This one has been in the works since I finished Julien's charcoal justaucorp ensemble. As he toured NYC, we found this lovely trim, and I thought it would be fitting for the dark green justaucorp he wears at the opening of my novel in progress...
Here is a photo of the trim. I have it laying on top of a light green brocade, and next to that, a gold/black brocade.
The black/gold brocade seemed perfect. There is no green in it, but still, it reminds me of olive. I chose to forgo the light brocade, and bought a green/black shot dupioni that glistens in light.
Below, the black gold dupioni is hang drying. The ecru habotai and gray silk velvet belong to Elrond's Gray Robes, something I'm working on simultaneously to this one.
Here below: The justaucorp and waistcoat are cut out, and the pieces are draped over a dress form together with the trim. The breeches will be in the gold/black brocade, cutting through the green of the waistcoat...
This page was last updated: March 21, 2013
August 5, 2008:
I began with the trim, turning it to fit onto the plackets I'll sew into the body of the coat. I hand sewed the trim to the plackets. It took forever, because I had to re-do one side. Then, I piped the outer edges, sewing the plackets onto the body of the coat. Right now I'm working on the pocket flaps.
A few photos:
August 6, 2008:
I constructed the pockets under the flaps, and began making piping and sewing it into the collar and front opening sections.
Here are some photos of the work in progress:
Below is an image of the buttons I will use in the outfit. I ordered them through Ebay Seller Pomegranate Costume Supply.
August 7, 2008:
I finished putting in the piping, and then began putting together the body of the justaucorp. I'm attempting to make a cleaner finish on the inside.
Here are a few photos. The dressform is wearing Ringo's pants... I know, Julien and Ringo's wardrobe does NOT mix and match. I was too harried, however, and went ahead with the photos anyway. I still want to take photos of Ringo, so I left them on. I guess these are the things we must deal with when attempting to do three new outfits at once. (The other is Elrond's, as I mentioned above.) (By the way, Ringo's pants fit Me much better than they do the form. That form holds pants, but has a wonky figure that bubbles in a strange way around the upper hip area...)
Here are a couple photos of the internal body of the justaucorps.
August 12, 2008:
Over the past few days I've continued construction. I constructed the lower sleeve cuffs and set in the upper sleeves today.
As I went along, I contemplated the waistcoat design, and thought it needed some contrast. Maybe even a whole different fabric than what's in the justaucorps. Back in the day suits did not coordinate like they do now. So, I craved something to complement, but ... different than what was in the coat.
Then I recalled a decadent fabric I bought a long while back, a fabric I found too good to pass up. I had intended to use part of it for Eowyn's Green Gown before I found the exact trim at MJ Trims in NYC. I bought more of it because I thought it would look neat in some kind of sleek outfit. Then I thought I might create something Eowyn inspired, but I've abandoned that plan. It would work much better integrated into something sleek. What better than a waistcoat? I went and dug out the fabric... and took some photos of it next to the justaucorps in progress. It's funny that I bought it originally for something green... and now I'll use it in something green.
Before I show you the new photos, I'll show you an old one of the fabric. It is featured as my link to Future Projects on my main home page.
It is a heavily embroidered lace fabric that lets the color beneath shine through. I'll overlay it upon the green dupioni already intended for the waistcoat. Only the front two panels, and only partially. There will be a dark strip of the green down the center where the buttons go... Here are some photos. The ones held against me are overlayed upon black... The green dupioni is on the form with the coat...
Here are some photos of one of the sleeve cuffs.
August 13, 2008:
So, the sleeves are completely set in, and the sleeve cuffs sewn on. I tacked the tabs in the back skirts to the back bodice section and then moved on to the waistcoat.
I started by washing the above mentioned decadent fabric, then after it was dry I cut the two front panels. Then I made more piping. The right side is sewn together... More photos:
I had some gold lace trim on hand, held it up against the waistcoat-in-construction, and Eric said Yes, put it in. So I did.
