The original coat is over 30 years old. It had been let out numerous times and there were generations of repairs. There was a total breakdown in communications between me and the costume designer for the play. I wasn't until just weeks before the opening of the play that I learned what the actor's size would be roughly a size 53. I was further directed to provide a 1" seam allowance without grading so that the coat could be let out more if needed. The coat was to be fully lined, which is unusual for stage. The fabric was a velvet upholstery, and I hadn't made a coat like this before. From reading books on tailoring, I learned that an important element of creating the body of a coat is the undercollar. The undercollar provides the shaping for the outer collar and pulls together the front and back pieces.
I made a muslin for fitting the actor. Unfortunately, we was wearing a heavy sweater and had little arm movement at the fitting so the designer directed me to roll the sleeves back in the armhole. When I returned with a first cut of the coat in the final fabric, the actor was wearing only a T-shirt. The designer directed me to cut the yoke of the coat back 1/2" on each side. I knew then that reducing a yoke by 1" was going to be trouble. On the second fitting, the actor didn't have arm movement again so the designer directed me to reduce the seam allowances to 1/2". By this point, I'd had it, especially with the show opening 1 week away.
The coat's original design was a rumply affair to begin with, but with the many changes the coat took on a life of its own and got away from me. The dress form I have is a size 40, so it was really a struggle for me to see how the coat would look at all. In the end, I gave up and turned the coat over to the designer along with the leftover yardage. After the play closed I learned that the designer never used the new coat, as it was too much of a departure from the old coat. She really wanted a perfect knock off of the old coat.
A couple of weeks ago, I joined the Yahoo Group GBACGCostumers (Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild). One of the members mentioned finding a pattern for a "Prince Albert" Skirted Frock Coat on the Birch Street Clothing site. As the member said, I found a Laughing Moon pattern # 109 and the great treasure Mr. Lars Malmberg, proprietor. I purchased the coat pattern to sanity check my own copied pattern, a Birch Street pattern for a reversible bolero jacket, Birch Street pattern for a reversible Vest, and #106 Folkwear Turkish Coat. The Turkish coat also provides Trapunto designs for all the borders, so I might be consulting with my mom on trapunto again.
There is an interesting twist to the story. The actor was Alan Semok a/k/a The Dummy Doctor. During the fittings, he liked the coat. He wanted the sleeves kept long, the designer cut them back. He wanted an inside pocket; I made sure he got his pocket. Alan asked me if I would be interested in making clothes for ventriloquial dummies and puppets. In a heartbeat, I said I would love to! Very soon I hope to meet Alan in his workshop.
In the next entries, I will tell you about my trip to the Merrow Machine Company , Fall River, MA where I met the present owners Mr. Owen Merrow and Mr. Charles Merrow, descendents of the original Mr. Merrow. And just today in the NYC Garment District, I visited Elliott Berman Textiles, where Eugenia presented me with a double gauze cotton print from France that I bought for a future shirt, and visited the International Pleating Company where I met George Kalajian. You've got to check out Geroge's blog and his store on Etsy, both linked from the company website.
Good night!
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