The first step in the process of making your suit is selecting a fabric. We have over 1,000 fabrics to choose from. Most are in stock and available right away. Others can be ordered from abroad.
Our primary suppliers are famous English and Italian manufacturers Hield, Scabal, Loro Piana, and Holland & Sherry.
The information below is adapted from the Scabal website.
The three most important types of fabrics are woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and non-woven fabrics. Dave's Custom Tailoring mainly uses woven fabrics.
A fabric is composed of two groups of threads which cross at right angles to one another. One of these groups runs the length of the fabric, parallel to the edges. This group of threads is called the warp. The other group of threads runs across the width, and is called the weft.
It is the interlacing of these two groups of threads that forms the weave, of which the most familiar are the plain weave, the 2/2 hopsack, the 2/2 twill, the 2/1 twill, the Cavalry twill, and the birdseye.
In the end, your decision will be based mostly on comfort, cost, and care. Does one fabric feel better to you than another? How much money do you want to spend? How much care and money are you willing to put toward the upkeep of your suit?
The wool fiber is found in the fleece of the sheep. The fine wools come from the Merino sheep. Australia is the No.1 producer. Wool is light, voluminous, able to absorb humidity, and an excellent insulator.
The length, diameter, amount of crimp, and strength between fibers vary. These properties determine the value of wool. The unit of measure for fineness is micron (µ).
Cashmere is made from the very fine undercoat of the cashmere goats in Central Asia, cashmere fiber is carefully combed out, not shorn. The finest goats are to be found in Mongolia. Of all natural animal fibers currently available, cashmere is one of the finest and softest.
Its limited supply and luxurious texture make it an extremely exclusive and sought after material which provides its wearer with soft, warm, and light garments.
Cotton is a vegetable fiber grown in the Americas and Europe. It is naturally strong, soft, and cool with a fineness of 12 to 20 µ and a length of 2 to 5 cm.
Mohair comes from the Angora goat. South Africa is the number one producer. It is one of man's oldest fibers and was first used 3,400 years ago. The best quality comes from a region of the world that anthropologists call the cradle of the human race: the Camdeboo region. It is a desolate area in South Africa where the Bushmen live in harmony with untamed nature.
It gives smooth, shiny, and hard wearing fabrics. Fineness is from 24 to 26 µ for the young mohair (Kid mohair) and 36µ for the adult mohair. Fine mohair is blended with wool.
Vicuña is made from the Vicuña llama, a rare and protected animal which lives in herds in the Andes of Peru at an altitude of 5000 meters. It is the finest and rarest natural fiber with a fineness of 10 to 13 µ and a length of 20 to 25 mm.
Vicuña is the nec plus ultra of woollen fabrics and is four times more expensive than cashmere. This is due to its rarity and its luxurious characteristics.
The wool from the vicuña has always been a rare and expensive commodity. Ten thousand years ago, at the time of the Incas, wearing clothes made from vicuña wool was a privilege reserved only for the Inca leader, and vicuña was also referred to as "the fabric of the gods".
Linen is a vegetable fiber taken from the latin linium usiatissimum. It is very hard wearing and cool with a fineness from 15 to 18 µ and a length of 7.5 to 15 cm.
