Well, after measuring, dotting, connecting dots, all on paper, we got to the muslin, a very thin coat, that would represent the, soon? to be, Italian wool, Bespoke Suit. But then..... took that muslin, ripped it apart, all for the change of a quarter inch here...... and an inch there. Wow this is getting good!
and then..... back to paper. This time, a stiff tagboard, to be used for many of my suits to come. Then we laid out the two different fabrics, (only time i've seen nicer fabric than this was when a friend (thank you Mary) took me to a tiny fabric shop in Livorno, Italy, where the employee, wearing a suit of course, gave me a tour. Then picked up some Italian fashion magazine, flipped to a page, then showed me to the fabric that the designer had purchased at his shop. Yes, that was quite an experience. I must admit, it was a little nerve wracking, when the first thing we did was slice into it, and ripped out a thread that ran the whole width, to get the true grain, then chalked it up, and poked it with pins. But when we pulled out a dragon to use as one of the weights, my Year of the Dragon, rested me assured.
and having this as a prologue to our 1972 copyrighted Master Designer textbook helped too.
So here we are, probably 500 hand stitches into it. The real deal.
