If you enlarge the picture of the lapel, you will see how nicely made it is. Please ignore the little crumpling on the lapel-my iron was not hot so I did not press this coat.
There is a beautiful shape to the lapel, and it has a thin neat edge because it was cut on the fold. It has been seamed only on the top edge that abuts the collar and this seam travels just about 1/2" or so around the lovely curved peak of the lapel. The outer edge of the lapel has been shaped with the iron into a gentle curve, and then shrunk in at the CF before being seamed to the body.
You can see the handmade buttonhole and the machine edge stitch here. Some frock coats are cut with a silk facing but this is all wool. I wonder whether it was made without silk for a particular reason. Mourning perhaps? Or maybe it was a less formal look.
Here's the first working buttonhole on the left front.I thought I had managed to lose a button when I looked at the sleeve, but no, there are only two buttons here (on both sleeves) and a quite wide spacing. The false sleeve vent has a tiny curved edge that has been manipulated into the curve rather than having a facing sewn on.
The sleeves only are lined with a cotton sateen, it is almost a pale tobacco colour now with age.
I saw a beautiful frock coat in action at the NAC in December (in A Christmas Carol), and thought of your frock coats as I was watching. Actually, was convinced it was one of yours. But even if not, I love to watch over your shoulder as you describe your work.
ReplyDeleteWe never know where our work will show up as many theatres rent from us, so who knows?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words.
T
Many cameras will capture more detail of black garments if they are posed in front of a dark backdrop so that all that is in the frame are shades of black. That tends to result in an exposure which uses the limited dynamic range to cover degrees of black, instead of the full range between black and very reflective white walls, or in this case the surface of the tailoring form.
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