One of our members has recently completed a new regimental coat for a soldier of the 60th Royal American Regiment. The gallery shows some of the details of the coat as well as the final product:
The lining and outer panels are basted together ready for assembly. The outer panels are stitched first with a backstitch, then the lining is whip stitched along the seams. This produces a very well fitted lining.
The lining is folded over and stitched down 1/4 inch from the edge of the outer panel. The stitch used here is a “le point a rabattre sous la main” which appears as a running stitch on the outside and an invisible whip stitch on the inside.
The lapel on the right has been stitched, to help to trim it to the correct shape a piece of chalk has been run over the stitching, this provides a clear line an appropriate distance from the stitching as a guide. The lapels have been modified from the original pattern so that they reacher higher up towards the shoulders, as seen on contemporary illustrations.
The shanks of these buttons have been pushed through the fabric and attached with a leather thong as seen on many eighteenth century coats.
The pattern used was the J. P. Ryan ‘1750’s Coat with Military Variations for the Officer or Enlisted Man’, modified slightly with higher lapels and tailored to the wearer. The team at the Fort Pitt museum have produced a fantastic series of blog posts on recreating coats like this:
