All Saints layer boots - pair on eBay

Just to show these things do still happen, there was a pair of AllSaints layer boots on eBay this week, though despite their 99p starting price, it looks like someone did an off-listing deal.

Mens ALL SAINTS Boots

Mens All Saints boots.
Size 10

Have been worn but still good condition.
They naturally have that worn look which most Allsaints boots do

RRP £130

Cashmere Frock Coat - adding a corduroy collar to a found coat

Finding an exact copy of the Cashmere Frock Coat worn in series 7b is a near impossible task.

The cut of the coat may look pretty standard, but it is to an old fashioned pattern, so try as you might you won’t find a match on any typical high street anytime soon.

Don’t get me started on the fabric used, as you really won’t find anything that comes close to matching its weave and look.

That said a number of canny cosplayers have found three-quarter length smart coats which block out the shape and style of the Frock Coat pretty well. They aren’t 100% right, but once worn with a bow tie and waistcoat and brandishing a sonic - the effect comes together!

But the one thing they rarely have is a purple corduroy collar. If they do come with a contrasting collar it is often black and nearly always velvet.

A good friend of mine has sent me one such coat and has asked me to revamp the collar with some appropriately coloured corduroy fabric I have left over from making my own screen accurate coat.

As you can see, this coat has a black velvet collar, over which I am going to wrap my purple corduroy fabric.



Applying this is actually very easy - so long as you know what you’re doing.
Here is how I did it, pulling in some of my hand tailoring skills to give it a professional finish but using surprisingly simple techniques.

All it involves is CUTTING, a bit of MACHINE STITCHING and then a little HAND STITCHING to finish it off.


CUTTING
First we need to work out how much cloth to cut.
Lay the collar out flat and measure the length, adding 2 inches for either end.
Then measure the height, adding an inch above and a good 2 inches below.

I then cut this in corduroy - 20 x 6 inches in this case, making sure the lines in the fabric run parallel the shortest edges.


MACHINE STITCHING
Next I lay the corduroy right sides up and position the collar right sides up also with the edge of the collar close to the edge of the fabric.
A coat collar often has a gentle curve to the edge. Don’t worry about this - just lay the collar flat.
I pin the collar points, and the space between. Notice the pins are at right-angles to the collar edge.

I then sew along the collar, roughly 1cm from the edge, following any curve or shape it may have.
I start on the corduroy, catch the collar, then overshoot and finish on the corduroy the other end. This helps anchor the stitching and will not show.
With the pins at the angle they were, I was able to sew without removing them and avoided the machine needle breaking if it were to hit the pins.


I then return to my cutting mat and trim the excess corduroy along the length of the collar. It’s best to leave as much fabric beyond the collar points for now. it can always be trimmed later.

Next I need to press the fabric around the collar to bind the edge.




First with the collar right side up, I flap the corduroy underneath away form the collar, pulling it tight along the stitched edge and firmly press. I am pressing from this side so the pile of the fabric doesn’t get crushed.

Then I flip the collar over and wrap the corduroy back around the collar edge, binding it. This needs to be folded nice and tight then pressed firmly. Again, I am pressing from the back to protect the public side of the fabric.

Now, this coat has a line of machine stitching along the roll line of the collar. You can see it about an inch up on the black velvet.

I am going to use this to my distinct advantage as you will see later, but first I must establish the edge of the gorge - the join between the collar and lapel leading away from the notch.

I fold the corner over to match the angle of the velvet, then cut away the excess to give me approx a 1cm seam allowance to fold under.
I do this at both ends and pin along the machined roll line, keeping the fabric flat and tight form the already sewn edge of the collar.

On the underside of the collar I can see the original line of stitching, so I sew along this, overshooting a bit at each end. I will then unpick the stitching back to the exact edge of the corduroy and tie the ends off neatly. This is easier than trying to second guess where the fabric is on the underside of the work.

That’s the last of the machine stitching needed to do the collar, and what you should have is the corduory bound around the long edge of the collar; the fabric attached along the machined roll line; the edges folded under along the gorge and caught by the machine roll line stitch; and rough fabric along the bottom edge with two points at the collar ends.

