Working button holes - machine or hand made?

[haganah]

I tried to do a search but couldn't really find anything on this.

I was at my tailor today picking up some suit jackets and asked if anyone ever asked him for working button holes. He said they did but that he sends people instead to a place in midtown because they do it better and cheaper.

Basically, it's $1 per hole and it's done by machine and you get to pick the color of the string. I saw some threads on here saying it was 10 bones per hole. Does this sound legit? Is there a problem with getting machine made ones?

 

[stickonatree]

$1 is insanely cheap. there isn't a problem with machine made ones, my tailor does it machine made too but for $3-5 a hole, depending on the material. you should ask for previous work to see if there isn't something aesthetically displeasing about them before you get them done though.

 

[lee_44106]

Functional wise there is no difference between machine made and hand made, only that the machine made holes look very neat around the edges and on both side, whereas the handsewn looks kinda uneven on the inside.

 

[JayJay]

My tailor does them by hand; however, I've seen machine made holes that look just as nice.

 

[gdl203]

$1 per hole in NYC? That's ridiculously cheap. I'd be interested in knowing where that is. I pay $80 for the sleeve length alteration + 8 machine-sewn buttonholes at Wilfred

 

[Shirtmaven]

I will assume that the place he sent you to is on 38th between 7-8th ave.
And yes, it is $1.00 per buttonhiole. Asking them to do different color buttonholes will piss off the ladies at the machine because they have to change thread.

The tailor does have to set up the sleeve to accomadate working button holes.

 

[whatsinaname]

There are two places in midtown as far as I know: Galaxy and Jonathan Embroidery. I've only been to Jonathan. Shirtmaven has the correct approximate location.

Yes, $1 for keyhole buttons. $3 min. These are nice, machine-made buttons. Sounds great, right? Well, this place is used to dealing with professionals and sample makers. They won't tell you where the buttons should go. You must mark them clearly (I'd suggest chalk). Also, once they start, there won't be a second chance --- the machine cuts the buttonhole, too. If you are feeling lucky, maybe try it.

 

[rjmaiorano]

As a pt. of reference, two Nordstrom stores here in SD do it for 7 bucks a button hole, but that is for non-Nordstrom merchandise.

 

[haganah]

shirtmaven and whatsinaname nailed it. It's Jonathan's.

shirtmaven, when you say set up the sleeve are you referring to the chalk lines that whatsinaname is talking about? Is that what I'd have to get done?

My bubble has just burst. I was hoping I could go in with a bunch of jackets and a couple of 20 bills and just get something nice.

 

[whatsinaname]

shirtmaven may be referring to the fact that the sleeve cuff with actually need to open. at very least, the lining needs to be **** along the cuff opening and finished.

 

[haganah]

Originally Posted by whatsinaname

shirtmaven may be referring to the fact that the sleeve cuff with actually need to open. at very least, the lining needs to be **** along the cuff opening and finished.
In that case what should I ask the tailor to do? Just general "prep"? And that level of prep, how much would someone charge generally? I don't know why he would send me there.

 

[Drinkwaters]

Most RTW suits and sport jackets do not come with prepared sleeves for button holes. Your tailor would have to do this and will probably charge you the cost + for this which should be what they charge for shortening / lengthening.

Gary

 

[j]

It's more work than just shortening/lengthening because the lining has to be changed to accomodate the working cuff. A regular jacket just has a tube of lining all the way to the end, whereas a jacket with working cuffs has the lining split around the cuff edges. This is one of the places that it's easy to cut a corner on 99% of jackets because it's not visible and most people don't care.

I would guess the $10/hole number might include all that, but from what I've read here it sounds like people are sending their RTW-with-working-cuffs to the $10/hole place as well. I would expect to pay a fair bit for all that work and $80 total sounds reasonable for NYC.

 

[Nativefx]

I recently took my Isaia cashmere sportcoat to my tailor to have him adjust the length of the sleeves and also asked if he could provide me with working buttom holes. The sleeves are already set up for working buttom holes.

The place is in Portland, OR and the shop is Abraham's Custom Tailoring. I had him do some work on some of my other suits and was fairly pleased with the work, although I thought the pricing was extremely high.

Anyway, he charged me $124 for the sleeve length adjustment and the working button holes. Do you think this is a fair amount or a little excessive as well? I don't know whether he will do them by hand or machine.

He doesn't have a price list and even when he sits down to figure out his pricing, he writes in his native language (Chinese?).

 

[itsstillmatt]

^^^ Wait, you go to a Chinese tailor named Abraham? That is awesome. Pay the man whatever he asks just to be able to mention this.