribution to a permanent crease. The permanent crease is made by inserting a line of heat activated fusing material (Glue!) down the inside of the crease line and pressing the strides in the heat press. This fuses together a thin line of the material on either side of the intended crease to make it permanent. I think some of the big box outfitters like Mens Wearhouse or Jos A Bank used to offer this as an add-on service for people buying suits or strides.

 

[Ivyskin89]

I don’t think the elastase has any contribution to a permanent crease. The permanent crease is made by inserting a line of heat activated fusing material (Glue!) down the inside of the crease line and pressing the strides in the heat press. This fuses together a thin line of the material on either side of the intended crease to make it permanent. I think some of the big box outfitters like Mens Wearhouse or Jos A Bank used to offer this as an add-on service for people buying suits or strides.

That makes sense. Probably not elastane, but polyester does a similar thing without the glue. I wonder how I could replicate this process?

 

[Inkss]

Get some of this stuff :

Run it along the inside of the crease :

Iron over a mm or two on the front :

Peel away the un-heat-bonded webbing and there ya go :

It's a right royal pain *********** to do and fiddly as f**k. But if you want to do yourself a decent semi-permanent knife-like crease at home.

 

[Thin White Duke]

That makes sense. Probably not elastane, but polyester does a similar thing without the glue. I wonder how I could replicate this process?

Pretty sure the elastane is just added to give a bit of stretch and supposedly contribute to ‘comfort’. You will know that a lot of jeans companies are doing this but the purists don’t like it!
Remember that polyester is a form of plastic so if you’re thinking about hot pressing anything with polyester content tread carefully as it can ‘melt’ and make a real mess.

On a separate note around 2008 Levi’s had a line of chinos that were made with some sort of coconut fibre. Supposed to be very ‘green’ in the process. I tried a pair in slate grey but didn’t like ‘em much. The material had a sort of smooth slightly man-made-silky hand to it and they seemed to be kinda sweaty to wear. Also my alterations fella at the time didn’t know about the material so when he pressed them after hemming them he left an indelible iron imprint on the inside lower leg. I didn’t wear them for long before binning them off and I’m guessing they didn’t really catch on as I haven’t seen Levi’s do anything similar in recent years. I’m interested in environmentally friendly processes and I suppose there’s that grey area between ‘natural’ and ‘man made’ materials like rayon. I reckon we’ll see more of this kind of thing in coming years, with likely varied success! Remember back in the seventies when wool jumpers seemed like a thing of the past and it was all Acrylic, Acrilan, Orlon etc. Even those fine knit Fred Perry V necks back then were all Acrylic.

 

[Ivyskin89]

Pretty sure the elastane is just added to give a bit of stretch and supposedly contribute to ‘comfort’. You will know that a lot of jeans companies are doing this but the purists don’t like it!
Remember that polyester is a form of plastic so if you’re thinking about hot pressing anything with polyester content tread carefully as it can ‘melt’ and make a real mess.

On a separate note around 2008 Levi’s had a line of chinos that were made with some sort of coconut fibre. Supposed to be very ‘green’ in the process. I tried a pair in slate grey but didn’t like ‘em much. The material had a sort of smooth slightly man-made-silky hand to it and they seemed to be kinda sweaty to wear. Also my alterations fella at the time didn’t know about the material so when he pressed them after hemming them he left an indelible iron imprint on the inside lower leg. I didn’t wear them for long before binning them off and I’m guessing they didn’t really catch on as I haven’t seen Levi’s do anything similar in recent years. I’m interested in environmentally friendly processes and I suppose there’s that grey area between ‘natural’ and ‘man made’ materials like rayon. I reckon we’ll see more of this kind of thing in coming years, with likely varied success! Remember back in the seventies when wool jumpers seemed like a thing of the past and it was all Acrylic, Acrilan, Orlon etc. Even those fine knit Fred Perry V necks back then were all Acrylic.

When I was producing sta prest for my line I got the 50/50 poly cotton twill and did the ironing with the rolling pin and that made a permanent crease

 

[northernbloke12345]

Get some of this stuff :
View attachment 1686972

Run it along the inside of the crease :
View attachment 1686973

Iron over a mm or two on the front :
View attachment 1686975

Peel away the un-heat-bonded webbing and there ya go :
View attachment 1686977

It's a right royal pain *********** to do and fiddly as f**k. But if you want to do yourself a decent semi-permanent knife-like crease at home.

Genius, gotta love the old wonder webbing, good for letting up or letting down trousers if you are a lazy sod like me then your mum or missus can use the sewing machine to go all round the hem later

 

[Ivyskin89]

This is pretty wild the parallel. I guess skinhead was a world wide phenomenon around the world in the 60s.

 

[Ivyskin89]

Get some of this stuff :
View attachment 1686972

Run it along the inside of the crease :
View attachment 1686973

Iron over a mm or two on the front :
View attachment 1686975

Peel away the un-heat-bonded webbing and there ya go :
View attachment 1686977

It's a right royal pain *********** to do and fiddly as f**k. But if you want to do yourself a decent semi-permanent knife-like crease at home.

Is that just regular tape?

 

[Ivyskin89]

Picked these up on grailed. They fit perfectly. Leg opening is a bit wide but tailor can fix that when I have them hemmed. I think they must be 90s. I was told they were made exclusively for the Italian market or European market.

 

[Ivyskin89]

Actually the tag says www.Levi.com so I think they're probably 21st century. Idk if they would have put a url on a 90s tag. But a nice 12" rise which became rare after 2000

 

[Inkss]

Is that just regular tape?

Iron-on fusible hem tape/webbing. (Wunda Web/Stitch Witchery)

 

[northernbloke12345]

Picked these up on grailed. They fit perfectly. Leg opening is a bit wide but tailor can fix that when I have them hemmed. I think they must be 90s. I was told they were made exclusively for the Italian market or European market. View attachment 1689987 View attachment 1689988 View attachment 1689989 View attachment 1689990 View attachment 1689991 View attachment 1689992 View attachment 1689993 View attachment 1689994

width looks fine to me, but i like a more classic fit these days and don't have my trousers short anymore so maybe it's just me.

 

[smalltownbigboots]

What does the leg opening measure? I agree they look great as is in that regard, though personally like you Nik I would hem them up. Whatever you do I'll be interested to see the result after tailoring.