It is time to commence construction of the back skirt, consisting of a self-facing and, which protects the edge of the garment from wear, and a lining.

Begin by laying both back pieces, right side up, as shown. The left side should overlap the right on the finished coat.. Take this left piece, and set aside the right piece. It’s important because each side is constructed slightly differently. The following steps all pertain to the left side.

Turn the left side of the back so that the wrong side is facing up. Trim away the inlays around the waist area, if you did not need them. If you made any adjustments to this area, then trim only the excess amount. In my case, I raised the back up by half an inch, so it was necessary to mark the new trim lines on the fabric. Also trim the inlay from the center back if you did not need it.

Cut a piece of linen two inches wide, by two inches longer than the back skirt at the waist. Stretch the linen with an iron to remove any sizing that might occur, and baste it to the wrong side of the skirt. Trim off the excess linen that shows from the right side.

Measure and chalk a 1⁄4 inch line at the bottom of the center back, and across the top of the center back vent, as shown. Again, make sure you are working on the left side of the coat before you continue. Make a small cut from the corner of this area to the intersection of those two lines, as shown. The cut should be made just to the lines, not extending into it, as the chalk has a width to it, remember.

Mark a vertical line, parallel with the edge of the cloth, about 1 1⁄2 inches from the edge. This line is where you will fold the cloth to. This should line up with the edge of the center back. However, this is variable according to how wide you wish the center back vent to be. Draw another line half way between the cloth edge and the first line, which will be the fold line.

At the top, draw another line across the top vent, 1⁄4 inch below the first line you drew.

Lay a length of stay tape along the inner edge of the fold line, basting it down. The stay tape should begin about 1⁄4 inch from the top, and end about 1⁄4 from the inlay at the bottom. About 8 inches from the bottom, make a backstitch in place. From this point on, hold the tape a little tight compared to the fabric until you get to the bottom. The tape should be about 1⁄4 inch tighter than the fabric, which is distributed equally along the 8 inches, as you baste. At the bottom, end with another backstitch in place.

The stay tape is then cross stitched into place, making sure the stitches do not show through to the right side. Remove all basting stitches from the tape.

Baste the top of the vent closed, press, and cross stitch it to the linen.

Next, baste the facing closed. When folding the facing over, do not pull hard. The fold should be very natural, with no tension, or you will get an ugly inward curl to the fabric.

Cross stitch the facing to the wool, being sure that no stitches show through to the right side.

Finally, press the facing from the right and wrong sides on a flat surface, to remove any wrinkles and puckering. Do not press any further than the edge of the facing, because there should be a slight fullness here from holding the stay tape tighter. This is the same principle as when shrinking the front of the forepart. The result should be a back tail piece that curves slightly inward, and helping to avoid it pulling away from the body.

Pick up the right back piece. This time, do not make the cut, but proceed to making the two vertical lines.

When inserting the stay tape, this time it’s permissible for the tape to extend slightly above the end of the vent. It should still end 1⁄4 inch from the bottom.

Baste over the facing section, and cross stitch in place. Note how the top of the right back piece is unfinished, whereas the left side is. The benefit is that when sewing the back together later on, only one half is clipped at the corner, giving more strength to the area.

Now cut out two lining pieces for the back skirt. This is cut the same as the wool, but is cut off about two or three inches above the vent area, cutting across in a horizontal line at the top.

The Lining

The back skirt lining is cut from the same pattern, though ending about three or four inches above the vent area.

For the lining corresponding with the left side of the coat, measure out 1⁄4 inch from the top of the vent and center back, and clip the corner to match. Fold over and press the top of the vent.

Fold over and press the along the center back of the skirt. Draw a construction line to help ensure everything is straight. You want to fold slightly more lining over than you did in the wool, so that the facing will show.

Place the lining on to the back skirt, wrong sides together. Baste along the folded edge, across the top, and then work your way back down the other side.

As you are basting, try to work in some fullness in the lining. You want the lining to be slightly looser than the wool, so as not to pull on the finished coat.

Finally, fell the lining down, using 10 – 12 stitches per inch, along the facing edge of the lining. On the side with the clipped corners, fell that down at the top, as well. It’s okay if the linen peaks out a little at the top, as it will be hidden by the upper lining later on.

The side without the clipped corner will be completely unfinished at the top.

