What Would Jane Sew?: Yarrrr, part 2

Occasion:
Halloween Party of the Damned

Competition description:

Best costume, best pirate

Project:

Robb Zombie meets Captain Morgan

Selection:

I let the Husbeast pick out what fabric he wanted as the core of his outfit, and he chose a red chenille brocade (which I'd actually been sort of wanting to use for mine). As he'd expressed the intention of using a pair boots he already owned, his "neutral" color was going to be brown, as opposed to my black. Which is convenient, because I have a whole bolt of chocolate brown velveteen to use, and I still had the goal of using only fabric I already own.

My inspiration was Les Pacte des Loups, again, because that's where I'd just been looking. I imagined the red brocade as the coat, the brown velvet as waistcoat and trousers.

After a consultation, however, it turned out his tastes were more Once Upon A Time.

I drafted a pattern for the coat, and found there just wasn't enough of the red fabric, so I swapped the layers, which incidentally made the outfit even more like Hook's costume.

The vest was made from Vogue 7488, one of my rare uses of a modern commercial sewing pattern. So very worth it, not having to draft something s complicated as a formal men's waistcoat. I used the single-breasted version with a notched collar, as seen in the lower left hand corner, and the leftmost of the two tiny images at the top. I exaggerated the lapels a little, and made a standing collar instead of the little mock collar the pattern uses.

Incidentally, those six buttons are the only ones of the 30 in the outfit that actually have functional buttonholes.

Also, I need to point out that my dress form was made for a small woman circa 1910, and therefore has entirely the wrong silhouette for these garments.

As I said, I drafted the coat, using his historical sloper. I gave it enormous lapels, and a gigantic collar, and added extra fabric for pleats at the side-back waist seams. It was drafted to hang open, it does not close.

what do you mean the buttons don't match?

I bound the edges with bias strips of a weirdly sparkly gold satin, wrong side out, and used the same for the cuffs. If I'd had time, I would have made pocket flaps out of the same gold. Using the wrong side toned down the *shiny!* synthetic satin, leaving me with a soft, almost metallic sheen instead of glare.

But wait! It's not just a pirate party, it's an undead pirate party.

"...so, Rob Zombie?" he says. Uh, sure.

So we went through my fiber stash and found some undyed wool, which we used to make dread locks. A strip of silk "aged" in coffee provided a yellowed headscarf, which held the dreads in place. I would have made the hat, just like I'd made mine, but I couldn't find felt hoods in a good shade of brown, and the green one I got (figuring it would look okay, even if it didn't technically match) just wasn't working out. But it turned out the store I went to purged their Halloween stuff early, so I found a pretty good hat for under $10.