Perhaps you remember me, I’m the one who made the comment about “camel toe panties.” In this post you asked if there was a source for summer weight material on line with both a vertical and a horizontal nap. I believe that the house of tartan can provide this. Their cloths are, of course, tartans – which are plaids. They make several in a summer worsted weight and even, I believe, make some in silk. So, if you don’t mind DH standing out like a Scotsman, and have the funds to purchase their stuffs (they’re quite expensive – as I recall) you should be able to find something suitable with them. I don’t remember the URL, but you can find them with google.

Good luck,

Art

I’m still geting situated, here, in Denver. And, Carol has been extremely helpful. But, it will be a while before I’m out & about tracking down resources and local suppliers.

Would you mind letting me know when you plan to be in El Paso, next? I would appreciate if I could send you some money to beg for some swatches on my behalf. They don’t have to be specific – I just want to get a sense for what they stock. I can call them to see what’s in inventory when I need it. I mention this in lieu of a catalogue, which, I’d gladly take if they had one.

I like playing with fabric pattern and grain, too. Though, I’ve left that on the back burner for a long time. I once made a suit in the early 90s from a beautiful wool (I think it was gabardine?). It had a tone-on-tone pinstripe/wale (maybe 3 threads wide) about 1mm apart. I cut the entire suit on bias so it V’d at the center front and center back.

What was great about the fabric was the pinstripe/wale was so close together that it wasn’t immediately noticeable until you were within the 3-foot personal space threshold. Matching the pattern along the shoulder seam didn’t go as well as I had hoped; but, it was an experiment in earlier times.

I’m sitting back to see how this whole ’shoulder sleeve ease is bogus’ debate pans out. I find the conflicting POV intriguing. Once the dust has settled, I’ll collect and review all the arguments and set up several exercises for myself.

Chanel was famous for having fabric woven to her specs (as were some of the other couture houses). I have photos of some of her jackets with exactly this repeat that match at all seams. Making different sections for the sleeves wouldn’t have been necessary.

I am very, very interested in seeing samples.

If I were faced with the prospect of a significantly plaid fabric, which is what Mme. President is wearing (even though the dominant stripe is beautifully matched), I’d probably cut the sleeves on the bias to circumnavigate that problem. Or I’d cut a different type of sleeve altogether. It interests me especially, as I have the same problem she has – I think her jacket fits beautifully, except for the sleeve, which is too tight. The neck lies beautifully, the buttons don’t pull or gap, there are no weird diagonal pulls or dips in the body of the jacket; the sleeve alone is the problem, as it so often is with me (well, it is with her; with me, it’s the sleeves, which are usually too tight and too short, and the backs are too wide and too long, and the fronts are too short …). It’s not easy to find a tailored suit with standard sleeves which fits well if you have non-standard arms (although I would think that the president of a country could have hers custom made). Of course, it’s not easy to find a tailored suit that fits well if you have any non-standard body parts, but sleeves seem to be the most unforgiving area, and there are generally very few options offered in the way of sleeves – although nowadays, if women want, they can buy suit jackets with short puffed sleeves which end in tight bands. And they are beyond horrible.

I’m thinking a solution would be to use a traditional stripe but cut the jacket on the crossgrain. Btw, the crossgrain is the more stable grain (think about it) so this isn’t a problem except as defined by allocation (higher). If I go that route, there’s a place in DT El Paso that sells suitings for the local tailors among other piece goods.

As for other menswear fabric purveyors, I typically order full bolts from Holland & Sherry or Scabal by special request. I don’t recall seeing any horizontal strip in the swatch cards for Summer ‘06, though. But, they’re deep in a box, somewhere…

Hmm… how about B Black and Sons (http://bblackandsons.com)? Not much on the site; but, what about what’s on the racks? You’d have to give them a call