Inside pockets - smoke and mirrors

My next sewing session on the Alcantara coat was a mid-week evening, so I kept it to relatively simple stuff rather than anything too involved. That I save for the weekends!

The work I had done on the calico coat was now paying dividends, as I could confidently storm ahead and start cutting the final cloth without the usual stages of cutting and adjusting as I went along. This time I would know they would all fit together right, pretty much first time.

In one evening I cut essentially the rest of the whole coat, bar the collar, which I felt needed special attention. I won’t show you all this now, but will reveal the cutting of the coat as I tackle the assembly of each relative section.

The first manageable part I decided to assemble were the lapel fronts, which although they are cut, don’t get sewn in until much later, but the inside pockets can be set now. It is so much easier doing it while the lapels are loose pieces of fabric: it is like sewing a demonstration or test.

The pattern is marked with the roll of the lapel and pocket positions, though the Sonic pocket is now canceled (see right).

I then transfer the pocket position from the pattern (see left) and mark it in tailor’s chalk; and attach the lower welt, which is made of interfaced orange Dipon fabric (see below - top left). The welt is pinned upside-down, rightside facing down. The back of the pocket is attached in the same way and the width of the pocket is sewn between the vertical chalk marks. I then carefully slit the gap between the two lines of stitching (see below - top right).

I’ve finished the calico test coat!!!! Phew

I have finally reach that point with the test coat were suddenly it seems so much more finished and when I try it on for size, it feels a better fit - all in the space of one day’s work!

The technique I use (which I strongly recommend), whereby the panels of the coat are ‘decorated’ with pockets etc in isolation before bringing them all together, does mean you do a lot of work before you see some tangible result. Even then, when the body of the coat is assembled, without the sleeves or lapels sewn it, it hangs even more limp and ill-fitting than you feel it should at that stage.

See embarrassingly frumpy looking pictures of the test coat being worn for the first time. The calico is very stiff, so it is NOT draping right. Still to do are buttons; sleeve linings; sewing the body lining; and hemming the bottom; the collar needs some re-shaping.

Having said that, I think the back of the coat is looking good. The fitting of the coat is difficult, as the back needs to be very tailored and sit tight to the small of the back; compared to the front, which is a lot looser and free hanging. If you look at various publicity stills, it hangs straight down from the shoulder line, without it looking fitted from the front.

The outer pockets have worked out at just the right, comfortable height and they aren’t as awkward to use as I had anticipated.

The inside story

Having completed the outer pockets, time now to sort out the inside pockets.

In making my coats to date I have strived for screen accuracy. However, this has only extended to their outward appearance, as for purely practical reasons, I have shied away from this on their insides.

Although I mastered welted pockets, I was terrified of having to do a welted pocket with the inherently flimsy lining material as a base. I was always worried it would sag badly, or at worst, stretch out of shape and rip or tear at the corners.

My solution was to go a little freeform. I had a nice Gant coat which had a curved triangular shape extended from the lapel to the underarm seam in a broad sweep. The internal pockets were then set in this area, giving them a strong base and support. 

Since there was no decent photographic reference of what the pockets should be like, besides no-one would see the inside of the coat, I thought it a compromise that I could easily replicate. Seen here is the interior of the Mk II coat, complete with special handy narrow pocket for pens or maybe a sonic screwdrivers.

This time round, since I have invested in the Alcantara fabric, I can’t let through anything less than complete and total screen accuracy for every aspect of the coat. This, for the first time, includes the inside pockets.

As I said, there is precious little photographic reference for the inside pockets, and we rarely get to see them in the series. Here is one of the few shots that does show the internal pockets.

The pockets show up as strips of orange. But what were they?

At the time this episode (New Earth) was screened, the coat was not yet on display anywhere, so there was no chance of studying the coat up-close.