No smoking in time and space!

This is a little off topic, but I saw this in this week’s Radio Times and just had to share it with you.

For those who don’t know, the main headquarters of the BBC is Television Centre in west London (see right).
Opened in 1960, it has been the home for the corporation ever since, but is due to be old off as part of the cost-saving drive which has seen Doctor Who Confidential being axed.

Anyway, the building is in a curious round shape, and looks like a question mark form the air! (see below)

In the centre of the ‘doughnut’ is a fountain and open space. It is here that a TARDIS is on permanent display! (see left)

The UK has a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, so office workers have to go outside the buildings they work in to get their nicotine fix, and BBC tv Centre is no exception.

Apparently there is a sign indicating where the designated smoking area is located - and where it is NOT . . . .

Entertainment & Media Show -London 2011

Today was The Entertainment and Media Show at London’s Earls Court. It’s in the exhibition centre above where the infamous Doctor Who exhibition was held during 2008-2009.

Despite being the start of October when it should be cold and wet, it’s instead expected to hit 29 or even 30 degrees, hotter than a good summers day! It ended up being hotter than Athens, Los Angeles and The Bahamas.

My tweed jacket will be too warm to wear, but in for a penny in for a pound, I’m determined to wear my green Greatcoat regardless! If I’m gonna sweat it may as well be in something worth being seen in - and tweeds are so last season! Hehehehe

Well it seems to have been worth it as I was not even halfway there when I spotted someone in a tweed jacket and bow tie down the end of a platform.

He gave me a nod and a smile, and then couldn't resist coming over to ask where I got my coat! A handy business card soon helped him out.

Bootiful

I’ve just shown off my genuine Matt Smith series six boots, and I thought I would show you the process I went through to get them.

I could have gone for either or both of the boots - the series five All Saints replicas came from the same source - but since I own an actual pair of the boots they were copied from, I didn’t see much point in buying those, at least not yet (there is another reason too, which at some point in the future I’ll explain).

But for now what interested me much more are the series six custom boots, which cannot be found anywhere else.

At the moment I can’t name the company concerned, but I went along to their workshop to initially be measured for my boots with a view to having them made.

MEASUREMENT
To get measured I was asked to stand on a sheet of plain paper, and the outline of my feet were traced. Then measurements were taken around the ball, arch and ankle of my feet.

The subtle differences between my left and right feet were even being taken into account, ensuring I will be getting the perfect fit.

From this a pair of lasts of my feet were made. These were built on a stock shape, with leather padding attached to create an accurate representation of the size of my feet.

LAST is the name given to the wooden carved models of feet used to shape footwear around. These days they are made from plastic, with adjustments made by attaching leather patches where needed.

At the time of my measurements being taken, a friend of mine who found the bootmakers, was having a pair of both Series Five and Six boots made.
His replica All Saints boots were quite advanced, and he had his fitting (see left).

Stepping out at last!

I've been dying to post this entry for MONTHS, but at long last the ‘embargo’ on it can be lifted as I finally have them in hand - or at least on foot.

These are a pair of genuine series six Matt Smith Doctor Who boots.

No messing.
No fussing.
THESE are the real deal.

I was put onto them by one of my readers and clients, who searched high and low for the bootmakers – and his work was truly rewarded.

For ages now, people have been searching in vein to find the right boots, and although they have found pairs that are similar, or have details that are partly or mostly right, no-one has actually definitively found them. And there is a very good reason. I can 100% confirm they were custom made specially for the series to a design of the BBC costume department’s choosing.

New Doctor - new rules

One of my readers who often comments in my blogs recently raised an interesting question, and one which got my thinking.

13 September 2011 23:32

benjamin rudman said...
Curious question Mr Steve; Are you finding the 11th Doctor’s clothing easier to replicate, in say, comparison to something such as the 10th Doctor’s coat?

I’ve noticed he has a lot of things that you’re able to jump right on, whereas Tennant’s coat was evil in the details.

