Questions

Hi Reza,

I very much enjoyed your video on Tailoring materials. It was highly informative and very encouraging.

As some have shared with you, I too have had a difficult time sourcing materials. Part of the reason is that, in my country, most materials are unavailable, and even if some are, I can’t tell, because they go by a non-standard name. Inquiring about a suitable alternative has proven to be just as futile, as most are not familiar with the use of material in a tailoring context.

Having said that, I have managed to purchase many of the materials you spoke about from online sources, but many retailers do not report the specifics of the material. “Lightweight” is more of a relative measure than an actual measure of weight. It falls within some weight range which also differs depending on the type of material.

I have always thought that the weight of your interlining materials would need to complement that of your outer fabric in some way. So, I’ve looked for sources that report the actual weight and managed to get hold of fabric with different compositions (wool, linen, silk/wool, silk/cotton etc.). I reside in the Caribbean, so, for climate considerations, most of what I’ve purchased fall within a range of about 180gsm to 260gsm.

Given the above, I’d like to ask for some advice:

• How much heavier or lighter should the weight of the interlining materials (canvas, domette etc.) be to that of the outer fabric?

• As an alternative to melton and felt, could (fulled) wool broadcloth work for the undercollar?

• There are some retailers that offer silk “gimp” in various weights. I’ve seen fine, medium, and thick gimp from one retailer but I’m not sure if they would serve the intended purpose. My question here: Can these threads be used as a less pronounced version of traditional gimp, if they still provide a certain firmness?

• I also happened to purchase quite a bit of filament silk thread with the intention of using it for the seams on wool and silk blend fabric. I even have some cotton thread (mercerized, gassed etc.) intended for a similar purpose. This was based on recommendations received during my research, but after observing your recent comments about the fact that silk and cotton thread deteriorates, could I still use it? Would the weight of my fabric make any difference here?

• Further to the question above, when should I use 50wt vs. 40wt vs. 30wt… thread?

These are questions I’ve had for some time, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to ask them. For your course, however, I will heed your recommendations for material choices.

Many thanks,

Travis