At this point I'm staring at it and really not sure I like what I'm seeing... I may go back to the original plan. In the meantime, I'm frustrated at second guessing myself. Some photos:
My solution to second guessing myself may be that I stick to the original plan, and make a second waistcoat as I had originally intended. Fortunately they don't take as long as the justaucorps... I will finish this waistcoat, too, just to see if it works better once 'formed' to my body. I wish I weren't so indecisive. Heck, all it may mean is Julien gets an extra waistcoat. Never a bad thing, I guess.
August 14, 2008:
Having slept on it, I still feel similarly.
I like the waistcoat on it's own... The justaucorp on its own. I just don't like them together...
A costumer friend suggested using a soft velvet in the waistcoat instead. The above situation appears perhaps a bit too busy...
I do in fact have two velvets here on hand that may work, although they will require me to deviate from my original intent, based upon the storyline I'm writing... I may simply say this ensemble is not the one described in my book. ;p (The waistcoat in my book is heavily embroidered. I think that would then require the justaucorp to be a solid shade... Perhaps a reversal of what I'm inclined to be doing instead... Alternatively, I could embroider the velvet. I think, though, that this would also only serve to make everything too busy.)
I took photos of both the velvets under the justaucorps. The brown is a cotton and the green is silk velvet.
It's interesting how the fabrics in the justaucorps react to the different shades. Next to the brown the gold seems drawn out. Next to the green, the silver sheen in the silk dupioni sparkles like an emerald.
I think I see a brown justaucorps in the future, a very simple one, perhaps in a similar brown shade to the velvet above, to go with the golden waistcoat I started yesterday...
For now, I think I'll be making a green silk velvet waistcoat to go with this justaucorps in progress.
August 15, 2008:
Although the majority of my friends suggest the brown is the better choice, I'm going with my gut and a few others who feel likewise. The velvet hung over the dress form while I figured out which way I wanted the nap to go. I chose the side showing on the left.
I've cut out the two front panels. Here, the panels are hanging out.
I know I had checkted this out a long time ago and dismissed the idea... But I tried it again. I hung the trim over the velvet... facing both directions.
I like it. Why I thought it didn't 'work' before I have no idea. I flipped the trim to see how it looks going the other way. I think I'll keep the uneven edge facing inward, like in the coat.
I have a few of the buttons I'll use pinned in, just to see how they look. They are smaller than I thought they were. I thought they were 7/8th inches, where they are 5/8th. But still, they work for me.
The different fabrics beneath the trim have an interesting impack on how the trim shows through, accenting different aspects of it... I like it.
Here is a close up of the buttons and the trim.
August 17, 2008:
It is the middle of the night and I'm still up. Yesterday I started sewing the trim onto the waistcoat by hand, and afterwards becan constructing. I started with the walking foot on the sewing machine, and only had trouble, so then I dispensed with the machine and basted a stich, after which I hand sewed the fronts and collar sections of the lining into place.
Later I played with the back of the justaucorps. Right now the back flaps are pinned in place. I'm going to use buttons to secure them... Here are some progress photos.
Some changes from the first time around: I did the back differently than my first one... I had, and still have, no idea how the pleats were set in Julien's time. I've been winging it. In the charcoal, I have them folded off on the inside to the right and left of each split, and this lifted the fabric, causing an arc in the hemline. This time, I did not do that. I just sewed the seams together, made the folds, and stitched them down like cartridge pleating, kind of. I secured this stitching on either side with buttons. There is still an arc in the hemline on either side at the back, under where the pleats are joined, but the arc is much less pronounced.
There is no trim down the center back skirt split, because I wanted the fabric to flow.
The inside is Much cleaner. I had left quite a bit exposed the first time 'round, although all the edges had been locked with zig-zag stitches.
It has an interfaced layer of raw silk... It adds substance. The charcoal is two layers.
There are four pockets, two inside and two under the flaps. The charcoal has three...
This one has 55 buttons altogether... The charcoal has 47. On the green, the buttons are smaller, and so they sit closer together down the front, as they should, because I wanted to space them between the openings in the trim.
Further progress reports:
On the breeches, I still need to do the buttons/buttonholes in the waistband, the hem, and the braces. It should go quickly.
On the waistcoat: Side and back seams, hem, buttons and buttonholes. It will take longer, because a lot has to be done by hand.
