This is a heavy project but it’s TOTALLY doable for someone who considers themselves an intermediate sewist. The tough parts are keeping track of all the pieces, and having the confidence to look outside of the instructions for assistance. There’s nothing really new or out-of-the-ordinary about making a coat, and the techniques are covered in plenty of other tutorials out there. Yes, the instructions aren’t super detailed and sometimes I felt I needed to just think about a step for a while before it finally clicked in my mind, but everything came out well in the end despite my doubts! I cut a size US10/UK14 with no alterations. I’m 5’8″, have sorta broad shoulders/back and a small chest, and I found the fit to be great (which was relieving because I didn’t make a muslin!). I can wear a long-sleeved shirt and a knitted sweater and still fit comfortably into the coat as well. I mostly stuck to the instructions and didn’t do many additional tailoring techniques, except that I interfaced the welt pocket, and I used an extra piece of fusible interfacing on the front facings (because I hand embroidered the lapels, I wanted them to be extra stable!) and then an additional strip of fusible on the roll line. No sleeve heads, no back stays, no chest plates, but you could probably add those if that’s your thing. My outer fabric is an 80/20 wool/poly blend, and it behaved itself so well with pressing and sewing. The lining is some hell-ish poly nightmare that’s beautiful but frays SO BADLY! I interfaced all the edges just beyond the seam allowance and the darts as well, and it seems to be holding up. While the instructions aren’t so detailed, don’t skip things like catchstitching the hem! It really helps the coat to lay nicely. Overall, this project took me about 20 days of 1-3 hour sewing chunks. Save yourself some time and get the copy shop version printed though, the PDF is so huge!