Making the Kyoto Costume Institute striped jacket pt.2 (1790s)

After two years I did it. The KCI striped jacket is finished! If you are an old follower of this blog you probably read part 1 of this process, concerning the first steps of patterning. Alas, I never managed to finish this jacket and the toile I made remained in my stash for a long time. I had everything - the fabric, the buttons, the pattern - but I didn't feel ready to work on it, probably because the fabric was no longer available for purchase and there was no room for error. 

But I'm so glad I waited. My body changed too much in two years and my skills improved. 

The first thing I made was to work again on the mock up, draping it on the dress form according to my new measures. The back was still perfect (just a little bit of room at sides) but the front was way too big. I ended up in taking approx 6 cm on both front pieces! I also had to alter sleeves lining, which were too roomy in biceps area. After this, I could start to work on the fashion fabric. 

The construction was really straightforward. I lined collar pieces with fashion fabric instead of using scalloped scissors (my cotton frayed too much), pressed them and basted; then I sewed lining and fabric together leaving a small gap at the back to turn everything right side out. Not a HA sewing technique but its gives a clean and fast finish, if you press it properly after. I made the same with the sleeves, basting cuffs to the fashion fabric and joining the fabric and lining at wrists. Armholes were then serged. Again, not HA but all my costumes have modern finish inside to last in time.  

Just some notes about the cuffs. They are not functional. There's no need to button them because they match perfectly my  wrists but buttons can be added as decoration; I decided to leave them off for now since the original garment doesn't have button in sleeves. 

Waiting for front collar pieces...

Then buttonholes. Again, like in the cuffs, just a row of buttons is functional. Sewing all the buttons took a while, they had to be sewn at a specific distance to look specular and the functional row deserved more attention since my figure is not perfectly symmetrical. 

The last step has been the decorative sash, made out of light blue cotton sateen I had in my stash from ages. Last but not least the wig. My hair are naturally curly but way too long to be styled, so after a long wait I decided to use a wig

And it was done! After the first complete fitting, I could look at my new creation with a more critical eye and noticed my hip pad is too big for a late 18th century figure. The jacket looks better if worn without skirt supports, allowing the multiple skirt layers to do their job. This means I have two make at least two new skirts to balance the absence of the hip pad (I cannot use the red one shown in photos since it would be too long at back...) which could be a good excuse to use some beautiful silk crepe I have purchased recently. Or muslin. Or cotton voile. Still have to decide.