What does this mean? I have serious hope I'll get this one done in time for DC 2008.
Here are some pictures of the coat:
August 23, 2008:
I made progress on the breeches today. All that's left to do on them are the buttons/buttonholes at the knees, and the braces.
Then, I sewed in the side and back seams on the waistcoat.
The good news is I was in fact able to do that on the machine instead of by hand. The velvet did not cause me any walking problems.
I realized a mistake I made though, and now will have to do some back-tracking... For some reason I had a lapse of reason... I did this on purpose, and cannot for the life of me figure out why.
I left a one inch gap at the front from the trim to the edge on the right side where the buttons will go, and about a two inch gap on the left side. I don't know what I was thinking.
So, I'll be picking out the trim on the right side and moving it farther out. Dang, I can be dumb sometimes...
Photos of the waistcoat as it is now, before picking out the trim... Ugh.
August 26, 2008:
The snafu with the waistcoat probably cost me four to six hours.
I took three photos after I corrected things...
Corrections... What did that entail? It meant I had to pick out the trim on the right side, and restitch it down at the even distance to the left trim... Stitching it down after the lining was attached was way more challenging than the first go'round, because I didn't want the stitching through the lining. And I wanted it to lay smooth, like it did before. I got it to work. And now it looks much better. Nice and balanced. I started picking out the trim Friday August 23rd, very late. Before I went to bed that night, I had re-stitched about six inches on one side.
I continued this Saturday August 24th after I got up. I had to take lots of breaks, because it annoyed me so much. So, I'd take breaks. Drink tea. Get up, walk around, mumble... drink more tea, and get back to it.
Finally, Late Saturday night I picked up where I'd left off... The snafu detour was corrected. I was up until the early morning hours working on finishing the waistcoat; the hem, the button holes, the buttons. I put the last few buttons in after I woke up Sunday, August 25.
I finished his waistcoat at aroun 2:00pm Sunday, then I put in the knee area button holes in the breeches and began constructing the bracers.
I'm pretty happy right now.
Julien will have his new greens at DC 2008. :)
Photos, one level at a time, starting with the breeches:
I want to point out that this dress form does not display the fit of the breeches very well... The hips of this form are shaped like a bubble, causing that roll in the legs and a strange bulge in the fly area. On me the breeches lay smooth, as they should.
Below are two close ups of the hem on the breeches. The hem dips in front and rises in the backs of the knees, to better showcase Julien's calves.
The waistcoat:
I broke all kinds of historical rules, being that this is alternate reality based outfit. The back panels of the waistcoat are also done in the green silk velvet.
My daughter has provided the rabbit ears. ;)
All together now...
I will be making a few accessories to go with this, one thing being a green silk velvet bag for Julien's spy glass...
As to the golden waistcoat started above... This will require a whole new coat. I was thinking brown, but my daughter requested blue. As I have some blue silk velvet in the house, bought for a now shelved project, I thought I'd pull it out and take a look at how it shows together...
When she suggested blue, I thought the color combination would be very French. Out of curiousity, I googled "New France Flag", and was not surprised to find the fluer-de-lis in gold set upon a blue or purple background.
With the green beneath the gold, I'm not so sure this is the way I will go. There is time to think about it. That project will continue on a new page. I'll link it here when it gets underway.
High Resolution Image... Click twice to see the sparkles up close. ;)
The photo below is a high resolution photo. Click it twice and you can see the glitter in the coat and waistcoat... Kind of like a zillion tiny diamonds.
Since September 2007, I've been writing, working on a time travel epic inspired by Captain Julien's 18th Century costumes. I'm currently editing my first two completed novel drafts, and hope to have them published soon. Please like my Facebook Page and visit my Website and stay posted on my progress!
Several years back I began writing my first novel, the first in a time travel series inspired by Captain Julien's 18th Century costumes. I'm currently editing two completed novel drafts, planning my third, and working to get published soon.
Please visit and stay posted on my progress.
y
A bit of fabric inspired all that follows.
This page and its links reflect my best efforts in costuming.
Projects linking to their own pages are featured here. Click the images to visit their individual pages.
y
Captain Julien Bel's
Green Justaucorps Construction
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