1850s Sacque Coat: Finishing Touches

The Maple Sugar Festival at the Genesee Country Museum came to a close this past weekend.  And, despite winter throwing its last hurrah, we had a wonderful turn out with lines out the door for the pancake breakfast!  As usual, I had so much fun and am so looking forward to the next event & start of the regular 2015 season!

Tonight, I wanted to share my finished 1850s sacque coat, which was much appreciated on its first outing during the festival.  It sure was frigid; however, between my quilted jacket and flannel petticoat, as well as four fires and modern heaters in Hosmer, I stayed toasty warm!

Trim Inspiration:  I didn't want to get too fancy with a working garment, but contrasting collar, cuffs and lots of buttons were on my mind!  (More inspiration can be found on my 1850s-1860s Research Pinterest Board.)

A young lady from The Barrington House Collection
http://www.bartoscollection.com/photoscivilwar12sit.html

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/404409241515204252/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/404409241515204241/

In my last post, I introduced my 1850s wool sacque jacket showing you the in progress insides & outs.  From there, I added a peter pan collar made from a dark brown wool and matching cuffs, hook and thread loop closures, and matching covered buttons.  I had originally planned to add more buttons on the coat, like on the sleeves, and actually covered 10 buttons total.  However, after spending an entire evening wrestling with the cuffs, I decided that less is definitely more!

The whole shebang!  The interior quilting is machine stitched; everything else is hand stitched.

Hooks & thread loops.

Following the directions in an older copy of the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing (now I want a copy of this book!), I taught myself how to make thread loops using the button hole stitch!  They are so neat and simple, not to mention easier than having to line up metal eyes - where have this been all my life?!  I love learning new things!

Blanket stitch method for thread loops.
Illustrated directions from the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing.

Collar & cuff lining detail.

Being a perfectionist, I wanted the insides finished cleanly!  No unfinished edges!  The collar (attached to twill tape and secured at the neckline) and cuffs are both lined in the dark brown cotton.

Project Review

Year: Mid-19th century, 1850s specifically

Pattern: Pieces were traced & altered from an existing jacket in costuming, which actually has similar body pieces to this original c.1862 Lady's Walking Sack from Peterson Magazine:

Lady's Walking Sack, c.1862 by Emily H. May.
Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection, New York Public Library Digital Collections
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?802995

Materials: Camel, coat-weight wool, dark brown, medium-weight wool, cotton flannel (interlining), dark brown cotton (lining)

Cost: Wool - $8, cotton - $6, flannel - $6, notions (buttons, thread, coat hooks, black cotton twill tape) - $10