The Tailors' Thread: Fit Feedback and Alteration Suggestions

[Megakurth]

I'd appreciate some feedback regarding my latest jacket and trousers.

Trousers
The trousers are made from 15 oz VBC stone covert wool. Overall I'm very happy with them but there's still a couple of minor things I'd like to improve for the next pair:

• The right front crease is perfect. Nice and straight from top to bottom without converging at the top and with a nice rolling transition from pleat to crease. The left front crease is less well behaved. The left pleat is positioned closer to the fly than the right and it doesn't roll quite as nicely. I imagine that making the pleat positions perfectly symmetrical and increasing the width of the left leg slightly might improve the situation?
• The area below the seat could be cleaner. This is something I've struggled with for a long time. Neither me nor Luxire appears to be capable of solving this. Unless someone here has any good ideas I'm leaning towards giving up and calling it good enough.

View attachment 1394535
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b3b8n4qt7xvt9gw/shirtStripedCropped.jpg?dl=0

Jacket
Let's start with my previous jacket as a reference. Overall I like the look, but it has a few issues:

1. The chest width is too tight. The narrow back limits my reach and and the lapels are pulled a bit outwards.
2. The lower half of the sleeves are too narrow. They can't slide up my arms which limits reach and they feel too tight at the elbows when I bend my arms.
3. The collar shape at the back of the neck is odd. It doesn't follow the line of the shirt collar but instead bends down at center back.

View attachment 1394536
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zpin4rpbm4ffhe7/jacketBlueCropped.jpg?dl=0

Now for my latest jacket in brown glen check flannel from Loro Piana:

1. The chest width was increased from 51 to 54 cm and is no longer restrictive.
2. The sleeve circumference at the elbow was increased by 1 cm. Enough to no longer feel restrictive.
3. The collar now sits a bit higher center back. Not fully in line with the collar line, but enough to no longer look odd.

View attachment 1394537
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a046e4nww0m8t05/jacketBrownclosedFlapsOutCropped.jpg?dl=0

Unfortunately not all changes were improvements:

• Is the extra chest and waist width too much?
• The upper sleeve width was increased from 19 to 21.5 cm. I didn't feel a need for more with in the upper arms and I don't like the look. The back of the sleeves are messier. Maybe because of the excess fabric? Maybe the sleeve pitch is off?
• The arm hole size increased from 27 to 30 cm. I loved the high arm holes on the previous jacket and I don't appreciate the increase. Maybe it was done to fit the larger sleeve?
• The shoulder seems to have a lot more roping. Maybe it's just because of the different fabric? Or maybe it's a different construction? I'd prefer a more natural knocked down shoulder.

All thoughts, tips and ideas are welcome. Both pattern improvements for the next iteration as well as alteration suggestions for this jacket.

I’ve had similar issues with the collar on a few of my Luxire jackets. Actually @Despos helped identify that the collar may be too short. I sent one of my jackets back where they are trying to alleviate the issue.

 

[Despos]

Can anyone comment on if adjusting sleeve pitch on a jacket would cause issues for pattern matching (horizontally)?

Also, I'm not sure if anyone knows what I'm talking about (Despos may), but I recall reading that if one has a dropped shoulder, it's quite common that they'll have a certain element of figuration on their opposite hip. Can anyone remind me what it is?

If you see what is done to rotate a sleeve you would understand. Sleeve is removed; completely taken off the jacket. Sleeve is turned/rotated around the armhole. Any horizontal matching will be changed. The points on the sleeve and the jacket that are aligned before rotating are changed. They don't align the same way because the sleeve is in a new position to the armhole.
It is common that the low shoulder side may have a high hip. It is not a given 100% of the time but it is common.
Low right shoulder, high right hip.
Occasionally you have a low right shoulder and a high left hip but it's rare.

 

[Despos]

I’ve had similar issues with the collar on a few of my Luxire jackets. Actually @Despos helped identify that the collar may be too short. I sent one of my jackets back where they are trying to alleviate the issue.

