cloth for sale
Published: Tuesday, November 6th 2007
Here is a slightly different angle for those that may be interested, quality cloth for sale.
I have a limited supply of superb cloths, which I have decided to offer for sale. I shall post more fabrics later.
The fabrics are from my own stock, which I got when my fathers tailoring business finished in 1997.
The first is a 1993 'gun club' pattern, 12-13oz all wool, perfect for suits or odd jackets.
I documented the making of this fabric under the title of 'Making Breeks'.
The breeks were for me personally which testifies the quality of the cloth, or maybe not!
The picture below shows the name of the mill on the tag, the second picture is a closer shot of the fabric and a true reflection of the actual colour of the cloth.
The selvedge is a little chewed in places, but the cloth is in perfect condition.
The next cloth is a 'super twist' cloth, the colours are amazing but too complicated to describe.
This is a beautifull cloth 12-13oz all wool, cuts well, drapes well, makes up superb, I have a suit in the sister cloth to this one but silver grey.
This is a sharp suiting that will last for years, and always look good, it is a about 20 years old, in perfect condition.
The cost of both these fabrics is £45 per metre, excluding P+P, there is no VAT.
Anyone interested in these cloths, please email me des@desmerrionbespoketailor.com
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recent tailoring and family trips
Published: Saturday, October 27th 2007
I have been very busy of late, but here is a few tailoring bits I have been doing.
The first picture shows a canvas I have made for a clients jacket, the client has a very full chest and this is represented by the shape of the canvas.
The canvas sits on the table showing the chest fullness, and the shape required for this clients figure.
You can see the machining I have done in three places, this is to fix the 'wedges', or the slits in the canvas open.
When these wedges are opened out, it gives the canvas more length in these areas, and creates the shape for the canvas form to match the clients chest.
The next picture shows the jacket front with the above canvas inserted, the pockets are in but you can't see them here.
The lapels are just roughed out shape wise at this point, and need sewing around.
The cloth for this jacket is Porter and Hardings from their Glorious 12th bunch, a nice blue over check on top of a green herringbone 12oz fabric.
The next picture shows the jacket further along the making, the peaked lapels have been sewn around and made, then pressed over for the lapel break.
The last picture for this jacket, a closer shot of the fabric, shows the shoulder stretched, and the front scye of the jacket. You can see the thread marks along the shoulder inlay.
The next pictures show another Porter and Harding cloth to be made into an odd jacket. The fabric is an 18oz all wool, brown herringbone, Glen Royal bunch very nice and very durable.
The next picture shows the jacket marked in ready for cutting. The brief for this jacket was to make it a little easier than the full bespoke suit I recently made for this customer.
The 'sizing up' of the pattern can be seen, the inside chalk marks on the cloth are the original markings as per my clients own individual pattern.
The outside chalk marks are the new ones I shall actually cut along, making the jacket easier, and more comfortable to wear.
The next picture shows the left forepart waiting for the back attaching at the side seam, and shoulder to prepare for jacket for the try-on.
The nice shape created from the canvas chest piece can be seen.
The next picture shows the jacket fitted up ready for trying on.
Fitting has actually been done on this coat, so we are now going straight to finish with it from here.
The jacket will have an out breast welt, patch lower pockets, with flaps, three button cuffs, notch lapel.
This jacket will be an odd day to day jacket for my client, so he decided to have it fused, as opposed to fully bespoke. The finished result will be an extremely nice, smart jacket.
The next picture shows a Scabal super 150's cloth, this is very expensive fabric.
Even though I do prefer to use my local merchants, I do get the odd client wanting named fabrics.
I pick what I consider to be the best quality, and best value for money bunches from the 'big' merchants for my clients when they request these fabrics.
The sharp eyed can see this very same fabric being made elsewhere on this blog!
The next picture shows the back shot of one of my clients in a jacket I made for him very recently.
The shoulders are totally natural, nothing in them at all, slightly fitted waist, and a little front drape.
Because of time restraints, this jacket was made straight to finish without any fittings, and when I delivered it with my wife and daughter, my client wore it out to lunch with us!
I had made one suit for this client before, so we had a good pattern already laid down for him.
The next picture shows me working yet more hand button holes!
The holes I am working are on a grey 13oz herringbone, 3 peice suit, the owner of the suit, is pictured above in the tweed jacket!
The next picture shows Louisa helping me and the owner of the tweed jacket, and the above suit, select a fabric for his next venture!
