One finished chalk stripe waistcoat.  Trousers next

Just waiting to be sewn together by hand. 
Pin prick stitch

Adding small square of canvas to strengthen the buttons

Ready to sew on the buttons

All six attached

Ready to be sewn in to the facing

Pinned facing ready for the the lining to be sewn in

Stitched closed while steaming to set pocket beading, before opening and adding the pocket flap.

Panels cut and working on the front pockets. 
Busy cutting table.

Marking out the waistcoat front and back

The next step is to steam all the fabric to prevent any shrinking during construction.  

Once all the paper work has cut and checked, it was put onto card which needed to be ironed flat before marking could begin.

Making a new pattern for the waistcoat as this was the first time i had made a 6 button and kept them inline.

The Chalk Stripe Suit

Having spent the best part of a few years keeping a keen eye open for the perfect chalk stripe.  I finally found it, and began work on what was to be the first of many suits made in the new studio with all new hardware.  And the difference was clear to see.

After spending a few weeks working on all the other parts and finishing the coat it came to an end.  The relaxed look and cut was what i was looking for from this.  The coat was never ironed to help keep this look.

There will be a photo shoot coming soon with it in.

After cutting all panels the next step is to overlock all seams that will be seen on the inside of the trench coat.  I don't want to line this garment as it's for summer, i want to keep it as light and breathable as i can. 

Moving on to construction of the sleeves and the front panels.  As you can see these have allot of work going into them due to the amount of buttons i like to use for my trench coats.

After cutting all the panels, i like to pin them to the body form to see how they look and to get a good idea of the shape.

Once all the steaming and ironing has been done to all panels, can i start to chalk out all the panel outlines and points for pockets and buttons holes.  There where about 22 panels in total.

I wanted to wash the fabric at 90 degrees as the look i was going for was very relaxed.  But it did come out in a rather large pile of cloth.  Next, too the hours spent ironing before marking out.

The next step is taking the paper work from there and marking and cutting the card.  This makes it much easier when chalking the fabric.  The card is often needed to be ironed before or after to flatten it down.

 

  Pattern cutting the paper work, this jacket had many areas of changes to be made from other jackets due the cut of the sleeves and the extra length wanted from this coat.

The Trench Coats (the making of)

Needing another trench coat before winter really hits us all again in the City of London.  But this time wanting to use a heavy weighted linen, in hoping to feel summer alittle longer on me.

Over the course of these pictures you will see many steps taken to achieve this goal and how it turns from a pile of washed out fabric, too something quite different.

After noticing for years people such as Christopher sending down the catwalk men and women with the sleeves rolled on there coats, i to wanted to play with this idea and make a coat that does just that. After designing many coats that have very fitted sleeves i knew that this was not going to have the same very fitted look when their down, but i had to deal with that.  (I'm just too Hedi sometimes)


Enjoy,

Jk


www.jameskearns.co.uk