One of my Prized Sewing Tools!!!

Many years ago I acquired a rare and unique tool from a colleague and it has become a valued treasure of mine. It's a keyhole buttonhole cutter. There's a blade on one side and the other side has a carousel of various keyhole sizes. You just twist to the right size keyhole, align over your fabric where you have sewn a keyhole buttonhole and squeeze to cut! This yields such a professional result! They don't make these anymore so now you can see why it would be a treasure to me.

Video: Savannah Sewing Academy.....sneak peek!

Welcome to the Savannah Sewing Academy! This is a little video that was done over a year ago. Although a few things have changed about the academy since then my committment to helping teach students and offer patternmaking services hasn't. Enjoy the tour! And if you have any inquiries or questions don't hesitate to contact me.

What is Fine Tailoring?

Fine tailored garments are distinctly different then Ready to Wear garments (RTW). What sets fine tailored garments apart from RTW  is mainly the inner workings of the garment.  These garments are shaped and finished better and tend to last a lot longer when taken care of.  They are usually made from high quality fabrics and linings and are constructed slightly differently then ready to wear. You can usually tug on the seam of a garment and look at it’s stitches to determine if it’s fine tailored or ready to wear.  For example, fine tailored jackets are mostly finished by hand instead of entirely machine stitched like ready to wear jackets.  They are also tacked in the sleeves and hems to prevent any lining roll overs. The lining is intentionally cut a bit larger so that as the jacket ages and lining shrinkage occurs it doesn’t lose its shape. Stabilizers are also used in fine tailoring but they are of high quality and in the case of  fusibles aren’t subject to becoming unglued with dry cleaning.  These stabilizers help lend body to the jacket and in turn prevent wrinkling and puckering. The amount of work that goes into these garments means more labor and thus higher prices.

So as you can see there are indeed distinct differences between fine tailored garments and ready to wear one’s. In future posts I hope to discuss this further and show you techniques, tips, and tricks on fine tailoring. Thanks for following along with me! Stay tuned!