The Tailor

July 17, 2004 10:44pm

Here we go again. The project has started.

The Tailor, Giovanni Batista Moroni c 1570

Yes, that's a lot of pinking. But since my fashion fabric is mostly dead dinosaurs I have a solution that involves cutting and heat sealing the pinks in one step. The fashion fabric except for the collar and shoulder treatments has been cut.

Oct. 22, 2004 9:21am

I put the question on my LJ about what to wear to 12th Night in the West and since some people are saying this I may have to get working on it again. Since I'm re-shaping I'm going to have to get Mary to re-work my pattern before I continue.

Feb. 3, 2005 4:38pm

Well that was a whole lot of nothing done. The re-drape got done and the shape was kinda different but we tried a double made to the old pattern and it fit so it wasn't actually that extreme.

	Front and Back
	Front Piece
	Back Piece

So, yes there was some re-shaping but it didn't affect the overall pattern enough to require a new pattern, we think. We'll see after it's a finished project. The new finish date is March 10th so I can wear it at the Court of Love event in the Canton of Borderwinds.

Feb. 8, 2005 10:53am

The lining and interling are cut. The interlining is 100% dead dinosaur satin to show through the pinks. The lining is a cotton linen blend.

One thing to note: When fabric is stored outside the "linen is cool to the hand" test doesn't work well if the ambient temp is 56 degrees F.

I still have to cut the collar and plot and execute the pinking before assembly.

Feb. 8, 2005 2:04pm

I've decided on a one inch (2.54cm) slit spaced one inch between rows and columns.

I found a clear copy of the picture online and blew it up for detail. I need to cut shoulder treatments and I noticed that the collar is also pinked.

Tomorrow at work I will get a two foot by two foot piece of wood to use as when doing the pinking. The hot knife seems to work well though you need to go slowly.

	Three columns of the pinking. I will make more accurate row and column spacing on the actual garment. This is an extra piece.
	The one on the left is why you take your time.

Feb. 11, 2005 4:30pm

The body panels and one of the sleeve panels have all been marked for the pinking. Some pictures have been taken and will be posted in a later update with explanations.

Dealing with the curve of the sleeve at the elbow was a pain to figure out.

Feb. 18, 2005 10:14am

After a few days of work, it's back to the project. All of the pieces have been cut and marked for pinking.

	The Back
	Front
	Curve of the Sleeve
	Half of the pieces.

Feb. 23, 2005 12:21pm

The pinking is done. It's time for assembly. Most of the pinking went well, there were a few mishaps where the line wasn't straight or I put the iron down funny and it made an interesting shaped slit.

	The board after all the pinking. You can see some of the marks burned and cut into it. At the top is also one of the epaulets.
	A side by side view of the front and back side of the front panels. The left side is the outside that will be seen, the right is where I pinked from the back. It gave a nice clean line to the part that would be visible.
	Close up of the above picture. You can see the melting on the backside a bit better.

March 2, 2005 3:55pm

I got the flat lining done attaching the fashion fabric to the interlining and got the 4 body panels assembled. Really lousy picture below. No fittings have been done and I'm wearing a heavy polo shirt. Today and tomorrow I'm going to assemble the lining, then get the body assembled. But, not right now, I don't feel like ironing.

First sew of the body.

April 25, 2005

Costumus Interruptus has ended. The body has been assembled and pressed. The buttons have been coffee dyed to match the fabric. Button attachment will be happening this evening at Missy Albra's. Then tomorrow afternoon after doing home repair at a friends I'll be doing the button holes.

I think I've figured out how I want to assemble the sleeves. After the sleeves are assembled and attached then it's on to the pants. I've never done any pants but drawstring before, this shall be interesting.

May 12, 2005

	There is still some work to be done on this one. I need to shorten the button loop at the neck and lose some more of the gained poundage.
	Back view, obviously. There are a couple places that I need to re-sew to smooth out the center back seam.
	The top button is one of the stained ones with a non-stained one beneath. The buttons were tea dyed then coffee dyed. They look pretty darn close to me.