The felling should end about 2 inches above the bottom inlays, allowing us to properly finish off the bottom after the main skirt has been lined.

Here you can see the two back skirts, fully lined and ready to be sewn to the skirts.

If you have not placed any darts into the skirt, it is then necessary to full some of the fabric at the hip area of the skirt. Place the skirt, right sides together, onto the forepart assembly, and tack down the end near the pleat area. Note how the side piece extends a 1⁄4 inch into the inlay area of the skirt. It should not follow the spring upwards, however, but instead continue in a line following the rest of the skirt.

Take up just the skirt. Using basting thread, start with two back stitches in place, about one inch from the side seam. Using small running stitches, sew about 4 inches towards the front of the coat, leaving the other end of the thread to hang free.

Repeat this process two more times, lining up the stitches with the first row. Doing the three rows of stitches will lock the gathering stitches into place, making it much easier to sew.

Baste the skirt from the back, stopping when you get to the gathering stitches. At this point, pull all three threads at once towards the front of the coat, gathering the skirt. The total amount gathered should be about one inch.

Baste across this area, locking the gathers in place. I use a smaller basting stitch in this area for extra security.

Continue basting the rest of the skirt in place. You should have about several inches of extra fabric at the center front of the skirt, which will be used later to self-face the skirt in the front. This also would be useful if you let out any of the inlays at the side seam or front.

With the skirt side up, on a tailor’s ham, carefully shrink out the fullness you put in. The iron should not extend more than 1⁄2 from the edge of the fabric, or you will shrink out all of the fullness, thus rendering all that work you did useless.

Sew the waist seam, skirt side down, from the front edge of the forepart, to the back edge of the side piece. Press to set the stitches on both sides. Open up the seam allowances on the wrong side, carefully using a tailor’s ham to press the curved areas. Press the right side.

Note how the coat will not lay flat. This is a good sign, and shows that considerable shape has been worked into the coat.

As you may have seen during the fitting, the gorge dart is necessary to a good fit and roll of the lapel. After the coat has been taken apart again, you should re- chalk the lines of the lapel dart for more accuracy.

This is a scary step, but if you’ve done everything correctly and accurately, there should not be a problem. Carefully cut out the lapel dart directly on the chalk lines. We will be constructing this dart with no seam allowances.

Starting at the point of the dart, hold the fabric together with your fingers and thumb, and stote the dart closed. Each stitch should be perpendicular to the dart, and not show through to the right side. I used about 12 stitches per inch.

When done, the lapel dart should look like this from the wrong side.

Note how on my coat, the seams do not line up at the top. This is due to not extending the front neck upwards when drafting the dart. Here I’ll use the inlays to redraw the seam line, making it even again. If you did this on the pattern, this step is not necessary.

From the right side, the seam should be almost invisible if done correctly. This seam is fairly strong, but can be ripped out if it is pulled too hard. However, when we pad the lapels later on, it will greatly strengthen this area. The benefit of stoting this seam is the greatly reduced bulk in this area, which will improve the fit of the coat and roll of the lapels later on.

As you can see, the lapel already wants to roll over itself. All of the steps pertaining to the forepart from now on will have the goal of helping this even further.

Darts in the Waist or Skirt

If you are placing darts either the waist seam of the forepart or skirt, now is the time. First, baste each dart together, ensuring the chalk lines are lined up evenly. I recommend drawing the chalk lines on the pieces with just the tailor tacks showing, as it’s slightly easier and more accurate. The basting should be about a quarter inch below the chalk lines, to keep it out of the way of your stitching.

Sew, using either a backstitch, or machine stitch, carefully following the line. Start from the top of the dart, and near the end, taper out gradually, to ensure a clean dart point. Press the dart on both sides to set the stitches, but do not let the iron move past the tip of the dart, or you will get creases that are very difficult to remove.

If the darts are wider than one inch, trim the darts so that there is a 1⁄4 inch seam allowance, but do not trim the points. Press this seam open over a tailor’s ham, carefully opening the tip of the dart with a pencil or other object. At the tip, gently shrink out any excess to smooth out the tip of the dart. If the darts are thinner, press them towards the back of the coat. From the right side, press the darts again, and allow the dart to dry thoroughly before moving on to the next one.

