Timeless Tailoring

Traditional tailoring requires much time consuming and careful hand work to achieve the desired qualities. It is still sought after by discriminatingly dressers who can afford the investment of custom-made clothing and by those who have the time to do the fine work for themselves. A custom tailored garment is characterized by excellent fit, careful and accurate construction, and permanent shaping and durability achieved with the appropriate inner support fabrics for the desired look.Modern ready-to-wear tailored garments are now constructed mostly by machine. With the availability of high-quality fusible interfacings and notions, much of the necessity for hand sewing has been eliminated. If you are a student preparing for a career in the fashion industry or a home sewer wishing to make garments with the ready-to-wear look, learning the methods used by manufacturers is essential.The material presented in this book will help you achieve the ready-to-wear look, using factory- like construction methods and pattern changes. Construction is done in units to save time and eliminate over-handling of the garment pieces. Not all handwork has been eliminated. It is used where necessary to enhance the wearing quality and appearance of the garment.I learned the methods presented in this book over a fourteen-month period at the Muramatsu School in Nagoya, Japan. Among the classes taught by the director was one using manufacturing methods. It stressed not only time- and work-saving construction techniques, but also methods using different seam widths than those commonly found in commercial patterns. The value of changing seam widths in order to better control the garment edges, lapels, and collar was one of the most important things I learned and will share with you as you use this book. It is critical to the finished appearance of a tailored garment.What I learned about ready-to-wear tailoring in Japan is included in this book. You will find that these methods are not one of the "quick-and-easy" methods, but a special process with emphasis on quality and timesaving techniques. I hope that you will enjoy using these techniques and will be proud of the garments that result.