Assembling the canvas to the jacket

Some speak of using a duplex board. W.W. Chan tailors use the edge of their table. Sator speaks of using a mezzaluna. Cabrera, however, asks you to do it on a flat table.

The forepart is quite plane at the moment. In fact, Cabrera seems to specialize in flat tailoring. Nowhere does he tell you to infuse the canvas with shape while padding. The only thing with shape is the concave shoulder pad and even that is very mild and surprisingly straight depending on the angle of observation.

I need to find a better way to do this.

Constructing the canvas pt. 4

After pressing the chest bulge is even more pronounced.

The shipping forwarder is withholding my mega parcel because I need to fill out some notarized form of theirs and bank wire the sum I already paypalled them because they are afraid of fraud and all that. The consequence is I am still without a ham. So I pressed the canvas you see above on a balled up towel.

Constructing the canvas pt. 3

I made up the second canvas and it was so much better than the first that I have unpicked the first and will re-pad it.

The Tao on The Crafts

Duke Huan was sitting up in his hall reading a book. The wheelwright Pien was down below in the courtyard making a wheel. He put down his chisel and hammer, went up to the hall and asked Duke Huan, "May I ask you, Sir, what words you are reading?"

            Duke Huan replied,"The words of the sages."

            "Are these sages still living?"

            "They are long dead," said Duke Huan.

            "Then, Sir, what you are reading is nothing but rubbish left over from these ancient men!"

            "How dare you, a wheelwright, comment on what I read! If you can explain this, fine, if not you shall die!" thundered Duke Huan.

            The wheelwright replied,"Your Lordship’s servant looks at it from the perspective of his own work. When I work on a wheel, if I hit too softly, pleasant as this is, it doesn’t make for a good wheel. If I hit furiously, I get tired and the thing doesn’t work! So, not too soft, not too vigorous, I grasp it in my hand and hold it in my heart. I cannot express this by word of mouth, I just know it. I cannot teach this to my son, nor can my son learn it from me. So for seventy years I have gone along this path and here I am still making wheels. The ancient ones, when they died, took their words with them. Which is why I can state that Your Lordship is reading is nothing more than rubbish left over from these ancient ones!"

--Chuang Tzu, The Tao of Nature

Constructing the canvas pt. 2

Done with one canvas.

Constructing the canvas

Haircloth a bit too narrow, but it will serve. Used twill shirting material instead of cotton flannel as domette. Not done padding it yet (have to go sleep).

The long front balance

The shoulder seam has gone through two big changes in TG#4. I let out the seams at the shoulder tip by 1 cm on the double. This solved the bunching at the neck caused by the jacket being more suited to a square shouldered figuration. However, the result was exasperating --- the front balance was still way too long. How this is even remotely possible was incomprehensible to me. After all, TG#4 was cut from a pattern that has had a ¾“ horizontal wedge cut out from its forepart front edge to reduce the front balance length. How the front balance remains long after such an operation was beyond me!

Then it occured to me that it may be due to the ironwork. I remember stretching the lapel roll line. There was no choice but to change the shoulder seam again. I took up ½“  from the forepart at the neckpoint.

I intentionally left in some uncorrected front balance length. The process of inserting and drawing in the bridle will shorten the front balance by 3/8“.

It is not clear to me if it is a good idea to judge the front balance of a jacket in an uncanvassed state. There is extra length as well as width in the front that is supposed to be propped up by the canvas. Which was why instead of fiddling with the fit I decided to put in the pockets and canvas before conducting a proper first fitting.

It occured to me that it is a good idea to have a straight edge to the quarters during the first fitting. A straight front edge would make any front balance issues more obvious.

TG#4 in its present state appears a little short. But overall length is something that should be adjusted only after the balance and shoulder slope issues have been sorted out.

All pockets in!

All pockets in! Canvas next!

Making a welt pocket (on scrap)

It's not difficult to make a welt pocket. Should have started with this before the jetted pocket.

Thoughts on cross pockets, now that I've made two

1. I never suspected pockets are so elaborately made. It takes hours of painstaking sewing to make one.
2. When Cabrera says to make the flaps 1/8th of an inch longer than the slit, he really meant that and no more. Otherwise there is a corrugated look to the flap.
3. I need to make a few more to get better results.
4. The shape of Cabrera's flaps suck. So ugly. The corners should have a larger radius and a few other things.

Flapped jetted pocket on Trial Garment #4

Dude, this is so ridiculously time consuming! 6 hours for a lousy little pocket. Surely life is too short for these things.

On the size of cross pockets

Cross pockets should be large enough to comfortably swallow a paperback book. This means a 6" opening and 9" deep.

Making piped pockets (on scrap)

The curved shoulder wedge

The Taguchi has a curved V wedge just like in the Bunka book that Sator posted

Reflections on Trial Garment #4

By the time I was done sewing it up, I was on my last legs. So my reflections on it come from blurry-eyed recollections.

I recalled it being rather tight. However, reviewing the limited pics I have of it (didn't take many), it certainly does not show any tightness. So maybe the feeling of tightness has to do with the overly small armhole/excessive inlays around the armhole.

The shoulder slope is off by at least 0.75cm on the double at the tip of shoulder seam to nothing at the neck.

The jacket is too short at the back. I corrected the long back balance without extending the hemline. 2 to 3cm will be added to the back hem.

Otherwise the jacket makes a good impression. I have left enormous inlays in the jacket, and now it is time to trim most of it away.

The next step is to learn to make pockets on scraps before making it on the trial garment. By then, my mega parcel from the US should have arrived and with it the cotton domette I need to make up the canvas (I have hymo and haircloth with me).

I will try to go as far as possible with Trial Garment #4 until I make an irreversible error and have to start over again.

Point presser

Arrived today...

Trial garment #4

I'm exhausted. 8 hours of work am Stück.