Suit Tailoring Series: Taking In A Suit Jacket

Welcome back!

Now that we’ve covered the basics on how to fit a suit jacket let’s get in to the nitty-gritty! We’re going to start with our most common alteration; taking in or letting out the sides of the jacket.

Now it starts right out the gate with a trick, there are not often exact side seems on a suit jacket, many jackets are divided up into thirds with a front panel, back panel and side panel, this helps to give the jacket a tailored but masculine look without the feminine curve of a hard side seam. Ladies jackets are well suited for a side seam to accomadte the drop in measurement from the small waist out to the hips. Men have a more rectangular shaped and this panled style of constructions is a good fit for accentuating that.

So when we say “sides “we are often actually examining the side back seam coming over the shoulder blades or the side front seam that comes down and ends often above a pocket in the front. Taking in this side front seam is pretty difficult because of the interference with the pocket so our first move is to look at our side back seam often called the '“blades”.

This is a really great alteration because it’s extremely versatile; the seams can be let out and taken in as many times as the fabric will allow. At a certain point, of course, too many hole punctures from the needle will weaken this fabric and then it may be time for a new jacket but in the meantime we can take it and let out through the same seams for many years.

We’ll begin by sneaking into the lining, my favorite way to do this is by opening the topstitching along long one of the back vents. Will open up here and it’ll be easy to close this up later when we finished. Then we’re just going to reach inside to feel for that seam so we can pull it to the outside and get to work.

Follow along with the video below to watch as we alter the scene and give this suit jacket a fresh new tailored look!