Nearly every Friday morning from February to July of this year I woke up at 4:30am to be ready for a 5am Zoom call. The call in question was a bespoke trouser making course presented by The Tailoring Academy in the UK. For the teacher, and the majority of the students, it was a much more reasonable 10am start.
Despite the hour I was not only willing but excited to get up for class. Even though I have made dozens of pairs of pants I learned something every week, and several of these lessons have had a lasting impact on my sewing.
Here are the five lessons that have stuck with me and have become part of my regular sewing practice.
1. The value of basting.
When making bespoke trousers, pins are rarely used. Instead, fabric is basted together before most sewing steps. The entire pair of trousers is even carefully basted together for a fitting.
Basting not only gives you more control over how the fabric is joined together, but it also eliminates distortion that can be caused by pins. I came to love how much easier it was to sew without pins in the way and the certainty of results when basted vs pinned. I believe that you will never regret basting.
2. The benefits of durable marking.
In a bespoke workroom, construction markings need to last as the garment passes through many stages and many hands on its way to the client. For this reason, cotton basting thread is used for construction markings. These tacks are more accurate, last longer and are easier to see than chalk.
Another marking technique I now use on every project is chalking the wrong side of the fabric with an X and indicating the upward direction of the fabric with an arrow. This is done not only on all garment pieces but also on the fabric remnants since you may need to cut an additional piece and for napped fabrics that arrow is key. I now do this on all my projects. It is so much faster and easier than using stickers or tape.
3. Steam can be a selective tool.
Outside of shaping pieces with steam, the majority of pressing is done with a heavy dry iron. Droplets of water are placed in select areas where steam is desired or a spray bottle is used for a misting of water where steam was desired more broadly.
It just reminded me that I can be very selective when using steam. Depending on the fabric, a hot iron with some pressure can get the job done.
4. There is no substitute for fitting in the final fabric.
For bespoke garments there is no muslin. I know! Instead, the pattern is drafted to the wearer’s measurements and then cut from the final fabric with ample seam allowances to make adjustments.
As a habitual muslin maker, I found this unnerving but it turns out there was no need to worry. It turns out that fitting in the final fabric is much more accurate. Each fabric behaves differently and affects fit.
I have found that muslins have often mislead me, especially for pants and jeans which frequently turn out to be too large when sewn in the final fabric. Now I rely heavily on finished garment and pattern measurements, make any adjustments, add larger seam allowances for fitting and go straight to sewing and mocking up the garment in the final fabric.
I have not completely abandoned muslins for other garments but I expect most will need to be adjusted as I sew them and I look for points in construction where the garment can be basted and tried on for fitting.
5. The power of hand sewing.
I love sewing – with a machine! I hand sew when required but I don’t particularly enjoy it. Bespoke tailoring taught me that hand sewing isn’t only for necessity, it can also be used to get a better result.
Sadly, I don’t have before and after pictures of the pocket below but let me assure you that if I had not used hand sewing to pry the corners open on those slant welt pockets they would not be very defined on this mid weight wool flannel fabric.
The buttonholes on bespoke trousers are also hand sewn because hand sewing them offers more control in the placement and formation, especially on uneven sections such as the rear welt pocket which goes through a dart. Maybe I will get there but I am just not ready to hand sew buttonholes! I think my machine does a great job and when I need a pro, Fabulous Buttonholes service is just a 25 minute drive away from my house.
With the weather turning cooler it is nearly time to complete my trousers. I am ready to make the belt loops and put in the waistband along with all the other finishing steps (and there are many!). I’m looking forward to sharing the completed pair this winter.
Happy sewing!
Norma
Well done! Having completed the online jacket course this year, I came to love the hand-stitching. Very therapeutic in these troubled times. And keep practicing those buttonholes! They are worth it!
Thank you for this article. I’ve been garment sewing (on and off) for 57 years, and just in the last five years began making a muslin first, with mostly great results. But it make sense that a practice pare of trousers made with muslin would fit way different than the chosen fabric. When you speak of using a bigger seam allowance, I imagine that you still cut that consistently-wether it’s a 3/4” or 1” allowance, yes?