The simple answer to this is a resounding yes, and for a multitude of reasons, sone of which I don’t think are immediately apparent.

The advent of a new season of Doctor Who inevitably sparks a flurry of activity in the cosplay community. If there is a new look - how to achieve it; if there is a new garment - where did it come from. The advent of a new Doctor though - well that’s something else. But that wasn’t always the case.

The best way to get my thoughts across is to work backwards.

We first got a glimpse of Matt Smith in costume in July 2009, when an official publicity still was released just prior to the first location filming for series five (see right).
With shooting due to start in such a public place, I guess the BBC thought the fans and press would inevitably get photos. These would be around the net like wildfire, so it would be better to manage the release of The Doctor’s new look in their own, controlled way.

What they did give us though was a high res ‘pack shot’ containing the best reference to the fabrics of his costume and it wasn’t long before the Paul Smith shirt was spotted; the TopMan jeans were identified; and those All Saints boots was snapped up. All of these were in the twilight of their life on the high street, so time was of the essence. Within weeks stocks were pretty much gone.

Doctor Who Adventures in cosplay giveaway!

The UK’s magazine for younger Doctor Who fans, Doctor Who Adventures, gives away some form of free gift on its cover each and every week.

This will vary from a Slitheen whoopie cushion; to a cyberman face mask; or just a note pad and pencil.

Well this week here has been an Eleventh Doctor dressing-up set, which includes a sonic screwdriver, TARDIS yale key, the obligatory note pad, and a genuine bow tie! (see right)

All for the princely sum of £2.75. You can’t go wrong!

Well apparently you can.

One unscrupulous seller on eBay has listed theirs for sale - with a starting price of £4.99, and you don’t even get a free magazine with it.

The thing that amazes me is that there’s even a bid!

Greatcoat - finished!

I had to skim through the making of my Greatcoat, but at last it is now finished and ready to wear!

I previously posted a quick iPhone photo, and I did promise some better images, so here goes.

I’m very pleased with the result, and I can report it is the most comfortable coat to wear.

I have given it very generous pocket depths, and it’s really nice and snug to put your hands in the vertical pockets.

I decided to keep some of the tailoring on the collar down to a minimum so it can be worn as a reversible collar – ie it can be flipped up at the back.

Greatcoat - and skip to the end

As you may have been reading, I’ve been having a bit of a roller-coaster couple of weeks since just after  Let’s Kill Hitler was shown.

Doing my best to keep my mind off things, I have immersed myself in finishing off my Greatcoat.

As I mentioned before, I haven’t documented its full creation, but here are a number of photos of it at various stages.

Stage 1 - Body panels
First I made the panels for the fronts and the back. The pocket were made and set, and the storm vents on the front and back were sewn in place.

As a quick check I pinned the shoulders together and put it on my mannequin (see left).

Greatcoat - work starts

WARNING

The following entry contains information some reader may find extremely upsetting and distressing, which you may want to skip.
This I have put under a spoiler button.

I have only now been able to think back about these events, but I want to share them for anyone who understands my love of cats.

So in the continuity of making my Greatcoat, Let’s Kill Hitler has just been screened, and I now know everything I need to know in preparation to make my coat.

So as The Doctor checks his watch, he sees it’s time to start cutting cloth!

The fabric I have sourced is a superb heavyweight cotton moleskin, comparable to the Malabar I use for Tennant Coats.

Since I have worked the pattern out carefully, I can plough straight through to get everything cut and ready for making up. You can see me cutting the fronts (see right) and the backs (see below).

There are lots of other bits to cut, so once I have them all done I can look at beginning to put it all together tomorrow.

Now, it was at this point that I came down on Monday morning to make breakfast and feed the cats (we have four). Everyone was milling around, trying to catch my eye for some food - except our ginger tom, Chester, who was sitting on his favourite cushion in the lounge, and was frankly looking a little odd. He slowly turned his head towards me as I came into the room, as if trying to say ‘I don’t feel well’. . . .

