Hi Rory
What do you recommend for preparing the different materials prior to use? You mention soaking the canvas and leaving to dry but what is recommended for the other materials? I have read that the woollen fabric should be wrapped in a damp sheet for two hours and then pressed before use. Is that necessary or will a good streaming be sufficient?
What about the Silesia pocketing and the linen reinforcement? Should they be treated like the canvases and soaked and left to dry to remove their sizing? All of my materials for coat, waistcoat, and trousers have arrived from Dugdales (who are fantastic to deal with) and I wanted to ensure they are prepared correctly before I started.
Many thanks as always. Jeremy
Good question. Don’t soak anything other than the canvas. Water is the enemy of lining and linen. It permanently stains lining and makes linen crispy. Dugdales is a high end cloth merchant, all their cloths are woven in Huddersfield England. No additional treatment is required.
Thanks.
Rory,
I noticed that you drew a thread to find the straight grain on the facings and another part of the jacket, but at the very beginning when you laid out the main pieces you simply used the selvedges as your guide. Is that because if you buy wool from a reliable company you can assume that it's on grain?
The selvedge is on grain, so it can be used to measure off. Not all cloth is of equal quality. My suggestion is to use at least one trimming package from Dugdales and save the samples to find a local source.