The next pictures show a waistcoat I am making. The waistcoat has lapels and a collar, and slanted flaps, a closer shot of one of the flaps is below.
This waistcoat is waiting for the inside lining to be put in at this point, which will have an inside inbreast pocket.
The next picture shows my wife, Julie and daughter Louisa at the pub where we had lunch with my client, the owner of the tweed jacket above.
The next picture shows Thomas at the local Army Barracks stood in front of one of the 'drops' vehicles.
I had to call into the Centre to see some of my mates.
The next picture shows me out with some of my friends from the Barracks.
From left, big 'Dick', John Heggie, myself and John Armstrong. The person behind the bar took the out of focus picture!
The next picture shows a beautifull shot of the Chrysler Building I took on my recent US trip.
It was early morning and as bright as a button, as you can see.
The next pictures show Thomas, Julie and Louisa when we went to Whitby, North Yorkshire.
The first picture is Thomas half way down the world famous 199 steps at Whitby Abbey.
The second picture is taken from the other side of the harbour, the Abbey is in the background.
The third picture shows Thomas in front of one of the replica tall ships berthed in Whitby Harbour. These ships sail all over the world, they are working replicas and Thomas had a tour around this ship.
And the fourth picture is Julie and Louisa on one of the fair rides. This was actually taken at Scarborough, which is where we went after visitng Whitby.
So, there it is, some of my recent work and play!
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america trip
Published: Wednesday, October 3rd 2007
Here is the schedule for my next America trip.
I apologise for being a bit close to my actual depature day, I have simply been busy.
New York all day Sunday 14th October, and Monday 15th until 1pm.
I am staying at INTERCONTINENTAL THE BARCLAY 111 East 48th while in New York, and NOT The Benjamin.
Atlanta all day Tuesday 16th October, and all day Wednesday 17th October.
I shall be staying at The Intercontinental Buckhead whilst in Atlanta.
Please email me if you would like to meet me whilst I am in the USA.
I can be contacted on my mobile/cell directly whilst I am in the USA.
+44 0798 0541 235.
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it will be finished soon, terry!
Published: Sunday, September 23rd 2007
I have a client coming to see me this week for a second fitting with his suit.
The suit he ordered has been on the go for a long time, it's just one of those things.
Clients can't always get to you at a time and place that is convenient for both of you, this is one of these situations.
But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, Terry!
I shall finish your suit asap after the fitting on Thursday.
The first picture shows the jacket lining, which is a traditionl printed paisley lining.
The cloth is from Smith Woolen's, 11/12oz's, at the first meeting with this client, I was asked to make the jacket with quite a lot of construction to the chest.
There is also a DB waistcoat, with shawl lapels to go with this suit, I shall post some pictures when I have downloaded them off my camera.
The next picture shows a close up of the peaked lapel, a tight, sharp point to the peak. You can see the linen bridle extending past the gorge.
The next picture shows a portion of the back, and the side vent. The back is the bit with the chalk line struck across it, and this is marked ready for me to turn it up.
The next picture shows me hand lashing the bottoms of the jacket, I am lashing the back section seen in the last picture.
Hand lashing is used to fix the bottom of the jacket in place.
This has to be done very carefully, and with a fine thread ( not much thicker than a human hair ) to prevent the stitches from showing on the outside of the jacket.
The next picture shows a portion of the vent section where the lining crosses.
The actual seam run of the side seam is to the left of the picture, the diagonal piece has been 'snipped' to lay across the vent, and is basted in position.
The next picture shows the lining basted in place on one of the jacket side vents.
All the linings at the bottom of the jacket will be felled by hand when the jacket is ready to finish.
The next picture shows the vents in position.
I always double check at this point, with the jacket on the tailoring dummy, that the vents are the same length.
It is a pig, a complete pig, to alter the jacket bottom, and the linings, when a jacket is finished for such a simple mistake as odd length vents!
The next picture is looking down one of the side seams. You can see the back to the right, and the jacket fronts are on the left.
As this is quite a close fitting jacket, I am going to shape the side seam a little more.
I am going to shrink a tiny bit of excess cloth I don't like, this will help to get the sideseams to fit nice and clean. You can see the excess cloth to the right of the picture, the small fold.
The next picture shows me working the cloth with the iron. I am on the 'buck' of the vac table, the shape is good for this operation.
I warm the fabric with steam, then work the excess cloth away.
