Supplies 101: Tailoring and Historical Sewing

Let's talk tailoring supplies! With all of the weird terms floating around, how do we know what to use where? What weight of wool for a jacket? What type of interfacing for a waistcoat? Is tailors tape the same as twill tape? Do shoulder pads always look like linebackers? The questions seem endless! So, we're going to start today with understanding what some of the basic supplies you'll come across actually look like.

00:00 Intro
01:25 Interfacings
07:58 Padding
10:34 Tapes
13:08 Linings
15:41 Wools
21:40 Threads
24:36 Tools

More fabric/tailoring shops:

[lacyminoux]

When I was young and showing horses in California, the temps would be upwards of 110*f and just miserable. One judge was really committed to formal attire and required full coats, stock ties and velvet helmets. I had a second hand vintage wool hunt coat with fine cotton lining and I whined all morning about having to wear it later...and was shocked when I actually felt cooler in the heavy weight wool than I did in my short sleeved cotton rat catcher. After that, I always wore it. I don’t handle heat well and that dang coat saved my bacon from burning to a crisp 🤣

[eric]

As a guy who's just seriously getting into historical sewing, this video is an absolute gem of a resource. Thank you so much!

[beatricewhitcombe]

She’s like your favourite kindergarten teacher, that always spoke softly and had all the patience for you as you struggled to glue macaroni to paper 😍 absolute perfection

[tjs]

For people looking for drafting paper on a smaller scale, a lot of gift wraps these days have 1 inch grids printed on the opposite sides now. So, after Christmas mark downs can come in handy for your drafting needs too.

[deborahduthie]

My husbands Tailored trousers had a velvet waist bands, with the fibres directed towards the feet. It keeps his shirts tucked in, neat and tidy at all times.

[sygirl]

If you ever have an online tailoring course, I’d love attend! Your content is so educational!

[ColorJoyLynnH]

I am a professional knitting instructor. I also have a spinning wheel for making my own yarn.

To make worsted yarn, you comb wool fibers so they are all parallel, and then you spin them to keep that parallel structure.That makes it so that when they are spun, the ends of the fibers do not stick out. When worsted yarns are woven, the fabric can even be shiny if the fibers are long enough and fine threads woven tightly enough. It also depends on which type of wool you start with (because each breed and even each animal within the breed will have a different texture, length and micron thickness), just as humans have different types of hair.

Just as comparison, fuzzy wool yarns, especially the kind we think of for hunting socks or old-school wool sweaters, the fibers are carded rather than combed. Carding to start with makes the resulting products fluffier and lighter weight. It is spun to keep the loft, which is called woolen spun. Blankets would be made of woolen yarn.

[alexandraanderson]

Your iron on interfacing roast is so accurate, it failed miserably when I tried it, following directions and everything. I hate how all modern patterns call for it. I am going to try one of these next time!

[stm]

Bless you, this is a fantastic resource and I haven't found anyone else trying to be so quick-but-comprehensive.

[lorisewsstuff]

Contrary to what a lot of Etsy sellers think Grosgrain ribbon is Not the same as Petersham. Grosgrain is woven as a sheet of fabric and cut into ribbons so it has cut edges. Petersham is narrow woven as a single ribbon and has a woven edge that doesn't unravel. A difference in weave causes the signature stripes and results in a zig zag edge that Petersham always has. Vintage Grosgrain ribbon always has a straight edge that can unravel. Vintage Petersham is usually made of silk, cotton or rayon. Modern grosgrain is usually polyester or a poly blend so that the edges can be heat bonded. Sometimes poly grosgrain is given a bonded zigzag edge to mimic Petersham. If you're looking at Petersham online that has a zigzag edge and poly content it's more than likely that it's really grosgrain with a cut and bonded edge.

[luciasamaras]

You give university level content in a way that I understand. You make tailoring seem doable. What a friendly and expert way you have! Thank you!

