[jefferyd]

Does anyone know, is the fusing used in a half-canvas jacket lighter than in a jacket that is only fused? Anything I have that is half-canvassed has a very soft and light fusing, so these jackets are not stiff.

That is totally up to the designer to choose.

The guy in the video is right about most things. The wool canvas material usually weighs in the 200 g/sq mt range while the fusible that would replace that canvas will weigh between 55 and 85 g/sq mt. It's not massive, but a half-canvas garment is somewhat lighter.

Wool is hygroscopic which means it expands and contracts with varying humidity levels. A full canvas suit manufactured at 55% relative humidity will pucker when worn in 85% humidity, especially if the rate of hygral expansion is greater in the shell fabric than in the canvas. A fused front won't pucker like that. WA's analogy about foundations is reversed- the full-canvas foundation moves with varying humidity levels and causes problems whereas a fused front acts as one with its foundation since they are glued together.

The main thing to consider is that there are close to 200 steps in making a suit and 100 different components. Selling half-canvas is usually in order to hit a particular price so there are a lot more corners that are also being cut in order to come in at a price. The reduction in quality is not just the half-canvas but the hundreds of other things that are also being done to make it cheaper.

 

[jefferyd]

Jefferyd, what do you wear? Fused or canvas?

I wear both full canvas and half. The quality of the cloth and the fit have a far greater importance than canvas vs half.

 

[jefferyd]

Yes, RTW gets shrinking and stretching and the fusing somewhat reduces the ability to shape. That’s one tradeoff with fusing. And yes, the technology has greatly improved and it’s quite rare to see delamination these days. As the guy in the video states, sometimes a very fine layer of fusible is used on lightweight cloth to stabilize it for full-canvas, known as skin fusing, to prevent puckering from humidity.

The shape in TF garments have got more to do with the aggressive cut than anything, and that cut requires a greater deal of shaping with the iron. We have similar cuts in Hickey Freeman but we don’t sell a lot of them because you have to be in very good shape to wear it.