Jack Kirby's birthday: Often called the The King of Comics, or just The King, Jack Kirby has a long and influential history in comics from the golden age (starting in the 1930's and includes creating Captain America), through the silver age (including creating many of Marvel's most iconic characters alongside Stan Lee), and into the 90's. He died Feb. 6, 1991.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby
The only picture I could find without the leather jacket and showing a full view of the waistcoat.
I've decided to make the Doctor's waistcoat, partly because I couldn't find one to buy that I liked and wasn't expensive, and partly because I could use the sewing practice. I believe the fabric is velvet or velour, and appears to be reddish or bronze. There is a manufacturer (Magnoli Clothiers) that has a replica of the waistcoat, and it's made with bronze velvet.
Marking the shape of the waistcoat on muslin that's draped and pinned over the body forrm
Cutting out the marked muslin pieces and trimming the back piece to be symetrical
Making the paper pattern from the muslin pieces
The final pattern
First up is making the pattern. Taking advantage of my body double form, I draped and pinned cheap muslin to the form. I could cut and shape the muslin to the body double, pinning pieces together at seam lines until the form looks right. A sharpie lets me mark up the muslin until I've got the shapes and seams properly laid out. Next, I cut out the muslin pieces, and then pin them down to a work board where I can make the pieces symmetrical and make sure they join up properly. Finally, I pin the pieces to construction paper where I can lay out the pattern with seam allowances.
The final pattern consists of 4 pieces: the back pattern which is placed along a fold in order to cut a symmetrical piece, the front pattern which is used to cut one piece directly and then another piece with the pattern flipped (so there is one piece of fabric for each side), the back collar which is also cut along a fold similarly to the back piece, and the front collar from which two mirror image pieces are cut similar to the front body pieces. Now I'm ready for the fabric.
Red velvet, a little TOO red
Hmm, the fabric arrived, and I think it's way too bright a red. So it's time to hit the dyes. That will be the next post.
Cropped images of the half-gaiters from three different publicity shots of the War Doctor
My next project for this cosplay was to put together my pattern for the half-gaiters. I'd found the above image, which is a collection of clips from publicity stills of John Hurt in costume. I was prepared to take measurements and calculate ratios from the photos, and I went on-line to check for photos of other gaiters. But instead I found this amazing post by Sidney Eileen titled How to Draft a Pattern for Fitted Gaiters. I'd looked at other gaiter patterns, but they were always another style, where the part that fits over the front of the shoe is a separate piece sewn onto the leg. In the War Doctor pictures, however, the bill is part of the legging, just flared out over the boot. Luckily, Sidney's pattern is an exact match for the Doctor's gaiter. That made the whole thing much easier!
Measurements and calculations drawn out on construction paper, then cut out and transferred to muslin for a prototype build.
Muslin prototype made from the first pattern
I laid the pattern out on construction paper following her procedure and based on measurements from my own leg. I have a big roll of construction paper (cheap!) which I use when I'm experimenting with patterns. She has some standard allowances based on fitting the gaiter onto a bare leg and a shoe, but I'll be wearing mine over a pants leg and a boot. So I made a muslin prototype from the test pattern to see how it all fits.
The beast, my 1955 Necchi sewing machine
Obligatory shot of me sewing a seam, proving that I do, in fact, sew.
Since I haven't shown my sewing station before, here's the sewing machine I use. It's a Necchi Automatic Supernova Ultra from 1955, and so it's a year older than I am. It was used by Harriet's mom and is a bit of a beast. It's not the most efficient thing and requires constant fiddling, but it's free and available and so far has done everything I've asked. It still has its manual, so I've been able to figure out all of the settings. I used it to sew the revolutionary war coat for the Headless Horseman, and there were times I was sewing through four layers of wool and two layers of muslin lining for that thing. It's also sewn vinyl to canvas, as well as spandex, so I can't really complain.
The Magnum Classics arrived, just in time for test fitting the gaiters.
New pattern made from adjustments to the old pattern
Test fitting the gaiters over my pants leg and the boot, indicating adjustments that needed to be made
Cutting out the suede pieces from the new pattern
When I received the boots for the costume (Magnum Classics that I found on sale), I used the muslin prototype to check the fit of the pattern. There were several dimensions that I wanted to change, so I made a new set of patterns, and then brought out the suede.
Turns out I have a lot more than I realized. It's almost a complete hide. For $20 it was a very good garage sale find. Only a portion of it will be used for the gaiters.
All the pieces for one leg
Stitched the first gaiter just enough to check the fit then cut the pieces for the second gaiter
I cut out one set, stitched the basic joins, and then checked the sizing again. It all looks good, so I cut out the second set for the opposite leg.
That's it for now. Next up is to finish the sewing including the hemming, add the buttons and buttonholes, and then ageing and weathering.