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Monday’s Noon
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Outline the story …
I chose the book "Mr. Monday" by Garth Nix. This is the first book in the Keys to the Kingdom series, a series my younger brother turned me onto back in the early 2000s. I chose the character of Monday's Noon who is Mr. Monday's right hand man. Noon's outfit is well described in his first scene. His outfit was described to have a white shirt with chin scrapping collar points, a red necktie, a gold waistcoat, tan pantaloons and a bottle green coat. It is also noted that this outfit had not been in fashion for over 150 years. This gave me an approximate date to work from, it was somewhere between the Regency and Victorian eras. I decided to go with the Regency era because of the chin scrapping collar points and pantaloons. I then started to look at Regency fashion plates, and patterns to use, as I have little experience drafting patterns and even less with men's patterns. I also began searching for a gold brocade fabric to be the focus of the ensemble. I chose to make some pantaloon trousers, an 18th century men's formal shirt, a Regency slip vest, Regency vest, and a red cravat. I had originally planned on making the green coat but figured I wouldn't have enough time. I asked my brother to be my model since we both love the books and live in the same house.
Outline the construction…
I used silk brocade for the first time on the vest. The silk had a lot of floating threads on the back and needed to be serged or zigzagged right after being cut to ensure it stayed together. I also learned it needed to be interfaced where you put the buttonholes and welt pockets, a step I don't normally do since I stick to sturdier fabrics in my day to day sewing. The other fabrics I used were cotton lawn for the shirt, cotton muslin for pockets and the bulk of the vests, I used a red polyester dress that I took apart for the slip vest and cravat, and beige twill for the pantaloons. One of my biggest challenges was getting materials and fabric. My local fabric store is closed for the month of January so I had to order most of my fabric online. The main issues with ordering online are shipping costs and time as well as colours of the fabric not looking how it did on your screen. I had to quickly order all my fabrics in December so it would all arrive in time for me to sew with. The twill ended up being lighter than I wanted, the gold was darker and the muslin was a heavier weight. This was also my first time using historical patterns not made by the "big three" and the instructions were a bit tricky to follow at times. I also made welt pockets for the first time.
Lovely construction, and love the fabrics! great work!
So well sewn. Beautiful
Gorgeous! The outfit looks very well put together. Oh, if only more men would dress this way. 🙂
This outfit comes together so well! I especially love the waistcoat. Amazing job!
A lot of layers! And they all look so neat, great job♡