Author: James Williams

Pattern and Inlays

We’re going to start right off with this Civilian Frock Coat workshop assuming you already have a double breasted frock coat pattern drafted and fitted. It’s now time to layout the pattern pieces on your fabric and begin the tailoring process!

Pattern Layout

First, be sure you have drawn grain lines on all of your pattern pieces. If you have a nap on the fabric, you’ll have to lay out each piece in the same direction, with the nap heading down. If there is no discernible nap, the pieces can be laid either direction, as long as the grain line on the pattern piecies line up with the fabric. Try to fit pieces as close together as possible, but leave room for the inlays as described below. I find it easiest to lay out one piece, draw the inlays, then do the next piece, and so on. In the diagram, you can see a period fabric layout. They’re good to get some ideas, but don’t feel you have to follow them directly. Be sure to leave plenty of leftover fabric for the sleeves, facings, collar, and other odd ends. Remember, as you are striking the pattern, to use a sharp piece of chalk. I find I have to sharpen it between each piece, sometimes more often.

Inlays

As you layout each piece, it is important to add inlays, for fitting purposes. If you made a mistake in your drafting that you somehow missed, these inlays may save you from having to cut new pieces, or even saving your entire coat from ruin.

Add inlays to each piece as follows. As you are learning to do this, measure out each inlay carefully. With experience, you’ll eventually be able to do this freehand, and anticipate how much inlay to add based on the figure you are fitting.

Forepart

At the side and bottom, leave 1” inlays. At the center front, leave 2 inches. This is very important, and if you forget, the coat will not button. At the neck and shoulder, leave 1⁄2 inch, and at the armscye, start at half an inch, tapering to nothing about halfway down the front of the scye.

Also, if your pattern has darts, chalk those, and then close the bottom of the dart by drawing a line as if the dart were not there. The edges of the dart represent the seams, not the cutting point.

As you are laying out the forepart, transfer the chest line to the fabric. This will be helpful in aligning the front later on.

Lapel

For the lapel, I’ve actually removed all seam allowances. This works out well, because while the forepart is longer than the lapel, the curvature will be shrunk away, leaving the pieces of equal length. I would add a 1″ inlay to the bottom, and half an inch to the center front and top, just to have some extra room.

Side Body

At the bottom, leave a 1” inlay. At the top, leave a small inlay, 1⁄2 inch at the widest point, tapering down, as shown.

Back Section

Leave a 1/2” inlay at the top of the neck, as well as down the center back, as shown. At the top of the plait areas, add a 1 inch inlay, extending the height. This is in case you need to raise the back button points up. And finally, at the bottom, leave a 1⁄2” inlay, to allow for any stretching of the back of the skirt that may occur during making up. When you’re laying out the back section, make sure the pattern is on the grainline. The center back should be on a slight diagonal when lined up properly.

Sleeves

Lay out the sleeve on the cloth in chalk, being sure the grain line is parallel to the selvage. You’ll need to add a couple of inlays for the cuff. On the top sleeve, along the curved outer seam, add a two inch wide inlay extending from the cuff, to about 5 inches above the cuff. At the bottom, add another two inch inlay, which will fold over to form the facing.

On the under sleeve, add the same two inch inlay to the bottom, to match the outer sleeve. At the curved outer seam, add a one inch inlay, which will eventually hold the buttons. Add tailor tacks to denote the inlays, and cut.

Skirt

If you are adding any darts to the skirt, add 1 1⁄2” inlay to the front of the skirt. The skirt needs to be able to fold over itself in the front to form the facing, and you need room to do that. There is a special period technique for laying out the skirt pattern, that helps to save fabric. In the majority of cases, the skirt is too wide to fit on the fabric. Don’t turn it sideways or unfold the fabric! Instead, lay the pattern out, with the front of the pattern against the edge of the selvage. The back of the skirt should be hanging off the edge of the skirt. Take a ruler, place it on the edge of the fabric, on top of the pattern, and draw a line on the pattern, indicating the edge of the fabric.

Now, add twice the seam allowance to this small triangle, which would be a 1⁄2 inch in our case (we’re using 1⁄4” seam allowances, remember. Then cut out this small piece of the pattern, and place it elsewhere on the fabric where it will fit. Snug it up into those little spaces you have still. The longest edge, which has the seam allowance, should be on the grain line.

As you are chalking out the skirt, mark the darts, and then mark the seamlines as if you had not cut out any darts in the pattern. This is important as you will not cut out the darts. They are just seam lines. Very important.

