Craftsmanship

Before any process can take place, the individual skins to make one garment (normally 30 skins) must be matched for colour, wool type and texture.
The secret of Knight's Craftsmanship is to take this inconsistent Raw material (selected by nature, not by  man) and convert it into a consistent individual garment.

Skin matching:

	Matching the skins

The first stage in making an individual garment is skin matching.  Although around 1,000 of these skins are tanned and dyed together in large wooden "drums" at the Tannery, the various breeds of lambskins will take up the dye differently and also different breeds will have much different wool textures.

Skins are folded in half wool side in, and laid side by side to match the skin (suede or napa) for colour and texture. They are then folded in half again, this time wool side out and the wools are matched for texture, type (fine or coarse wools) and colour.

It will take around 30 carefully matched skins to make an average jacket length garment; more for a longer garment.

Pattern laying:

	Patterns being layed on skins

After the skins have been selected for one garment, they are individually inspected on both sides for blemishes and any processing damages.  These areas are marked so that they can be avoided when the pattern is laid on each skin.  Because the skins are so small (average size is only 2½ sq.ft.) and only the prime area of the skin is used, the yield from each skin is less than 50%.

Patterns for the individual garment are then laid on the skins, carefully avoiding the "marked" areas to avoid.  The pattern pieces are drawn around and the individual garment is then moved on to the next stage.

Cutting & Shaving:

The skins for each garment are then hand cut and shaved around the seam areas with surgical animal clippers.  This is to reduce the bulk of the wool for stitching where a number of pieces overlap.

Stitching a garment:

	Sewing the garment together

Unlike most other garment manufacturers, Knight's garments are all individually made by one person.  There is no "assembly line" process.  This promotes pride in workmanship and also makes the garment more consistent.  The process is often compared to a "hand built" automobile, rather than one off a production line.  This individual craftsmanship is then confirmed by the signed "Craftsman Guarantee" label, which is permanently sewn into every Knight garment.

It takes on average, more than  4½ hours to stitch together one garment.

Grooming and hand finishing:

	Opossum Fur being hand combed

The next part of the process is in hand finishing and "grooming" the garment.  When the skin is stitched together, the wool or fur gets trapped under the stitching and has to be combed out by hand. 

Every garment is also turned inside out and vacuum cleaned around the seam areas where the skins were first cut.  Cutting the skin also cuts the wool which is attached to the skin; this can create loose fibres that have to be removed before shipping.

All our buttons are hand sewn and hand shanked to the garment to prevent loss or the button becoming loose. 

	Hand sewn Buttons and Toggles

Inspection and packing:

We do not use a "random inspection" check: every single garment is inspected both inside and outside before it can be released for individual packing. Knight's prides itself on workmanship and attention to detail in creating this unique product for you, the customer.