Breast pockets are a feature not found on all original coats. If you wish to have a breast pocket, and the coat you are basing yours on has one, then follow this section. If not, you may skip to the section on the Gorge Dart. This breast pocket can also be used on waistcoats, just replace the wool pocket facing with the lining fabric.

Placement

During your skeleton fitting, mark the location of the pocket. Since I have to fit myself, I usually just mark the spot directly over the left breast. After the coat is taken apart again, I then mark the correct placement of the pocket. It should be about 5 inches long, sloping down towards the center front. The upper end of the pocket should begin about one inch from the armscye. The slope and length of the pocket are all variable according to your specific needs, but this is a good place to start.

Mark the line indicating the pocket on the wrong side of the coat, and at each end, a vertical line showing the precise ends. When making a pocket, precision is key, so try to sharpen your chalk as frequently as possible.

N.B. I am not including a pocket on my coat, so the pocket has been constructed on a scrap piece of wool. Pocket construction should be done before cutting out the gorge dart in the next section.

After drawing the chalk lines, place a row of basting stitches along the line to make it more durable. Then redraw the lines on the right side of the coat.

Linen

To make the pocket stronger, and also keep the coat from stretching out of shape, it is necessary to add a strip of linen to the wrong side. Cut a piece about 1 1⁄2 inches wide. The strip should be long enough to extend about one inch from the end of the lower side of the pocket, all the way to the armscye.

Stretch the linen with the iron to prevent shrinkage or warping later on. Baste the linen to the wrong side of the coat, centering it carefully over the pocket construction line.

Welt Pattern

It is necessary to make a pattern piece at this time for the welt. The final dimensions for the welt pattern should be twice the height, and one inch longer than the pocket itself. For my pocket, I want a one inch deep welt, five inches long, therefore the welt pattern will be 6 inches long by 2 inches deep.

To begin, place a sheet of paper against the pocket construction line, leaving enough room at each end to add an allowance (note that I did not do this . . .).

While the paper is held in this position, draw a line parallel to the chest construction line that you marked on the coat, which is cross grain of the wool.

From each end of the pocket, draw a line at right angles to the construction line you just drew.

Finally, draw a line indicating the bottom of the pattern piece. In my case, it’s 2 inches below the top of the paper, and parallel with it as well. At either end, add a 1⁄2 inch allowance, used for turning back the ends of the welt later on.

I also like to mark the cross grain line, for lining up the piece on the cloth accurately. This method of making the pattern is also great when working with striped fabrics. Simply transfer the lines of the stripes on to the paper, and line them up on your fabric before cutting out.

Cut out two welt pieces from your pattern, in wool. These pieces need to be identical, and not cut on the double, or you will have one piece either facing the wrong direction, or with the wrong side facing out.

The Welt and Facing

Line up the lower welt piece with the pocket construction line, making sure there is a half inch beyond each end. Baste it down, trying not to distort the fabric as you go. Being cut on the semi bias, this can sometimes be a problem.

Baste the top half of the pocket, which will form a facing on the inside of the pocket, to the forepart in the same manner. The pieces may be offset slightly at the ends in order to ensure there is a half inch allowance.

Re-mark the ends of the pockets in chalk on the welts. This is where you need to be as accurate as possible, with a very thin chalk line.

On the upper facing piece, Offset the lower end of the pocket 1⁄4 inch inward. This is so when the pocket is completed, the opening will not interfere with the edge of the pocket. Then draw 1⁄4 inch seam lines on each half of the pocket.

Sew the welt and facing on from mark to mark. You’ll note in my photo that the stitching goes past the lines a little. This is due to the fabric stretching out of shape while sewing. As long as the final dimensions are accurate, this is okay. Note how the ends on the right side are perfectly aligned, while on the left side they are offset by 1⁄4 inch.

Press each side of the pocket at this time to set the stitches, using a press cloth to prevent shine. All pressing should be done on a tailor’s ham, so as not to ruin the ironwork on the forepart that you put so much effort into.

The Pocket Bag

Lay your pattern on a doubled piece of brown polished cotton. Trace around the top and sides to give yourself the shape required. You’ll then have to extend the sides to the desired length of the pocket. I like to give myself some extra room here, so 5 inches deep is a safe depth to start with.

Cut out the pocket bags, and press over 1⁄4 inch at the top of each piece.