HAND STITCHING
All of the rest of the collar is now hand stitched, but it is really simple to do.

First I trim the excess along the bottom to give me a 1cm seam allowance which I turn under to match the neckline of the existing collar. I pin it in place.

This is were sewing the roll line pays off.

The public face of the collar has already been secured top and bottom and I am now only tethering the one inch or so along the neckline.

I now hand stitch the corduroy to the coat around the neck line, from notch to notch.

This is the most time consuming part of the job - but once you get going it doesn’t take too long really. You don’t need to make the stitches too close together, say around 3-5mm apart is fine.
The corduroy can be quite forgiving and you should find your stitches disappear into the pile of the fabric.

Now the simplest and cleverest part of the job. I always like how easy this is when I am tailoring a jacket.

With the collar face down, fold the excess which forms a sort of tab around the front edge of the collar and press very firmly.

Cut away the tab, leaving a 1 inch flap.
Inside the tab trim away any excess of folding to stop bulking.




Then carefully stitch the tab down to the under collar (usually a felt fabric) making sure you do not come through to the front.

One final press of the whole collar FROM THE REVERSE SIDE - don’t go pressing the corduroy or you could ruin it - and you are all done!

Hopefully you have found this quite a simple change to make, but a very effective end result.

Compared to how it looked before, it makes all the difference to cheap coat for the budget cosplayer.

Just so you can see, here is before and after.

If you gave this a go I’d love to hear how you got on and see your end result.
Drop me an email to tennantcoat@me.com 
to share your experiences.

Donegal discovery

I’m on a bit of a roll - no pun intended.

After securing the very last piece of the Cashmere from the season 7b Frock Coat (see left), I have now managed to track down a piece of genuine Donegal tweed a-la the series five jacket.

The original tweed jackets worn in series five were cut from two rolls of half-width hand woven Donegal tweed from W Bills in London and sold for around £40 a metre.

Once the supply had been exhausted, the weavers tried to match the fabric, but could not source the original yarn.
Since there are only two colours in the weave it meant the finished result would have been wildly out, so no attempt has been made to recreate this fabric.

What I have found pre-dates the original weave and uses the correct colours, abet a different dyeing batch, but it is essentially exactly the same stuff.

Just like the screen used, this is half-width and hand woven - so a top quality fabric!

I have a good dozen metres, so enough to make three jackets (4 metres is needed for an average jacket up to chest 44 or so).

I am happy to sell this by the metre or as made up jackets, just like the Donegal I made a couple of years back (see right).

If you are interested in a the Donegal fabric by the metre or as a made-up bespoke jacket, please mail me at tennantcoat@me.com 
and I can send you details.

ORIGINAL 11th Doctor items on eBay

Aside from the Ray Holman presentation costume design just over a month ago, there hasn’t really been many original Eleventh Doctor era items on eBay worth talking about.

However, there is one VERY nice and unique item for sale, with proceeds going to a good cause.

I’m left thinking Journey Of Impossible Things....

Doctor Who Series 5
Production Designer’s Personal Note-Book

The personal note-book used by TRISTAN PEATFIELD, who was Production Designer on Series 5 of Doctor Who (2010), between the departure of Ed Thomas and the arrival of Michael Pickwoad.

A 14cm x 21cm black covered "Guildhall" notebook, it contains notes on a number of productions on which Tristan worked (most of which I cannot identify), including at least 13 pages dedicated to Doctor Who and in particular to the episode The Lodger.

This includes text, designs and drawings in pencil by Tristan and his colleague Peter McKinstry, the best of which is probably the original design for the "Lodger TARDIS" console and "Amy Pond, TARDIS Pilot" (see photos).