Only if someone at the maker understands what is wrong and knows how to resolve it. It's possible they could look at the jacket and not see anything wrong and not understand what is causing the collar to roll up. Hopefully they have a legitimate tailor on staff that solves issues like this.

 

[CorozoButton]

If you see what is done to rotate a sleeve you would understand. Sleeve is removed; completely taken off the jacket. Sleeve is turned/rotated around the armhole. Any horizontal matching will be changed. The points on the sleeve and the jacket that are aligned before rotating are changed. They don't align the same way because the sleeve is in a new position to the armhole.
It is common that the low shoulder side may have a high hip. It is not a given 100% of the time but it is common.
Low right shoulder, high right hip.
Occasionally you have a low right shoulder and a high left hip but it's rare.

Thanks. So for any patterned RTW where the pitch isn't quite right for the wearer, the wearer will always have to choose between having the pitch perfect (through alteration) or having the pattern matching perfect (assuming it was to begin with).

 

[Despos]

Thanks. So for any patterned RTW where the pitch isn't quite right for the wearer, the wearer will always have to choose between having the pitch perfect (through alteration) or having the pattern matching perfect (assuming it was to begin with).

You are correct. There is one way to change the pitch and have the plaid match but the stars have to align in certain way to make it happen. I'm doing it on a jacket now for a friend. A lot of work and I can't suggest it because too many variables have to happen to enable the adjustment.

 

[jandersson]

I’ve had similar issues with the collar on a few of my Luxire jackets. Actually @Despos helped identify that the collar may be too short. I sent one of my jackets back where they are trying to alleviate the issue.

Thank you @Megakurth!

My interpretation of what a short collar means:
The length of the lower edge of the collar, highlighted with orange lines, is too short. This forces the collar to ride up the traps/neck. On the blue jacket this causes some dimples in the collar, highlighted with green arrows. Similar to what @Megakurth described as roll/rumple/"wave":

https://www.dropbox.com/s/35mjfq76b4sbn5m/shortCollarBlue.jpg?dl=0

Is the short collar issue still present on the brown jacket?
I can't see any distortions of the collar. However, there's some slight shirring going on below the collar, highlighted with red arrows, and some high points at my traps, highlighted with blue arrows. I don't really mind these minor "issues", but perhaps they are caused by the collar edge being under tension because it's still a bit short?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mv20wmj95rylkwd/shortCollarBrown.jpg?dl=0

The collar is too short. You can tell it is short by how the lapel rolls past the button and buttonhole when the jacket is unbuttoned.

Could you elaborate on how to spot a short collar by how the jacket hangs when unbuttoned?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sdo0blxhgeo3lx5/jacketBlueOpen.jpg?dl=0


https://www.dropbox.com/s/c1ta8pzkawcjkgl/jacketBrownOpen.jpg?dl=0

If there are outlets of cloth at both ends of the collar you only need to replace the under collar and reuse the old collar. Look under the collar at both ends to find these outlets.

How would one spot these outlets? Is it the area I've outlined in orange? I can also feel the edge of ~1.5 cm seam allowance outlined in blue. I imagine that lengthening a short collar would involve unfolding the orange and blue areas into the green outline?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tsp1ihqiqjh188u/collarUp.jpg?dl=0

 

[Despos]

Looking at the front views and side views on both jackets:
At the button position and below; the front edge curls outward, away from the body. So much that you cannot see the button when looking from the front. It is covered by the curling front edge. The side profile pictures of both jackets shows the top face of the button facing you. The face of the button should not be seen from the side view, it should face forward. Should only see the button profile standing up on the shank from the side view and the front edge should lie closer to the body and not curl so much that it is facing outward and to the side.
This is caused by the collar being too short. The collar controls the roll of the lapel. The lapel roll should end above the button and not put tension on the front edge.