The story of Chester: 

Our concerns quickly grew as he showed no interest in eating and was becoming increasingly listless and limp.

This was not the best day for this to happen - I am NOT blaming him - it just happened to be a public holiday in the UK and my local vets was closed for the long weekend. We knew he needed urgent medical care, so we rushed him to the Royal Vetenry College not far from us, where they gave him the care he needed. Having been told we had got him them just in time, we left after an hour or so, confident he was being well looked after and reassured he would be nursed back to health. We returned home, shell-shocked.

Trying to prevent my mind from running away with things, I refocused on making the coat, but I was not in a frame of mind to document the work. I think you can forgive me just this once.

My work progressed well until late afternoon we had a call that we should return to the RVC. There we found that Chester's condition had deteriorated and he was now in an incubator, hooked up to ECGs and the like.

We discussed his condition further with the doctor caring for him, and it was not good news.

The diagnosis was that he had a blocked bladder. This affects male more than female cats, and often in overweight cats. Natural crystals that form become united with loose cells from the intestinal track, and these block the narrow pipework leading from the bladder. Once blocked the levels of electrolytes in the cat’s system go through the roof, causing secondary organ failures.

It was starting to look as though he would have a slim chance of recovery, and if he did he would be severely affected, requiring a long recovery period. While discussions were heading in only one direction, a nurse interrupted us, asking for us to return to his bedside right away.
In the time we had been chatting he was starting to show some signs of awareness and his heart rate notably increased as I positioned myself in his eyeline. His ears twitched as I said his name and he was trying to raise his head.
This was almost more heart-rending than the discussion we had just been having. We HAD to give him the chance he deserved, so requested his care continue through the night and we would convene again in the morning, unless his condition changed.

Now dazed and perplexed we returned home to a subdued house. It was difficult to sleep and impossible to think about the coat now.

We were awoken at 1.30am by a call from the RVC asking us to return as Chester was starting to deteriorate at an alarming rate. There by 2am, we could see it was becoming increasing desperate. His blood pressure was unreadable; his heart rate low; his breathing shallow and slow. The difficult decision had been made for us.

At 2.30am, wrapped in a warm fur blanket, his paw in my hand and his eyes looking deep into me, he slipped painlessly away, only five years old.

We returned home, Chester still wrapped in his blanket.
Not knowing where to put him, I placed him on top of his cushion in the lounge.

In the morning I returned to find that a orchid, which sits on the window ledge just above where Chester sat, had dropped a flower. It had landed on top of him.

Chester was buried in our garden, the base of the hole lined with he cover from his favourite cushion, along with some of his personal things. I covered him in a towel and placed the orchid flower on the top.

Farewell my little boy. We shan’t forget you. Promise.

Work on the Greatcoat was now very much on hold.

Greatcoat - pattern testing

So I have found myself an ideal pattern on which I can base my Greatcoat, but you might be interested to read how I got to that point.

College finished for the summer term back in July and because I am on an adult learning class we don’t start back until after the main juvinial students have settled in. This was going to leave me around 12 weeks without college support! Something I greatly value.
It kick starts projects; gives me incentives to maintain them; sets short-term deadlines to meet; as well as the help and advise from a knowledgeable tutor.

Before college broke up, she was encouraging us to join some one day classes running during the summer break, mainly about patchwork and machine embroidery, so not really any direct help to me. I suggested holding a one-day sewing workshop with no specific agenda, so we can catch up and maintain continuity with our ongoing projects. A lot of my classmates agreed this was a good idea, and our tutor said as long as eight of us signed up it would run.
Well, enough did and on 23rd August we had the class – perfectly timed as it was only a few days before the return of Doctor Who. My plan was to use the five hours of it to nail this pattern ready for cutting.

