Ultimate Six Frock Coat - left pocket section

Earlier this month I showed you how I have fully made the Right Pocket Section of my Ultimate Six Frock Coat.
Although at the time I didn’t have all the fabrics needed to do the same for the other side, I thought it best to make a start with what I have.

Left Pocket Section

This section uses the Purple Felt (fabric 2); the Green Felt (fabric 3); the Red Felt (fabric 5); as well as the Checked Collar (fabric 6), Lining (fabric 14) and Green Briad (fabric 12) to make the flap. Ideally I need the Red Tartan (fabric 1) too, but this is still being woven.

While I was cutting the flaps for the right hand side, I took he opportunity of having the fabric out to cut the left hand ones as well.

Again, I carefully cut them so they match the fall of the original coat, and was able to position them with minimal amount of wastage.
Since this was a hand woven fabric it was a relief to be so efficient for a change!

Assembling the pocket was just a mirror image of the other side, though since I am waiting for the Red Tartan to arrive, I can’t do the column behind the pocket.

However, I worked out a way to finish the pocket panel and it still be stable before the rest of the fabric arrives.

Here is how it looks now the section is finished.

Oh, by the way, did I mention the Ret Tartan arrived this week?

This now means I have ALL the fabrics needed to complete my coat - all I have to do is tailor my socks off to get it all done.

Check back soon to see what comes next.

Ultimate Six Frock Coat - right pocket section

Following my little stock take of where I have got with gathering my fabrics, I’ve realised there are sections of the coat I can crack on with even though I am still waiting for the last couple of weaves to be completed.

Right Pocket Section

So - the day has arrived when I can actually start making my Ultimate Six Frock Coat. It’s been a while coming, but it feel good to be there at last.

To date I have made four Frock Coats to the Sixth Doctor pattern, all of them in single solid colours, so I am pretty comfortable with the pattern and how it works.

The first thing I need to do is cut all the pieces required for this section, which uses the Red Felt (fabric 5), Peach Wool (fabric 4), Green Felt (fabric 3) and Pink Felt (fabric 11), as well as the Checked Collar (fabric 6), Lining (fabric 14) and Green Braid (fabric 12) to make the pocket flap.

I’ve had to carefully mark up my pattern so I cut all the right pieces in the correct colours. It would be a disaster to waste fabric by cutting the wrong pieces in the wrong colours!

First thing I needed to make was the pocket flap. I had to wait until now because it is made of the collar fabric which I had to get hand woven, lined with the extraordinary lining fabric which also was a custom weave.

Because I have matched the weave so carefully, I have been able to cut the flaps so the checked pattern falls in exactly the same place as the original.
This photo shows the cut pieces just laid together - nothing is sewn yet - but you can see how I have matched the pattern on the pocket flap as close as possible.

Once the flap was made, and I had piped the edge using my Green Braid, I can then go about making the pocket. The flap get sewn to the panel above the pocket and the pocket bag gets sewn below.

There’s a bit of a secret about the outer pockets that for now I’m keeping under wraps, but suffice to say it's fun making the pockets as accurately as I can.

Once the pocket panel is completed I can then build up the rest of the section around it, attaching the narrow green panel to the front edge; the green under arm panel; as well as the adjacent column of peach and red.

That then amazingly finishes off this section for now.

Laying it out on my bench and seeing it done gives me a real buzz. I’m excited to see the first productive section coming together so well and looking just the way I wanted it.

I'll move on now to the left hand pocket section and do what I can there.
Check back soon to see the results.

Ultimate Six Frock Coat - how far have I got?

I’m at an exciting stage of my fabric gathering on my Ultimate Six Frock Coat, so I thought I’d just have a recap of how far I’ve got.

Fabrics
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
10, 11, 12, 14

As you can see, my painting by numbers is coming along very nicely, with all the solid colours sourced; the cuff fabric sorted out ages back; the hand-woven collar done; and the AMAZING lining done to perfection.

