Day 13

I managed to put the lining into the jacket all hand stitched and ready to go the only thing I need to complete tomorrow is the button holes at the front. The bias finally turned up so I could finish off the edges of the seams.

Day 11-12

I spent the day working on the lining and finer details of the jacket as the seam tape still hasn't arrived and I'm starting to try and think of other options for completing the jacket. I attached the belt piece to the back of the jacket. I stitch fake buttonholes to the belt before stitching a belt on top of them. I placed it between the side back pleats setting the buttons in the centre of the seams.

I moved back onto the lining now that I don't need any more access to the inside of the back of the jacket. I attached the edges of the lining to the jacket and then pressed the seams of the pleats back of themselves so that the lining pleats could sit over them. I then pinned them together while I hand stitched the edge of the lining with a fell stitch. I encountered a problem with the lining at this stage. Lining up the box pleat with the lining and the fact the pleat sits inside the jacket so the lining either needs an extra piece like a semi circle piece to encase the edges of the pleat or bias binding can be attached to enclose the raw edges. I've opted for the bias binding option before placing the back pleats over it. To fix the problem of how the back pleat sits I stitched the lining to the lines of the pleat with white thread until it can be properly ironed and then they can be removed. The lining does however fit which was very encouraging and lines very beautifully inside the jacket which make me very happy. I could have left the bottom edge open but I think the weight is needs for the bottom edge for movement.

The final part I was able to complete at this time was to gather the sleeve head and attached my rope/cord detail to the edge of my sleeves. I found a pattern online to follow. I left extra for the sleeve edges and used pins to hold the parts in place and the stitched them before hand stitching it to the edges of the sleeves.

Day 9-10 Lining and Details

I attached the collar and interfacing which sits very very well on the jacket I feel. I'm very happy with it. I am still waiting for more seam tape to finish the sleeve seams. Next time I will buy extra or make triple sure I get enough.

So one of the techniques I feel is very important for this jacket is the stay tape around the centre of the jacket. This ensures the jacket does not stretch out of shape and helps to give structure. I set it just above the pleats of the jackets.and hands stitched it in with cross stitch to allow for movement with the jacket. I decided that putting cotton tape around the jacket edge and hem would be both a waste of time and is unneeded. The jacket is of a substitutional weight and the interfacing gives the front edge enough structure to give a lovely crisp line.

As for the pockets I had to change the possession of them because they didn't match the tartan very well so it looked off. So I relined up my pocket away from my tailor markings I'd done in red. I attached them with an edge stitch on the patch and a simple straight stitch on the flap. I had to do a small zig-zag stitch at the edge to secure the edges as the edges of the lining were still rare and this helped to enclose them. I hand stitched the small Chinese knot buttons to the edge to close the pocket. A simpler style to the 18th century knots and cord details I'd looked at previously.
I next started on the lining. The most common way to line pleats is to cut them slightly bigger (1.5cm bigger)so that when it's put together it creates a pocket for the whole pleat to sit in wit it's seams edges together. I went for the option of making it the exact same as the button of the coat and folding the pleat edges back. Lining comes together very quickly. It's just putting it in that's the problem. You have to let the lining sit at least 1cm short so that it falls shorter than the edge of the hem line so it isn't seen.

Day 6-8

So I discovered that the tartan fabric I picked is terrible for stretching... Even though I backed it with calico and the flower lining fabric. It still keeps stretching out of place. The cutting process took me a whole day just to make sure everything was cut and over-locked at the edges to stop the pattern pieces from miss-shaping. Once that was completed the out shell came together very quickly but the Hong Kong finish does take some time to complete and I realised I hadn't bought enough for the whole jacket so I've left the sleeves until last. When researching the Hong Kong finish I found to ways to do the technique. Both of them work, one takes longer than the other but the final out come is noticeably different. See picture above. The top is a technique similar to putting on bias binding with the top stitching visible as the final edge. The other is you iron in half  and sew both sides at the same time cutting out time but it does not leave much of the seam visible.

