Tombennett off to Ireland

[Henry Hall]

I do believe that our own Tombennett departs for Ireland today to take up a place at Rory Duffy's training school. I haven't been able to contact him, but I'd like to wish the old Bristolian the best of luck.

[TTailor]

Yes, good luck and I hope he has time to discuss some aspects of his experience along the way.

[Thom Bennett]

Hi Guys, thanks. I will try and post updates and thoughts as the time passes but I am guessing there may not be enough of it.  I am actually off at 5 o'clock BST for the short flight across the Irish Sea.  Really looking forward meeting Rory and mining him for knowledge, it was difficult finding a suitcase that could fit my old tailors' square.

[hutch--]

Hope you enjoy yourself Tom, learn a lot and master the art of Guinness consumption.

[Greger]

Remember, you are learning, so don't give away secrets, or he wouldn't have a class to teach.

[pfaff260]

Good luck. Enjoy!

[Schneiderfrei]

The best of luck and good wishes Tom.

Graham

[Thom Bennett]

Well, so far so good, two days in.   Rory is a great guy and the other two students are fun too.  I am in the middle age wise and the only male apart from the master.  We have started to learn Rory's drafting methods which on the face of it seems to be a very good system, so far we have drafted the top part of a pair of trousers; I am starting to understand what I have been doing for the last year.  I'm going to take some photos to post but we have bene very busy.  We have no distractions here as we are situated in the middle of absolutely nowhere, though probably not as desolate as the outback, eh Hutch.  As we are in Ireland the weather is changeable.  We stay at Rory's parent house who have set up as a self-catering situation in their house.  The academy itself is in Rory's house which is a beautiful late 19th century farm house with adjoining farm, with the obligatory stray kittens.  Rory has done an amazing job getting his academy up and running and I am truly pleased to be a member of the first cohort to experience the course.

More updates as they come.

[hutch--]

Sounds great Tom, from the footage I have seen the Irish countryside is very attractive so you get a holiday as well as tuition.

[Thom Bennett]

Here we are at the end of the second week.  So far we have been learning Rory's drafting system for trousers for which we are going to be basting up a toile to see where we are with our full understanding, I am now understanding what I was doing over the last year.  It is so nice to be able to ask questions as and when they arise.

In preparation for the coat section of the course we went on a field trip to Sligo to visit an award winning drapers to see what the ready-to-wear market are doing with relation to style, cloth and leading brands.  We were tasked to measure and equate a selection of suits.

Here are some pictures.

The first is Rory's parents house where we are billeted, wonderful people who can't do enough for you and especially me with my disability.  That's my room with the light on.  I took this picture from the fields behind the house from where I took the following image.





A shot of the Academy from the house, as I have said we are very rural; the bullocks belong to Rory's father.



The Academy at The Old Park Farm.



The apprentices and the Master



Me, standing but in pain. Sometimes it is the only way to draft.



Rory looking at the T&C Chaudhry draft.



Finally, the Master at work.









That's it for now.

[posaune]

very impressiv. How long do you work at the day.  have you made up a toile?
Is it drafting and sewing or drafting drafting and sewing sewing?
lg
posaune

[Thom Bennett]

Hi posaune,

We are officially studying from 10am until 4pm mon - fri, however, invariably we are there much longer including saturdays as there is a lot to learn and, wild horses can't drag us away from our cutting boards.  We are making up a toile this coming week using the blocks we have been drafting, Rory is our model as he is, to start with at any rate easy to fit before moving onto a more challenging model.  The course is cutting, we are expected to produce a three-piece calico first-baste in as few fittings as possible; the goal of course being to be able to fit in one.

[posaune]

Can I think about it that way: You take the measure of Mr. Rory yourself, do the draft and fit the toile on him?
Or are you given the measurements?
We had first one to do for the teacher and then a toile for each other. After each session we discussed the result. Big experience.
It seams not much has changed.
lg
posaune

[Thom Bennett]

Yes that's right, we're going to measure the Master and then draft, baste and fit a calico trousers toile on him which I am really looking forward to. Sadly, apart from Rory I am the only male on here so we can't do each other as this is cutting for men's tailoring, I am always available as a dummy; sorry model.

[hutch--]

Thanks for the photos Tom, Ireland is an attractive place. Glad you are doing OK with Rory and learning the important stuff.