This fantastic short documentary goes behind the scenes of Martin Greenfield’s custom suit factory in Brooklyn.

Lessons from a Tailor. Directed by Galen Summer from Ed David on Vimeo.

Martin Greenfield Clothiers is one of the last surviving old school custom hand tailoring factories in NY. Read more about his story of working his way up from an entry level job at the factory to eventually owning the place. He has a fascinating history of working behind the scenes with high end designers and custom clients worldwide. I hope to pay this man and his factory a visit one day!

I’ve been sewing alot of suits lately, and these two jackets were a delightful diversion from the more standard styles I regularly put together for AJ Machete & Sons Custom Clothiers.  I’ve been itching to post these pictures since I finished these pieces a few weeks ago now, but I’ve been so busy with other projects that it hasn’t been high enough priority.  Until today. I’m taking a break to share these completely custom jackets with you.

Lining and Interior Pocket - Rockabilly Blazer, Custom Tailored for AJ Machete & Sons, 2010

Do you love the zebra print charmeuse lining?!  How about picturing a full band, all in matching “Rockabilly Blazers”?  I think that’s the costumer in me coming out…picturing the clothes on a stage where the contrast details would really show up.

Rockabilly Blazer, Custom Tailored for AJ Machete & Sons, 2010

What other kinds of contrast fabric and color details can you imagine on a custom blazer?  Pick your fabrics and styling, we’ll make a cotton muslin mockup first to develop a custom fit pattern, and then construct beautiful garments just for you.  Great fitting clothes will give you confidence in your appearance and help you be sharp and stylin’ at weddings, shows, themed conventions, or other special events.

View the Etsy listing for more info on AJ Machete & Sons’ “Rockabilly Blazer” here.

The next project has captured my attention with ideas for future gear-themed appliques on clothing, pillows, bags, and more….now if I can just squeeze some time in for some new designs!

Custom Applique Tailcoat: Leather Gears on brown linen. Jessica Montoya for AJ Machete & Sons, 2010.

A soft, contrasting brown leather gear on the back… Read the rest of this entry »

Ever wondered what the inside a blazer looks like? Here’s a few shots of some typical inner construction details you will find inside a suit jacket.  The front of the jacket is interfaced with a hair canvas backing, fusible in this case.  Weft fusible is used in addition as a softer stabilizer at the shoulder/chest area.  Sleeve caps are supported by shoulder pads and sleeve headers.  The front welt pockets are supported by a muslin strip connected to the armscye.

I just finished making this “Rockabilly Blazer” for MacheteNSons.etsy.com – stay tuned for pictures of the completed blazer!

“Draped for dramatic effect and freedom of gesture, the cut of Valentina’s clothing effectively anticipated the wearer’s movement across the stage of life.  Be it costume or private client couture, Valentina challenged the demarcation between theatricality and fashion–for her, they were one and the same.” -Phyllis Magidson in Threads Magazine, Aug/Sept 10, Issue 150

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With an introduction like that, I was immediately drawn into the article on Valentina by Claire B. Shaeffer in the current issue of Threads Magazine.  Designing for the stage as well as elite socialites, Valentina had a masterful way of creating clothes that enhanced the body or minimized its shortcomings.  Growing up in the Ukraine, she had her beginnings as a dancer before emigrating to New York.  She pursued acting and modeling alongside of designing fashion and costume fom the 20′s to 50′s, and is now remembered as one of America’s great couturiers.

Valentina modeling one of her silk jersey dresses

Valentina believed that she was her own best model. She often posed in her designs for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar–she was one of famed photographer Horst P. Horst’s favorite subjects–and held legendary one-woman fashion shows, in which she modeled all the clothes in the collection while her husband entertained champagne-sipping clients and editors during costume changes.

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Read the rest of this entry »

Lately I’ve been sewing a number of muslin mock-ups of men’s suit jackets, vests, and pants.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the muslin process, it is most often used in custom fit, complicated, and/or high end garments.  A prototype is cut and sewn out of cheap muslin fabric in order to test the fit and pattern details before cutting the actual garment out of more expensive fabric.  On the suit muslins I’ve been working on, details such as pockets and buttons are drawn directly on the fabric and the construction process is greatly simplified by leaving edges raw, omitting linings and eliminating other finishing details.

In this process of my recent muslin making, I remembered an article on haute couture prototypes I had clipped out of a fashion magazine back in college while I was studying costume design and construction.  Alas, at the time I didn’t think about documenting the sources of all the pictures I clipped from various magazines, so I can’t give as much credit as I’d like.  However, I can reference that all photography is by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and is from an article titled “Shabby Chic,” dated February 6, 2005.  Now that I’m thinking of it, I’m pretty sure that this is from a New York Times glossy fashion magazine insert that appears occasionally in the Sunday paper. Read the rest of this entry »

Her designs may be far more refined than the popular children’s Lego sculptures, but the concept of those classic toys led to the design of these beautiful interlocking pieces that can be taken apart and refashioned into a completely different end product over and over again.  This sustainable concept was the focus of Eunsuk Hur’s “Nomadic Wonderland” project that she completed in late 2008 for her MA in Textile Futures at Central Saint Martin’s School for Art and Design in London.