DD: A Mayor's costume

[janestarz]

When Jeroen e-mailed me somewhere in between Omen 8 and the end of 2009, I wasn't too happy to reply right away. I was considering ending my business, and sewing an elaborate costume for him wasn't high on my lists of priorities. However, I liked him and the rest of the Eventyr and I was willing to hear his ideas on what he wanted. It never really got to the planning stage until I met him again at Puerto (not quite recognising him at first, out of costume, without a hat on, and tugging on his protective motorcycle jacket).

After a cup of tea and some browsing, he decided that he wanted a long coat just like I made for my Aon character Henriëtte. He already had a black velvet vest and a brown hat, so we decided on a long brown coat with deep blue piping, a replica of the Henrëtte coat which is black with red piping.

This weekend I visited the market to find the fabrics. I was looking for a thick cotton for the exterior of the coat, but it was nowhere to be found. Instead I found a cotton-linen blend that was a bit lighter than I was looking for, but draped like a dream.
The blue poly-taffeta blend was easy to find and both fabrics were cheap enough to fit in my budget. I'm a bit hesitant to work with polyester, but sadly my budget doesn't allow for silk taffeta!
I also obtained 10 meters of blue cord for the piping. I'll be using an adapted version of Simplicity 5386.



Sunday we had a larp adventure to keep us occupied, but I managed to pre-wash the fabrics on 40°C and iron them dry on Saturdaynight. Last night, I started work on cutting out the pattern pieces. To the left are the pattern pieces, the right is a pile of scraps. The largest piece of scrap fabric is maybe 70 cm square!



Jeroen is rather tall so I adapted the paper pieces on the fabric. Call me lazy, but I really didn't have time to draft a new pattern as he's coming over for a fitting on Sunday!
That meant after cutting out the exterior pattern pieces, I had to use those as pattern pieces for the lining to get the same alterations.



At this point I'd like to apologise for not getting the white balance right. My camera freaks out over the dark fabrics next to eachother and just thinks it's really, really dark in the house.

I made good process while NoKey watered me with Orange Pekoe tea with a big dash of milk. =)
After cutting out all the pattern pieces, it was time for the next step:


Out with the yellow of my previous project, in with the blue!

I always serge all my pattern pieces before continuing. Technically speaking it might not be very necessary as this is a lined coat and I've got at least 15 mm seam allowance (er... 5/8 of an inch?), but I imagine all kinds of horror scenarios where the coat needs to be altered and people find my unfinished seams!
You could also serge the seam allowances together, but that makes it harder to press your seams open, so I always serge around everything before assembly. Even if it means cutting v's out of a serged curved collar piece. It just keeps everything tidy while I'm working. (Poly-taffeta fluff is like devil's snare, you can't get it off your cats...)



I also stay-stitched the necklines, the cotton-linen is loosely woven and will easily stretch on the bias.



During work, my serger started to make this awful screeching noise. I stopped for a moment to lubricate the innards (right there where it says "oil") in the hopes that would help but I'm afraid there's nothing for it. I'll have to thoroughly clean it out with the vacuum cleaner before my next project. I did finish the last four pattern pieces with the noise because I really don't have the time right now. It's interesting to see how the fluff accumulates and always turns a ghastly puke-brownish red after a few projects.

After all this, it was time to edit the pictures and put them online. My back was protesting at the work and it was nearly bedtime.
Tonight I'll try and get a start on the piping!

Comments

[woran.livejournal.com]

Ha, devil fluff! The house of Jojo's mom had this light blue sheen everywhere when we were done with the dresses.

But it already looks lovely! (I have a coat tic. Some women have it with shoes, I have it with coats.)

[lenny (from livejournal.com)]

I would love to be able to serge the seams on forehand. However it always turns out that I have to adapt the pattern pieces when I put them together, to make the clothes fit properly, which means I have to cut something away from the sides. So it would be no use :-(

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

You don't have to cut the sides to make a coat fit better. If it's a curved seam you just need to add notches to make the seam lie more flat, and notches are usually on the bias so they don't fray.
You might want to have a look at some posts from dressdiaries.

[lenny (from livejournal.com)]

You do have to cut them if you need to take in the clothes quite a bit, like I always have to do at the back. The seam cannot get too big or it will look bulgy.

[fyrane.livejournal.com]

I always love your detail pictures, it makes me want to crawl behind my sewing machine :D

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks!