Tradition: an appreciation of a personal antique

Today I'd like to highlight what is unquestionably the oldest article of clothing I possess.

It's called a "kożuszek góralski", and is a natural sheepskin shearling short coat, decorated in the tradition of  Poland's highlanders (górale), residents of Podhale, the High Tatra mountains of southern Poland.  My family really loved that part of the country, and we spent many holidays there.  I learned to ski in Zakopane, and hiked my little legs off around Morskie Oko, a very deep little lake whose name translates as Eye of the Sea - cue legend of a super-long underground tunnel connecting the lake to the sea - situated in one of the most picturesque valleys in the high mountains.

Here is yours truly and my beautiful young Mom, many, many years ago, at the Old Chalet in Morskie Oko.  It was early spring, and all the young people staying at the chalet, my parents included, used the roof  of the porch as their tanning bed, the men in nothing but their briefs (I rememer that oh so well).  That hooded plaid coat that I'm wearing in the photo was made from a thick wool blanket by Mom: I get my sewing fingers honestly ;)

Look at that! I found this recent pic of the Old Chalet on the web. Amazing, eh what?! The photo of Mom and me above encompasses the porch and the left window.  I have NO idea why the chalet is surrounded by this enormous madding crowd; the place was practically deserted when we were there. 

Poland, by the way, has a very rich traditional ethnic dress culture.  If I was to compare it to anything, I'd say the country's ethnic dress is almost as diverse and instantly informative as the tartan tradition of Scotland.  However, whereas tartans are for the most part reflective of family names, the Polish folk garb reflects regional divisions.  Just take a look, aren't these gorgeous? I love that the men's outfits are every bit as delightful and ornate as the ladies'.

I claim the łowicki style (second row from top, at right) by birth,
and the krakowski (third row from top, centre) by descent. 

But that's just the very basics;  the regions have their subdivisions, and there are gazillions of wonderfully diverse variations on the main regional themes.

An aside:  to fully appreciate those costumes, you really have to see them in motion.  If you scroll down to the end of this post, you'll find a few links to some really dynamic, professional performances of Polish folklore.

My kożuszek dates from 1969: a gift from my mother as we were leaving for Canada (thanks, Mom!)  Though not yet a teenager at the time, I stopped growing early and was almost fully grown by then, so its fit today is just about the same as when it was brand new.

In researching this subject on the internet, I was able to find just a single very tiny icon of a kożuszek that appeared - at least at its miniscule scale, at left below - very similar to mine, at right:

 I chased the link to discover that it was a "for sale" entry from five years ago, advertised as "antique, patterned on the style used for the Polish Olympic team in the 1960s". The date certainly fits! Unfortunately, the icon's link to a larger photo no longer exists, so I couldn't verify its similarity to mine in detail.

I dug around some more and discovered - aha! - that it was at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble when the Polish team's beautifully embroidered shearling coats made a fabulous impression on the world.  The Poles didn't bring home a single medal from that event, but damn, they must've been a stylish looking lot. Ironically, they didn't bring their kożuszki home either, but flogged them locally for the to-them-astronomical sum of $200 (think Iron Curtain economics).  Good for them, I say - free enterprise rocks.

My search for a photo or video of the team has yielded only this photo of the team's coach in a very nice shearling:

Although his coat does have traditional embroidery, the embroidery is utterly unlike mine, and with the huge hood on its back, the coat itself is very atypical.  So I feel that I'm still no closer to finding out what the coats of the '68 Olympians looked like, and whether mine is at all similar to them.  It would be nice to know, if only for the historical perspective.

My kożuszek is in far from perfect condition. Apart from the scuffing of its embroidery due to normal wear and tear (yes, I did wear it for the first couple of winters here, though it really isn't adequate as winter wear in Canada's severe climate), its fur has begun to separate from the leather.  Limited lifetime of the tanning process, I suppose.  At any rate, it's no longer wearable.

I'd like to preserve it somehow, as the original workmanship was really beautiful and it's unique. My internet search showed me that other examples from that period are practically nonexistent. There are similarly embroidered sleeveless shearling vests, serdaki (see serdak góralski) , but full on long sleeved embroidered coats are rare indeed.

I'm thinking of picking or cutting the garment apart and creating a series of framed pictures of the embroidered sections.