Justaucorps Coat Cut List

List of Fabrics ect required:-
~ Calico (for mock up and backing) 5m:- 3.99x5= £15.96
~ Top Fabric- £6.99x3= £20.97
~ Buttons for front 6:- £1.99
~ Seam Binding= 2.09 for 3 metre x 4= £8.36
~ Pipping 1m from ebay :- £1.95
~ Cord 1m from ebay:- £1.75
~ Highlight Fabric- remnant kings £6.99x2= £13.98
~ Lining Fabric- remnant kings £5.99x1= 5.99
Cotton tape for hem and pleats=
~ Cord Fastenings for Pockets:- Bought from Ebay at £2 for 4
~Shoulder Pads x2

Cut List:-
Tartan Fabric:-
Front Centre panels x2
Collar x2
Cuffs x4
Pocket flap x4
Centre back pleat x1

Grey Fabric:-
Front interfacing x2
Front side panels x2
Back side panels x2
Centre back panels x 2
Patch pocket x2
Sleeve head x2
Back placket x2

Flower Fabrics
Half front centre panel x2
Half front side panel x2
Half back side panel x2
Half back centre panel x2
Cuff x2
Sleeve x2

Lining Fabric
Pleat section
Centre front skirt
Side front skirt
Side back skirt
Centre back skirt

Calico Everything

Interfacing
Front interfacing x 2
Flap pocket x2
Back placket x1
Cuff x 2
Collar x1

Hong Kong Finish

There are loads of examples of other types of lining options that I found when I was in the Costume Store. I was told about this technique called the Hong Kong Finish. Here is a breakdown of the technique:- http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/hong-kong-seam-finish/                                                                                           This picture was a good illustration of how the technique works and looks on the side of jackets. It looks lovely in lines in a different colour inside the coat, it looks really nice. I found a lovely example in costume store of a red jacket with a cream seam tape inside. Sometimes the shoulder pads and the interfacing is tacked inside.

There are other options like half lining in the top as shown in the picture below. It looks more like an extended interfacing with seamed edges and going around the sleeve. The interfacing is attached into the side seams. This allows the bottom to be free and does not give any weight. This is often seen on rain coats.

This next coat is lined with lining and wool tartan for some warmth. So like the last one the interfacing goes under the arm and caught into the seam. The other fabric is attached from the interfacing down, its however not attached at the bottom and can be removed with the zips at the side.

Day 5 Pattern solved

They jacket is finally complete and looks good. We finally solved the problem of the extra fabric across the bust. We opened the shoulder seam and took the top of the sleeve head out and then arranged the shoulder and extra fabric so that it went into the sleeve there for removing the fabric and moving the sleeve up to its normal point. The difference that made was massive, obviously I had then made on extra fabric at the neck line to reshape because everything had been pulled to the side but it worked very well. I then re-cut the basic collar I’d cut before and then added fabric to lengthen and reshape. The process took some time but it was worth it when I saw the finally outcome. Now just to decide on my manufacturing process. I’ve decided to definitely use cotton tape of the edges of the coat to not lonely weight it but also because it gives a cleaner edge during construction. 

I have several options in ways to manufacture:-

1. To finish off the seams inside with a full Hong Kong finish (see other entry for details). This would mean not lining it properly however it means that it can’t only be backed in calico but because of the seam tape it would save time. There would still be an interfacing for the cuff, front panel and back neck line. I would need to make sure my hand sewing round these edges and the hem were very neat. I would also have to think about weighting the bottom edge so it can swish better and hold its shape. It also gives the edges of the right side a top stitch look because you can top stick the tape so it had a double line of stitching which could look nice. 
2. The other option is to fully line the jacket, I will need to look over how you can line pleats again, and I’d also have to cut out lining patterns. 
3. To half-line the jacket at either the top or bottom (most likely at the bottom for the weight) this could allow the top to remain light weight while allowing the bottom to have more weight for movement. It would also allow me to use both techniques.