Welcome to Fall in New England and a new outerwear project. I started this jacket ages ago; and just as I was getting ready to make my grand appearance, I was upstaged by this guy! And this guy... Which begs the question........Is velvet having a moment? Daniel Craig's jacket is from the esteemed Anderson & [...]
I started this project right around Halloween after seeing the new Spring 2021 menswear from Givenchy. To be quite honest I really don't know much about Givenchy. Only two things come to mind when I think of the house. 1. The logo of four G's. (I had it on a necktie once) and... 2. Audrey [...]
Work continues on my boiled wool coat. This will be a pretty "geek heavy" post, so you've been warned! With the pockets completed it's time to baste the prepared canvas to the coat fronts. I adapt the sequence that Roberto Cabrera uses for a suit jacket. Basically one bastes from the shoulder down the length [...]
I love working with wool! All the wool I've worked with to date has been woven, so boiled wool is a new experience. It's actually a dense knit, and unlike a woven it doesn't ravel. Not a shred! Still, I pre-treat it as I would for any wool. My TNT method is the London Shrink. [...]
Yes, a new project has taken off... and once again it's because I must be looking at too much French couture fashion! First it was Kim Jones at Dior. Then I fell down the rabbit hole of Hermès. Now it's Givenchy, and the initial offering of their new designer Matthew Williams. You can see the [...]
I've been wearing the same LL Bean barn jacket to work for years. It's served me well, but it's in disgraceful condition. The corduroy cuffs and collar are frayed, the front is permanently stained with coffee, it's missing a button, I could go on. For someone who can sew, it's an embarrassment. So I've had [...]
Well, it's finally done and Mother Nature provided the perfect backdrop. So what can be said about a project that I started back before Halloween? Mostly, that I love it, and wearing it makes me feel like a million bucks. Just to recap....the fabric and lining were purchased at Stone Mountain and Daughter back in [...]
I "cut my teeth" on men's outerwear, and I still find it incredibly satisfying to make. It almost always involves wool, which is a dream to work with; and there's the opportunity to have something that just isn't available in the ready to wear market. That's a huge draw for me. I hope my journey [...]
The "not so much wool" pea coat is finished! It was 8 degrees here in Maine today, so I'm wearing a flannel shirt, wool sweater and scarf under the coat. On a day like today I'm very glad I decided to add the flannel underlining to the back. I think it really made a difference. [...]
After months of just looking at the pretty pictures it was time to pull out the pattern. Thanks to many web sites I was pretty well prepared for what it would look like. Still, that initial once over is pretty shocking. All the pattern pieces, in all 4 sizes, overlap each other in random directions. [...]
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