Starting off with what is tailoring?

Looking up the dictionary meaning of tailoring
“the term refers to a set of specific hand and machine sewing and pressing techniques that are unique to the construction of traditional jackets.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailor)

Originally my perception of a tailored jacket was something like a men’s suit jacket, so refined and simplistic in design, however my idea of a tailored jacket is starting to change.
Looking further into the construction and detailing of how the jacket is made, with layering inside and the great amount of hand techniques used has allowed me to grasp the idea of what tailoring is about.

it is definitely about how well the garment is put together, the skill of pattern making and definitely the patience of doing fiddly hand stitches and tacking. But also how can a tailored jacket be so unique and creative? is it within the use of pockets? Things like proportion and scale of collars etc.

I still don’t know where to take off, with a men’s or women’s jacket, nor do I know what road I will take in terms of theme and audience. But I think there is going to be an element of casual yet a sporting vibe but as I said nothing set in concrete.

getting straight into toiling and jumping onto a straight sewer was good but I guess i should have done a bit of practice before sewing the toile’s.

notched collar toile 1
the first toile i used all the same measurements on the sheet, but the only thing that would vary from others is the shape and design of the lapel. the collar part of the under and top collar is rather the same length and the v shape is small.
notched collar toile 2 variation
i didnt play a whole lot with making it creative, but what i did alter was lowering the neckline at the front and back on the block (the collar should sit further away from the neck than the other toile does on a bigger maniquin) this allowed me to lower the break line which means there is less room for buttons.

you can see the differance between how it sits

i played with rounding edgeds which gives it a totally different approach. however the round edge on the collar look too much like a love heart shape especially if the garment was mirrored
also playing with the proportion of the lapel here the lower part of the collar almost entirely covers the breast and isnt far off the side seam which has a tendancy to kind of hang/flop there.