 Much of the cross stitch on the back and shoulder trim, and some of the stitching holding the leather appliqué have rubbed away so I'd have to undertake some repair work, but that strikes me as a relatively easy if painstaking task.  Because the fur is falling out, it could perhaps be removed entirely (?) and replaced by facsimile trim made of faux shearling. Or I could use felt or some similar wooly cloth to allude to the original fur in a somewhat more abstract way; a slavish recreation may not be necessary.

Anyway, I'm throwing this idea out there to see if any of you might be willing to voice your opinion and give me some advice on how to proceed.  It's a tricky thing - on the one hand I'd like to be respectful of the item - on the other, it offers no artistic benefit nor personal joy to me while hanging in a closet.  And really, curating it in its original form is not really an option, as it has already begun to disintegrate; a process that's bound to continue.

If you got this far, here is some fab folk dancing for you that show off the folk costumes as they ought to be seen:

It starts with a song medley, but about 1m 20s into the video they begin to dance, and at 2 minutes a different set of costumes of the same region (Krakow) enters the scene.

For a unique look, not to mention pure athleticism and boy on boy competitiveness, you can't beat the dances of Podhale:

Above, the real fun begins at 2m 50s.

And finally, a dance of the central region; it begins with a very beautiful, very lyrical duet:

  

Thanks for reading!

Trench coat: progress and details

The hardest part of making anything, especially something made up of many complicated parts, is, actually, making the decision.  And decisions.

In this case, stuff like:
 topstitching:  single pass or double?  single.  Self or contrasting?  darker than self but not in your face contrast.  Normal thread or jeans/heavy weight?  I went with extra strong, which thinner than jeans weight, but some small fiddly things like belt loops are stitched with self coloured regular weight thread - the heavier thread didn't seem appropriate on the very small stuff.

Aside from choosing to make two piece sleeves, one of the more interesting questions I had posed myself was the construction of the yoke and gun flap.  It occurred to me that it would be sort of cool if this piece could be simply free floating on the coat itself, with neckline and armscyes  being the only seams where it's attached to the coat.  To that end, I added a "mini gun flap" to the left side:



I deliberately cut the lining a little larger than the FF, to allow for potential fraying during handling. 

The order of construction was, stitch left and right front flaps to the yoke, press shoulder seams to front and topstitch them, add the epaulette carriers, and only THEN attach the lining.  This way the lining smoothly sits between the yokes and the coat itself.   The shoulder seams of the coat itself are pressed to the back which minimizes the thickness at that point.

There are no buttonholes on anything yet; I usually do those as the very last step.  That button is just sitting pretty pretending it's attached.

A word on this fabric.  (aside: is this really what Bur6erry uses in their trench coats? it seems heavier than what I saw in stores recently).  This fabric is like milled cast iron, it's that tough and strong.   It's so ......um, stiff, yeah, there, I said it - when it comes right down to the nitty gritty it's pretty much stiff as a board, and I do hope it softens in wear.  See that epaulette below? It isn't even interfaced, and doesn't it have super legs?

So, after dithering for a bit (decisions, decisions), I decided not to interface the facing.  I was afraid I'd feel I was walking wrapped in cardboard if I did.  Instead, I added a wedge of fusible hair canvas to the lapel area of the CF, pinked off at the lapel fold diagonal line. Should I tape it?  Any advice on that? (I didn't)

Things are coming along.  I'm almost at the point of cutting the facing and lining layer.

Jan 2015 update:  a few detail shots of the finished coat.

Collar tab buttonhole is non-functional, so I left it uncut.

Shoulder tab:

 Left gunflap:

 Sleeve and belt buckles, pocket, topstitching details:

Two piece lower collar, cut on the bias for a nice chevron pattern:

And, note the nice high collar stand.  Great for keeping the wind off my neck!

Trench coat: pattern test drive

As the saying goes, there's no time like the  present.  Killing two birds with one stone, I cut out jacket length (5255 D), though I plan to use all of the pattern details of jacket C, for a snazzy red jacket to test drive the 5525 body with the sleeve from Simplicity 4084 (another great trench coat pattern), and basted it all together.    

The body is a straight size 12, with the back neckline dropped a whole 2.5 cm (1") to compensate for my over-erect (yes that is the correct technical term!) back.  Good thing I did that - it brought the shoulder seams to where they should be:  when I forget this step, my garments show a severe backwards drift:  yuck! 

The fit is great - but I like more ease (the stuffed sausage look is So Not For Me), so I narrowed the SA's a tad at the front and back  princess seams starting at the hip bone, leaving the CB and side seams per original design. That added about 4 cm (1.5") to the hip area. 

