A New Coat for Little C

Little C's growing up and it's about time he had a new sacque coat!  So, as the first project of 2019, I finally made good on a long-time promise...Thank you, Liz, for all of your patience during the long wait and for letting me play dress up with your handsome, young gent! 

A new, mid-19th Century sacque coat for Little C!

Ages ago in 2016 (can it really have been three years now?!), I made a first attempt at child-sized outerwear.  See the blog post, here: A Little Sacque for a Little Gent.  Since then, I've wanted to make another, better-fitting sacque coat, and have high hopes that this one will.  Liz sent me the navy wool to use for the outer fashion fabric, and a soft, grey cotton flannel for the inner lining.  I felt the coat still needed something to tie the colors together, so I found a length of a large checkered silk taffeta to use for the binding.

Materials: navy wool fashion fabric, grey cotton flannel for lining,
and silk taffeta for bias binding 

The pattern itself was self-drafted in four pieces using little C's measurements with a generous cut in hopes that it will serve him for a season or two.  Plus, it allows for extra room when layering.  The design was inspired by similar mid-19th Century boy's sacque coats, though not modeled after any particular extant.  Here are a few historical reference images: 

CDV of a boy in suit with a dark cap.
Image via: Ebay

Image via: Pinterest

Image via: Antique Photo Album Galleries, 52

Our version:  Constructing the coat was straightforward.  I seamed the outer and lining layers separately to enclose the seam allowances, then bound the outer edges, sleeves and collar with the silk cut on the bias.  For modern ease of dressing, I stitched a large snap at the collar, which can easily be swapped out for tapes or buttons for historical use.

Front of sacque coat

Back view

Interior view

Binding detail - bias cutting is so satisfying!

As in the first post, Teddy was more than happy to model.  Might be a little big on him this time around...

I look forward to seeing the dashing Little C sporting his new sacque, and perhaps you'll find him and his mommy out and about in our village this upcoming museum season!