The Hunter

The latest Hunter sample is back, and it's the one I'm most concerned about. The collar juts straight out sideways instead of rising first and then folding down, and the sheepskin is too thick to press into shape. The sleeves swing backwards, so much that on the mannequin they looked as if they'd been set in the wrong way round. It's going back to Jonathan to rework the collar and sleeves in the real cloth.

I want a quilted lining in tan, and of course I've picked a difficult colour to match. I found one this morning, but there's only a metre of it. That's enough for the body, and the sleeves and pockets get the same lining without the quilting.

Jonathan has revised the pattern. The back is longer, so it doesn't kick up and away from the body, and that means a new sample rather than altering the old one. This one will be fully finished, in the cloth I intend to use.

I want to try quilting the Hunter's body lining. Jonathan has measured the jacket at 68cm from shoulder to hem and added a few centimetres, because quilted fabric shrinks as it's stitched. The sleeves and pockets stay unquilted.

Met Jonathan and Dorota in London today, the first time the three of us have been in the same room. On the table were the first samples of the Hunter and the Ventura, the Hampden and the funnel neck jacket. The Hunter and the Ventura go back with Dorota for the changes.

Jonathan has finished the pattern for a flight jacket in navy wool, and Dorota has everything she needs to make the first sample. It's first in the queue. The collar is genuine sheepskin, the waistband has no elastic and the topstitching goes in a heavier thread.

A box of cuttings arrived from Mallalieus, and two of them are genuinely beautiful. I've bought all 35 metres of one, a doeskin in Deep Navy. I won't know whether it works for the Hunter for a while yet. There are lots of samples to get through in cheaper cloth first.