Hi all again. I've already appended a conclusion to my fitting post but I thought I'd post some reflections in case anyone had any comments (and perhaps may help other first-timers!). I've also got a couple of questions for next time round – which I'm keen to get started on asap!
Here she is (I'm not a Barbour brand ambassador, by the way...)
There appears to be creasing on the lapel here but it that doesn't really appear in real life (and goes away completely when it's sitting over the chest).
Overall, I'm pretty pleased. It's wearable which is more than I was hoping for when I started.
The main problem I have is the fit over the back, which I've commented on in my other post. If anyone can help me with half back width measurement, please comment! It's not too bad at all though.
I have the dreaded teeth on the top collar. I think I spent literally 30 minutes stretching it – just didn't seem to work enough. Do some fabrics just stretch less than others? If this happens is there an alternative or does one just have to persist? Fortunately, it's invisible when the coat is on.
I got a gap in my pocket jettings like this most times I tried:
NB this happens at the first stage i.e. before the jettings are basted into place. I overcame this by basting them right together before sewing but I don't believe Rory does anything in the videos – it just seems to happen by magic, and isn't mentioned as a potential pitfall. What am I doing wrong?
I personally found making buttonholes much easier when I switched my mindset to thinking of each stitch individually, rather than as a 'row of stitches'. I spent a while thinking of the stitches as too far down the form-function scale. My buttonholes were then ugly! Seems obvious now though.
I personally found I had put too much fullness in the lining for felling. That wasn't a surprise as obviously you'd rather have too much. In the end I found it easiest to fell (invisibly) when it was tight enough to hold a line. This turned out to be the spots where I'd included the least fullness.
A note to anyone doing this for the first time – it's obvious now but don't cut the sleeve lining for the cuff before you check the inlay at the sleevehead. Rory mentions the seam allowance after making this cut, which works if you've not put it in the wrong place but leaves an unfortunate hole in the cuff lining if you haven't! Oops. On a similar note, I found I cut the lining too early around the armhole as when I added in the pleat it sort of messed the shape up. I felt it may have been easier – and I stress only because I made other mistakes – to wait to cut out this part of the lining until it was on the forepart. Not sure if this is a terrible idea or not! The other beginner's mistake I made was mistaking the cross marks I made on the facing tongue to be 'wrong side' marks. I then proceeded to fuse interfacing onto the right side...
I found the handcraft approach to lining so much simpler than trying to do anything involving turning things inside out. Yes, felling is laborious but I think you gain so much from putting everything where you want it and being able to do all your lining without carefully measuring and so on. Just generally, doing so much by hand really felt easier than doing it by machine in a lot of ways because of the control it provided. (Even if that control wasn't in the most expert of hands...)
That's it from me, as I say if anyone has any comments that'd be really helpful for next time!
"Yes, felling is laborious but I think you gain so much from putting everything where yo..."
Hand felling the lining is my favorite part of making a coat, and I find the HTC method of construction incredibly organic, its like the garment grows out of your hands.
I initially learned by watching Japanese tailoring videos [they were the clearest to follow] and that method is all about hyper precision and single stitch accuracy. I dont think the finished garment has anything like as much of "you" in it.