I will then finally use the vaccum to cool the cloth which holds the now shrunk, shaped wool fibres in this cloth in their new position.
The next picture shows the clean side seam. The excess cloth has gone, and the side seam looks correct.
The next picture shows the jacket on the dummy waiting for the sleeves to be basted in.
This jacket is a button two front with 31/2" ( width ) peaked lapels, a good chest and a strong roll to the lapels.
The lapels have been cut with what is probably my only tailoring trade mark, a good belly on the roll.
I shall post more pictures of this suit when I have downloaded them.
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a nice jacket, scabal cloth
Published: Wednesday, September 12th 2007
I made the jacket pictured for a long time client a couple of weeks ago.
It was for him to wear for the first race meeting at the newly opened Doncaster Racecourse, home of the world famous St Leger Race.
The fabric is from the Scabal Trend jacketing bunch, and I must say, it is very nice cloth.
I always try to use my local merchants for cloth, and 90% of my clients fabric choices does come from them.
I do carry some odd Scabal, and Holland and Sherry cloth bunches ( the ones I consider the best quality and value ) as I do get asked for the fabrics from time to time.
Even though the bunch is really a dedicated jacketing bunch, after a short discussion with my client, he decided he wanted a suit in the fabric.
This can be a risky option, as purely jacketing bunches do not usually have the durability to resist the wear trousers take, the cloth is normally too soft.
I did point this out to my customer, and as he insisted this would only be worn as a suit maybe 3 times per year, and with care, we agreed to make it as a two piece suit for him.
The fabric is really nice, has a good 'hand', and is extremely easy to tailor.
The picture below shows the out breast welt pocket, and you can see the colours, and the weave of the cloth more clearly.
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walking with tom
Published: Friday, September 7th 2007
So...... it was back to the hills with Thomas, my 12 year old son.
We were going to go to the Yorkshire Dales, but, time was an issue, so we went to the Yorkshire Peak District.
Because The Peak District is close to where I live and it is always easy to get to, Thomas and I can have a good walk around as opposed to wasting a lot of time getting to and from The Dales which is much further.
The first picture shows Thomas just as we are setting off.
We are heading up the path straight behind Tom which has quite a drop in ground height, down and then back up with a stream crossing over rocks you that can't see in the picture.
Then it will be onwards and upwards, we will be going to the right when we get to the top.
The next picture shows me near the top of the first hill.
The 'rock' in front of me is actually granite stone that has been carved for use as a mill stone.
It has been carved from the rocks where it is now, or very close by, to be used in a windmill for grinding flour or wheat etc, see the link above.
You can see part of the centre hole, and there a loads of these half finished mill stones in this whole area.
The next picture shows the view Tom and I had as we were walking up the Peak.
The next picture shows me at the top of the first Peak, yes.....I am shattered! yes....I am lathered! yes.....I am blowing like an old sow!!
The next pictures show where we have walked from.
We came across the tops along the path you can see on the right of the picture, from the rocks beyond. We started our walk at the bottom of the very left of the picture, below the far tree line.
The second picture shows another angle of where we came from, but from quite further along our walk.
We are actually on the other side of the valley from the picture above.
You can just see the stream running along the bottom of the valley, the water is heading much further down the hill.
This route is part of the now famous Hip Flask Walk.
We had a good day even though the pictures show the weather as a little misty but it was actually very 'close' or 'heavy' and warm.
There was a slight shower half way around our ramble but nothing to worry about.
We finished our walk, and had a quick pint in the Yorkshire Bridge a place that Thomas and I really like very much, it was then home from here.
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finished my jacket after 18 months
Published: Friday, September 7th 2007
I am on a little roll at the moment, finishing a few odds and ends I have had on the go for ages, and I mean ages.
One of these loose ends, was an odd jacket I cut for myself a couple of years ago.
It is always hard to make something for yourself, as of course, clients work always get priority, so no matter how desperate I may be for a new suit, it is not always possible to squeeze one in.
I have over the past 18 months been picking this jacket up and doing a little bit on it, and then putting it back under my board until I had some more free time to work on it.
The cloth is a belter, read it and weep, a 22oz all wool beauty from my Yorkshire cloth friends!
The first picture shows my finished jacket, I wore it for the first time yesterday to a clients second fitting. Sorry for the distortion, I have tried several pictures, and my camera is not having it!
The next pictures show the inside lining and the colour I chose, my Desmond Merrion Bespoke label and the in breast pocket and finally the nice real horn buttons on the jacket front.