Dart Construction

If you have any darts in the back of your trouser pattern, now is the best time to construct them, so that both fronts and backs are ready at the same time for the pocket construction later on.

Begin by transferring the dart lines to the wrong side of each trouser piece.

Next, fold the dart in half lengthwise so that both sides are equal in width and the seam lines are aligned with each other. You can poke a pin through the layers to make sure they’re accurately aligned if you wish, but after a while you’ll get a feel for it and can do this by rock of eye. Baste along the length of the dart, about a quarter inch from the seam line.

Also cut out a 1″ to 1 1/2″ square of linen if you are using thinner wools or less durable fabrics for your trousers, to reinforce the tip of the dart.

Fold the linen in half and place it firmly against the folded edge of the dart, with the tip of the dart being near the middle of the linen. Baste the linen, and then redraw the seam line on top of the linen piece if you need to.

Note how the tip of the dart is located more towards the bottom edge of the linen, so that we don’t waste any of the linen and get more strength.

Sew the dart from the wide edge down to the tip either by machine or with a backstitch. At the very tip, the idea is to catch just a thread or so of the fabric in the stitching, rather than going off the edge. This gives a crisper and firmer finish to the tip of the dart.

Now trip the excess linen to about 1/4″ from the stitching. I cut a little too closely in the photo than I’d like due to being distracted by filming at the same time. Shouldn’t be a problem though.

Now press the darts from both sides to first set the stitches.

Then press the entire dart to one side, towards either the seat seam or side seam. Try to be consistent between both sides of the trouser. Make sure to use a tailor’s ham in order to preserve the shaping this dart creates.

I typically do not cut and press the dart open unless the dart is wider than 1/2″.

Turn to the right side and press the dart again. Just below the tip I like to gently shrink away the excess fabric to create a clean transition and better appearance.

Don’t miss the video for additional instruction.

Staying the Fork

This technique of staying the fork is more appropriate for later period trousers, say mid-1870s and later. I choose to do so on all of my trousers unless asked not to by a client, as the added durability and strength to the fork area are worth the compromise to me. I’d like my trousers to last for years rather than wearing out in the next season! So again you’ll have to decide for yourself.

To begin, cut out two pieces of linen, about 7″ square.

Press each piece in half diagonally across the bias.

Now, holding one corner of the folded edge, use your iron to stretch the fold by pressing firmly and pulling with your hand at the same time. It’s best to stretch a little bit at a time over many passes, than to try to stretch the entire seam at once.

You’ll notice the folded edge starts to take on a bit of a curve. Press everything flat after you’re done stretching.

Lay your front trouser piece on the workbench, wrong side up, and place the linen stay in the fork area.

The positioning is shown in the diagram below. The central point of the linen stay roughly corresponds to the point of the fork. The other two points lay against the edge of the trouser front.

Here is mine in position.

Next, baste along the edge of the stay, keeping your stitches out of the seam allowance of the trouser front below if possible. Use one hand underneath to help you find the edge of the trouser and guide your stitches.

After basting, flip over to the trouser side and trim off the excess linen from the stay.

Here you can see how I was successful in keeping the basting stitches out of the seam allowance. That will make it easier to pull these stitches out later.

Finally, using a simple whip stitch, serge the three layers of the trouser and stay together along the two edges to prevent fraying and keep everything in place.

I should have been neater with the stitches but was concentrating a little too hard on the filming!

Give everything a good press after you’re done with the serging.

Cutting Plaids

Now that we’ve got the plaid or stripe pattern aligned between the two fabric layers, it’s time to finally lay out the pattern pieces. Depending on the width of your fabric, and also the specific design of your plaids, you may have to lay both the fronts and backs in the same direction, or in some cases (I was able to do this), you can reverse one of the pattern pieces end-to-end to save fabric.

Here’s the basic layout. If you do end up flipping a piece, transfer the plumb, seat, and knee lines to the other side to help in layout.

Studying the layout, I first aligned the plumb line with one of the plaid stripes, the same one on both pieces. In the example above I aligned both with that thin strip of white next to the larger blue stripe.

Next, align either the seat or knee line on each pattern piece in the same manner. In the example, I aligned the seat line along the bottom edge of the thin blue stripe. It will of course be different for you, but as long as you are consistent, you’ll have plaids or stripes that match up very closely.

A few pointers for when you are laying out:

Here’s the seat line on my pattern. Note how I aligned it with the bottom edge of the orange stripe. Do the same with the other pattern piece to be consistent.

