More softness

Readers may remember my last soft coat which was the first prototype for a model which became very popular. So when it was recently suggested that I might want to attend a certain event in Atlanta in the next few weeks, I decided it was as good an excuse as any to make another soft coat- they are particularly fond of soft, rounded shoulders in the deep south and I don't have much clothing for that kind of weather.



The coat has a self-cloth facing, and I used cotton pocketing for the yoke and trimming. Bemberg in the sleeve.



There is no haircloth or chest piece and no shoulder pad- only the front canvas and some light felt to cover it.



This is how thick the shoulder construction is, which has been done in the "spalla camicia" style



which gives this soft, round, slouchy look.



I'm sure somebody knows the name for this kind of jigger shank- I don't know how to call it. Anyone?



Since I won't make many coats in this colour, I ordered the small 10m spools of silk buttonhole thread from Tristan, in BC, Canada. As far as I know it is the only source in Canada for buttonhole silk in small quantities, and they are the exclusive North American distributor for Tre Stelle's Bozzolo silk. It has a nice sheen to it and is worth trying out.

EDIT- I got the following message on another post- We are a sister company to Tristan Italian threads. We are the US importers of Cucirini Tre Stelle thread from Milan, Itay. The Seta Bozollo silk is a 24 wt thread that comes on a 11 yd spool. Our shopping cart is www.carmenwarehouse.com or catalog is www.GilbreathThreads.com

Soft jacket completed

Now that I'm done the jacket, I should really shorten those shirt sleeves....

Cloth 12 oz 100% wool by Reda (same Italian mill that did my drape jacket cloth). No chest piece, no sleeve head, no wadding, no shoulder pad, mother of pearl buttons. Whereas more structured shoulders have the sleeve seam allowances opened or turned toward the sleeve, in this case, like a shirt, the seam allowance is turned toward the body and pick stitched in place. By hand, of course.



Inside, not much else, either. French seams, lining in the sleeves but that's it.



Now where is that flannel?

Thank you all for the comments. In response to malwae's question, here is a close-up, but you don't see much; the stitching should be subtle and the colouration is such that it is hard to see anything. However, the ridge formed by the reversed seam allowance is visible. Not much to see on the inside.




As for Jordan's question about the breakpoint, the collar is what controls where the lapel will break. The chest piece, bridle tape and pressing may help to support it, but the collar must be on right for it to break in the right spot; that's why the forumites' experiments with "re-rolling" button-3 jackets into button-2 or 3-roll-2 are ill-advised- you really need to alter the collar to get the lapel to consistently roll to a different point.

Softness- the other extreme

The weather is turning so I am in the mood for new clothes but the flannel hasn't come in yet. I've been eyeing a few jacketing lengths so I cut myself something on the other end of the spectrum; a true "spalla camicia" or shirt shoulder, the softest possible jacket in this light, soft dove colour with steel, oatmeal and rose check.



The spalla camicia is one of the typical neapolitan shoulders and generally has very little supporting it; as such, it can often look sloppy. Some even exaggerate the sloppiness, easing in extra folds of fullness which I find a little showy and unnecessary (which, considering my love of pagodas, is saying something). A short, wide sleeve cap is in order.



While some like to support this kind of construction to make it more suitable for suitings, I only make this kind of thing for soft, slouchy sport jackets, and as such I use no haircloth, no chest piece, no shoulder pad, no sleeve head, no wadding of any sort. The front canvas has a soft piece of wool felt to cover any possible scratchiness and to give just a bit of body, but other than that, nothing. Softness and lightness. The whole jacket is cut on the easy side, rather than being fitted, and will look a bit like a soft cardigan.



I opened the shoulder about 5/8" to give a bit of forward pitch, and a slight manipulation of the cloth as well, but nothing like what will go into the pagoda shoulder which we will see soon, I hope. In this case, I have used a zig-zag machine to open the wedge.

I still use a fairly small pad stitch on the lapel to give a nice, full roll.



It will be finished soon so I can get straight to work on the suit when the cloth comes in.

I response to Lynn's questions, yes, I zig-zag right along the cut line to keep the edges of the canvas from curling up. With finer cloth I put a piece of non-woven fusible on top to completely hide it since it can sometimes make visible impressions on the outside.

As for the pattern, this would normally be a special pattern unto itself if I were in the habit of keeping basic patterns for myself, which I don't. I like to experiment and try new things so I never cut off the same pattern twice when cutting my own garments- every time it is new. The basic principles remain for obtaining the desired silhouette but I always try to introduce new things to the mix in terms of drafting and construction. Obviously, at work, I keep a library of collars and pockets and lapels and things, but for my own stuff, it's new every time.

Besides, the lines are so different between a structured, rope-shouldered garment and a soft, spalla camicia, that it's not really worth trying to adapt one pattern to become another.

Soft tailoring

Having worn the drape coat a bit I have noticed one thing about the comfort- it is markedly more comfortable in the chest, but that has nothing to do with the drape allowance (actually, the drape in the chest bugs me a little when I move my arm forward).

Drape and soft tailoring have often been confused and I am inclined to think that the softness of the construction has much more to do with the comfort than the drape. While I have cut soft coats in the past, one thing I have not done is to put the chest on the bias; I am convinced that this is giving a lot more comfort than a straight-cut chest would since the hairline is not impeding forward movement. I think my next experiment will be to cut a clean-cut coat with a soft-construction and bias-cut chest to compare with the drape coat. I guess I'll have to keep this a while longer.