For Sale: 1945 Tanker Oversuit

[Tim Bell]

Denim Comparison:

• 1950s washed and used
• 2016 CZ sample (as it came - not washed or treated)
• 1942 ATS NOS

I do have a used early war British BD somewhere, but not found it yet.

BD Denim Comparison.jpg

I will cut the CZ sample in half and give half a good wash and see where it takes me.

Hope this is of help

Tim

[Jim Burrill]

Hi Tim,
It appears there are two horses in the denim CrewSuit race.

Right now, my horse in Pakistan says the mill can make a match for my original sample but a 250-500 yard run is needed. So I am checking with some makers of the two piece denim cover-alls to see if they want to buy in.

The sample of the AFW suit in the wrong fabric - dyed cotton twill - proves they can sew properly.

BUT - your horse has already made and sold theirs, and you have shown a color that while not yet the "green" as originals, at least is probably acceptible to most of us.

There really isn't room for two horses to win this race.

Personally, I am leaving it up to m,y horse to provide a sample fabric before I do anything further on the AFV Crew suit.

HOWEVER... I am proceeding to have the tan Pixies made up.

The sample sent for testing looked pretty damn good, but I had a number of details they need to fix. Also, I am DHL-ing them an original hood so they can match the wool lining.

I am also working to make up a size chart that uses the British numbering system and extend that up from the last WW2 size of Size 8 to go up to a 7 and an 8.

I have a size 2, a size 5 and a size 6 originals, so I am, measuring the actual sizes of select pattern pieces and building a scale to send the tailor.

In other words, if you know you need a size 7 to get a chest size 46, he will know how much bigger it will need to fit over your BD.

Happily, all the orders will be "made to measure" where you send in measurements over your own body wearing the most you expect to wear under the Pixie.

I may have to front paying for some stock sizes to be built to reach a minimum order, so I don't want to be stuck with a box of suits that a buyer will need to be present to try on, otherwise we get a lot of back and forth packages.

Back to the denim suits... I am still holding out for a green fabric to match and will need to reach a go/no-go point with my horse.

[Ben]

I have a war dated denim tank suit if you need a comparison for colour and cloth. Send a sample and I can post some pictures on here.

Ben

[horsa]

Two items that would be concerns if going to the effort of making decent reproductions are the dye being color fast and potentially having the material pre-washed to set the color and reduce the risk of shrinkage.

Certainly not game stoppers but someone having a known size sample of material that could be photographed and measured prior to being washed a few times for comparison would at least let people know how best to clean the new garments.

I tend to hand wash and hang dry reproductions anyway. But some people might toss them in the regular washer and dryer which could result in major disappointment.

Members of 6th AARR in Texas are still interested the denim and heavier tank suits (even if unlined).

[Jim Burrill]

Good points David. I took a swatch of the sample he sent and used a sharpie to mark off about 6 inches and then washed it in detergent on heavy soil cycle, then dried them on heavy bedding cycle for a lot of heat for an hour.

When measured to the marks, I got no shrinkage. The original green cast washed out and it came out as a brown.

Real denim should be dyed in the thread before weaving.

[Tim Bell]

Ideally would like the best colour match available if spending out - so would be good to see what you come up with first Jim.

How many yards of material on average is required for a tank suit?

NB - May also be prepared to buy a bolt of material if it's a case of too much material and not enough orders... depending on the per yard material cost.

Tim

[RichardT10829]

Like I say Jim I am in for a denim tank suit should you make a run of them

[Jim Burrill]

Tim,
Thanks for the offer. Most "bolts" of fabric tend to be 25 yards long(but can be up to 100 yards), and of varying widths.

A "roll" is really whatever the mill sets up. If we ordered the minimum of 250 yards that Irfan has mentioned, that would be delivered on a tube or roll.

Approximatly 5 yards for suit. In production, you can tuck pieces from garment No2 inside the area of Garment No1, so there is some economy in a production run.

He has mentioned 250 at US$ 6.00/yard, but keeps trying to push that minimum up to 300 or 500 yards.

I wish he had a roll of his own.. I would just order yardage and make my own crewsuit!