Tailor's tips by Vitale Barberis Canonico: Preparation for cutting

Vitale Barberis Canonico, one of the oldest woollen mills of the world, celebrates bespoke tailoring with the project Tailor's Tips, a series of 12 videos in which the master tailor Giovanni Barberis Organista, directed by Gianluca Migliarotti, tells what happens behind the scenes when a hand-stitched suit is created.

The second episode is about that how to prepare to cut the fabric we choose for the overcoat. You can see the previous episode where you will see how to make a pattern for the coat.

So let's begin: The fabric is ironed on both sides with a steam iron, the steam is 3-4 atmospheres, which, first of all, fixes it and makes any defects evident.

It's a preparation, a finishing, that assures of having a well-extended fabric, one that's ready. At one time, they use to wet them, with a damp cloth, place between two thicknesses and left overnight, now though, with the finishing, which is much more precise, that's not done any more.

The fabric that the tailor uses is a twill weave. The overcoat is about 120 cm in length. You must be careful to make sure the correct twill leaves from the center of the back, because then the upper collar must correspondс with the twill. You make sure the twill is directly in the center.

We of all, you should baste the selvage.The salvage is where the width of the fabric ends. Some companies put marks where is the salvage but others don't.

The fabric, is generally, in length, double 77-78 cm, meaning almost 160 cm. Then, it is folded in half and basted, you will be sure that the fabric, especially, if it's a checked fabric will be cut correctly.