Has my tailor messed up? Fixable?

[miliop]

Hoping someone can advise! I have a lovely thick 100% wool coat. I asked a local tailor to shorten the sleeves but they've come out lumpy. They don't hang nicely like they did. It was a relatively simple amend.

Can anyone advise what's gone wrong? It seems like there's maybe too much tension in the stitching. Or worse, that the fabric has shrunk where it's been ironed...

I'm wondering whether to go back and ask him to re-do – or if I should suck it up and try another tailor...

(If you can't see pics, they are still under review)

You need to add the photos again, @miliop .

She doesn't - as she said in her OP, they were still under review. Now they are showing.

That was not done by a tailor, @miliop . Even I would have done a better job.
Apols for doubting that you'd posted the images.

Have the sleeve tabs been moved?

The tension in the stitching looks too tight. It should be an easy fix, just rip them out and re-sew if you are happy with the length. Did you want this type of hem, is it the same style as the original?

I would go to a different tailor. They are either incompetent or they just don't care.

What does the hem of the coat look like? Has that been shortened?

I'm no tailor but if the width of the arm narrows slightly towards the edge of the cuff, it will create a bit of creasing when it is secured. Hand hemming is much more forgiving in that instance. The tension does looked tight though. Was there a machine line around the cuff originally (as part of style). I would have thought unlikely if the coat is lined. Personally I would have questioned it before I left the shop,

Thank you all. Relieved that the issue seems to be the stitching (and general incompetence).

@Forthismoment really good point about the machine line. It is a very nice coat (second-hand to me but pretty expensive new) and I'm quite sure it didn't have a machine line.

I am annoyed at myself for not noticing in the shop because the alteration wasn't cheap. Unfortunately I got the coat back a few weeks ago now.

@UpMyself Yes, he moved the sleeve tabs up. He hasn't even put the buttons in the right place, they are different distances from the seam on each arm. He did the hem as well, with a machine line too. It isn't quite as lumpy though.

I wonder if I should unpick and sew up the sleeves myself – on the inside with a blind hem.

Yes, he moved the sleeve tabs up. It shows. I'd consider removing them.
I wonder if I should unpick and sew up the sleeves myself – on the inside with a blind hem. Yes. I would.
It's a nice coat.

Sleeves always look better if shortened from the shoulder - ie unpick the shoulder, remove some length and re sew: too late now but you could ask for this next time

Sleeves always look better if shortened from the shoulder Agree, but advise that OP goes to someone better at tailoring next time.
I once had something sent for repair, and the repair was quite poor. Alteration and pairs are probably done by machinists not tailors.

I already knew I wouldn't trust him with shortening from the shoulder!

It's so hard to find a good tailor where I am.

Appreciate all the replies – I didn't even know if I was using the right words and now I can hopefully try to find someone better (and ask the questions that might help help me figure out if they can do a good job)

Yes, it’s the tension. It can be fixed.

@miliop , You don't need a 'tailor', you need a competent dressmaker. That looks like an unpick and put in a blind hem job now.
If you ask around, someone will know a qualified and experienced seamstress - maybe someone's had a wedding dress made or routinely gets clothes altered.

You wouldn’t normally hem a sleeve like that, you fold it, press it and it attaches to the shorter lining inside the sleeve, so no visible stitch line on the outside. The original sleeve may have had interfacing in too, to give it a crisp edge.

Thanks so much, all. I know of a couple of options, both a drive away.

Ugh, I'm pissed at myself and him! Checking his latest google reviews, I can see people don't get very far with asking for refunds. I can't be bothered with that, it's a lesson learned.

Great advice here, thanks again.

That sleeve should have a felled hem which allows for movement.

On the front facing shot, it looks like the lining is too short as it’s bellowing out.

I wouldn't use a felled seam, the fabric is too bulky for one.

I didn’t mean a fell seam.

A felling hem just catches bits of the fabric.

To echo PPs, sleeves with details at the cuff like this should only ever be shortened from the shoulder.

Sadly too late for this lovely coat. Who would you ask to do it, though? I know a lady who takes up curtains. And there is another alterations shop near me but the tailor himself doesn't work there so I can't actually speak to the person doing the work. I do know of a bridal alterations shop who I think would be great but they are very booked up.

@miliop shortening from the shoulders is a different task, and depending in the construction of the coat, you'd need someone who really knew what they were doing, and it wouldn't be cheap.
It's nothing like taking up curtains.

For something like a wool overcoat, you'd need someone trained in tailoring.

In this situation, if I could not have found someone suitable, I would simply tuck the sleeves under, something I have done with a few coats that I never got round to shortening the sleeves on. I know it is easy for me to say this but if it was a case of there being a long waiting time, I would do the above for winter then take the coat (or what ever article needed revision) to be altered during the Spring or Summer. But, that is easily said rather than done, and why I still have coat sleeves tucked under. Otherwise, I push the sleeves us a little!

Tbh, the person you took the coat to should have been more honest with the end result/what they could actually achieve.