Monday 18 April 2011

Ultimate Six Frock Coat: the easy fabrics -
colour matching round two

I’m starting to see some serious progress on matching the fabric I need for the coat.
Fabrics 3, 4 and 11

Following on from the initial batch of dyed samples from my supplier (see left), I have been able to feedback some comments.

So far I have been able to sign off on the Purple Felt (Fabric 2) and the Red Felt (Fabric 5) as he has been able to match these spot on.

From memory the Yellow Lapel (Fabric 7) looks pretty good, so I will wait to compare it to the original coat before deciding there.

For now I’m looking to revise the Green Felt (Fabric 3), the Peach Felt (Fabric 4) and the Pink Felt (Fabric 11).

Today I’ve received the next batch of lab dyed wools (see below) and although the Pink Felt (Fabric 11) looks better, I think the Peach Felt (Fabric 4) has gone too red and the Green Felt (Fabric 3) is too thin.


I’ve fed back my comments and will wait for the next round of test. Watch out for the latest news as soon as I have it!

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Ultimate Six Frock Coat: the easy fabrics -
second comparison

My efforts to match the solid colours on the six Frock Coat are going well.
I’ve been able to sign off two of the six colours needed, and I am well on the way to matching the rest.
Fabrics 4 and 11

Last month I sent over a clutch of swatches for comparison to the original coat, and was pleasantly surprised with my results.

I always knew the Green Felt (Fabric 3) needed work, and now I have seen where I am at with the Peach Wool (Fabric 4) and the Pink Felt (Fabric 11) I had an idea.
Both had gone too light, partly under my instructions to the dyer, so I wondered if the previous round of colours were actually closer than I initially thought.

To this end I sent over the Peach Wool from the second round, and the Pink Felt from the first round to see how they faired.

As it turned out the Peach was closer, though still too light and the Pink was much closer, though could be a shade darker.

This definitely gives me something now thats worth feeding back to the dyer so we can do the next round of lab dyes.

Can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Monday 11 April 2011

If the Sixth Doctor made mugs

Just had to share this moment of amusement with you, especially if you’re a Sixth Doctor fan!

I was shopping in Waitrose this week and chanced upon a couple of coffee mugs.

We had a number of chips and breakages of late, so were looking around for some new ones anyway.

There was a range of designs and colours, none of which really grabbed me - until I noticed a set of polka-dot ones in a range of colours.


For some reason they had a bee motif on the inside, but the polka-dots on the outside reminded me of the Sixth Doctor’s cravats - and they came in red and turquoise!

That made them a no-brainer and we had to snap them up.

Sunday 3 April 2011

Six Fock Coat – purple test:
the whole ensemble!

After a bit of a hiccup with making the cuffs, I have now finished my fully worked test for the Six Frock Coat!

I had an ideal opportunity this weekend to get some good pictures taken, which came out pretty good.


Cos I could see how it was coming out, I just had to go the extra mile by making myself a pair of complimenting trousers to go with the coat. I only finished them with a day to spare, but I think it was worth the effort.

I really like the cut and fit of the Five Trousers I make, so used the same pattern, but with some purple-dyed pillow ticking instead.


Six Fock Coat – purple test:
lapels and lining

Now that I have completed Phase One - assembling the body of the test coat - I can now embark on phase two, setting the collar and lapels and lining the coat.

Although I cut the pattern for the coat in one go, I left the collar and lining pattern until this point so that any problems could be resolved before proceeding.
As it happens all has gone well so far, but it was still as well to wait.

The collar and lapel draft are a little tricky, due to the unique roll line running right down to the hem.

I had provisionally included the lapel facing in my pattern block to make sure it would work – you can see part of the lapel shape on the right-hand side of the block (see left).

I will now redraw it in full to create my pattern.

The lining is going to have to be a little unusual, as I will need to pattern it in its entirety, not just for the pieces adapted from the body of the coat.
The skirt of the body is made from five panels each side, and this will be vastly simplified for my pattern, plus I need to plan in the internal pockets, which are surpassingly minimal and basic in design. More on that later.

I first take my block for the coat body, and retrace the common parts: the back, coat tails, side panel and area of the front.

The lining for the skirt needs to be split at the side seam. This is the back edge of the panel with the outer pocket. I cannot simply trace the existing lines, as I need to make sure my hem circumference matches the body, so there's a bit of jiggery-pokery to crib the combined curve from the skirt panels.


Giving you a sneaky preview of the finished coat, you can see the outer seams (above, left) highlighted in green, compared to the lining seams (above, right).
the two narrow triangles of the skirt have been combined into the wider panels adjacent to them.

Saturday 2 April 2011

Six Frock Coat - it’s in the design

Work is progressing real well on my test for the Six Frock Coat.

But while I am making one in a tasteful, colour co-ordinated purple, it would be a good time to pull myself back to the target colour scheme and take a look at the ORIGINAL costume design by Pat Godfrey.


I love the near child-like way it is drawn, and the felt pens to block in the colour. Nothing is subtle here – as you would expect having been introduced to the costume by the finished result.