Costume-Making 101: The Coat Maketh the Man

Hello again and welcome to a somewhat delayed entry in my costuming adventures in and around the Asssassin's Creed costumes I'm working on.  Since we last left the action another bout of illness and general life has made progress a little slow, but I'm happy to report that we're back in top gear and surrounded by fabric off-cuts and pattern pieces once again.

So, having finished up the top part of my new coat in my dyed corduroy and denim, it was decision time as to how to progress on the lower half - whether to build it as per the pattern for a long, trench-coat look or to carry on with my attempt to recreate the pattern of the Connor Kenway coat from AC:3.  This actually turned into a bit of a dilemma, slowing down production for quite a few days as I swayed back and forth as to which way to go with it; to stay faithful to the original vision of the project and replicate the in-game coat or to stick with a pattern I knew and work on something original.  Hmm.

While I liked the idea of recreating the Connor coat in a new fabric, in the end I decided to stick to a tried and true pattern, mainly because if it all went wrong it would be very hard and time-consuming to order in more fabric from Germany, dye it to match and re-cut all the pattern pieces.  Fear not though, I've already teed up the Connor pattern for a future build so more on that in the months to come!  Sorry family...

One thing I wanted to include with my coat was a split in the skirt to allow for easier movement and to make the design more my own, so after cutting all the pattern pieces I started to assemble the skirt.  The side and back panels went together as per Simplicity 2333's instructions, but when it came to attaching the back seams, I only stitched them together for about a fifth of the length, as shown below:

Once this was finished off, time to add the pockets - as anyone who's been to a convention will tell you, the most frustrating thing about wearing a costume is the lack of somewhere to keep your wallet, cigarettes and business cards...  The pockets were placed as per the pattern, but I decided to line them with the denim fabric to give them more stability.  I'll run through how I did this quickly.  Warning, lots of pictures and lots of time to do this, especially given that no-one but me will see it...

First off, cut the outer fabric to size and the lining fabric to the same size, minus the seam allowance:

To ensure no stray edges inside the finished pocket, fold over and iron/press the seam allowance so it is a double thickness and half the width, with the raw edge touching the lining fabric:

Next, fold and press the seam allowance over on itself again so that it overlaps the lining fabric.  This will ensure the outer fabric's cut edges are enclosed before sewing in place and will ensure no loose threads or fraying from the inside.  Then, run a line of stitching along the top opening of the pocket to finish the top edge:

I pinned the turned over lining in place after pressing to hold them securely and trimmed any folds that were too bulky:

Now position the pocket on the coat and pin in place.  I left the pins from the previous stage in place to ensure that nothing moved during assembly.  I ran a stitch around the pocket edges to secure it in pace, around 6mm in from the edge:

Make sure to double stitch the seam at the top where the pocket opens and try not to dip the pocket in your tea like I did before attaching...

Lastly, I ran a stitch around the very edge of the pocket using a zipper foot, resulting in a double hemmed extra-strong pocket for my coat:

So, pockets attached (minus a flap, more on this to come), I was left with two halves of a coat, ready to attached and finish.  The lining went in as per the pattern instructions, with some modification around the back split.  The fabric for the lining is a dark red-wine (mmmm) coloured poly-cotton with a slight linen weave to it, and against the advice of the pattern I stitched this along the entire length of the top where it joins the body; I'd tried to follow the pattern once before and have my own way of finishing it off - I find the Simplicity instructions confusing and illogical.  Here's a bad photo to illustrate:

Now it was simply a case of attaching the two together, remembering to include the two gathers on the back.  Some pinning, adjusting and sewing later, we have this:

The fit is a little off as I'm having to hold it closed at the front, so here we are again on a mannequin torso, stood on my ironing board:

I was very pleased with how well the coat held its structure across the top, thanks mainly to the denim lining.  The lower half has very little weight as both the corduroy and the lining are very light and floaty, meaning a great hang while being worn.  In a previous attempt at this pattern I'd used a heavy lining through the skirt part and it ended up pulling the whole coat out of shape when worn due to the weight of the lower half.

So, many weeks of work, a lot of cutting, many, many cups of tea later and we have the basic structure of the coat finished.  Next time I'll document adding the cuff turn-backs, finishing the seam between the body and the skirt plus the start of the (extensive) detailing, include almost 30 (!) buttons and button-holes I had planned.  Oh, and more on the hood to come:

Enjoy the sunshine and more to come!

Costume-making 101 - Decisions, decisions, decisions...

So then my costume-making friends, when we left the action last time (pre the bout of horrific man-flu-mixed-with-hayfever-and-no-sleep-or-food-for-two-days that struck me down over the weekend) I was on the cusp of having to decide which way my new project was going to proceed - an AC3 coat replica, or an ACU (Assassin's Creed Unity) coat in the style of the new main character, Arno.  Wow, I have such problems...

While trying to decide, I made a start on a new coat.  See?  Responsible decision making; charge ahead with something regardless and make it up as you go along!

So, having decided to crack on with something rather than nothing, I ordered in some corduroy from a place I found in Germany, very reasonable at £4.59 per meter instead of the usual £15.00.  Great, I thought, until it arrived.  I'd missed the words "worn appearance" in the description.  It meant this:

Basically, it looked as though the fabric had been badly tie-dyed in a brown-orange over a white base.  This is how it looked after washing...

No problem, thought I, Dylon will hold the answer.  Three packs of dark brown dye, several 40 degree wash cycles and a day of drying later I was happy with the colour.  For reference, I was going for a colour combination (whichever way the project went) based on the brown/red/blue colours from AC3:

I (finally) had the brown outer in the form of a good earthy needle cord, now I needed the red and the blue.  For added texture and interest I'd already picked up some indigo denim from my local supplies, plus some burgundy poly-cotton to work in.  The hood, I'd already tackled:

After already failing at it once:

More on this when I cover the finer points of construction.  

So, sticking with my Simplicity 2333 pattern from last time, I set about building the top half of the coat, as this would be the same whichever way the build progressed.  I cut and assembled the front, back, top sleeve, under sleeve and collar from both my denim and my corduroy, resulting in this:

The brown outer, complete with denim collar and interfacing, which I later removed as it prove unnecessary and unreliable with the rigid denim lining.

And this, the denim lining, turned inside out for pressing on the sleeves:

Next up, let's get theses puppies together, trim seams, hem, press, turn in the right way, press and sew again to finish all the edges off nicely:

Cool huh?  I was very pleased.  The denim lining proved rigid enough to hold the collar and turn-backs in place with no interfacing, plus the shoulders sat really well.  A note here on set-in sleeves, as per above: learn how to do them, they look fantastic and will only take a couple of tries if you've got a little experience under your belt.  To me, set-in sleeves add a really "professional" look to your work and sell it as a garment, rather than just a costume.  

Sadly I have no pictures of constructing the set-in sleeves, but this was my second and third attempt (shell then liner) and I managed them all (four in all, two sets of two) without a single catch.  Go me.  If possible, have someone show you how to do it, otherwise learn by video - Google produces some excellent results.  

I used the one below, plus some common sense and reference books, especially the invaluable "The Sewing Book" by Alison Smith from DK Books - buy it, you won't regret it.  As I said, I'd done one set before this (with a couple of catches) so work slowly, methodically and don't be afraid to alter and re-sew if needed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QSw8SwH9V8

Next time I'll be looking at which way I decided to go the the coat, AC3 or ACU-inspired, so for now, here's an in-progress shot of the coat body and the proposed hood:

Thanks for looking guys, more to follow in the next week or so.

Until next time.