On to sleeve assembly.

May 12, 2005 Part Deux

The Doublet is Done! Well, almost.

I have the interior handwork to do yet. But piccies since y'all seem to thrive on 'em.

	Here are the pieces of the sleeves. Front and back sides with the main sleeve and the little sub cuff.
	This is sleeve pieces with the sub cuffs attached.
	The doublet is done, almost. I still have some interior hand work to do but that will get done this afternoon.

The red fabric is the felted wool I'm going to use for the panes of the pants. The doublet will look a bit smoother once I get the pants done and laced into them, keeping everything snug. Losing a few more pounds wouldn't hurt either.

I like how the satin interlining is showing through the pinks.

On to the pants.

June 13, 2005, 1:39pm

The red wool for the panes, waist and leg bands has been cut out. The panes are 2" at the top tapering to 1-1/2", there are 26 of them. Yes that means it's a pretty big waist. Hey, I cook as well as costume, it's understandable.

4:05pm

The lining is cut except for the leg band lining. After consultation with my Darling Wife and Sewing Advisor, I'm going to find an inner lining and stuff them to get the poofy look in the portrait.

June 22, 2005, 8:19pm

	I haven't trimmed the waistband to length yet. I also found one more pane on the floor after I took the pictures.
	Profile showing the result of too many 12oz curls.
	Yup, it's the back view.

Oct. 29, 2005, 7:14pm

Since I am home today with my Darling Wife and am able to get her help since I've never made any pants/trews that weren't drawstring, I'm actually sewing. In fact the only way I'd ever done pants was to quarter-fold the fabric and lay a pair of jeans folded in half on them to use as a pattern, then sew the inseams and front and back seams, and add a drawstring. So, there was a bit of trepidation in this process.

Done so far:
Assemble waistband.
Attach left and right pieces of the front and back together.
Attach pocket flaps to sides.
Sew side seams.
Attach panes to waistband.

Still to do:
Sew inseams.
Attach lining to waistband.
Attach leg bands.
Make and attach codpiece.
Attach hooks and eyes to waistband.
Put lacing points into waistband.
Make a lacing strip for the doublet.

Note the two layers of felted wool are about the only thing that has made me lower the pressure foot tension on my Power Fabric Joining Tool (tm).

Nov. 8, 2005 1:00pm

Progress has continued. The waistband is lined and attached, same with the leg bands and the codpiece. The hooks and eyes are also attached.

I still have to put the lacing holes in the waistband and make and attach the lacing strip for the doublet. I also need to do the ties for the codpiece.

The codpiece, well umm, didn't quite turn out like the nice curved one in the portraits. It looks more like a wedge doorstop mounting an Imperial Star Destroyer.

There will be pictures later.

Nov. 11, 2005, 10:46pm

Done at last, done at last. Great God(s) Almighty it's Done at Last. Pictures after the event.

Nov. 14, 2005, 11:11am

Thoughts after the first wearing. I need to lose a few more pounds before it fits as smoothly as I'd like. I need to rework the codpiece a second time, the first time got the shape a bit better but it is still too large. The buttons need to be replaced, I got the color right but the plastic shanks are really weak. It was a bit tight across the shoulders for movement, I'm going to partially solve that issue by detaching the sleeves and making them tie-ons, and also adjusting the armscye. I suspect that part of this last problem is due to the fact that after starting this project I started a job where I lift a lot more.

On to the Pictures:

	Codpiece Version 1: Doorstop Mounting an Imperial Star Destroyer
	At Caid Fall Coronation 2005.
	At Caid Fall Coronation 2005, With his Lovely Wife, Mary Taran.

Copyright 2005-Steve Montgomery

All photographs, articles, and graphics on this website are protected by copyright laws and may not be duplicated without permission.