I’ve often heard the term ‘iteration’ since I entered the corporate world. It is so ubiquitous that it feels less like something people do, and more like something they say to feel like their organization is innovating. This may be because iteration in the corporate world often doesn’t feel all that different. You start with one thing on a screen, and you end with another thing on a screen.

However, the process of adjusting the fit of the jacket–or I guess now it’s a coat–has felt genuinely iterative.

I think of iteration as:

  1. Start with an idea in mind
  2. Attempt to implement that idea
  3. Reflect on the result: did it match the initial expectation? If it was different than expected, how specifically was it different? What could we change in the next attempt to bring us closer to the idea?
  4. Make changes according to the reflection (possibly also allowing the idea you have in mind to change), then repeat

I made a physical sample in my last post. Despite looking good on the 3D avatar, I found it was too slim when I put it on. This past week, I tweaked specific parts of the fit in CLO so it would be more comfortable.

Those changes from the first and second iterations are on GitHub here.

By removing duplicate pieces, and printing only the body panels for fit, I spent only $19 at FedEx on the large format printer, instead of $35. The 2D printable piece looks like this:

The way that I ‘removed’ duplicate pieces from CLO’s print layout was to change the fabric composition of the duplicate pieces. That’s why the hood and half of the body below are blue: I only printed the white pieces, and CLO automatically divides the 2D print layout by fabric type.

Next, I went through the process of sewing the basic pieces together. I discovered a more efficient way of sewing the side seams and sleeves together.

Here’s the most up-to-date order of operations. The first three steps are the same as before, but the fourth step is different.

1. Sew the legs of the right triangle gusset into their place

2. Sew the jagged main body piece to the corresponding jagged sleeve piece

3. Sew the short end of the rectangular chest panel to the corresponding spot on the main body. This should produce a kimono-like look at this point:

Partially constructed coat. Notice that the armpits are lower and the sleeves looser than in the previous iteration. Both provide a better range of movement.

At this point, the garment looks like this when laid flat:

Let’s now discuss the last, new, step of sewing the body piece:

4. Match the long side of the rectangular chest piece to the corresponding long side seam of the main body piece (This will create a tube-like shape: easily sewn with a straight stitch). Continue the tube with the sleeve piece, which will fold in on itself. The result is one long seam that travels from the “bottom” of the garment up the side seam, along the triangular gusset, and then along the sleeve.

This is much simpler than what I had in mind before, which was starting in the armpit and sewing along half the gusset. I suspect that because of the simplicity of this way of sewing, it’s meant to be done this way.

Here’s the result:

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(again, keep in mind that this is the muslin/sample fabric – the result will be dark ink lightweight nylon)

What would I change for the next iteration?

  1. Overall, I’m happy with the shape and fit of the main body piece.
    1. There is one thing I’d adjust. The sleeves are slightly misaligned at the cuffs, meaning that the shape of the sleeves in the pattern needs to be tweaked in one direction or another (not sure which direction yet)
  2. Turning attention beyond the main body fit: I haven’t sampled the hood in real life yet, so I need to try cutting and sampling the first version of the hood that I developed last time and adding that to the jacket to see how it fits. I’ll plan to attach it directly to the sample I wrote about in this post.
  3. I also need to decide on how the jacket should be closed.
    1. Zippers are less functional on longer coats IMO (awkward to zip/unzip if you go full-length; looks weird if you go partial-length) and better on shorter jackets
    2. Buttons provide a traditional look, possibly too traditional for what I want out of this.
    3. I may also consider minimal, “hook and eye closures” as this coat uses:

Looks like you can get them from Stonemountain and Daughters. Because this is a lightweight coat anyway, I expect to wear it in warm-ish temps and am not too concerned about it perfectly shielding the wearer from wind.

In general, the “sew -> adjust in CLO -> print -> sew” loop seems to be working well.