et voilà!

Finished the pockets - they are big enough for wallets, digital cameras - anything basic you can think of. I sure wish women's costumes could be so useful!

Pirate frock coat almost done.

Smooth sailing today (yes, pun intended!) and all is well with the project again. Finished the lapels, buttons, and even serged and hemmed it today. Lookin' good! It's really coming together now. All I have to do is the pockets - they are just pinned on casually just for show, not measured yet.

Pirate Frock coat - getting there

There's been a big hold-up with the matching pirate frock coat lately. There wasn't enough velvet to begin with, and even when I had enough, it gave me trouble all the way, especially with the trim. The trim is a golden yellow gimp, and it shimmies every which way when you try to sew it on the machine to the velvet. I also found out that this type of velvet (probably poly or some other man-made stuff) acts a lot like leather when it's sewn - once you sew it, there are holes forever. *sigh* Had to make the right cuff twice over, but it's all good now. I had to resort to hand-sewing the trim on after machine-sewing the ends. Good thing he only wants the trim on the cuffs, or I would lose my sanity for sure. :-P

Another thing that happened was that I had one lapel all done (buttons and all) and while sewing on the buttons, I realized, to my horror, that there was a small bald spot where there wasn't any velvety fuzz. *sigh* I really can't blame myself nor the guy who sold it to me on eBay, because it is black and hard to notice, but definitely noticable now that it was on the coat. So I had to cut out more and remake the right lapel all over again.

On the flip side, the basic part of it is easy. I used the same pattern (Simplicity 4923) for Richard and Nita. However, he wanted different wider lapels and no gold trim or embroidery on the lapels. (YAY!)

The only thing I have yet to tackle is the pockets. Welts are always tricky, but after struggling with the lapels and trim on the cuffs, I'm thinking it will be a breeze. I've only made real pockets on the vest for Richard and another client, but it shouldn't be much different on the coat.

This costume set will be very useful in the respect that both the trousers and the coat will have fully functional pockets. What a luxury to have at ren faire! I wish my costumes could have pockets! :)

French Fly Breeches complete!

Tonight I just finished the French Fly breeches for a client of mine. I used the pattern from . It was a pretty simple pattern except for the pockets - the pattern I had used before was a mainstream one and didn't have the pockets, so the natural construction tripped me out completely for a bit, but I figured it out. Very interesting way of having pockets back then.

Didn't have to change much except for the fact that he wanted them changed into full-length pants instead of knee-length breeches. A little nerve-racking making sure they were long enough when I was cutting the fabric, but they came out perfect.

BTW - Out of the few gold buttons that I found appropriate, my client chose some really cool faux gold coins with the motto "Ludovicus Rex plures non capit orbis." I Googled the meaning of this and found out it means, "There is no room in the world for more than one King Ludwig." I didn't even notice in the picture on eBay that there was writing on them, never mind Latin! Found out these are remakes of Bavarian military buttons. The picture on it is his coat of arms. You can find out more about him at .

Meh, even though it's not from the appropriate period, I still think these buttons are pretty cool, and the fact that they look like coins is even better. After all, why wouldn't a fancy pirate want to show off his wealth?

Glad the project is over, and I can focus on the matching frock coat that's been giving me hell lately.