With right sides together, line the top of the pocket bag up with the free end of the upper facing piece. Baste the two together just a hair above the fold you just pressed in.

Note how the sides of the upper facing and pocket bag are parallel to each other.

Turn the pocket over so that the right sides are facing you, and fell the pocket bag, end to end, to the facing using almost invisible stitches. If you basted in the correct place, the basting stitches should be hidden, and can remain in the finished pocket.

Now baste the lower pocket bag to the welt piece in the same manner. The major difference here is that angle of the sides are not parallel. This is because the welt will be folded over itself, which will then allow the pocket halves to be parallel to each other. Mark 1⁄2 an inch from either end with chalk, and fell between these lines. You need some extra space at each end for the pocket bag to pass through the opening.

The photo is upside down, but you can see how the pocket lines up with the facing, while at the welt, they do not.

Opening the Pocket

It’s now time to carefully open the pocket. I like to fold the pocket in half lengthwise, and make a small snip in the middle with my shears. Then carefully cut open the pocket along the construction line. When you get to the lower end, where the facing is offset, stop cutting there. Take a pair of small scissors, and clip diagonally to the end of the stitching at the lower welt. You must clip exactly to the end of the stitching. If you do not cut close enough, puckers will form in the finished pocket. If you cut too far, you will end up with a hole in the pocket. Still at the lower end, cut upwards at a 90 degree angle to the pocket, directly to the end of the upper stitching that you offset 1⁄4 inch.

At the other end of the pocket, do the same thing, but but cuts are angled, starting 1⁄4 inch from the end of the pocket.

Now pass either the facing or welt through to the wrong side, and press open the seam. After pressing, I like to move the piece back to the right side and then bring the other half in to press in the same manner. This helps reduce bulk and gets things out of the way while pressing in such a confined space.

Each half should be pressed both from the right and wrong side to give a crisp, finished appearance without bulk.

After pressing, you should have this appearance, if both facing and welt are passed through to the wrong side. Note the little triangles at the end, and how the left one appears crooked. This is due to offsetting the stitches previously.

Finishing the Welt

Pass the welt to the outside, if it’s not there already. Fold the welt, wrong sides together, so that the top and bottom seams butt together, and baste to temporarily hold it closed.

At this point, give the welt a good pressing as shown, folding the coat out of the way so that any ironwork does not get shrunk away.

Remove the basting. Lay a length of stay tape just under the welt fold, and baste it in place. The tape should extend from end to end, and will give the pocket strength, as well as preventing the pocket from gaping open.

Cross stitch the stay tape to the pocket, being very careful not to let the stitches show through to the right side.

Turning the welt back to the inside, and serge the ends back together again, using silk thread.

Closing the Pocket Bag

Fold the pocket bag over so that the right side is up, and chalk two marks in a triangular fashion at each end. Trim each end, which will allow the bag to pass through to the wrong side with no wrinkling or bunching up.

Pass the pocket bag through to the wrong side, and align both halves of the pocket together. Baste across the facing, catching the pocket bag underneath.

Stitch the bag closed, using 1⁄2 inch seam allowances, from end to end. The depth can be variable, mine turned out on the short side due to the fact I was using scraps. At the bottom corners, make them rounded so that objects do not get stuck in the bottom of the pocket.

Pass the welt to the right side of the coat. Baste across the top to hold it in place while other work on the coat continues. The ends will be finished off later on, after the canvas has been installed. This will give us a much more secure pocket.

At this point, you will baste together all pieces of the garment by hand, to test for fit one last time. Normally, in a skeleton baste, the tailor would baste in the padding, linings, and collar as well. Since you have yet to learn how to construct these pieces, we will forgo them for now. On your next project, you may put them in.

This is done just the same way as for the full muslin, except do not clip any seams. Treat the marking threads as the edge of the cloth, the inlays are there in case you need room.

After sewing the front lapel on, sew a length of stay tape to the front of the forepart to prevent the shrunk edge from stretching back out.

Do the same with around the armscyes when completed, as well as the neck, from lapel from lapel. The last thing you want is for all the careful cutting and shaping you performed to be ruined when trying on the coat.

When you are basting together the center back seam, sew from the top to 1/4″ inch past the bottom of the inlays at the waist seam. Then you can get a good idea if the opening is at the correct height or not. Press each seam as you go, but only lightly. And when sewing each seam, stop when you hit the marking threads. You don’t want to include the inlays in the seam, as they are not technically part of the coat at this point.

