what I had intended. I had been taking pictures of the progress of the jacket as it went along for a final pictorial record when matters came to a bit of a stall. As more and more of the pieces went together it became clear that more fitting would be necessary

When the sleeves were sewn in, the front seemed to be a bit big, so I decided to unpick the front seams and take them in and make a shallower curve up through the bust making sure that the alteration didn’t compromise the shoulder seams. As the pockets were already fitted and much of the interlining was stitched in I had to be careful and unpick only down to the waist level and check that it didn’t compromise the shoulder seams. This certainly helped somewhat but then it obviously needed something more, the side seams and back centre seam needed taking in at the waist to give the jacket its distinctive waisted shape and that seemed to do the trick. It’s all done now and the collar and lapels are on.

Meanwhile I was taking still taking pictures of the work as it went along. The buttonholes were finished – they went in quite smoothly, which is just as well given the added bits and bobs. Here is the Ugly Duckling as the pad stitching was underway. Hopefully the story will have the same ending!