When figuring out how to lay out the pattern pieces, try to align things so that the front fly area lands between major stripes, which helps to avoid having two of those major stripes end up too close together on the finished trousers.

More than likely, you’ll only be able to align either the seat seam or the knee line unless your fabric pattern happens to coincide with your draft. In my case, the knee line is somewhere between the orange stripes. You can still make sure things are visually aligned though.

When you are happy with the layout, draw around the patterns using a sharp piece of tailor’s chalk.

Here’s how I ended up laying out my pattern pieces. As you can see from the extra chalk lines, I tried a few different variations.

The Waistband

Matching the waistband and fly are optional, but I’ll go over the basics just in case you want to try it. Only the front of the waistband is possible to match up with the trousers, as the trouser waist angle prevents any matching. The front can be iffy as well depending on the cut. Luckily, the waistband will be hidden by the waistcoat, anyhow.

First lay out the trouser front on the workbench, placing the waistband into position at the top. I offset mine 1.5 inches to account for the fly. Then extend the lines from one edge of a stripe to the paper pattern, as shown.

I drew a few squiggles to indicate which side the stripes fall on.

Now lay your pattern piece horizontally on the fabric, matching the stripes. As you can see at the diagram at the top of the page, the waistband is cut across the grain for two reasons, to aid with the alignment of any patterns, and more importantly, to prevent shrinkage. If the waistband is cut along the grain, the fibers, being under more tension, will shrink more than the trouser tops, leading to ugly results.

Now, depending on the size of your waistband and the width of your fabric, you may not be able to get the waistband to fit. As you can see I’m about an inch or so too long. If this happens, you’ll have to either unfold the fabric and cut the waistbands one at a time, or as I chose to do, forget the pattern matching and slide the waistband over a little. The section hanging off the fabric is inlay anyway and I should have enough for turning in later.

The Fly

Matching the fly is very difficult to impossible, at least with plaids, and as it’s not even seen, mostly not worth worrying about. Nevertheless, you can at least get the stripes to meet at the seam, but that’s about it.

Lay the fly pattern next to the fly area on the left forepart. Transfer the plaids to the pattern as with the waistband.

Now, if you lay this pattern on the fabric, the grain line will be completely off, which is a very bad idea. It should be positioned as in the diagram above.

Instead, if you turn the fly over, and match just the edge of the pattern to the fabric, you’ll have something you can at least work with and get the stripes to align at the seam.

Cutting

Cutting out your trouser pieces, you have two different options. The first and more time consuming, though most accurate, is to cut using normal scissors and then fell the edges to prevent fraying. I’ll go over that method specifically a little later. If you’re lucky enough that your fabric does not fray, then you can skip the hand serging.

The second and the method I prefer is to simply use a pair of pinking shears. The cut of the shears helps prevent fraying, so no further action is necessary. Pinking shears were invented in 1896, so they’re not period correct, but I’ve chosen to compromise in this area to save time and sanity, especially since no one ever sees the inside of one’s trousers. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

I suppose the third and totally modern, farby method would be to use one of those sergering machines. O the horror!

After you’ve cut everything out, mark the wrong sides of each with a nice big X to avoid confusion later on.

Matching Plaids

Looking at original garments, there is a wide spectrum of how well stripes and plaids were matched in the 1860s. On the one hand you could have a pair of trousers with everything laid out perfectly, and on the other hand, garments with seemingly no care to matching the plaids at all, especially with pockets, facings, and such.

In general though, I think it’s a good idea to have some degree of pattern matching, and the process doesn’t really take too long to give nice results.

The first step is to match the plaids themselves between the two layers of fabric as it comes off of the bolt. Usually, mills are not to careful in their folding, and so the plaids and stripes will not be lined up. To fix this, I use a series of pins at the intersections of the plaid in a grid like pattern along the fabric, anywhere from 6 to 10 inches apart. This lines up all of the plaids and ensures good pattern matching.

At each intersection, place a single pin, going through the same position in each layer of fabric. Begin along the folded edge, working your way along the length of the fabric. Then start another row parallel to that and so on, continuing until the whole width of the fabric is pinned together.

I demonstrate the process better in the following video. Note also that I press the newly formed edge after all the pins are in place.

Preparing the Fabric

Before cutting into your nice woolen or linen fabric, it’s important to prepare the fabric by pre-shrinking in order to avoid shrinkage later after you’ve completed your trousers. There are several different methods you could use, but I’m going to focus on the one that works best for me.