[skirtedgalleons]

Your videos are so pleasant, your voice, the aesthetics, the visuals and voiceovers. This is a useful, clear, comprehensive, and excellently presented resource. I've read tailoring books that don't explain these fabrics and tools. Thank you!

[leonply]

I had to chuckle when you were describing Tailor Tape and its application, as well as Petersham. Both of these can be extremely useful, especially if you're recreating the lofted and softly turned lapels which were the rage in the Edwardian Era for Chesterfield Coats. Both tapes, as well as loads of steam, become your best friend here! Thanks for a very fun and informative presentation!

I almost forgot, so here's my edited portion: You mention "patterning paper, " which is its own Pandora's Box of Tailoring Trauma. Over the years, regardless of what kind of project I'm working on, I've discovered two papers which are pretty amazing. The first is "floor paper, " a kind of mid-weight kraft paper, which you can purchase by the roll at any (and I mean ANY!) paint store. It's really wide, you get a couple years' worth in length, and it's not horribly expensive. The other variety is a (very heavy) roll of wide printer paper; this can be purchases at Office Depot or other places and is used for production plotter printers. It's strong and lightweight (once you've pulled it off the roll!) and you can get it in widths up to 185 cm (about 72 inches).

If you keep/archive your patterns, the floor paper is marvelous. One or two layers of any tape near any edge on both sides of each pattern piece, then punch a hole and you can keep the entire pattern hung on a pattern hook.

[elisabethm]

What a great resource YouTube has become. Books are wonderful, but there’s a whole other dimension that can only be experienced through demonstration and instruction - short of in person learning through schools and workshops, video is the next best thing. Thank you for doing this.
In a future installment could you talk about irons, boards, specialty shaped boards, needle/velvet boards, hams, steamers...and then there’s the matter of needles; hand and machine - their uses, fabric matches and how to find good ones?

[nblmqst]

Oog...rubberized horsehair...horsehair padded upholstery...widely used in the 1950s...memories of a very prickly childhood (shudder).

[hotjanuary]

The subtitles sometimes give me such a chuckle 🤭: “but we’re going to specifically focus in on wolves because that tends to be the most typical type of tailoring fabric [...]” 15:58

[sarahgiggles]

Dangit, I so wish I had this video 2 days ago when I blindly ordered some random horsehair canvas for my Hamilton spencer! It sounds like I need to have a bit of a re-think about how I'm going to approach my interfacing materials. At least the stuff I ordered won't go to waste, but it sounds like I need to come up with a better plan for other materials to use along with it.

[stevezytveld]

Canadian resource for tailoring supplies - Darrell Thomas Textiles (Almont, Ontario). Fantastic store and they're even having a sale right now on deadstock designer fabric.
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown

[ma-ri-ko]

U so amazing!! (sew amazing?) I genuinely love how you are doing the opposite of tailors back in the day protecting the trade secrets. Thank you for being the opposite of "finish in the usual fashion."

[katbird]

Oh finally an explanation on the differences between petersham and other ribbon that I can understand!
A note from a spinner re; superfine wool and worsted wool- (wow this got long)
superfine in spinning relates to the "softness" of the wool, the microns of the individual hairs that make up the wool! The smaller the number the softer the wool. a typical merino wool is in the mid 20s. Worsted refers to how you prepare the wool to spin it. The other way you can spin is "woolen" (traditionally/historically these are the two styles of spinning- modern spinners are getting creative and making more). Worsted spinning is spun with the wool hairs in a row, lined up all facing the same direction with the goal of being smooth and having the fuzzy halo of fiber that you see when you hold a thread up to the light as unpronounced as possible. Woolen spun thread is spun from what is called a "rolag" think a metal spring but made of unspun wool. The goal in woolen spinning is to trap as much air as possible, making a fuzzier, warmer thread. There is also a difference in the strength of each thread, and the amount of stretch, but I think the most important here is the fuzzy halo that you get with woolen spun verses the less fuzzy worsted.