Make a Man's Tailcoat the Easy Way

Do you need a man's tailcoat for a play, historical, or steampunk event? Do you have basic sewing skills? If so, creating a man's tailcoat is easily within your grasp.

I start with a thrift store suit coat. The coat should fit it's intended wearer well in the shoulders. Fully lined coats are best. Avoid coats with patch pockets, as you will have to remove them and sometimes the fabric underneath the pocket is darker, or otherwise leaves a mark. A jacket without a vent in the back will make your job even easier.

Have someone put the coat on for you, and mark the desired front length. This is usually 1"- 2" above the welt pocket. You can complete the marking while the jacket is on the person, or place it neatly on a table, front side up. Using a piece of tailor's chalk, draw a line straight back from the center front to the side front seam. From this point, curve the line down around the welt pocket, and just before you get to the side seam, drop it down a couple inches. Repeat on the other side and join your lines in the back. Align the coat layers so that they are perfectly smooth. Pin generously above and below the lines. 

Cut through all the layers about 1/2" below your chalk line. The only section you discard is the area around the welt pocket.

Save what you cut off for the tails. If your jacket, like this one, did not have a back vent, cut it in half to create two tails. If it had a back vent you will either have two pieces or one piece that is partially attached which will need to be detached and trimmed. 

Press all layers to the inside of the jacket on the chalk line and pin in place.
Insert the tails between the lining and outer layers of the jacket back, with the curved corner facing out. Pin in place. Top stitch all the way around with matching thread.

The jacket pictured below only had a front lining, but was otherwise perfect so I opted to use it. The brown binding was used to finish the seams and the hems, so you can see that the bottom edge of the original jacket faces outward on the tails.

Instead of inserting the tails between the layers, I hemmed the back of the jacket and attached the tails with two layers of stitching about an inch apart to make them hang better. I overlapped these a little. It looks nicer, I think, unless there is too much bulk.

And here it is on the hanger. Many thanks to my friend Katie for taking this series of pictures for me.

I usually remove all the sleeve buttons (as that is a modern thing) and put buttons over the buttonholes. It is also possible, with a good steam iron and a little patience, to reshape the collar and change the size of the lapels.

You can add stripes, extra buttons, cuffs, and epaluettes for different character and military looks. 

There are usually more colors available in ladies clothing, so don't restrict your hunt for the right color jacket to the men's department. If the coat is the right size in the shoulders you are probably good. Occasionally the sleeves of ladies jackets are a little short on men. You can either let them down, or wear them with a shirt featuring longer cuffs or ruffles. All of the red jackets I made the guys for Les Miserables came from the ladies department of the Thrift Store.

Once I got a system in place, I could transform a suit jacket into a tail coat in half an hour or less. 

I made a dark green steampunk version for the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz, too.

  To see more photos of these jackets in action, go to my Les Miserables Pinterest Board.

When she's not blogging, Nancy does alterations, makes custom wedding gowns, clothing, and costumes. She also operates three etsy stores- Embroidery as Art, Retro Sewing Patterns, and Great East Emporium. Follow her on Pinterest to see what inspires her.

Catching Up With Myself

I went for 13 months without blogging- from September 2013 to October 2014- not because I wasn't doing anything, but because I was doing too much to keep up with the blog. During those months, I did three shows, a couple comicon costumes, and several weddings among other things. As a quick catch up, I thought I would do a photo essay of those 13 months. 

The Gifts of the Magi

November/December 2013

Wedding- January 2014

Les Miserables- March 2014

The Wizard of Oz

May 2014-

with a touch of Steampunk

A Doctor Who costume, including a very long hand knitted scarf

 a Kaylee costume

some awesome aprons and towels for our Annual Honey Harvest Open House

...and another wedding dress, which I blogged about in October 2014.

I left out a lot, but these are the high points. I haven't stopped working, but have slowed the pace a bit. More soon!

Making it Real

On stage and screen, actors transform into characters from another time and place. Take, for example, a show like Downton Abbey, or a movie like Les Miserables or the Hobbit, in which the fantasy seems so real - it makes you feel as though you've stepped into another place or time. How do they do that?

It's all in the details.
I am a costumer, so that is my focus, but the principle applies across the board. Colors, velvet vs. fabric ribbon, buttons made out of bone or covered buttons, fabric types, and the style of lace are just a few examples of things that can make a much bigger difference than you might think. There is no substitute for research. Use online resources, books, museums, and films that are known to be accurate representations of the time period. The more you know, the easier it will be to pick fabrics, trims, accessories, and even thrift store garments that fit the time period. I choose pictures- photos of people and museum pieces and fashion plates- for each character and use them throughout the process as reference points. Sometimes when a costume doesn't look quite right I go back to the pictures and analyze them bit by bit until I figure out what detail is missing, or what modern detail I have inadvertently included that I need to remove. I just completed Four Tickets to Christmas, set in 1905. Here are a few examples of what I do.

Underwear matters.
The S corset and related underthings all help to create the female silhouette of the time period. We built corsets (on a very tight budget, that is a blog of it's own), corset covers, bustle and bust pads to shape the ladies.

Authentic patterns are great when you can get them. I used authentic patterns from 59 Authentic Turn of the Century Patterns and The Edwardian Modiste for the boy's suit and the ladies dresses. I also used the cover of a theater goers magazine from 1905 as a model for the dark green dress and hat. The photo is from the show; the pictures below it provided guidance and inspiration. It wasn't enough to make the garments- trimming them appropriately changed them immensely- especially the boy's suit.

Use existing pieces whenever you can- especially for the men. Suits and coats are labor intensive. The drawing on the left from Men's Fashion Illustrations from the Turn of the Century portrays the dapper urban gentleman of December 1905 we were trying to create. I made the white vest, tall collar and tie, but everything else was put together from vintage parts.

Sometimes only a little thing is required to transform a garment. The jacket with the lace collar is from The Voice of Fashion. I drafted just the collar pattern and added it to a simple cape. I picked up a straw hat at a thrift store and covered it with fabric before embellishing it.

Look to museum pieces for colors. The actress really liked this museum piece, so I did my best to replicate it. We made the jacket, had the blouse, and I tweaked a skirt we already had.

This costume was made entirely from existing parts.

Last but not least, we used vintage choreography to go along with the costumes.

If you would like to see more photos, click here.