The Men's coat

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Ken Woodman

Hacking Jacket First Fitting

Hi All

I have reached the first fitting of what i am calling my hacking jacket. Three buttoned, angled pockets, ticket pocket, central vent. As you would have seen from my other post on Front Balance I have already made some adjustments before getting to this point. Following John W's direction I have slide the back up 3/4" to improve on the front balance. There is still a slight "A" slant at the front edge but really it's not as bad as the photo shows. Also the back is a little flatter than the photo shows. I am reasonably happy with it all but would be interested in any comments.

Cheers

Ken

ree — Buttoned. Dropped left has been accounted for (very clear against the mortar lines!). Sleeve lengths look ok considering left arm is lower than right

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David Richard

18 hours ago

At a glance it looks like:

Half back measure is wrong, probably why your sleeves look a little big.

Shoulder slope is wrong.

Sleeve pitch is wrong.

Looks like a drop shoulder on left side has not been accounted for.

Coat needs a lot of work yet, a few more fittings at least.

Ken Woodman

19 days ago

Front Balance

Hi HTA Brains Trust

I am making a three buttoned hacking jacket. I have baste it up but not yet put the sleeves on but obviously, when i have the shoulder seams sewn, tried it on with the shoulder pads placed in (who doesnt?) I seem to have a long front balance as the coat is "A" Shape down the front edge. I know i should complete the baste with shoulder pads, sleeves and collar but obviously it would be good to give the first fitting its best shot if i can sort out a bit of this "A" Shape. I have done quite a bit of reading in books and various HTA Forum pieces.

I have found this in the "Tailoring Suits the Professional Way" by Clarence Poulin

I have pinned out the shoulder like Fig 36 and 3/4" brings the front edges in line

The solution is this

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John W

18 hours ago

This goes back to patterns from about the 1860s. The front piece went around to most of the back. The back covers most of the back neck heading to the shoulder (down a bit) drops 3-4 inches, curves over the shoulder blade (they can adjust for a very good shoulder blade fit) towards the center back about 3-4 inches wide. So all the part of the back that isn't filled with the back piece is part of the front. Balance was fitted different. Eventually they added a seam cutting the front piece into two parts so they could keep the back, now two parts sewn. This made moving the back balance adjustments easier by sliding it up or down and adjusting the shoulder blade fit. Which is still used to this day. It is simple and quick. Some other changes may need to be done whether you use this method or not. All human backs, fronts and shoulders are different. The first method he shows is more work and error prone. If you cut away to much of the front, you got a disaster. The back, if you make a cut error you can open up the inlay, back seam, and recreate the rest. An inch inlay can be helpful. Way cheaper than buying new cloth.

Since we are discussing breast measurement, circumference,

which includes balance. Raising the the back means back length longer, which means, the width of the back is wider/longer. The pattern needs that room. The back is curved length and width. This changes the circumference measurement. To bring back the correct circumference the front needs to be reduced. The length is shortened. If you are dealing with a rounded chest beyond normal the back is not rounded the directions are reversed. When you look at tailors inlays they are very helpful with adjustments.

Roy once wrote somewhere, years ago, to get the hem of the coat level it is all done with the shoulder seams. (Might not remember correctly). This might create adjustments needed other places. Most likely will.

564615

July 25, 2025

half-Raglan sleeve draft: Balmacaan Coat Sleeve

I’m curious your take on drafting a Balmacaan Coat: where the back has a Raglan sleeve. I didn’t know what this drafting technique is called (half-raglan?). This draft is from my Italian book, just for illustration purposes. Any pointers on construction or fitting would be appreciated. This came to mind during our recent Overcoat discussion. Thanks for your time.

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Ken Woodman

June 17, 2025

Toile fitting on my measurements

Hi Rory and HTAers

I have completes a Coat pattern based on my measurements. I have an erect posture and my right shoulder blade protrudes. I have made a toile and, though it is not fully edged, I can see that there are two diagonal lines from the top of the vent toward the neck. I have had a look at some books and this is suggesting a "stooped posture". Have i gone too far with correcting for the erect posture? The arm scye fits well under the arm pit. What is the correction for this? Is it providing say 3/8" at the neck of the shoulder seam back to nothing at the arm? The front looks good though Thanks

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Ken Woodman

18 hours ago

Hi Jeroen, I had another think about this overnight and remembered in my first coat Rory got me to take out some fabric right along the centre back seam. Thinking about this and the pinned toile version below it occurred to me that the creases where running more or less vertically from the shoulder blade to the vent (where the tension is released. So there was too much fabric vertically. So I ended up taking out 5/8 down from the waist to the hem and eased it in from the waist to the half back/shoulder blade where it was ok. This seems to have worked. see photo. I also remembered that in another post about the Pattern from Measurements that the seat dimension as 3/8" larger than it should have been and clearly this 5/8 out of the CB has cleared that away. The 5/8 at the waist will also work for my sway back which wasnt really accommodated in the measurements on the Pattern. So looking all good. Thanks for joining in with me on this discussion

Ken