Meet FCDB

This is a suit I had made by my usual tailor about a year ago. It was his first fully canvassed jacket in many decades, and it was only through much coaxing from me and the trust we have built up over three other jackets and numerous shirts and odd trousers that he agreed to make this for me.

I have nicknamed this FCDB, standing for fully canvassed double breasted. I have shown this DB to two other bespoke tailors and they were both floored by the quality. It will take me many, many jackets before I can wield cloth like this coatmaker.

No.1 as a DB? I think not.

I'm pretty sure after seeing the illustration above that No. 1 should be a single breasted.

The Topcollar: Both sides now

The Topcollar

Now I have to do the other side...

Yukibane threads

It is actually impossible to source good threads in KL. Even the tailor's trimmings supplier I went to had nothing good. The market leader seems to be Rinata, a spun polyester that is wooly, hairy and shit. It is so shit I cannot believe tailors would endure working with it everyday.

I had to buy Gütermann online. Tera 180 for my shirts and for No. 1 I bought a spool of Mara 120. The Mara and Tera range of threads use continuous core polyester, which is essentially very, very long staple polyester. The thread is smooth (not hairy), has a soft sheen to it, and very strong.

But what I found at Daiso exceeded all my expectations. For RM5, you get a 200m spool of Yukibane thread, which is the glossiest, smoothest polyester thread I've seen. I believe it is resin coated. I can't buy enough of this stuff.

Collar shape finalized

After months of having an oversized blobby undercollar, TG#4 has had its undercollar trimmed to its final shape. It is in cutting things like the undercollar that you appreciate a pair of astonishingly sharp shears like the Shozaburo most. The undercollar is thick and tough, and has gentle curves. A lesser pair of shears would have rendered the edge less precise.

Undercollar crossstitched to the necksyce

Both shoulders have now been finalized. I padded the undercollar to about 70%, leaving unpadded portions for later. The undercollar was then cross stitched to the necksyce.

 

I really love the way the collar hugs the neck. I can do anything I want yet the collar remains glued to the neck!