I also intend to lower the CB vent by about 2-3 cm (~1"), as I do NOT want my butt's high water line to push it open!

The sleeve took a bit of work:  first I measured the original 5525 armscye circumference & compared it to the 4084's.  In the latter, the circumference is 15 mm smaller and the sleeve length 2.5 cm (1") shorter.  So I added 4 mm to each of the half sleeve sides, and lengthened them by a breathtaking 7.5 cm (3").  Just as well!!!!!  

 In the above pic, the sleeve hem is folded 5.5 cm (2 1/4") from the bottom, and it doesn't look too long, does it?   The lovely purple elastic, you ask?  it's there to imitate the sleeve tab/belt, which serves to cinch the sleeve and keep freezing rain and wind off my bony wrists.  

There was no way to ease this sleeve into the body.  The fabric is totally non-easable, so I made a few tiny pleats at upper back (you can see a couple of them in the pic).  However - I think what I'll do is add a little more ease at the side and front princess seams for my bust, just the upper 10-15 cm, and that'll increase the armscye a bit and make the task of sleeve easing easier ;) in the actual construction.  

So, what next?  

I need to decide on a whole lot of things:

1. do I need to interface the whole fronts, per pattern instructions?  this fabric is like iron - maybe interfacing isn't necessary?  maybe I could, like I did with my most recent jacket, just underline with silk organza and add a bit of hair canvas to the lapel bit of the underlining? 

2. do I need to worry about waterproofing all the seams?

3. for the red jacket, what sort of lining?  fancy silk (dig through the stash, Digs!), or basic black bemberg (which I already have)?  

4. what about the topstitching?  contrast or self colour? self or thick thread?

4. how about some amazing piped edges (for the red jacket only)?

So.  This was a well spent Sunday.  I think, since I really-Really-REALLY want to have a trench COAT  before the month is out rather than a JACKET, I'll now set this little red baby aside and plow straight into the tan.  :)   :)  :)

Trench coat plans!

A serious Bur6erry ;) knockoff has been on my to-do list for a long time: ever since Michael had a sale of the raincoating fabric, which I think was some time in early 2008.

Fabric:

The fabric is amazing. It's made out of two layers of cotton twill bonded together, one plain colour, the other patterned in a nice tan/black/white/burgundy stripe.  Both sides are waterproof and shed water beautifully. [Edit: when I started to wear the coat I discovered the double thickness and waterproofing make the coat very windproof as well, and consequently surprisingly warm.]

I bought three lengths, in tan, red, and blue, all from Michael's, plus a length of matching lining from Denver Fabrics.  I still have the receipt for the latter, dated June 2008!  

Tan coating on the right (4.8 m) with matching rayon lining (2.4 m) on the left.

Sky blue (1.6 m) and fire engine red  (3.0 m)

I'm not quite sure why I got these lengths. It was in the early days of my sewing, and I was building up a stash, maybe? Or, probably more likely, I had had no idea whatsoever what lengths were needed for say, a coat (the tan), or a jacket (the red)?   I think the blue was destined for my baby boy, but ahem, he's much bigger than I now, way too big now for such a miserly length to be useful for him.  But, blue combined with the tan could make a colour-blocked jacket perhaps. 

I love how water beads on this fabric - clearly it's been waterproofed!

Patterns:  

I have two - the Simplicity 4084 (Threads) and McCall's M5525.  I know there are others - Jalie, Marfy, and Burda, and may find them eventually for info purposes, but I plan on using a combo of the two I have.  

Alterations:

I like the M5525 upper back yoke and front gunflap, and the rain tab on the collar stand.  I prefer 4084's two piece sleeve, the direction of the side front pocket welts, and the buckle on the belt.  In addition, instead of what these patterns provide, I plan to make fold-over epaulettes (skinny underside), buckled rather than buttoned sleeve tabs, hanging tabs on the belt, and four instead of two belt holders.  

The under collar will be bias-cut and show the wrong side.  Buttons and buckles will be classic horn style.  Top stitching?  perhaps burgundy, to match the thin stripe of the underside and lining.  

I know some of you out there have used this cloth - I'd love to post links to those successful projects, so if you know where they are, please post in the comments section - thanks!  I'd also love to hear your comments and advice - this is a big project and your help will definitely go a long way to giving it justice!

