[rhz]

Seems like the ease of dealing with faux button holes when altering sleeve length depends on the fabric.

I've attached a photo. This would need to be shortened by around 1-1/3". How hard would it be for this alternation to be done without signs of the original faux button hole stitching? The jacket is 100% wool. (This would be an online purchase, so I don't have the jacket to take to a tailor to get their opinion directly.)

Thanks.

 

[Matt S]

I believe it should be possible, and the texture will make the signs of the former stitching much less noticeable than on a tight, smooth weave. However, I suspect that the texture may also make it more difficult to remove the stitching without damaging the cloth.

 

[Peak and Pine]

If the cuff buttons shown are the standard 1/2 inch, then bringing the cuff up the inch and a third would place the new cuff just short of the bottom button. So let me ask you, if you couldn't remove the faux stitching, but instead left it and moved the bottom two or three buttons to the top, would this maneuver be a deal breaker for buying the jacket? It wouldn't for me, but you're not buying this for me. However, the move just laid out is a worst case scenario.

Here's what I would do, pry the vent open until you see the thread holding the bottom button, slit, remove and open vent wider to see if the threads of the faux hole go through. Hurrah if they do. With strong reading glasses, an equally strong light and a very sharp one-sided blade, very gently cut across the threads, holding the blade parallel to the hole. With tweezers, see if there's any thread movement. Keep doing this, each time with more pressure on the blade, but dragging it no more than 1/16 of an inch. Tweeze out the loosened threads. Masking tape as a pull may help.

If the threads don't go through to the inside, the same procedure can be done on the exterior, but the margin for error is zero. I have done this maneuver on both in and out with patience and success. Good luck.

 

[Flanderian]

I believe it should be possible, and the texture will make the signs of the former stitching much less noticeable than on a tight, smooth weave. However, I suspect that the texture may also make it more difficult to remove the stitching without damaging the cloth.

+1!

Likewise I'd be concerned with the particular cloth. It looks soft, and rather loosely woven.

 

[Matt S]

+1!

Likewise I'd be concerned with the particular cloth. It looks soft, and rather loosely woven.

But as @Peak and Pine points out, if the stitching can be removed from underneath, it is a little less risky. However, a snag on the bottom can still unravel the top of the cloth.

I think only one buttonhole will need to be removed from each sleeve. It's not even necessary to add it back, since a 2-button cuff can look great on a sports coat.

 

[Flanderian]

But as @Peak and Pine points out, if the stitching can be removed from underneath, it is a little less risky. However, a snag on the bottom can still unravel the top of the cloth.

I think only one buttonhole will need to be removed from each sleeve. It's not even necessary to add it back, since a 2-button cuff can look great on a sports coat.

+1!

 

[tuttofirmato]

If I'm understanding this correctly, why wouldn't you have your tailor unstitch the sleeve at the shoulder, shorten it and then reattach the whole thing without touching the buttonholes at all? I guess you can get him to open them, faux buttonholes look terrible.

I've had that done to nearly all of my sport coats because I like sleeves erring on the side of short'ish, you're going to need a decent tailor for that though.

Also, buttonholes too close to the cuff will throw off the visual balance of the sleeve. It will look like an afterthought or a botched alteration.

 

[Peak and Pine]

...why wouldn't you have your tailor unstitch the sleeve at the shoulder, shorten it and then reattach the whole by without touching the buttonholes at all?

Because that is a terrible idea.
Any tailoring anywhere near the shoulder requires extreme skill and precision. When you remove a sleeve for shortening at the top you are also changing the diameter of the sleeve at that point, since the sleeve begins an immediate taper from the attachment point. The sleeve head also contains built up padding of canvas and batting encircling the top, mostly at the front. This has to be removed and recreated for the new head. The circumference of any sleeve head is in the neighborhood of 20+ inches. So a total of almost four feet of careful blading to sever the lining then free the sleeve, twice. Then four feet of hand sewing to reattach the two sleeves and two linings. And the new seam allowances are to be pressed in a precise direction for it is this that makes a shoulder smooth or set in or roped. I do this work on my own clothing, but only to narrow or change the shape of a shoulder, I wouldn't dream of doing it simply to take up a sleeve for it is akin to taking up pant legs by removing the waist band and attempting it from there.

Also, buttonholes too close to the cuff will throw off the visual balance of the sleeve. It will look like an afterthought or a botched alteration.

Why, because you say so?
Not one in a hundred ever notice where the buttons on your cuff are, how many there are or whether they work or not.This is an extremely minor point compared to screwing up the shoulder because you think that the totally decorative function of a sleeve button is an inch or so this way or that.

 

[drpeter]

I am in agreement here with Peaks. I have had three or four jackets taken in at the shoulders, but not to change sleeve length. It was always to narrow the shoulders. And I was extremely fortunate in having a highly skilled tailor, my friend and brother Mr Vang, do a spectacular job in each case. Early on, Mr Vang obligingly changed the sleeve length of a couple of jackets (from the cuff, not the shoulder) for me and preserved the buttonholes and buttons, but he told me well in advance that it was not a good plan! Of course, he knew better than callow old me, LOL.

I have stopped fussing with sleeve buttons. I have been wearing a lovely cotton jacket these days with the warm weather, and it had the sleeve buttons in a plastic packet, placed in an inside pocket, to be attached after the sleeve length was finalised. Not one person noticed the complete absence of sleeve buttons. Even I did not, until some time after I started wearing the jacket! I have decided to let the sleeves be -- I rather like the look of a blank sleeve, maybe it is a metaphor for my life at 71.

 

[drpeter]

So let me ask you, if you couldn't remove the faux stitching, but instead left it and moved the bottom two or three buttons to the top, would this maneuver be a deal breaker for buying the jacket?

Indeed. I have had this done -- no one, repeat no one, has ever noticed the difference. People rarely pay any attention to sleeve buttons unless you are at a gathering of clothes aficionados!

 

[ItalianStyle]

Agree with @Peak and Pine too. And what about aligning the pattern when the sleeve is reattached?

And regarding the placement of the sleeve buttons, the only thing that can look really odd is if the sleeve is lengthened considerably and the buttons end up halfway up your arm...

 

[tuttofirmato]

Because that is a terrible idea.
Any tailoring anywhere near the shoulder requires extreme skill and precision.

I suppose there's no shortage of extremely skilled tailors in Italy.

Honest question: would you say this is a badly done job? This is the sport coat that had the most taken in at the shoulders, among the ones in my wardrobe. It's a linen/wool/silk blend Lardini RTW and their sleeves tend to be overly long for some reason.

https://i.postimg.cc/qqGf2tSN/Screenshot-20220514.jpg

Why, because you say so?

Yeah, it kind of bothers me.

 

[Peak and Pine]

I suppose there's no shortage of extremely skilled tailors in Italy.

I would imagine that to be true, that and pasta. Welcome to the forum. I cannot tell from the side shot how well your job went, but you are pleased with it and that's the first concern. I do not think that such an operation is impossible, but do think it chancey for reward gained, often foolhardy.