The Hampden

The sample looks right. On the mannequin I'm still so pleased with it. But it doesn't feel right, and I think I know why.

My reading is that it comes from the dress uniforms. A friend dropped off all of his last year, and they formed the basis of the Hampden's structure. They gave the coat its shape, but dress uniform is designed for form over function. A high armhole lets a soldier salute without the whole jacket lifting. What it doesn't account for is the shoulders rotating forward. On parade, shoulders are pulled right back. Most of us have spent our lives hunched over a keyboard.

At my size the restriction wasn't noticeable. But when I put the large sample on a number of people, I kept getting the same feedback: "It looks great, but I can feel a tightness across the front of my shoulders."

The fix is in the armhole and the sleeve. The underarm point comes up by 13mm, the lower front of the armhole is scooped out by 3mm, and the sleeve rotates eight degrees forward, with a little more height at the front of the sleeve crown. That gives more movement across the shoulders and keeps the look and shape of the coat.

Between pattern cutting and sampling, this adds two months. I've written to everyone who has ordered to explain, and to offer a full refund to anyone who would rather not wait.

Wearing the pre-production sample, I can raise my arm 90 degrees in front of me, and that's it. It's too obvious a problem to ignore, so I've made the hard decision to stop and fix the pattern.

The Hampden opened to subscribers at 11 this morning, and the first orders are in. Each one will be made to order over twelve weeks.

The Hampden will be £1,595, made to order, with no more than four to start production each week. Getting here took three pattern cutters, seven patterns, five sewing technicians and six factories.

Everyone who bought a Lawrence gets 20% off, as a thank you for supporting Barnfield at the very beginning.

The sixth melton prototype is done, and it's the one. The Hampden opens to subscribers at the end of September.

The Hainsworth melton is too heavy. Abraham Moon's Heritage melton, from their stock service in Yorkshire, has a textured finish I haven't seen anywhere else. Six metres are on their way and it's the cloth the Hampden will be made in.

The peacoat pattern is now with Jonathan, a pattern cutter I've been recommended in Canterbury. He's the third pattern cutter to work on the Hampden.

The latest sample came back two to three sizes larger than it should be. The problem was sitting in the pattern files all along, a difference between two versions that nobody spotted. 

Sample three has come back from Bolton with a note from the factory: the body lining doesn't fit. Back to the pattern.

A thousand horn buttons left Padano today.