First Fitting

Congratulations, you’ve made it to your first fitting intact! The main things to check for at this fitting are the same as at the beginning of this module. If you need to make adjustments, do so now by marking the amount you need to take in or out with chalk (just draw a line), and then removing the basting stitches, and rebasting. Remember, you need to leave room for the padding and lining, so don’t fit the front too tightly. Be mainly concerned that the back hugs the back closely, that there are no unsightly creases or folds, and that all seam lines are in their proper place.

The main things to look for are that the various seams are in the correct locations. Check in particular the placement of the back pleats and vent, that they are all aligned and at the correct height.

The waist seam should be about one inch below the natural waist, rising on the sides over the hips, falling back to the same level in the back.

The center front should meet in the front without any pulling, and should hug the front of the chest closely, thanks to the lapel dart.

And of course any mis-fitting pieces should be corrected.

There are endless issues that can occur, but rather than listing them all, I will correct each person’s work individually. Please post photos of this stage, for critique and helpful hints. Following are a few photos of the completed process.

Front view. The distortions at the front are due to the pins holding the coat closed.

Note how the skirt drapes nicely in this photo. There are no drags across the hips, and the pleats hang nicely in back.

I still need to shorten the back slightly, to get rid of the wrinkles on the side-bodies and lower back. The ripples across the upper back are due to the stitching, I’m pretty sure, but I’ll investigate it just the same.

The fabric comes right up to the bottom of the arm. Slight amount of extra fabric in the front of the armscye will be carefully trimmed off. Notice how the coat does not move even when the arm is raised.

Remarking the Roll Line

It’s likely that while shrinking the front edge of the forepart, that the roll line was nudged out of shape. At this point, take a straight edge and remark the roll line, then replace the marking tacks with new ones.

Darts

On the wrong sides, on both the skirts (if used) and forepart, mark the darts in chalk, carefully tracing the thread tacks you put in.

Next, baste the darts, starting with a couple of stitches in place to hold, then using the basting stitch. Make sure the stitching aligns with the chalk lines on both sides of the dart as you sew. Repeat for all darts – gorge, lapel, waist, skirt, etc.

Now we will actually commence construction, starting with the skirt. Find the small triangular pieces you cut. Also be sure you have separated the two skirt pieces by cutting carefully on the fold line. Next, figure out which side is longest on the triangular piece, and line it up, right sides together, to the skirt piece. It may take some fiddling to figure out which piece goes where, but I assure you, they will line up, providing you added double the seam allowance when cutting.

After they are lined up, baste together carefully, making sure there is no fullness on either side. Then, sew, using a 1⁄4” seam allowance, with either a backstitch, or machine stitch. If using the sewing machine, I recommend about 12 stitches per inch. Remember that machines of the period could not so backwards, so no back-tacking! Instead, leave about 4 inches of extra thread at the ends, pull the threads to one side, and tie in a secure knot. Remove the basting stitches.

Now, press the seam, using the following technique. After pressing, snip off the little triangular pieces that form at either end of the seam allowance.

Pressing Technique and Opening Seams

The first rule of pressing is to not move the iron up and down the seam, as this has a tendency to stretch the seam and throw it out of shape. Begin by laying the pieces, still right sides together, on the ironing board. Go over with a hot iron, with a little steam, and press the seam. Use a press cloth made from a scrap of leftover wool to prevent shine on the fabric. Flip both pieces over, and repeat this process. What this is doing is setting the stitches, which will give us a tighter press of the seam.

Next, open up the seam from the wrong side, and press the seam open. Take your time, and do just a small section at a time. Hold the iron for a few moments, remove, then press with a heavy goose iron, or clapper, to really set the seam. We’re trying to avoid that rolled look to the seams that one so often finds, especially in coats made of heavy fabric.

Turn the fabric over to the right side. Using a scrap of fabric as a press cloth, go over the seam again, with the steam iron, then the clapper or goose iron. When using the clapper, you may want to put the fabric seam on a hard surface such as a piece of wood. Make sure to use a press cloth whenever pressing the right sides of fabric, to prevent shine and imprinting the shape of the iron.

