I got this hair-brained idea the other night (due largely in part to my daughter having a mother-daughter Alice in Wonderland night at school) to make a military style jacket. I have seen a lot of patterns that would fit the occasion. However, I also had a much more labor intensive and thought provoking option.... to draft a pattern based on a REALLY old one I have.
I stumbled upon this old pattern (something like 1830's) of a men's military coat. Generally they are made of wool, but since this is going to be my own thing and not historically accurate AT ALL I decided to go with something different. I chose a poly-cotton pinstripe. Its fairly lightweight, won't wrinkle too easily, sturdy, and a good color. Here are a few photos from the first part of the process.
It has taken me some tweaking to get the pattern to work. At first I measured my arms wrong and cut the sleeves too narrow. This meant adding a gusset in the shoulder that runs down to the elbow. Lucky for me, it ended up looking fairly natural. I also didn't account for needing to add darts to the front cause it will be a woman's coat and not a man's like the original. I cut the front sections too narrow, but added a 1.5" strip down the front of both sides. Also, ended up looking fairly natural, like it was meant to be there. I haven't yet decided how I will close it, if I should use a zipper, buttons, frogs, or leave it open. Here are a few photos of the progress I am at now.
I will be adding a buckle tie or something to the back (it's pinned for now) but I am stalled out on that part... I haven't decided what color to do the cuffs and collar. I am planning a mandarin style collar for the jacket, and was thinking something contrasting would look good. But I need to decide on that first so that I can make sure that everything coordinates. So, if you have any suggestions I am completely open to ideas! I am also open to thoughts or ideas, I'm not completely dead set on the mandarin collar.
