Unlock the Secrets of the Frock Coat

Back when I was getting started in the Civilian side of reenacting, I found myself without any decent clothing to wear, save for a Confederate uniform. Obviously, that was not going to work. Having only a few months until my first event, I frantically searched online for a frock coat pattern. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. After choosing some cheap wool fabric from a local fabric store with the help of my mother, I set to work constructing the coat. The fabric was a thinly striped blue fabric, much too light weight for a proper frock coat.

I sat down and tried to make sense of the instructions, following the crude illustrations. Somehow, I managed to cut out the fabric and sew the pieces together. Having no idea what I was doing, the coat was made with no pleats or tail pockets, had side pockets on the skirt, a very flimsy interlining, and was ‘bag lined’, meaning the lining was sewn to the body right sides together, and simply turned. The collar was pad stitched, but with my lack of experience, had no actual affect on the collar, which remained limp and poorly pressed. After the coat was finished, a friend took a look at it and said “You should take the sides in a few inches”. Having no concept of period fit, I had made the coat several sizes too large .

How to Wear Trousers Properly and Avoid Gaposis

Have you noticed that modern day fad of wearing your trousers too low? Today’s trousers are often worn at the hips, or even lower, which can be quite disturbing! This practice has carried over into the living history world, unfortunately, and you can easily spot reenactors with three of four inches between the trouser waistband and the top of the vest. Or the corpulent reenactor, having put some weight on, with trousers hanging below the belly. Has this ever happened to you? It is relatively easy to avoid this fate, and  in this post we will go into some of the ways to improve the fit of your trousers.

Natural Dyeing with Madder Root

The Madder Root

Prior to the creation of man made, synthetic dyes in the late 19th century, all dyeing was done with natural products. One such dye was extracted from the the roots of the Madder family or Rubia, a type of perennial scrambling shrubs and herbs. These Madder plants grow in many parts of the world, and were popular in Europe during the early 1800s, being introduced from the exotic lands of the Middle East, particularly Turkey. In this post, I will explain how to extract and dye fabric with the roots of the Madder plant. I will be dying a piece of jean cloth from Family Heirloom Weavers to use as interlining in my coats.

Coat Measurements

Before the first stitch is made, and before the drafting pencil ever touches the paper, measurements must be taken. When measuring, the goal is to obtain as much information about the client’s figure as possible. Since most of my work involves Devere’s Handbook of Practical Cutting, 1866, I’m using his methods of measuring.

Devere’s book is very descriptive in the measurements taken, but in the 1866 version, is lacking in illustrations. It took me a good while to figure out exactly what each measurement involved, and where it was supposed to be taken. Then, a couple of months ago, I came across some illustrations from Journal des Tailleurs, a French tailoring magazine published by Devere in 1858. It contained some beautiful illustrations of how the measurements were to be taken, but of course, had no accompanying text. So what I’ve done is take the text from Devere’s 1866 manual, and combine it with the images from 1858, as well as some diagrams from his 1856 edition. Hopefully that will make it easier for those of you trying to learn how to draft from his book.

The Modern Tailor, Clothier and Outfitter

Tailoring knowledge has traditionally passed down from master to apprentice, with little written down. Tailors had their own secret methods of construction, and were not keen on other tailors gaining this knowledge. Sadly, this has led to there being very little information available on tailoring today. Most books published were cutting manuals, with the authors touting their ‘perfect’ systems of drafting. There are a few books available on tailoring methods, but the modern ones often lack details, or present only one method of doing things, while the older books are becoming exceedingly rare.