The cloth of the top collar is folded under on both ends of the collar. You have it outlined. This is the extra length needed when a new collar is made. The top collar cloth is removed and you need a new under collar that is the correct size. This will relax the way the lapels fall.
The jacket balance is extremely off. Back is at least an inch too short. Correcting the balance issue and the short collar would make the jacket feel and look totally different.
The trouser crease changes directions on every trouser. From the front view the waistband seems to angle from low on the right to higher on the left. You may have a high left hip contributing to the crease line. Grey trouser looks very short.
Can point out what needs attention but hesitate to advise any changes. Everything seems over manipulated beyond reason. Better to adjust from the base pattern with no adjustments made than try to rearrange a jacket that has been manipulated so much.
Why don't you work with another maker?

 

[Despos]

I imagine that lengthening a short collar would involve unfolding the orange and blue areas into the green outline?

No. Lengthening as your colored dots show is not how the collar would change.
Have to see how a collar pattern is drafted to understand how it's done.

 

[jj02138]

Hello all, I was hoping someone could help me understand how chest alterations work. I recently bought a suit that is about 1 inch too large in both armpit to armpit and waste measurements. Other than this extra "width", I really like it. I know taking in the waist is an "easy/safe" alteration, but what about taking in the chest?

As far as I understand, the chest can be taken in along the side seams. But does the procedure open up the seams all the way to the armholes and take in starting at the armholes? Or does it have to start tapering some distance below the armhole? In the latter case, will that end up looking weird since the armpit to armpit distance will remain too large?

 

[Torzano]

Can I iron or steam the lapels of a 3 button or a 3 roll 2.5 sport coat into a 3 roll 2?

 

[BomTrady]

Can I iron or steam the lapels of a 3 button or a 3 roll 2.5 sport coat into a 3 roll 2?

I am rank amateur, but from my experiences, the answer is "no". I've tried to change a 3-2.5 into a 3 - 2 and it shifted the collar and notch where it wouldn't lay flat. When I realized the mistake I made, I tried to iron it back and couldn't do it. I don't know if it makes a difference, but the jacket to which I am referring is a hand-padded one. The lapel is hand-sewn, beautifully designed to roll just above the 2nd button. It put up heavy resistance to being altered. Caveat - I have no tailoring training.

 

[Despos]

Can I iron or steam the lapels of a 3 button or a 3 roll 2.5 sport coat into a 3 roll 2?

The roll is not determined by pressing but by the quality of construction of the collar and the lapel. You may get away with it on a lower grade construction. You need some experience to know how to do it effectively. Proper adjustment is done by resetting the collar.

 

[Despos]

Hello all, I was hoping someone could help me understand how chest alterations work. I recently bought a suit that is about 1 inch too large in both armpit to armpit and waste measurements. Other than this extra "width", I really like it. I know taking in the waist is an "easy/safe" alteration, but what about taking in the chest?

As far as I understand, the chest can be taken in along the side seams. But does the procedure open up the seams all the way to the armholes and take in starting at the armholes? Or does it have to start tapering some distance below the armhole? In the latter case, will that end up looking weird since the armpit to armpit distance will remain too large?

Unclear by what you mean by reducing the chest. If the chest is too full on the front you want to open the sleeve, reduce on the seam where the front meets the side body and reshape the front armhole curve. This will bring the breast pocket closer to the seam where the sleeve attaches. Determine before doing if that will look right.
Reducing on the side seams gives the impression of making the chest smaller but you are really just reducing the blades.

 

[acapaca]

Occasionally you have a low right shoulder and a high left hip but it's rare.

I think I've got that problem myself. Any idea what causes these issues, or better yet, if some kind of postural work can improve them?

 

[Despos]

I think I've got that problem myself. Any idea what causes these issues, or better yet, if some kind of postural work can improve them?

It’s a skeletal issue. Symmetry of your bone structure and your spine. Nobody is symmetrical. In almost 50 years, have had only two clients that did not have a low shoulder. Think you can work with some sort of physical therapy to correct posture, not sure if it will help to align skeletal structure issues.