Avre Friday Briefing #42
Avre Vat #01 - Last Chance for Christmas
There's still time to get VAT #01 whisky delivered before Christmas. We're limiting this to 265 bottles in honour of the 265 Commandos who undertook Operation Chariot, the audacious raid on St. Nazaire in 1942. James tells the story below.
Batch #2 Production Update
This week at the studio, we've cut the majority of sizes for Batch #2. The pattern pieces are now neatly bundled by size and ready for the machinists.
We've been working on the pockets this week. Each smock has four of them on the front, and they're surprisingly involved - multiple pattern pieces that need assembling and facing before they're attached to the garment.
The Iron Duke Strikes Again
Those four pockets mean button closures, which means buttonholes, which means firing up the Iron Duke. It managed about half an hour before breaking down - true to form. Quinn came to the rescue again, replacing a worn drive belt while the machine was still warm.
Compared to the other modern commercial and professional kit in the studio, the Iron Duke sticks out like something from a bygone era. The Duke might be temperamental, but it's the only machine that can create those keyhole shaped buttonholes.
More next week...