The Photos Of Peril

For those who read my earlier entry, All Change, you will know I have radically shaken up the fabrics I am using to make my latest Tennant Coat.

Although I am still using my fabric of choice – Malabar – I have found a much better colour match to the screen used material, which in reality is a lot darker than you might think.

Anyone who has engaged me in conversation about the fabric for my coats will know how much I love Malabar!
My reasoning is because it has a very natural feel to it defying its 100% polyester label; has a luxurious weight; drapes just right when made into a coat; is tough and hard wearing; washable at 30degrees; and is a nice material to actually cut, handle and stitch.
So to find a better colour and still be Malabar was fantastic bonus.

I have been plotting and working on my newest coat since just before Christmas, when a friend pointed me towards the Self-Striped lining on sale at a store in Los Angeles. Later I did a coat for Benjamin Rudman, and he specifically wanted this to be used for his coat (see right). The results were very nice and I had to admit the new lining handled a lot better than the heavy satin twill I had been using to date.

I think it was the idea of making myself a new coat using the more screen-accurate lining that made me take a second look at other fabrics I could revise.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was planning to go to the Time Quest 2 event, so I had an incentive to get my new coat done in time for this.
Besides, I had recently sold my then current coat to Roland (see left) in anticipation of making a new coat, so for a brief period I did not own a Tennant Coat I could wear – at least not one I actually liked.
I might explain that comment at some future time.

All change!

I make no bones about it – I am a self-proclaimed perfectionist.
If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right!

Now, I am also a realist.
That means that sometimes, just sometimes, you have to compromise and use an alternative if the goal you are aiming for is truly unobtainable, or just not justifiable on a budget. But it has to be a good alternative.

But occasionally, even finding the perfect materials can be double-edged sword, especially when it does not live up to expectation.

The Alcantara is a case in point.
Ever since the costume design display at the Earl’s Court exhibition last year, a hand-written note (see right) caused a frenzy of forum activity, and the hunt was on to find out what it meant, and ultimately track down the fabric the coat was made from.

I hunted high and low, and despite the main Alcantara range being easy to find, it lacked the colour needed, and just lacked the texture and feel of the coat I had seen at Earl’s Court.

Ultimately I did find a range from Alcantara that is a good match and I got a swatch to take along to compare to the coat on display (see left).

Under the rules of if it seems easy, it’s not, the fabric soon proved to be from a discontinued range, with no supplies in the UK, so I had to import it across Europe at enormous expense, bringing the cost to over £75 a metre. Ouch!