The Art of Bespoke: 100 Hours in the Making of Your Perfect Suit
A bespoke suit represents the pinnacle of tailoring craftsmanship. Unlike off-the-rack garments or even made-to-measure alternatives, a true bespoke suit is created entirely from scratch, specifically for you. At A Hand Tailored Suit, each jacket and trouser combination requires approximately 100 hours of meticulous handwork, spanning fittings and countless precise adjustments.
This is the journey your suit takes from first measurement to final fitting.
Stage 1: Taking Your Measurements
Every bespoke suit begins with comprehensive measurements that capture not just your dimensions, but your unique body characteristics.
During this crucial first stage, we record between 30 & 40 individual measurements, including:
- Chest, waist, and hip circumference
- Shoulder width and slope
- Arm length and pitch
- Back length and posture
- Trouser rise and leg measurements
- Individual variations and asymmetries
Whether using our innovative AI-powered contactless measurement app or traditional tape measure techniques in our showroom, precision at this stage determines the success of everything that follows. We also discuss your style preferences, intended use, and any specific requirements for the garment.
This consultation typically takes 45-60 minutes, as we ensure we understand not just your measurements, but your lifestyle and expectations.
Stage 2: Drafting Your Individual Pattern
With your measurements recorded, our master cutter begins the complex process of drafting your unique paper pattern.
This is where true bespoke distinguishes itself. Rather than adjusting a standard pattern, we create yours entirely from scratch. The cutter translates your measurements into pattern pieces that will become your jacket's front panels, back, sleeves, collar, lapels, pockets, and your trousers' legs, waistband, and fly.
The cutter must account for:
- Fabric characteristics and behaviour
- Ease allowances for movement and comfort
- Style details and silhouette
- Seam allowances and construction methods
- Balance and proportion across the entire garment
This pattern exists for you alone. It becomes your permanent record, stored for any future garments, though it will be refined with each subsequent suit as we learn more about your preferences and how your body moves.
Pattern drafting requires 6-8 hours of concentrated work by an experienced cutter with years of training.
Stage 3: Cutting the Cloth
With pattern complete, we carefully lay out your chosen fabric and begin the cutting process.
This stage demands absolute precision. Our cutters use traditional hand-held shears, cutting each pattern piece whilst paying meticulous attention to:
- Grain direction for proper drape
- Pattern matching at seams (particularly important for pinstripes and checks)
- Fabric nap and direction
- Placement of any distinctive weave characteristics
For a navy pinstripe suit, ensuring the stripes align perfectly across seams, pockets, and lapels requires exceptional skill and planning. A single miscalculation could compromise the entire garment.
Cutting a complete suit takes 4-5 hours, as rushing this stage risks wasting precious fabric and countless hours of subsequent work.
Stage 4: Basting the First Fitting
Before any permanent stitching, we hand-baste the major pieces together using temporary stitches.
This creates a wearable prototype that allows us to assess fit, balance, and proportion on your actual body rather than relying solely on measurements. The jacket's front, back, and sleeves are loosely assembled, as are the trouser legs and waistband.
Hand-basting takes 8-10 hours but proves invaluable. Bodies are three-dimensional and dynamic, moving in ways that measurements alone cannot fully capture.
During your first fitting, we assess dozens of fit points, marking adjustments with tailor's chalk. We examine shoulder balance, chest ease, waist suppression, sleeve pitch, collar sit, lapel roll, trouser break, and overall silhouette.
This fitting typically reveals 15-20 adjustments needed, from minor tweaks to more significant alterations.
Stage 5: Hand-Stitching the Garment Together
Following the first fitting, we unpick the basting and begin the permanent construction using traditional hand-stitching techniques.
This is where the majority of our 100 hours is invested. Hand-stitching creates a garment that moves with your body, drapes naturally, and lasts for decades. Machine stitching, whilst faster, creates rigid seams that cannot match hand-work's flexibility and longevity.
Key hand-stitched elements include:
- Pad-stitching the lapels: Creating the characteristic roll through thousands of tiny stitches
- Setting the collar: Attaching it with stitches that allow natural movement
- Attaching the sleeves: Hand-setting creates the clean sleeve head without puckering
- Felling seams: Finishing internal seams for durability and comfort
- Creating pockets: Constructing functional pockets with reinforced edges
For your navy pinstripe suit, particular attention goes to ensuring stripes remain perfectly aligned across every seam and detail.
