getting there!
Published: Sunday, April 20th 2008
Any move is disruptive, but moving home and business at the same time? Boy, is that disruptive!
I am slowly getting back to normal, but I have really been under the cosh with my work as the move of the business was one move I could have done without at the time.
Here a few bits I have been working on over the previous months, some of the garments shown here were finished before my move.
The first picture shows a cloth that a client brought into me for making up. It turns out this length was very old and had come from a Yorkshire Mill that his wife's family was involved in decades back.
The picture below is a true reflection of the colour of the cloth, a beautiful blue, with a really nice small diamond pattern to the cloth. The selvedge of the cloth was not woven so I have no idea where it was from, the weight was around 14oz all wool. The picture shows the back corner of the out breast welt pocket.
The next picture shows the trousers to the above coat, they are fully assembled and waiting for the hand finishing to be done. The colour difference between the two pictures is clear to see and is my fault!
The next picture shows a portion of the collar and lapel on an odd sports coat I finished recently. The cloth was from Porter and Hardings glorious 12th bunch and I had a coat on the go in this very same fabric not too long back.
The lapel is a peaked type, single breasted front to the jacket. You can see the hand stitching on the very edge of the lapel and collar and the hand sewing of the lapel to facing seam.
The first picture below shows me doing the hand finishing on a pair of trousers. And the picture after is me hand sewing the collar on a coat, it is the coat from the very first picture at the top.
The next picture shows a section of the collar and lapel on a suit I finished last week. The cloth is a 12/13oz all wool in a lovely mid grey colour.
You can see the hand made/worked lapel hole I have done, and the delicate hand stitched edges to the collar and lapel. Stitches placed as delicately as these take a lot of time to do.
The next picture shows the pocket flap matching on a coat of my own. The cloth is the London Lounge one I made the trousers to some time back, I have just got around to putting the pocket flaps in, the coat is now back under my bench!!
Because of the large distinct check/plaid pattern to the cloth I cut a one piece jacket front. You can see the result as the pocket flap matches both ways on the cloth, vertically and horizontally.
The next picture shows a pattern I recently drafted ( just before my move ) for a new client who is CEO of a major Australian Airline.
These patterns I make for you are unique to you and you only. The pattern evolves through the fitting process's as alterations are made to it. The pattern is made from the measures I take from you.
The first picture below shows the view from the front window of our new house that greeted us the other day, 4" of snow, it was fantastic!
The second picture shows my daughter Louisa playing in the snow, we all had a massive snowball fight!
The last picture shows another cloth that was brought to me by a client to be made up, a J+J Minnis flannel, a really nice cloth with a beautiful sheen that does not come through the screen well.
This will be an odd jacket and was to originally have 2 patch pockets with a one piece yoke back with small pleats gathered at the yoke and waist section, finished by a loose half belt.
After the fitting I received a call from my client asking to put flapped pockets on, which I have done, the back will remain the same.
To make sure my client liked the back arrangement, I cut it out in a bit of old spare cloth I had, this way he was able to see the back in the flesh to make a final decision without potentially ruining an expensive cloth.
I shall post more pictures of this coat through the various making stages as I get them, as this will be a beauty when finished.
There it is then, some more bits!
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