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This is my most excellent friend Gilbert. For a long time he had been inquring about the possibility of me making him a custom coat. There were a number of coats that he had seen at places like Hot Topic that had elements of what he wanted, but none were exactly what he was looking for, and for the amount of money they asked he wanted a coat that was exactly what he wanted. This is how Gilbert ended up being the only friend of mine that did not receive fleece pants the Christmas of 2004.
I actually ended up making this after Christmas had come and gone due to time constraints, but it was still technically his Christmas gift. And if you want to get REALLY technical, he paid for all the materials as well; my gift was my talent and my time. This coat took 24 hours of work from initial concept art to final product and it was all done in one weekend; a very satisfying experience.
The coat started out with a general description of what Gilbert wanted. He wanted it to be nearly floor length, have a mandarin collar, NOT have a split in the back at the bottom (often seen in long coats to make them easier to walk in etc) and wanted the front to specifically come across the way a fencers jacket does, but still be a centrally symmetrical coat. He also requested that while the coat have decorative buttons, that the primary closure be a zipper. The result was a drawing of a duster that had a centered zipper which was covered by a triangle flap which buttoned closed. The eye was then fooled into seeing the triangle as symmetrical by positioning decorative non-functional buttons on the opposite side. The basic pattern of this coat was taken from the Simplicity halloween costume for the matrix (a basic duster pattern) for the basic shape and then significantly modified so as not to be crappy (which Simplicity halloween costumes tend to be, using velcro for closures and generally cutting corners on construction).
While the design for this coat is excellent, and just what Gilbert wanted, the coat is made truly special by the fabric choice and the buttons. The fabric is black moleskin (which is why it's so difficult to photograph well - it just sucks down light) which is a microfibre fabric. The two top bottons are cross shaped while the six circular buttons have etched into them an endless knot design.
Construction of the coat was relatively easy. After the pattern was drafted I made a mockup out of my favourite cheap-ass muslin to make sure that I had basic fit right as well as to adjust tailoring. Good thing I did too as gilbert has bigger (more manly of course!) arms than the simplicity pattern allowed for. The finished coat is unlined, but all seams are either french seams, or in the case of the arms, bound seams. the inside of the moleskin is so nice that it looks good unlined and the fabric is heavy enough that it doesn't need lining for wearability. I'm extremely proud of the tailoring job on this coat as it fits him like a glove and looks extremely good. These pictures are disappointing as they don't show that at all and I am hoping to get better pictures the next time that I see him. The drape of this fabric is excellent for this coat and allows it to flow when he's walking without fluttering the way a lighter fabric would.
No doubt in my mind; all in all, this coat is one of my greater sewing acheivements. Gilbert is often stopped in stores, on the street and by friends to comment on the coat and ask him where he got it. When he says his friend made it, there have been a number of occasions where people have asked if I had a card. That's the highest praise I can hope for my work.