Coral cashmere coat inaugurated! with some random thoughts

It was snowing here a tiny bit on Monday, so I quickly whipped three of the snaps on, and inaugurated it!

The sleeves are deliberately long, all the better to hide my hands in them when it's snowing & blowing...



The lining's still unattached at the bottom - I want to tack the facings to the underlining first....



The all-important wallet-protecting inside pocket....



Soft rumpling of sleeve screams luxury!!!!



Back yoke keeps me warm, and is desperately begging for the hood (still to come)...



You can see in the side view that I made the yoke a little larger than the coat's back, so it doesn't hamper movement...



For a touch of stylistic versatility, the collar ends are long enough to tie into a fanciful bow.



Random thoughts: BWOF designed this coat to be an unlined single layer garment, from non-fraying fabric, such as boiled wool, for example. I used (incidentally non-fraying) pure cashmere, but I lined it TO DEATH.

My coat has 5 basic layers: fashion fabric, wool/poly blend underlining to support the fashion fabric, a polyester windblock, cotton knit interlining for extra warmth, and silk charmeuse lining. The underlining supports the fashion fabric, the windblock is lightly tacked onto that duo, and the interlining-plus-lining were sewn as one.

I added a back yoke, which included the polyester windblock, and is lined with the charmeuse. We want our hidden bits to be pretty too, don't we? We sure do.

Did you know that you lose 50% of your heat through your head???!!! and all that heat is delivered via the carotid arteries which run just under the skin of the neck (Sweeney Todd was well versed in anatomy). So, if your feet are cold, put on a hat, and wrap your neck in windproofed cashmere. To block the winds, I added a layer of polyester inside the shawl collar.

After all the construction (detailed in previous posts), I wasn't happy with the way the coat felt: too stiff, too immobilizing. So I cut away much of the windblock. I kept all of the front, but removed it from both top sleeves and the sides. I kept it over the lower back, but, except for a 2" overlap with the yoke, removed it from the upper back. I also cut away all of the cotton knit interlining from the under sleeve, and the interlining from the lower part of the top front sleeve, to above the elbow. Result: the coat's much lighter and more flexible. Now it's like a warm, cozy blanket one wants to get all wrapped into.

This coat has NO fusible interfacing. NONE. Not even the back neck facing (though I thought of it, and it looks pretty soft without any). Oh, wait a second: I interfaced the front sleeve corners. But honestly, apart from the sew-in stuff on the front yokes, that's it.

I stabilized the sleeve hems, bottom hem, and fronts with tiny backstitching that's invisible from the outside but looks like prickstitching on the inside. It's a simple but asymmetric backstitch, 1 cm forward, 1 mm back. Gives tiny little pinprick points every centimeter.

Working with this luxurious fabric was dreamy. I loved holding it so much, I even mitered the front facing corners (at the hem), by hand.

Bottom line after wearing it for a week: it's NOT the warmest coat in my closet - but it sure is the softest.

Let it snow!

Yea! Snow, snow, snow. First snow of the season here today: just a little mid-day, then these fabulous plate-sized flakes thickly swirling into a veritable blizzard as I wended my way home from the bus stop. Not at all dressed for the weather either, in teeny little high heels that turned my toes to icicles by the time I arrived at my door. Yes, I was totally nonchalant about the forecast this morning. And yes, I love me a good winter. Brilliant blue skies, brilliant sunshine, brilliantly white snow squeaking underfoot. Skiing, ah, skiing. And brilliantly colourful people against all that white shiny brilliance.

Today's few flakes won't stick. Yet, they give me permission to set aside my two Chanels - very temporarily - to get started on my new coat. It'll be this BWOF 115 coat from the Sept. 2009 issue, made up in the fabric & lining at left. Pure cashmere and silk charmeuse, people! I had declared these two fabrics in the Great Coat Sew Along last year, but wasn't convinced by any of the patterns. This time, I am. Check out the technical drawing of that coat! The yoke, the side panels, and, get this, front and back sleeves are on the bias!!! Chic and comfortable, what a winner.

I'll have to see if I have enough fabric, but I'm hoping to add a trench-style back-whatever-it's-called to it. It'll need re-drafting of the back sleeve to a raglan, but that's a cinch. And, if there's still more fabric left, a hood: we really need head & shoulders protection from the nasty westerlies here during the season. The hood might in fact take priority over the trench thingy.

Let it snow, yea!