I sewed together the mock up and realized with only one fold I had a jacket that hauntingly resembled Michael Jackson's Thriller. That was not going to work. I was never a fan and I don't want to look like one now.
I added extra fabric to simulate 2 more folds on the front of the jacket. Now I felt less like donning one white glove.
I added a rought cut out for an addition of a back collar. I folded the front of the collar to give it a sharper, more military, look. Not bad. I will still need to clean it up a bit.
Next step: create new mock up of the front with the three folds added into one piece of fabric and a better version of the collar
I have never adapted a pattern so I am flying by the seat of my pants. The first thing I needed to figure out was how to get the shape of the sleeves from straight to a pointed bell. The pattern for the sleeves is normally one piece. To get the points on the sleeves to hang over the pinky finger and to have 2 seams rather than one the pattern had to be cut into thirds and pasted together differently. I then bent the pattern where the elbow will be and added a bell like shape to the bottom of the pattern.
The modern jacket has a flat front but I need to figure out how tho get the pleated styling in the front. I added in a fold to the fabric before I pinned and cut out the pattern piece. I actually changed it a bit by putting the fold in at an angle. I thought a more v like shape might be more flattering to my figure. Time will tell.
I will also try to add a bit of styling to the back of the coat to carry over the pleats from the front.
Now I will sew everything together and see how the basic shape looks.
Here is my inspiration for my next project. I volunteer once a month at the San Francisco Maritime Historical Park as a Living History interpreter. We recreate the year 1901 amongst a variety of ships, ferries, tugboats and ark's. I loved this walking suit with a bit of a military feel. After all I need to support our troops in the Philippines. Now I might be fudging with the timeline a bit when choosing this design but it will be close enough for what we are doing. This actual suit is dated 1903.
Unfortunately for a rather novice/self taught sewer as myself there is not a pattern exactly like this. Fortunately I have the mind and skills of our trusty costume director Kayta to help me achieve the look I am going for. My next steps will be working with Kayta to adapt a modern pattern that fits me into one that gives the feel of this suit. Here is what I am starting with. Let us see if we can make it work.