When fabric is woven, there is a certain amount of tension that is put on the yarns in order to keep everything running smoothly on the loom. Our goal is to relax those fibers, with a bit of steam, so that we are free to work on our project without worrying about things shrinking after they are finished.

Lay your fabric out on your work surface or ironing board. For now, I’m using a towel placed on top of my table as a temporary ironing station until I get something better built. The board is underneath to protect the unfinished plywood. As you can see I’m using a basic home iron with a separate spray bottle for more control of the steam.

The basic idea is to wet the fabric with the water bottle, just enough to create some steam with the iron. That steam is what will relax the fibers and help get out any wrinkles. As you’re ironing, try to move lengthwise along the fabric in order to prevent stretching the fabric out of shape. Here is a video illustrating the process.


Cutting and Overcasting

Cutting the Holes

There are several tools used in cutting a tear-dropped shaped buttonhole. First, you need a sturdy surface, such as a work bench, in order to have a place to hammer. On top of that, place a scrap of lumber, preferably beech as it lacks oils and resin that could stain the cloth.

To cut the buttonholes, I use a hollow punch to cut the eyelet area. These are available at most hardware stores for less than five dollars, and are hollow, so as to cut the fabric instead of just pushing it aside, like an awl. I recommend a size 1/8 or 3/16 in diameter.

Ideally, your chisel will be the same size as the desired buttonhole length. If it’s smaller, it will still work, but you’ll need to carefully align each cut, which is prone to error.

Finally, a small hammer is used to hammer the hollow punch and chisel through the cloth. I happen to have a small antique hammer that works well. Much larger and it becomes difficult to control, especially with such a low tolerance for error.

Place the hollow punch directly on the intersection of the horizontal and outer construction lines. Hold it near the bottom if you can, for better leverage and preventing movement. Give it a few strokes with the hammer, cutting through to the wood underneath. You should have a clean cut. If there is any fabric that did not get cut, you need to sharpen your punch. You can also rotate it in the hole to move the dull spot out of the way.

After punching each hole, take your chisel, and line it up with the center of the hole, which should be on the chalkline. I like to do this by feel first, by dragging the tip of the chisel along the hole until you feel it get to the center. Then check with your eyes for alignment. When you are sure it is lined up, cut through the fabric with the chisel. If you need to make more cuts because of a small chisel, do not pick the chisel up. Instead drag it over following the cut you just made. The second cut should be made with just half to three fourths of the blade, while the rest is still over the cut you just made. In this way, you can help ensure the individual cuts line up to make a straight line.

Trimming the holes

After the buttonhole are cut, you need to trim the little triangular shaped pieces from near the eyelet, giving each hole a nice tear-dropped shape. Use some small, sharp scissors for this task. You may have to trim through one layer at a time, depending on the thickness of the cloth.

Here is a video covering all of the steps thus far.

Overcasting

Now you must overcast the edge of each buttonhole with a whip stitch. The stitches should be about 1/16” in depth if you can. This however will depend on whether or not the fabric frays. Start by holding the coat with the tear-dropped end facing away from you, and sew clockwise around the buttonhole. The purpose of these stitches is to bind the layers together. As you are sewing, try to push any canvas or linen that shows back under the wool outer layers,so that they are hidden.

The stitches should be fairly dense, about 12 to 15 per inch. Use your regular sewing thread for this stage. When finished, the stitches should be enough to strengthen the buttonhole and prevent fraying, making the actual button stitch almost decorative in nature. On one of my antique coats, the actual buttonhole twist has long worn away, but the overcast stitches remain, protecting the hole to this day.

Buttonhole Layout

Hand-tailored buttonholes are a thing of beauty, and in the hands of a skilled tailor, can make a coat stand out amongst others. Properly sewn, they will add a level of detail that you can be proud of, yet at the same time will sit unassumingly against the background of the coat. On the other hand, a badly-done buttonhole will absolutely ruin the look of a coat, so practice on scraps of fabric is a must.

Most people will at first find buttonholes very difficult to make. With practice, however, you will gain proficiency and it will become almost second nature. The best way to learn is by having somebody teach you. However, finding a skilled tailor willing to teach you is not always the easiest thing to do. I have created several videos and documented each step in order to try to take the place of a personal tutor. At the very least, you will not have to go searching through old books to pick up hints here and there.

Layout

To begin with, the buttonholes must be marked out on the jacket. The bottom buttonhole location should be marked first, and in the case of a frock coat, should be in the waist seam. The top buttonhole should then be marked, according to your desired style. In my case, an enlisted frock coat, the top buttonhole will be placed ½” from the neck point.