So what does that leave?
Just THREE fabrics and I’m there - at last!

Fabric 1 Red Tartan

This is currently being woven by a renowned Scottish tartan mill. When it is done, it is going to carefully finished to give it a slightly vintage feel, so it doesn’t look like it has been woven yesterday, which of course it will have been!

Fabric 9 Woven Back

As you will have seen in my previous posting, the yarns have been lovely selected, and the fabric is being woven as I write. I have seen a preview of it on the loom, and it looks brilliant!

Fabric 13 Applique Strip

I have sourced the raw materials needed for this, and need to sit down and work it all out and actually make it. Bit fiddly, but nothing that can’t be made.

With all this progress I am now itching to make a start and crack on with the project.
It’s been over two years in the preparation, but it’s gonna be worth it.
After all it’s gonna be the ULTIMATE Six Frock Coat!

Ultimate Six Frock Coat - Green braid

As my collection of fabrics for my Ultimate Six Frock Coat nears their completion, here’s one other ‘fabric’ I have already sourced.

The outer pocket flaps are made from the same checked fabric as the collar, lined with the Lining: Impossible!
They are then edged with a woven braid.

Not much is needed, but it has to be right. I didn’t want to overlook or forget about it, hence I allocated a fabric number to it - Fabric 12 (green braid).

Fabric 12

At the time of making the original coats back in the mid 1980s, braids and trimmings seemed to be more widely available, with manufacturers in the UK as well as across Europe. I can remember when half the ground floor of John Lewis on Oxford Street was given over to fabrics and haberdashery, a time long gone over to menswear and clothing. Over the years cheaper suppliers in the Far East have progressively dominated the market, pushing the old makers out.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have been chatting to managers of the fabric shops I frequent, for them to tell me this supplier has ceased trading, or that button manufacturer has gone out of business.
And some of these are new items, such as the buttons on Matt Smith's greatcoat. I found the source and the makers who were in France, but they have gone out of business and that stream is now dry.

So although on the face of it it’s a straightforward braid to find, getting it in-hand has been a bit of a journey.

The stocks on offer at most fabric houses is now very limited, with only one or two colour choices on offer - commonly black, navy or brown. Not even a white that could be dyed - and certainly not a green.

My only option has been to track down a UK distributor for this type of braid, who can source it in a decent range of colours in a variety of widths.

I shan't reveal my provider, but earlier this summer I finally tracked one down - my only problem was two-fold. Firstly the minimum quantity I had to purchase, but given it was the right stuff I had to suck it up; and secondly the delivery time, which had been buggered cos it was made in Italy, and the fabric mills there close in the summer for an extended one or two month holiday! It’s alright for some.

After having it on order for well over two months it arrived with impeccable timing this week - lucky as until now I didn’t actually need to have it ready . . .

Six Frock Coat - fabric breakdown

As I have mentioned on more than one occasion, my first ever cosplay costume was making myself a replica Six Frock Coat (see right).
I made it in 1985 or so, when I was around 16, from fabrics I found at various fabric shops around North West London.
My self-demand for getting things as accurate as possible was evident even then, and I found some pretty good matches for some of the elusive materials used to make the original.
I have always hung onto it, despite it not fitting me for many years, as I am always proud of how well it stands up, even today.

It was an absolute honour to have the chance late last year to wear an original screen-used complete costume (see left), thanks to the kind help of some friends of mine who own it, along with several other rare and unique costume pieces.

I can’t hide that I was ever so slightly exceedingly jealous! But the chance to wear it and get some great photos was a fantastic opportunity, and it made me want to have a wearable one for myself to my own high standards.

This will undoubtedly be a long-term project, as locating and matching all the fabrics I will need will take some time. I then have to develop my frock coat pattern, though I have been making a number of these recently, so I now have a very good understanding of how such patterns work.

The first thing I need to do is get the ball rolling on finding some of the fabrics needed. To get my mind around the task ahead I’ve broken it down into the fourteen key and essential fabrics used on the coat.