This construction phase requires 40-50 hours of skilled hand-work.
Stage 6: Adding Buttons and Buttonholes
As the garment nears completion, we create hand-worked buttonholes and attach buttons.
Hand-worked buttonholes are a hallmark of genuine bespoke tailoring. Each buttonhole is carefully cut and then bound with hundreds of tiny stitches that reinforce the opening whilst creating a beautiful finish. This process takes 20-30 minutes per buttonhole.
Buttons are selected to complement your fabric and style, then hand-stitched with a thread shank that allows them to sit properly when fastened. Horn buttons are traditional, though mother-of-pearl, corozo nut, or other materials may be chosen.
For a three-piece suit, this includes jacket buttons, waistcoat buttons, trouser buttons, and all functional and decorative buttonholes.
Button and buttonhole work requires 6-8 hours.
Stage 7: Installing the Lining
The lining installation is among the final construction stages, requiring delicate hand-stitching to attach it without creating any tension or pulling.
We use premium silk or cupro linings that breathe naturally and drape beautifully. The lining is cut slightly larger than the outer fabric, allowing both materials to move independently. This prevents the dreaded "pulling" that occurs when linings are too tight.
The lining is hand-stitched at the shoulders, armholes, and around the jacket's interior, with the bottom edge left floating to allow maximum movement. Trouser linings extend to the knee, providing comfort whilst maintaining breathability.
Lining installation takes 8-10 hours, as every stitch must be invisible from the exterior whilst remaining secure.
Stage 8: Final Fitting and Finishing
With construction complete, you return for your final fitting wearing the finished suit.
This is the moment when 100 hours of work comes together. We examine every detail:
- Overall fit and comfort
- Sleeve length and button placement
- Trouser break and hem
- Collar sit and lapel roll
- Balance and posture
This fitting showcases how traditional craftsmanship meets personal style. The navy pinstripe suit with white stripes demonstrates the perfect marriage of classic tailoring and individual expression.
Any final adjustments are marked and completed, typically requiring 2-4 additional hours.
The final pressing is performed using traditional hand irons and pressing cloths, creating the characteristic shape and finish of a bespoke garment.
The 100-Hour Investment
From first measurement to final fitting, your bespoke suit represents approximately 100 hours of skilled craftsmanship:
- Measuring and consultation: 1 hour
- Pattern drafting: 7 hours
- Cutting: 5 hours
- Basting and first fitting: 10 hours
- Hand-stitching construction: 45 hours
- Buttonholes and buttons: 7 hours
- Lining installation: 9 hours
- Final fitting and finishing: 4 hours
- Pressing and details: 3 hours
- Second fitting and adjustments: 4 hours
- Final pressing and preparation: 2 hours
Total: Approximately 100 hours
Why It Matters
This investment of time and skill creates a garment that fits perfectly, moves naturally with your body, and lasts for decades with proper care. Unlike factory-made suits produced in hours, your bespoke suit improves with age, the hand-stitching allowing the fabric to settle and mould to your unique shape.
When you wear your navy pinstripe suit with its hand-stitched details and perfect fit, you're wearing the culmination of centuries of tailoring tradition, executed by craftspeople who've dedicated their lives to this art.
This is bespoke tailoring. This is A Hand Tailored Suit.
Ready to begin your 100-hour journey? Visit our showroom to start creating your perfect bespoke suit, crafted entirely by hand, exclusively for you.
"PEOPLE WILL STARE. MAKE IT WORTH THEIR WHILE" - HARRY WINSTON -
A Hand Tailored Suit, the bespoke tailoring company offering you a slice of London’s Savile Row, for a cut of the cost.
If you have a special event or wedding to attend, an autumn gathering, or a cozy office fall celebration, we can create a unique bespoke ensemble just for you. From hand-crafted wool and tweed jackets to custom shirts, corduroy pieces, and merino wool tailored trousers perfect for the season’s crisp air.
Get in touch with our talented tailoring team today.
You can either design online or book in with one of our talented tailoring team. All garments are hand-made to fit your unique body pattern & size.