I've always been super interested in Victorian era clothing, and the evolution of menswear is an very interesting progression to me.  There's a lot of media that I enjoy that's set in the Victorian era, including Alice and Wonderland, Black Butler, and Enola Holmes, so I wanted to create something inspired by that!  

I was gifted the neon green fabric by my aunt, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to use it, and I thought that the black and purple would both be a very interesting color scheme and highlight the green nicely.  Looking at it now, it reminds me a lot of a Disney villain color scheme, but I don't really mind that.  The villains always had better costumes then the protagonists.  

I got the instructions for draping the pattern from the book Draping Period Costumes by Sharon Sobel, which was a Christmas present a few years ago.  This was my first time draping a full garment on a dress form, and I think it turned out pretty well!

I'm still working on a character for this piece, but I'm enjoying the idea of some sort of high-class poisoner for hire.

The instructions from the patterning book were super helpful at this point, they walked me through exactly what to do to get the coat to fit correctly.  I was slightly nervous about the instructions being for a men's dress form, but I think with the dart in front these particular instructions can fit nearly anyone.  I'm particularly happy with how the fit in the back turned out, I think it looks really smooth and proffessional.  Unfortunately, I forgot to put the pleat in the back for the final pattern, which messed with how the skirt lays, but I feel like it still looks pretty good for a first try.

After I draped the coat, I transfered the pattern from the muslin onto some pattern paper so it was easier to trace.  Once the pattern pieces were set, I cut out the final fabric with a one inch seam allowance.  I decided to do the sleeves in a half-and-half color block both because it looks really good, but also because I almost ran out of the neon green fabric.  I feel like it looks pretty awesome though, with how the black section on the sleeves lines up with the black section on the back of the coat.  Once all that was set, it was onto the sewing!

Sewing the frock coat was really interesting, it took a lot of time, and while the garment itself isn't too complicated it's a lot more tailored than anything I had made at the time.  The sleeves gave me a bit of trouble because I used a pattern from a previous project instead of draping a new one, but I worked it out eventually.  I also decided to leave the lining of the coat hanging out the bottom, because I feel like that gives it a really interesting flow.

Here's a progress photo for the sewing process, I really liked how wide the lapels looked here, and I might try and replicate this going forwards.  Right here I have the darts for the front pinned, and am about to sew them.  The center back panel also gives it a really interesting tailcoat effect at this stage!

I feel like I learned a lot from this process!  I learned how to drape a full garment from this project, and I also got experience making something with a lining.  I feel like it pairs really well with my plague doctor mask, and I think that this would be a very interesting character to explore further.  I even made a matching vest for my leather mouse, Timothy Suede!