Thursday 2 October 2008

Progress -- The jacket muslin

So the jacket muslin is finished. And I don't think I'm going to progress onto the finished piece. The fit doesn't seem quite right on him -- it seems tight around the chest and loose around the collar. Mainly it's because of the concerns I had before I sewed up the muslin -- firstly, that it wouldn't be appropriate as a coat, and secondly, that it wouldn't look right on my slim sweetheart. Double-breasted RTW doesn't suit him. He looks better in slimmer fitting coats and jackets. They suit his body type better.

Please ignore the terrible sewing, by the way. This was a fast and dirty muslin, flung together with no real due care or attention. The 'buttons' in the top picture are circles of fabric left over from the last dress I made. :P What a slattern I am.

It's sort of a shame, because I quite liked the pattern. Possibly I would still sew it up if I could get hold of enough leather. It might work as a more casual jacket. But for the fabric I've got, I want to make him a more traditional coat. So this pattern, sadly, ain't the right one. I had a feeling it would turn out like this.

Here's a full length photo to show the way the coat fits on his body. It makes him look a little too top heavy.



We discussed it and I think we both agreed it wasn't right, so it's back to the pattern search. Not that it's going to take too long. The pattern offerings for men are sadly limited -- most of the pattern companies offer little more than pajamas and 'scrubs', which are apparently what doctors and nurses wear in hospitals in America. Am I right about that?

Vogue used to have a few more patterns, but for some incomprehensible reason chose to stop printing them. They now have a couple of suits and waistcoats and... that's it. They don't even have a pattern for a shirt! True, perhaps they don't sell a lot of men's patterns, but it still seems a real shame. There are a couple of men sewing and posting reviews on patternreview, but if a young man wants to sew for himself what chance has he got with the uninspiring collection of patterns available? Thank god for Burda, but not everyone necessarily starts off with Burda. The most obvious pattern company I always found is Simplicity and their collection of patterns for men is.... not huge. At least they have shirts.


Ah well, rant over. In the end, I guess men's patterns are never going to sell as well as women's and that's all that really matters. You can't blame them -- they're businesses after all, and it's not the easiest market. Perhaps we're lucky they exist at all.

Back to my original topic -- coat patterns for men. I think we're going to go with a simple single-breasted three quarter length coat.

Enter Burda 8275.

I'll have to make another muslin. I'm wondering if it could do with slightly more shaping in the waist, or a belt perhaps. It's a simple plain-cut coat, and I'm pretty sure it's the one I'll go with, partly because there isn't a whole lot of choice. Vogue used to have a similar pattern, but I think that's OOP. I do like Burda though (like you haven't already guessed?) and its slimmer fit suits Paul quite well.

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