Hi all,
I am once again asking for your fitting support!
This is coat #2. Since the first, I altered the pattern fairly significantly, narrowing the back and adding the width to the forepart. I've also been more careful in keeping fullness in the chest when canvassing – I think I lost it to the lapel last time round. I think it's had a pretty positive effect, overall!
There really is quite a lot of fullness in the chest now. I'm not sure how to tell if it's too much. I suppose it's partly the English style?
There are a couple of things that are quite obvious to me:
One: there is too much length in the back at the top – I suppose this just means lowering the collar? EDIT: the collar is actually the right length, if you pull it up then it meets the shirt collar and the crease goes away. Seems like it just needs a bit of encouragement – how can I make it lift up more?
Two: The sleeve pitch needs to be brought down at the front a bit
Three: I'd say the coat is just a little long, particularly as I intend this to be worn more as a blazer than a suit coat
However, the reason I've left them so far is that the shoulder seam is sitting too far forward, I think. It's very much visible from the front. I wondered if this was a symptom of something harder to spot, and could also be causing the collar issue.
I also wondered if the waist could be taken in a little. Would appreciate everyone's opinions on this!
(By the way, the top button balance mark is a little off. Not sure how this happened, as the markstitches match up, and the pockets on both sides are the same distance from the neck point. However I've fixed the pockets now so I suppose I'll just have to move the top button on one side. Annoying as I've already cut the canvas.)
Thanks all for your help in advance.
PS here is a photo of me showing my legs too just so you can see the whole fit...
By the way, I also haven't yet stretched for blades (not that mine are particularly prominent) because I have only basted the centre back. Not sure if this is incorrect!
Thanks, Rory. I'd basted the shoulder pad badly, and the fullness on the shoulder seam had been caught up around the armhole – basting it better seems to have have improved those wrinkles, but perhaps I should let out the centre back anyway?
Here are some pics of it in its current state:
I think I may need to let out the centre back slightly above the vent. I've opened up the sideseams but all it seems to do is to gather between the sideseam and the vent.
Here's the pattern (I haven't had this feeling since presenting my work to a teacher at school!) – my alterations in red.
If you could post pics of your pattern it might give us a better idea of the coat silhouette
Like this.
Good spot Jeremy. That pulling under the collar is caused by an over suppressed back neck. i.e he must let out the back neck 1/4” on both sides and adjust the neck points accordingly
Without wanting to sound vain, I can't help but think the cut isn't very flattering. I feel it makes my seat look obviously larger than my chest (cf. "Does my bum look big in this?"). What do you think would be the right way to remedy this? I wondered if lowering the top button would emphasise the chest, or perhaps a shorter hem. This really is now getting into minor details but I feel I'm quite happy that it 'fits' now!
I've let out the side seams below the waist – think it's had a good effect:
Thanks Jeroen!
The vent opens about the same whether it's buttoned or not – I think it's basically because I have a large seat! I've got plenty of inlay (I foresaw this happening) so I imagine the right thing to do would to make the vent slanted (it's straight right now), so that it appears straight? I wonder how easy that'll be!
Agreed on the sleeves.
While I'm here, I picked up the shoulder on the right side and lowered the armholes on both sides. The chest was starting to collapse a bit on that side but that seems to have been fixed by this alteration.
Those better trained / knowledgeable may (and should!) correct me, if I am wrong, but I think the back vent opens up too much, which might be caused by a too tight fit around the hips and/or middle. It's almost as if the hips work like hinges here, where the waist is too tight and pulls the fabric together. This causes the fabric to split open at the opposite end - luckily, there's a vent there to release some stress...by opening up.
Does the vent stay open like that if you unbutton the coat, or does the vent close?
As far as the arms are concerned: I'd guess the front pitch is a fraction too low (and thus the back pitch too high), but I guess we're talking about 1/4 inch maybe. Can't be much, really.
As stated before: An amateur's two cents! Maybe someone more "senior" will give you better / different clues!
As far as the rest is concerned: Looks good!
Hi everyone! How does this look? I'm quite pleased I think. The photos seem to show some wrinkling at the back of the sleeve but it's invisible in real life. Maybe I'll adjust the pitch just slightly. Do you think the vent sticking out is a fitting issue or will it sort itself out when it's taped and had some weight added to it? Thanks in advance!
I think the hip is a bit small.
Realised those pictures were a little blurry. Here are a couple more (the second showing what I guess is the dropped right shoulder?)
Here are some halfway pictures. I thought I'd post before bothering to baste in the sleeves.
Still a little wrinkling around the neck. The shoulder is getting almost flat at this point! But I guess I should do more of Jeremy's alteration?
@Rory Duffy has the rebalancing has had the desired effect? It's certainly had the effect of making the sides more of the right shape
Let me know if you need more pictures.
Thank you. Especially for being so quick! I will make these changes and then post some more pictures.
Jeremy got it right. The back neck needs squaring. Here’s the same image from my book.
You have the same issue in the back. Centre back vents are tricky when it comes to balance a long balance can have the same look of fault as a short one. But in this case I think it is too long, shorten the back 3/4”.