For shops that make suits on their own bench
Tailoring supplies wholesale: every trim a suit needs, and when sending out the make costs less
Tailoring supplies are everything besides cloth that goes into a suit: canvas and chest pieces, fusing, linings, pocketing, shoulder pads, sleeve heads, buttons and thread. Buying them wholesale pays off only if your bench has the hours to use them. When hours are the limit, sending out the make as CMT from USD 100 can cost less.
- USD 100
- CMT with your cloth, from, per two-piece
- USD 155
- full make with our cloth, from
- USD 185
- half canvas full make, from
- 14 days
- in production, shipping extra
The tailoring supplies inside a suit
The list a shop buys for when it makes in-house. Where a choice changes the suit, the last column says where.
| Supply | What it does | Where the choice matters |
|---|---|---|
| Canvas and chest piece | Gives the jacket front its shape and lets it move with the body | Half and full canvas jackets. See the canvas guide |
| Fusible interfacing | Bonded to fronts, facings and small parts for body and stability | The whole front on a fused jacket, small parts on every jacket |
| Body and sleeve lining | Lets the jacket slide on and off and hides the inside construction | Full, half or unlined jackets. See the lining guide |
| Pocketing | The bags behind every pocket | Weight and durability, trousers especially |
| Shoulder pads and sleeve heads | Shape the shoulder line and the top of the sleeve | Structured or soft shoulder |
| Undercollar felt and collar canvas | Make the collar roll and sit against the neck | How the lapel rolls |
| Buttons | Closure and a visible detail customers notice | Material and colour matched to the cloth |
| Thread and buttonhole twist | Seams, finishing and buttonholes | Colour matching and hand or machine buttonholes |
| Trouser waistband and closures | Waistband curtain, zip or buttons, hook and bar | Comfort and finish at the waist |
| Labels and hanger loops | Your brand inside the garment | Your label, your care label |
Canvas choices are covered in the canvas guide and lining choices in the lining guide, both linked below.
What a suit made on your own bench really costs
The supplies are the visible part of the bill. The real cost of a suit made in-house has five parts: the cloth, the supplies, the hours, the overhead of the bench, and the stock you carry.
Hours are usually the largest part: cutting, making, pressing and the fittings in between. Multiply them by what an hour of your bench actually costs you, wages included, not by what you would like it to cost.
Stock is the part shops forget. Wholesale supplies come by the roll, the pack or the gross. A colour of lining or a size of button you bought for one customer sits on the shelf until another customer wants it.
Overhead is the bench space, the pressing equipment and the rent on the room where the making happens, which could otherwise be fitting space.
Canvas choice changes both supplies and hours. A fused front uses interfacing and fewer hours; a half or full canvas front uses more supplies and many more hours. Lining choice changes both too, as the lining guide explains.
Buy supplies, or send out the make
Per two-piece suit. Our figures are public starting prices, ex works Shanghai, shipping extra, import duty paid by the buyer.
| Make in-house | CMT with us (your cloth) | Full make with us (our cloth) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloth | You buy | You buy and send | We supply, from 33 mills and cloth merchants |
| Supplies and trims | You buy and hold stock | Included | Included |
| Bench hours for making | Yours | None, fitting only | None, fitting only |
| Price per suit | Your own sum | From USD 100 | From USD 155 (half canvas from USD 185) |
| Time | Your backlog | 14 days in production, shipping extra | 14 days in production, shipping extra |
A worked comparison you can run with your own numbers
This is a worked example using our public starting price, not a claim about your costs. Take one suit you make today. Add up the supplies it used and the hours it took, and multiply the hours by your real hourly cost. Call that your in-house cost, before cloth.
Now compare it with CMT from USD 100, plus shipping and import duty per suit. If your in-house cost is higher, CMT is the cheaper way to make that suit, and the hours you get back go to fittings and the next sale. If it is lower, keep making that suit yourself and send out the rest.
It does not have to be all or nothing: the pieces that justify the bench can stay on the bench, and the rest can go out. How CMT works covers sending your own cloth.
When buying supplies still makes sense, and when it does not
Keep buying supplies when
handwork on your own bench is what the customer is paying for; alterations and repairs need trims on hand; a rush piece cannot wait for production and shipping; you are training people at the bench.
Send out the make when
the bench is full and customers are waiting; you sell fused or half canvas suits that do not need your hands on every seam; a trunk show or season brings more orders than your hours; you want to stop holding trim stock in colours you rarely use.
Frequently asked questions
What tailoring supplies do I need to make a suit?
Canvas and a chest piece (or fusible interfacing for a fused front), body and sleeve lining, pocketing, shoulder pads and sleeve heads, undercollar felt and collar canvas, buttons, thread and buttonhole twist, trouser waistband and closures, and your labels.
Where can a tailor shop buy tailoring supplies wholesale?
Trimming wholesalers sell canvas, linings, interfacing and buttons by the roll or pack. If what the shop really needs is finished suits rather than supplies, a CMT factory buys and holds the trims instead: at Centi Sartoria, CMT with your cloth starts at USD 100 per two-piece suit, ex works Shanghai.
Is CMT cheaper than making a suit in-house?
It depends on your hours. Add the supplies and the hours a suit takes you, priced at your real hourly cost. If that is higher than CMT from USD 100 plus shipping and duty, CMT is cheaper for that suit.
What does CMT include?
Cut, make and trim: the factory cuts your cloth, makes the suit and supplies the trims. You supply the cloth. Production is 14 days from a confirmed order, shipping extra.
Which construction should a shop choose?
Fused, half canvas and full canvas differ in supplies, hours and how the front moves. Our half canvas full make starts at USD 185 per two-piece suit. The canvas guide explains the differences.
For shops that already sell custom suits
See the price sheet and your margin per suit
Three minutes, seven questions, free. You get the wholesale price sheet, your margin per suit at your own retail price, a direct line to a partner manager and an account on the AI ordering system.
Start the 3 minute checkOpens b2b.centisartoria.com/start