Circa 1805 Royal Marine Officers Coat, Final Cut
We once again made adjustments to our pattern pieces. At this point, I discussed that various options that are available with the gentleman in question.
First and foremost, Hainsworth Fabric. These guys are the End all to be all when it comes to reenactment clothing. Why, you say? Well, because they aren't making replicas. This is the company that actually made the wool broadcloth that went into both Nelson's and Wellington's Full dress uniforms! They are still using the same looms that they were using 200 years ago.
However, it comes with a hefty price tag, especially after the 25% import tariff on wool, it works out to about $100/yard!
Secondly, there is both Discriminating General and Woolrich Fabrics. While they both produce a great product, they both have substantial minimum orders, which would leave me paying for a lot of extra wool.
We ended up going to William Booth, Draper. No minimum order, a wide selection of colors, and at about $20/yard, it was extremely reasonable price.
We ordered 4 yards of WWN 121 Red, and 1 yard of WWB 750 Navy Blue for the facings.
The wool arrived at the same time that we had the second fitting, and it is georgeous!.
Here is the fashion fabric cut out with plastic pieces still attached:
Here is the fabric without the plastic:
The white silk lining has been cut out as well.
I have sewn the back of the coat together,both sleeves, as well as the tail faux pocket flaps. That was all that I felt qualified to sew on my own without barelyproper there to do it.
Picture of the pocket flaps, observe and reverse:
And that is where we currently are:
UPDATE:
More work has progressed since last time, but since it is all work on the final coat, I figured it should be updated instead of a new entry.
The lining piece was quilted into the french collar felt,instead of the buckram the pattern called for. Then the right sides were sewn together with the navy blue wool, corners clipped, and turned right sides out.
Photo of interior of collar:
Exterior of collar:
The front and back of the coat was attached in the same method as the 2nd mockup, this time we used silk for the tail pockets instead of the muslin that the pattern recommended. The arms were sewn together, seams clipped and pressed open, and they were attached to the jacket.
Next the collar was attached to the coat, as well as the lapel. There was a little bit of issue in getting the lapel top to sit straight, but Barelyproper whipped them into shape.
Picture of the front of the coat:
Close up on the Collar:
Picture of the Back of the coat:
That is where we currently are. Next stage is to sew the button holes on the cuffs and attach them to the coat. Then position and sew the button holes on the lapels of the jacket. Since the button holes will be hidden by the 1/2" gold lace, we have no issue doing them on the machine.
UPDATE 3 8/13/2011:
Using the power of math, and then some trial and error, I laid out the button hole pattern for the lapels. Since the coat was 5" longer than normal, I had to stretch the layout of the button pairs, as well as the top two pair were angled to match the top of the lapel, when the bottom two were "flat" to match the bottom of the lapel, with the middle one being slightly less angled to split the difference.
Picture of coat with Button Hole locations based in white:
Closeup on Lapels with basing stitch:
As you can see, I continued the basting stitch all the way to the front of the lapel so that I would have a good guideline to utilized when I begin the attach the 1/2" gold lace loops.
So, other than attaching the cuffs physically to the coat, that's is the last bit of construction on the exterior of the coat, assuming we don't need to make any alterations after the final fitting.
First and foremost, Hainsworth Fabric. These guys are the End all to be all when it comes to reenactment clothing. Why, you say? Well, because they aren't making replicas. This is the company that actually made the wool broadcloth that went into both Nelson's and Wellington's Full dress uniforms! They are still using the same looms that they were using 200 years ago.
However, it comes with a hefty price tag, especially after the 25% import tariff on wool, it works out to about $100/yard!
Secondly, there is both Discriminating General and Woolrich Fabrics. While they both produce a great product, they both have substantial minimum orders, which would leave me paying for a lot of extra wool.
We ended up going to William Booth, Draper. No minimum order, a wide selection of colors, and at about $20/yard, it was extremely reasonable price.
We ordered 4 yards of WWN 121 Red, and 1 yard of WWB 750 Navy Blue for the facings.
The wool arrived at the same time that we had the second fitting, and it is georgeous!.
Here is the fashion fabric cut out with plastic pieces still attached:
Here is the fabric without the plastic:
The white silk lining has been cut out as well.
I have sewn the back of the coat together,both sleeves, as well as the tail faux pocket flaps. That was all that I felt qualified to sew on my own without barelyproper there to do it.
Picture of the pocket flaps, observe and reverse:
And that is where we currently are:
UPDATE:
More work has progressed since last time, but since it is all work on the final coat, I figured it should be updated instead of a new entry.
The lining piece was quilted into the french collar felt,instead of the buckram the pattern called for. Then the right sides were sewn together with the navy blue wool, corners clipped, and turned right sides out.
Photo of interior of collar:
Exterior of collar:
The front and back of the coat was attached in the same method as the 2nd mockup, this time we used silk for the tail pockets instead of the muslin that the pattern recommended. The arms were sewn together, seams clipped and pressed open, and they were attached to the jacket.
Next the collar was attached to the coat, as well as the lapel. There was a little bit of issue in getting the lapel top to sit straight, but Barelyproper whipped them into shape.
Picture of the front of the coat:
Close up on the Collar:
Picture of the Back of the coat:
That is where we currently are. Next stage is to sew the button holes on the cuffs and attach them to the coat. Then position and sew the button holes on the lapels of the jacket. Since the button holes will be hidden by the 1/2" gold lace, we have no issue doing them on the machine.
UPDATE 3 8/13/2011:
Using the power of math, and then some trial and error, I laid out the button hole pattern for the lapels. Since the coat was 5" longer than normal, I had to stretch the layout of the button pairs, as well as the top two pair were angled to match the top of the lapel, when the bottom two were "flat" to match the bottom of the lapel, with the middle one being slightly less angled to split the difference.
Picture of coat with Button Hole locations based in white:
Closeup on Lapels with basing stitch:
As you can see, I continued the basting stitch all the way to the front of the lapel so that I would have a good guideline to utilized when I begin the attach the 1/2" gold lace loops.
So, other than attaching the cuffs physically to the coat, that's is the last bit of construction on the exterior of the coat, assuming we don't need to make any alterations after the final fitting.