Men's Frock Coat De-Mistified.

I had a realization this morning!  It was like an atom bomb went off in my head in regards to patterning a Men's 18th century frock coat.  I've been looking at diagrams of patterns inline for weeks now, trying to figure out the easiest (and admittedly laziest) way of drafting a men's jacket.  I do have the background in pattern drafting and can do it from measurements and the formulas, but I have been stalling, hoping I could find something easier.

This morning I realized how easy it actually is.  This Diagram gives me everything I need to know to draft up a man's frock coat.  Its been staring me in the face for weeks now!  Sometimes I can be so dense!

If you understand the very first lessons in pattern drafting then you can pattern this in no time.  All the measurements needed are on the diagram. 

Basically you start with a vertical line which is the length of your garment.  Here the front of the coat is 116 cm long.  The measurements start at 0, and draw a perpendicular line out from there.  This is the top of the shoulder.  The next line down is 6 cm from the top, square out from there, this is the center front neck point.  You continue to square off your lines from the vertical line, measuring down using the numbers provided in  centimeters.  Use your french curve to draw your shaping.

At this point it is all just theory.  I could be completely way of base.  BUT....This is exactly the same way you start the draft on modern day tops pattern.  I think the only thing I need to work out is the measurements and translate them in to a size.  I am gonna do a copy of this pattern  and see if I have to do any changes in order for it to fit The MAN. 

Creating the Casaquin

Well I made the necessary adjustments to the pattern, created the lining pattern pieces and and currently cutting out the interlining from a cotton sheet.  I chose to interline the silk as it it very delicate and since there was the possibility of stress on the seams I wanted extra reinforcement for the silk.  I also wanted to give the silk more structure and body as the lining is going to be linen, which is normally has a soft drape

Hopefully next time I will have pictures of the jacket being constructed.

Cheers!

Casaquin Anyone?!?!?

 I was given a dupioni silk copper suit jacket and skirt that is 10 zillion times to big for me.  Mrs. C Originally made it for a client of her's but the client didn't want it so it was passed on to me!

Whoo HOO!

I have hung onto this suit for a least a few years and finally found a used for it.  There really is alot of fabric in this suit and skirt so there was no point in throwing it away if I could salvage it.  Besides It's silk and silk is expensive.  Especially GOOD silk.  You can tell alot about the quality of the dupioni by the amount of slubs in the fabric.  Really textured and slubby (the ridges and bumps) the cheaper the fabric.  This is because the manufacturer is using the short, imperfect (not smooth) strands of the silk.

For the past two days I have been working on an 18th century Casaquin. First  I draped a pattern then drafted one.....


I started a a drape on Mrs. Squishypants and it was going smoothly, too smoothly....lol!  Once i had the drape I transfered it to pattern paper and drafted a two piece sleeve to go with it.  It looked okay when I made a muslin but the fit was off.  I dug into my shoulder and wasn't very comfy.  So I tried for hours to readjust the armhole shape to get it to work.  I gave up.  As a pattern drafter, I couldn't get the shape from the drape to translate onto the pattern since I didn't have the bust line or the Arm Hole Diameter to work with. 

So I started from scratch and used a pattern this time.  Although draping is faster and works wonders with bias material, it wasn't the right application for a fitted jacket.

Basic Block  Size 8 front and back No seam allowances

I used my basic block and traced it (without seam allowances) onto a piece of white cotton sheeting.  I then used that block to drape over Mrs. S (who was is stays) to get the right fit.

Front

Back

From then on it was fairly straight forward to get the design lines drawn and a pattern made.

closing and transfering darts front

Back closing and moving darts

extending the shoulder seam to the back

working draft no seam allowances

fitting the front pattern

fitting the back pattern.

I ended up transferring the dart out of the back into the center back which helped the princess line in the back lay flat. 

After all the little changes where made to the pattern, I added seam allowances and put the bottom on and added pleats....Stay tuned!