If you have the problem of the seam allowances showing through to the right side, press the seams with a piece of card stock underneath each of the seam allowances.

Forepart

We will begin our ironwork by taking up the forepart, and stretching the front of the armscye. The total amount of stretching should be about 3⁄4 of an inch. Hold the fabric at the shoulder point, and put pressure down with the iron, stretching as you go. Both layers of fabric should be stretched at the same time, to ensure they are stretched equally.

Next, stretch the shoulder seam, about a quarter inch total. This is one of those steps not explained in any book, but learned only through practice and critical thinking. If you measure the distance from the edge of the shoulder seam, and compare that to the edge of the back shoulder seam, you will see they are equal. If you add a seam allowance to that, there is no problem getting them to line up. This is what the majority of produced patterns do. Remember, we did not add a seam allowance, so instead, measure the distance of both seams, 1/4” from the edge. You’ll find that the back seam is 1⁄2” to 3⁄4” longer. By stretching the front shoulder seam, and shrinking the back shoulder seam, this distance is reduced, and the seams line up much closer.

Now, stretch the hollow point of the neck seam only, about a 1/4” as well. This gives a little more shape to the shoulder area, and helps the neck hug the body more closely.

Stretch the side seam as well, about 1/4”. This is not shown by Devere, but is necessary to get the seam to line up with the side piece.

The center front needs to be shrunk now. If you notice a lot of frock coat reproductions, there seems to be a lot of fullness at the center front, right in the middle of the chest. The fullness actually needs to be moved to the breast area, to give that pigeon breasted look so common throughout the period.

Place the foreparts with the center front facing you on the ironing table. Pinch up a small amount on the front, as if you were putting in a dart. A half inch at a time is good. Gently work the iron over the fullness, gradually pushing it towads the middle of the chest, away from the edge. Continue with this process until the front edge is almost entirely straight. The very top may still be slightly curved, but that is permissible, as it will help the lapel roll back on itself towards the chest.

Notice how the fullness is visibly in the center of the forepart now.

This will also leave room for the padding later on. The shoulder area should have a lot of shape to it as well.

Side

The goal of the ironwork on the side piece, is mainly to impart more shape into the coat. In this step you are basically folding the fabric over, and stretching the seams, while shrinking the middle. It will take some practice, but you will get it. Try not to crease the middle of the piece as you’re doing the ironwork, as it’s hard to get rid of.

The following is a description from The Art of Garment Making, by Phillip Dellafera.

Fold the sidebodies as indicated, then proceed by shrinking away all the ‘loose’ material that will show itself at the waist. This work must be done carefully, until a nice hollow is formed at the waist; it will then be seen that the outer edges will have become slightly stretched. This is exactly what is required, and it will be found that a well­ defined waist is obtained by adopting this method. Sometimes this effect is obtained by slightly stretching the seams in a downward direction only. This, of course, will certainly help to get the desired shape; but the best plan is to shrink the centre of the side body, which will automatically give the extra length to the seams.

Also, stretch the bottom of the side piece slightly, again about 1⁄4”.

Back

The back requires some shrinking, but we will be waiting until certain construction steps before we perform that work.

Video

Here is a video demonstrating all of the ironwork techniques used in this section. Hopefully it will further aid you in your learning!

This can be a nerve-wracking step for some people, especially if you are using expensive fabric like Hainsworth. It’s potentially hundreds of dollars down the drain if you make a major mistake. I remember reading about a tailor on Savile Row cutting an overcoat with fabric that was about $800 dollars a yard. He was very nervous as well! But, if you are careful, and check everything twice, you should be okay.

To cut, make sure the shears are held completely straight, not slanting to the left or right. This will help make sure both pieces are cut equally. Cut inside the lines, as the chalk line adds some width to each piece. Make sure you are cutting the inlays with the pieces! After a piece is cut, carefully move the pieces aside, keeping them together as one. This is necessary for the next step. It’s also a good idea to mark an X on the wrong side of each piece, especially if the right and wrong sides are similar in texture.

Tacking

Now, you must mark the inlays more permanently with thread, using tailor tacks. You learned the stitch in the previous module. Do the stitches, cut the threads, seperate the pieces slightly, and then cut the stitches in between. Make sure to mark any darts, as well as the chest line on the front of the coat, as well.

Keep the pieces together, still, for we have some ironwork to do.