The next picture shows a portion of the under collar section. You can see the hand stitching I have done felling the seam around the neck of the melton under collar.
The very top edge of the collar which is called the leaf edge has also been hand stitched by me.
In the picture below you can see the gorge dart I have cut out and sewn up ( this seam is where the checks don't match up ).
The gorge dart helps to give shape to the chest of the jacket and also has the effect of keeping the lapels nice and flat to the chest without bulging.
You can also see the back of the hand worked lapel ( hand sewn ) hole.
The next picture shows one of the outside flap pockets. These are cut on the straight with this jacket, you can of course have them cut any way you want, straight or slanted.
I have cut a one-piece forepart on this jacket ( which I have explained about on previous blog entries ) this ensures the pocket flap matches both ways cauing no interruptions to the pattern of the cloth.
The seam to the right of the flap is the front dart which is taken out to give the jacket some shape and the seam on the left is the under arm dart.
The differences between a one-piece, versus a two-piece forepart has been covered by me before on past entries, so I shall not go over it again here.
The next picture shows one of the hand button holes I have worked ( hand stitched ) on the front of the jacket.
Making hand button holes is not easy and to get even any kind of reasonable hole takes a LOT of practice.
The next picture shows some of the crown on the top sleeve, and part of the shoulder of the jacket.
The shoulder has nothing in it and is known as a neopolitan shoulder because of it having no wadding at all, I really do prefer my shoulders made this way.
When made this way the shoulders are totally 100% natural. The shoulder line of the jacket must conform to your own shoulder line and when they are made this way they are soft, very, very soft.
The jacket has a very loosely stitched canvas, with maybe only 30 padding stitches on the dommette portion of the chest this is to keep the whole feel of the finished jacket as soft as possible.
The actual pad stitching ( the hand stitching inside the jacket lapel ) of the lapels however has been done tight with plenty of stitches to give a good strong lapel roll.
The last picture shows another shot of the jacket shoulder with the jacket on a suit hanger.
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re-cutting, and trimming out
Published: Thursday, August 23rd 2007
I have been re-cutting some of my clients suits today preparing them for forward fittings, and finishes where appropriate.
In most other tailoring operations, the re-cutting will be done by the cutter.
The trimming out of the job, the actual cutting of the lining, facings, flaps, pocket jetts etc and all the other small parts that are required for the actual making of the suit, is normally done by the trimmer, a person who specialises in this job only.
I am the cutter, trimmer and maker, so, this is also my job!
The picture below shows some of the actual suits I have today re-cut and trimmed out. The one on the left is a fused made to measure suit, the others are all bespoke.
As well as the re-cutting and trimming, I have today also made and inserted several out breast welt pockets on the re-cut jackets.
The next picture is a different angle of the work on the table.
The middle jacket is ready for me to put the outbreast welt pocket in. The one nearest, is a little further ahead than the others, it has the sleeve linings inserted and basted around the cuffs
The next pictures show Thomas helping me out, I asked him to transfer some of my clients individual patterns from paper, to hard card.
On hard card, th patterns hang better, and are much easier to mark around on the cloth. They do take up more space on card, but not so much to compromise space in the workroom.
Thomas re-marked around the paper patterns, transfering any marks, notes and names from the paper original, to the new card pattern. Thomas then cut them out for me, he did a pretty good job, and it certainly saved me a job.
Thomas asked me how do you get to a pattern from just a series of measurements? You never know, there may be a cutter inside Tom trying to get out. I shall keep my eye on young Tom!
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here it is finished chris!
Published: Wednesday, August 22nd 2007
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by popular demand!
Published: Tuesday, August 21st 2007
I had previously written about the last Desmond Merrion Bespoke label to be placed in a jacket.
But, after the poor demand for the G+M label, the Desmond Merrion Bespoke label is officially back!
To be fair though, my own label never really went away, it was always requested by clients when a choice between the two labels was offered, which always pleased me.
When I considered the design of my label several years ago, I knew it had to reflect me and my product.
I am not knocking them, but the typed labels with customers names on were not the route I wanted to go down.
I also wanted the label to be one that could be placed on show, on the lining without being tacky.
So, I decided simply on my name, the word Bespoke, and the Union Flag. Cut me in half, I am red, white and blue through and through.
The first picture below shows the Desmond Merrion Bespoke label inside a jacket for a client prior to recently finishing.
The second picture is a close up of my label.
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