Colin - over many years my Wife has cut down long sleeve shirts to half sleeve shirts for me, usually with a 99% success rate, these have usually been madras shirts, I bought last year online an 'Original Madras Co'  L/S , Size ' L', it's a tad neat, ( somewhere between a M & L ), and it's not particularly long, so when I wear it tucked in it's slightly uncomfortable, so I've decided to chop it down to a h/s which I can then wear untucked with shorts, (I don't wear L/s shirts untucked with shorts or trousers, looks like you're trying to hard for the older Ivyist), however I don't think I can persuade my Wife to do the needlework so it'll need to go to the alterations lady and cost me about £15 ! She has shortened a couple of shirts for me, it didn't work, I threw out a JS madras as it barely covered my naval.....

The long sleeve to half sleeve is a great idea, will have to give that a try in the future. Should be easy enough as long as sleeves not cut too short by mistake!

Pocket square idea good, too. I've got an old Madras scarf (eBay from one of those super pricey companies that did ivy stuff for a bit). The idea of a Madras scarf is weird, but the Madras material is absolutely beautiful. Tempted to make it into a tie, or worst comes to worst, pocket square.

This may sound a little counter-intuitive, but...

Having played around with a few old jackets where the shoulders don't quite fit *perfectly*, at least for my shoulders, I'm increasingly of the view that some padding can make for a better 'natural' shoulder line. Or rather, some sleevehead lining (not on top of the shoulder, but the very top of the sleeve where it meets the shoulder) can help make for a more rounded shoulder, at least for me.

We're talking adding in tiny amounts of lightly padded material here, but having played around a bit - DIY ivy style - I've learnt what seems to work better for my shoulders. Just seems to get that nicely rounded fit for me.

Perhaps this speaks to the wider point that 'unstructured' jackets in some materials don't easily fit perfectly for all off-the-shelf. Which is probably obvious, but...

My latest adventures into clothing alternations, I took the relatively heavy shoulder padding out of a herringbone topcoat and slightly reduced the sleeve head lining, as well. Wouldn't say my sewing skills are perfect by I am really pleased with the outcome.

It was pretty risky as boom years era made in USA, but the padding always annoyed me as it looked too 'English' with the padded shoulders.

Tempted to continue my experiments with shoulder alternations as a high stakes DIY alternation on other not-quite-perfect jackets lying around

Last edited by colin (2023-04-05 14:12:00)

Finally got round to put cuffs on a deadstock pair of made in UK John Simons khakis...or rather, I've done one of two, given how long it took me to make sure I did a decent job. Second leg saved for tomorrow.

A surprisingly satisfying skill to have learnt! Also means I could get the leg length absolutely right.

Next task: sewing some faux/french cuffs in a pair of JS linen trousers which will require a bit of a extra thinking...

As a side note, these John Simons khakis were really exceptional. Perhaps the first JS own that was really spot on. If I remember, about £70 and proper high rise yet really quite trim (no way would I want them any trimmer). Almost worried to start wearing them!

Last edited by colin (2023-08-25 14:26:03)

Colin-'As a side note, these John Simons khakis were really exceptional. Perhaps the first JS own that was really spot on. If I remember, about £70 and proper high rise yet really quite trim (no way would I want them any trimmer). Almost worried to start wearing them!'

Marrkt have a pair of JS chinos for sale at £50. Are they similar Colin?

There's a few JS items turning up on  Maarkt now, also the odd J.Keydge , I'm waiting for a JK khaki blazer in a 52 to turn up on there and I'll be straight in.... I should have bought the khaki & navy ( as well as the olive which I have), when they were in at 46 CS, regrets, I have a few.....

Robbie- yep I’ll give you a nudge if I see anything, I checked my 3 keydges, 2 are 52’s 1 is a 50, all seem to fit the same, I think their sizing was often variable, the 50 is a gingery colour wool, I guess the wool has a bit more stretch,

Continuing my experiments in DIY tailoring.

This time I added a thinnish layer of sleeve head padding on a hardy and Johnson cord sack (and gave it a good press around the shoulder) as well as repressing from more of a three button to three roll two.

Strikingly has shed its remaining 'mod' hints and now feels like a proper ivy sack jacket - a more curved shoulder, more rounded overall. A success!

Ha! Alas, no. I can't make it look good, so any alternatives I've made so far have been hidden, working out the structure, what fits etc. My sewing is currently functional rather than anything more. Going to slim down some 80s repp ties next I think...

Colin - well done for having a go at this stuff!

Colin - ha! The murky world of dyeing, this reminds me of Jimmy F-M; he had a phase of posting about professional dyers along with having alterations done by the Women's Institute.He was taking the piss of course but he got some stick for it!
I’ve tried dyeing a couple of things and I would say don’t bother unless you really don’t care about the garment. You never quite know how the colour will turn out which, I suppose, does add a frisson of fear and excitement to the process. Dye is quite expensive and you need to use a healthy dose. It’s difficult to obtain full and even coverage if you do it in a bucket or sink.  Using a washing machine does a thorough job but there’s a concern that traces of the dry can remain in the works and effect subsequent items that are washed.
Manufacturers generally use thread for stitching which matches the garment. As thread is usually made of synthetics it doesn’t absorb the dye properly and you can end up with a dreadful contrast stitching effect. This happened to me once when I had a spare light blue Makers shirt which I wanted to dye Navy Blue, it looked absurd and I slung it away.

Last edited by FlatSixC (2023-11-11 02:06:20)