Logged–23 September 2026, Kathmandu.
V2 isn’t a new sample. It’s the first sample of our handwoven hemp chore jacket, the one that came back wrong, reworked at the workshop in a single sitting. It now has longer cuffs, reshaped sleeves, cotton lining at the neck and a cotton patch inside the elbow.
It fits better than V1, and it still doesn’t fit right: the sleeve is narrow at the wrist, so the cuff folds back only once. On its first wear, the unlined hemp cuffs rubbed the wrists.
What Needed Fixing
The first sample’s sleeves were short at the cuff, wide through the bicep and over-tapered toward the wrist. It had no foldable cuffs, and none of the cotton liner patches we’d specified at the neck and elbow. The measurements it was meant to be cut from had been lost in a handoff months earlier.
One Sitting at the Workshop
The rework happened in front of me, and it’s photographed as it happened. One tailor did the work, over an hour or two.
Master Dai was there. (Master is the title for the lead tailor; Dai means elder brother, the word for someone whose read on the work outranks yours.)
To change the sleeves, the tailor first unpicked the seams of both layers: the hemp shell and the cotton liner. Here’s what changed.
Area | V1 | V2 | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
Sleeve length | Short at the cuff | New, longer cuff | Fixed: the sleeve now covers the full arm |
Lower sleeve | Too narrow toward the wrist | Seam allowance let out toward the wrist | Better, still narrow at the wrist |
Bicep | Too wide | Taken in | Looks okay, not ideal yet |
Cuffs | Not foldable | Foldable, per spec | Fold back only once: too narrow at the wrist to roll up to the elbow |
Neck | No liner patch | Cotton lining added | Done |
Elbow patch | Missing | Cotton patch stitched to the inside of the hemp shell | In place, but on the shell, not the liner |
Cuff lining | — | None | Open: see below |
The spec put the elbow patch on the liner, as an extra layer where a lining is likely to wear through first. On this sample it couldn’t be attached to the liner, so it’s stitched to the inside of the hemp shell instead.
Why Couldn't the Sleeve be Fully Fixed?
V1’s sleeve was cut the wrong shape: too wide at the bicep, too narrow toward the wrist. The tailor let out the seam allowance toward the wrist and took the sleeve in at the bicep.
Taking in is always possible; letting out isn’t. A seam can only give back the fabric already folded inside it. Past that, more width means new fabric, such as a new sleeve or an inserted panel, or a corrected pattern.
That’s why the wrist end is better and still narrow. For Run One, the correction belongs in the pattern, not in more alterations to one sample.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Buttonholes: One Last Stop
The new cuffs needed buttonholes, and the buttonhole machine isn’t at the workshop. It’s at the first supplier’s shop in Thamel, so the jacket went there the same day, with collection set for the next day.
When I went back, the buttonholes hadn’t been done yet; they were finished later that day. It’s worth knowing for Run One’s timeline: when one garment’s machines sit at two addresses, a finished jacket can take an extra trip and an extra day.
While I was collecting it, another customer at the shop asked about the jacket. The shop told them it was a one-off, which, being a sample, it is.
How Does Wearing a Hemp Jacket Feel Like?
V2’s first time outside was the walk home on Wednesday 23 September: 15 to 20 minutes on a cool evening, worn over a shirt with a backpack on. It was a humid, overcast day in Kathmandu, between about 18°C and 26°C.
The jacket was comfortable the whole way, neither cold nor too warm, even with the backpack. One walk isn’t a warmth test, and it isn’t logged as one: it’s a first impression.
On the body, the sleeves now cover the full arm, and the bicep is no longer too wide; it looks okay, not ideal. The wrist end is still narrow, so the cuff folds back once and the sleeve won’t roll up to the elbow.
The cuffs rubbed against the wrists. They’re unlined hemp: the neck now has cotton against the skin, and the cuffs don’t.
The tailor’s view is that these cuffs can’t take a liner. Whether a cuff built with a lining from the start is possible is one of the first questions for the second supplier.
The rub also reopens a decision from the first sample. Master Dai suggested a hemp-cotton blend at the collar and cuffs, for softness, and we turned it down for durability. One walk is thin evidence, but it points his way.
Hemp is widely reported to soften with washing and wear, so some of this may ease on its own. V2 hasn’t been washed yet, and Master Dai says the hemp is prewashed before it’s cut. Whether a wash at home softens the cuffs is something we’d rather find out than assume.
Still Open After V2
- Can the cuffs be lined, and can the elbow patch go on the liner as specified? Both questions go to the second supplier.
- Does the hemp-cotton blend come back for the cuffs?
- The sleeve correction has to reach the pattern, whoever cuts Run One.