This is an absolutely unique, one-off, used on-set item, which I am selling on behalf of Tristan for the benefit of The Isabella Peatfield Memorial Fund, which raises money for children's projects in Sri Lanka. Tristan's daughter Isabella died in the country on Boxing Day 2004, the youngest British victim of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. http://www.isabellapeatfield.co.uk/

Nightmare In Silver
Hedewicks Map

This is a map of "Hedgewicks World Of Adventure" which featured in Doctor Who series 7B episode 7 "Nightmare In Silver" written by Neil Gaimen, this episode starred Matt Smith (The Doctor) Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald) Warwick Davis (Porridge) Tazmin Outhwaite (Captain Alice) this highly detailed map was used to show which areas of the theme park would be safe if there were to be a Cyberman attack, its features "Natty Longshoes Comical Castle" which is the castle Clara, Captain Alice and other members of the punishment platoon were based while Cybermen attacked.

This is a beautiful map which is highly detailed and would be perfect for any Doctor Who fan, this map also features a detailed drawing of "Spacey Zoomer Ride" which was the ride that Angie and Arty (Clara's children she was looking after) rode on.

This map beautifully illustrates every corner of the theme park and would be perfect for anyone who loves Doctor Who.

Hide and seek

The days of off-the-peg items for The Doctor’s wardrobe sadly seem long gone now.

His TopMan jeans from series five, with All Saints boots and Paul Smith shirts have been replaced with G-Star RAW jeans, but with custom-made boots, and hand-made shirts.

Since you can’t find the shirt on your local high street, finding something similar, or a fabric to use to make your own is always a challenge.

We thanks to one of my eagle-eyed readers, he has found what appears to be THE fabric used to make Matt Smith’s shirt as seen in the episode Hide.

It comes from a shop call MacCulloch and Wallis.

Located just off Oxford Street on the north side, it is not so far from the fabric shops of Soho where many of the fabrics the likes of Louise Page found to make her many costumes in the Tenth Doctor era.
In fact the orange silk trim for the Tenth Doctor’s inside overcoat pocket came from this very same shop.

MacCulloch and Wallis - Striped Shirting

SOLD OUT!

The fabric he has found - and more importantly the shop where it has been sourced - fits in very much with my own knowledge of where the costume was made.

Looking at a good publicity still of matt in costume I must say it is a pretty good darn match for the fabric used.

If it isn’t THE fabric (which I am very confident it is) then it is the BEST substitute on offer.

National Bow Tie Day!

I gather today is National Bow Tie Day - another one of those spurious days to raise awareness of whatever, which dilute the days celebrating things much more worthy.

Anyway - HAPPY NATIONAL BOW TIE!

National Bow Tie Day - Reuters

National Bow Tie Day - PR Newswire

National Bow Tie Day - Examiner.com

Celebrate National Bow Tie Day With 25 Famous Wearers

National Bow Tie Day - Yahoo! News

Bow ties are getting cooler!

A little while ago I showed you a company called Mrs Bow Tie, who carry a small range of “tribute” Doctor Who bow ties.

They are made from printed silk, and although not perfect they are very functional while we wait for a decent woven alternative.

You can see the range they have in my review here:

Bow ties are cool!

Well, a good friend of mine has found another place to get similar replica bow ties from a seller on Etsy.com, called TheDirectorsCabin.

They do a range, including Fourth, Fifth, Tenth and the Eleventh Doctors.

The No. 11 Matt Smith
Tribute Freestyle Bow

The bow tie is self-tied and comes in two widths as a “batwing” (see above) or “butterfly” (see right).
They have an adjuster at the back, so one size fits all.

They also do a range of novelty Doctor Who based bow ties, based on a mixture of abstract patterns and replica fabric such as the Tenth Doctor pin striped suit and Fourth Doctor scarf.

All Saints Layer Boots on eBay

Can’t say I’ve seen many of the original All Saints Layer Boots on eBay for a while, so I thought these worth flagging up if anyone needs a pair of size 11s!
Their price, £250, is very much on the upper limit of what I’ve seen them go for - but demand dictates I suppose.

All Saints Layer Boots

These are the boots worn by Matt Smith in Series 5 of Doctor Who, and are now the holy grail of Doctor Who cosplay.

Since going of the shelves in store they have become almost impossible to find, which has also made them more valuable.

I’d love to be wearing them myself but they are way too big for me.