Using a tape measure or bendable ruler, measure the distance from the top buttonhole to the bottom, running a half inch away from the front edge of the coat. Determine the number of buttonholes you want, and subtract one from that number, equivalent to the number of spaces between buttonholes. In my case, there are nine buttonholes, and eight spaces.

Starting at the top, place your tailor’s square with the divisional side up, so that the top buttonhole to bottom buttonhole measurement corresponds with the number of spaces between. In my example, the top to bottom measurement was 16 inches, and I want it divided into 8 spaces between. This happens to be the nice round number of 2, but with other measurements, it can easily be more complicated, hence using the tailor’s square.

Mark off on the edge of the coat each buttonhole mark according to the ruler. Be sure to take the width of the chalk marks into account. If you forget, go back and adjust, as I had to do in this case. You will discover this problem when you get to the second from bottom buttonhole, and discover there is a smaller interval between them.

Next, draw lines square from the edge of the cloth corresponding with each buttonhole mark. These need to be at right angles with the cloth, and not parallel with each other, as the front of the coat has a curve to it.

Mark ½ inch from the edge at each buttonhole, marking the outer edge of the buttonhole. For the inner edge of each buttonhole, mark a line 1/8 inch larger than the width of the button.

On the waist seam buttonhole, you obviously don’t need to mark the placement horizontally, just the end points.

Basting

While there may be basting stitches still holding the canvas and facing in place, you need to ensure that there is absolutely no movement when cutting the holes. Using basting thread, baste around each buttonhole as shown, using a padding type stitch. The needle is inserted right to left, and you stitch in this same direction both towards and away from you.

On the waist seam buttonhole, you want to make sure the seam does not come apart when you cut into it. On both ends of the buttonhole, just beyond the chalk marks, make a small bartack by taking five or so stitches in places, catching both the forepart and skirt.

Installing the Facings

Lay the facing wrong sides together on the coat, matching the front edges. The facing should be set back about 1/8 inch behind the turned edge of the forepart. Baste along the front edge.

Note how the facing extends below the waist seam by about half to three quarters of an inch. This is to give the in-seam buttonhole some fabric to grasp.

Now turn the coat right side up, and holding the coat and facing in place with your hands, baste the inner edge of the facing down by feel. The reason to turn it over like this is to ensure the facing is basted on while the coat is shaped as it will be worn. If not done this way, you’ll have a loose facing with a lot of puckering.

The top edge of the facing needs to carefully trimmed to match the front of the coat. Cut it back 1/8 from the edge at the area in front of the collar, near the top corner. When you get to the corner, taper it back and cut less away so that the top of the facing lines up with the top edge of the bottom row of collar piping.

Feel free to trim it off a little at a time. Better to have to cut more than to cut too much off!

Starting at the inside edge or the outer edge, depending on which side you’re on, fell down the facing to the coat front, around the bottom edge, and onto the quilting on the inner side.

At the top, you’ll sew down the facing as usual, until you get to the collar. Here, you’ll need to do a bar tack to bind all the layers together permanently. Try to catch both the facing, the collar, while angling the needle to barely show on the right side of the coat. Do about six stitches in place as pictured.

At the top of the facing where it overlaps the collar piping, just do some medium sized basting stitches. It’s best to avoid a harder finish such as the felling, because it will interfere with the collar and neck drape. This area will later be secured more permanently when we attach the inner collar.

Cutting the Facings

To cut the facing, you will first need to measure the length of the forepart. Measure at a depth about 4 inches in from the front edge of the coat. Begin your measurement at the collar, and end half an inch below the waist seam. I like to add 2 inches to this measurement to give room for error.

Drawing directly on the fabric, measure out a facing piece. The length should be equal to the measurement you just took plus the two inches. At the bottom, it should be slightly wider than the skirt facing’s width. Make the top about four inches wide. The outside edge should be cut straight, while the inner edge should be formed with a compound curve, as shown, gradually tapering to the bottom seams width.

Ironwork

Since there is usually some curvature to the coat, even after the ironwork, but not the facing, we must add that in through some iron work. You can trace the curve of the coat onto some paper (remember, it’s not the same as the pattern you started with), and lay that on your ironing table. With both facing pieces right side together stretch the outer, straight edge until it matches the curve you drew on the paper. If there is any rippling on the inside edge, that will need to be fulled (shrunk) out until smooth. At the end, you should have a facing piece that curves to match the coat. The benefit of this is that the facing is cut on the straight grain, giving the forepart more strength and durability.