BLUE TIGER COAT

Design, pattern, and construction by Lorena Babcock Moore, 2013.

Blue Tiger Coat  Blue Tiger Coat back

INSPIRATION: The pattern was copied from a 1930s Chevrolet shop coat that my grandfather wore during his early years as a mechanic. He managed his own shop for most of his life and retired at age 80, five years before his death in 1996.

I took the coat to college to use in the geology lab, and later wore it while hiking or blacksmithing. It is a perfect fit for me and is still wearable but fragile, so I wanted to make a new coat using same pattern and colors. The pattern is an exact copy with two minor changes: the collar is a bit larger, and the two shallow back pleats were converted to darts for a smoother fit.

1930s Chevrolet Shop Coat  old shop coat cotton twill fabric

FABRIC AND CONSTRUCTION: The old shop coat is made of smooth, sturdy cotton herringbone twill; both the coat and the fabric were made in the U.S.A. The fabric was “sanforized” (stretched and steamed before cutting, to shrink it and tighten the weave). The pattern is standard for shop coats of that era, though the chevron trim on the sleeves and pockets appears to have been specific to General Motors (Oldsmobile shop coats had red trim).The shop coat is unlined and the collar has no interfacing.  The original type of fabric is no longer available, so I chose a medium-weight undyed hemp herringbone twill for the new coat, with premium unbleached cotton muslin for the lining. The trim is a lighter weight hemp-cotton with a subtle herringbone weave and deep smoky indigo color. The collar, cuffs, and belt are stiffened with undyed hemp muslin that was padstitched to a single layer of needled cotton batting. The embroidery was done with several sizes of pearl cotton embroidery thread.  The brown stripe on the belt is cotton crochet thread. Like the original, the new coat has the belt stitched flat to the back. The hemp twill is too heavy for my sewing machine, so everything had to be hand sewn. This fabric is has no particular drape, so the trim and embroidery help provide shape. To reduce bulk, the seams are bound with cotton herringbone twill tape, not flat-felled like the old coat. Despite the construction challenges, the hemp is a beautiful and comfortable fabric with a strong texture, a pearlescent sheen, and slightly fuzzy surface. The blue hemp-cotton trim has a finer weave and a smooth matte finish, so it offers a more interesting contrast than a simple color difference.  Hemp is the most practical fabric for the desert, being comfortable over a wide range of temperatures, and more durable than cotton or linen.

coat belt and placket  coat pocket with mountain lion track

WILD CAT THEMES: Embroidered outlines of several types of life-size realistic cat tracks (many from my own photos) decorate the front: domestic cat pawprints on the plackets, mountain lion tracks on the pocket trim, bobcat tracks at the front corners of the hem, and jaguar tracks on the hem at the sides. Brown stylized jaguarundi tracks anchor the top of the plackets, and a stylized tiger track in brown trapunto adds interest and weight to the center of the back hem. The brown cotton tiger’s head belt pouch is outlined with buttonhole stitch. The blue spiral tiger face, inspired by Nanai and Celtic designs, was embroidered on hemp-cotton muslint.  Stylized cat paws form the ends of the belt.

stylized jaguarundi track  bobcat track  trapunto tiger track

embroidered blue tiger face 

 tiger belt pouch  serpent tiger stripes on belt pouch

FUNCTIONAL EMBROIDERY: The embroidery adds strength, durability, and structure. The embroidered plackets are hemp-cotton muslin bordered with cotton twill tape.  A single tricolor double interlaced running stitch design was used on all the blue trim. Most of the trim pieces are attached to the coat using brown thread in herringbone stitch bordered with backstitch on each side. The pockets are attached with tied herringbone stitch on bias tape.

collar with tricolor running stitch  chevron sleeve trim

The belt and the top seams on the sleeves have double interlaced herringbone stitch done on cotton twill tape. The photo below shows the four steps needed to complete this stitch.  The resulting pattern resembles Celtic knotwork and is easily visible even when worked in a single color, though it is usually worked in multiple thread colors.

Steps in interlaced double herringbone stitch.

   

WHITE, INDIGO, and UMBER

This is one of my favorite color combinations and I have already made an embroidered vest and a "power blanket" made from Japanese dobby cloth in these colors.

The indigo/umber/white combination is easily created in a variety of natural materials.

It is found in traditional coats and blankets from several cultures, in patterns that have enduring beauty, power, and dignity:

Early Zuni and Navajo wool blankets:

http://nelson-atkins.org/collections/iscroll-objectview.cfm?id=6317

Fish skin coat from Siberia

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O46324/coat-unknown/

Ainu bark-cloth coat from northern Japan

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/6641/Mans_Robe