My tutor recommended referring to my copy of Metric Pattern Cutting For Men, which has proved to be a reliable source of pattern essentials. I have used it before when I was designing the collar to the Ultimate Tennant Suit with good results. I do prefer to use my period cutting guides, but this would still be a good place to start.

An outer garment needs to be that bit larger around the middle, to allow for a jacket or suit to be worn underneath. So it’s worth following this block rather than enlarging a jacket.

G-Star RAW at John Lewis -grab them while you can!

Someone recently sent me a link to the John Lewis website, where they are currently selling the correct, slim fitting G-Star RAW Blade jeans in the 3D aged fabric.

If you wanna grab a pair, be quick – they are listing low stocks on all the remaining sizes.

John Lewis.com – G-Star Raw 3D Aged Blade Slim Fit Jeans

Greatcoat - pattern research

I am now well into researching a pattern for my Green Greatcoat.

Some of you may recall that I found a Cutters Guide from the 1890s (see right), which contained instructions on the construction of a basic lounge jacket block.

This has severed me very well, and was the basis for both the Ultimate Tennant Suit AND the recent Shetland and Donegal Tweed jackets I have made.

Well, I have now found a much later (1949) Cutter’s Guide which covers  a number of garment disciplines, from clerical to court; from Scottish to garments for the tropics! (see left)

But of particular interest is a section regarding British Navy, Army and Air Force uniforms and greatcoats, including the instructions for how to cut them!

THIS is what I will use to create a basic pattern from which I can extract what I need and adapt to create the Green Greatcoat design.

Below is a list of the patterns in the book which are of interest to me, some more than others, but here they all are.

Greatcoat - reference material

So, you’ve guessed it, I’m gonna have to make myself one of these green overcoats! How can I resist?

But where to start?

Well I’m already a couple of steps ahead – when I first saw the coat I did recognise that it was a moleskin fabric. It just has that certain look that only moleskin has. I’ve done my research and sourced the perfect fabric to use. What I’ve got to do next is devise a suitable pattern.

Now, I’m not expecting you to remember this (but bonus points if you did), but back in February last year I went to a surplus costume sale at Angels, the UK’s largest film & TV costume supplier.

You can read my full report here:

Angel’s Retro Costume Sale

It was a total bun fight with rooms filled with shirts or hats or trousers or ties – all of which were not much above the quality of the lesser stock seen in a charity shop. Precious little had an Angels (or Berman’s) label in – and nothing was attributed to any actor or production. It really could have been anything.

However, there was a room which did interest me, one which contained all manner of military uniforms and greatcoats. The only problem was finding stuff of a decent size (most seemed to be for a chest 36 or smaller) or that still retained its original buttons (most had been ripped off and were bare).

Green herring? (as opposed to the red type)

Well here’s a funny thing.

I’ve been looking at the possible inspirations behind the new Green Greatcoat, and I came across this little curiosity.

I found it on the website for June Hudson.

 Design © June Hudson, 2010

It’s a speculative design by the legendary costume designer  – the goddess of Who clothing in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

It is described as:

Coat design for
the Eleventh Doctor
(Matt Smith) 2010
Speculative design: a green, military-influenced overcoat for Matt Smith as the Doctor. Produced in association with a class at the University of Redlands - Designing for TV Science Fiction.
May 2010.

Now this pre-dates Matt’s season six costume fittings by about a month!

You can see the original on June Hudson’s website:

June Hudson : Recent Designs

Could it be that June’s influence is still felt today – I very much hope so – or is it just an amazing coincidence?

Back soon

The past week has been understandably disrupted, but I’m starting to get myself back on track.

I haven’t been as productive tailoring-wise – it’s been hard to settle into any level of normality – but I have spent some time researching and drafting some new entries, one of which is a real cracker and well worth a look!

Check back over the weekend to start reading them.

Finally, another thank you to the many people who posted comments in my blog following the new of Chester’s loss.

Additional comments are always welcome.