Making a Commutation Waistcoat!

[HatEnjoyer]

I've finally begun drafting the pattern for my gray wool commutation waistcoat!

I'm basing it off of (but not completely replicating) three confederate waistcoats I've seen online, these being the 2 Speck waistcoats (screenshot from Civil War Digital Digest video shown) and the waistcoat of a Confederate Colonel which is in the National Museum of American History:

Please don't hesitate to give me tips on how to make it more accurate to the era! I'm much more experienced with menswear from the 1920s-50s.

 

[captaindrew]

That's going to be nice. Make sure to hand sew the buttonholes. There was some machine sewing in the era but they couldn't machine sew the buttonholes. And I'd go with some sort of civilian buttons, brass coin buttons or brass floral pattern maybe. You can even find originals for not much $$.

 

[RedRover]

The "Confederate Sketchbook" by Thomas, has schematic drawings of some originals, demonstrating the modes of assembly, etc. Also some jackets, trousers, a cap, etc.

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Make sure to hand sew the buttonholes. There was some machine sewing in the era but they couldn't machine sew the buttonholes. And I'd go with some sort of civilian buttons, brass coin buttons or brass floral pattern maybe. You can even find originals for not much $$.

Yep! I'm actually much more comfortable with handsewing than using a machine, which of course is perfect for this hobby haha

 

[HatEnjoyer]

The "Confederate Sketchbook" by Thomas, has schematic drawings of some originals, demonstrating the modes of assembly, etc. Also some jackets, trousers, a cap, etc.

View attachment 520452

Awesome! Am I able to view it on the internet? If so I'll make sure to check it out!

 

[RedRover]

Awesome! Am I able to view it on the internet? If so I'll make sure to check it out!

Amazon drygoods website says they still have some copies available:

A Confederate Sketchbook

Title: A Confederate Sketchbook, Author: Michael R. Thomas, ISBN: None

www.amazondrygoods.com

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Amazon drygoods website says they still have some copies available:

A Confederate Sketchbook

Title: A Confederate Sketchbook, Author: Michael R. Thomas, ISBN: None

www.amazondrygoods.com

Perfect, I'll definitely pick up a copy.

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Update: Just finished drafting the pattern for the waistcoat's back pieces. It looks ok to me, what do ya'll think?

 

[captaindrew]

Look forward to seeing the finished product. Wish I had the talent and patience to do it, would've saved me lots of $$ over the years.

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Look forward to seeing the finished product. Wish I had the talent and patience to do it, would've saved me lots of $$ over the years.

I'll try to keep updating this thread whenever I make progress! Ya'll here at CWT have been very welcoming, and I'm glad I'm able to share my projects with everybody!

 

[Trooper "D"]

I've finally begun drafting the pattern for my gray wool commutation waistcoat! View attachment 520448View attachment 520449 I'm basing it off of (but not completely replicating) three confederate waistcoats I've seen online, these being the 2 Speck waistcoats (screenshot from Civil War Digital Digest video shown) and the waistcoat of a Confederate Colonel which is in the National Museum of American History:
View attachment 520450
View attachment 520451
Please don't hesitate to give me tips on how to make it more accurate to the era! I'm much more experienced with menswear from the 1920s-50s.

Nice originals to go by. I have found vests being worn on the dead confederates played out for burial. All ranks seem to have had vests if they wanted. Civilian style as well as military. You get a nice design there. Hope you share your finished product.
Cheers!

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Nice originals to go by. I have found vests being worn on the dead confederates played out for burial. All ranks seem to have had vests if they wanted. Civilian style as well as military. You get a nice design there. Hope you share your finished product.
Cheers!

I was originally going to make a military-cut waistcoat with the high collar, but when I saw the Speck waistcoats, I immediately fell in love with their cut. I'm looking to cut the fabric later today, and I might sew the outer shell together while I'm at it, so stay tuned!

 

[SethJ]

Oh to be skinny enough to use a waistcoat with an angled side...

Looks excellent!

 

[Trooper "D"]

I was originally going to make a military-cut waistcoat with the high collar, but when I saw the Speck waistcoats, I immediately fell in love with their cut. I'm looking to cut the fabric later today, and I might sew the outer shell together while I'm at it, so stay tuned!

Oh everybody has those box collar ones. I have had seamstresses cut down the tall collars on coats and vests and put a angle on the edge. So much more comfortable and they look better also. Plenty of room for the bow tie to spill out of.
I like your tastes better than the military cut. I think Either Col. Mosby or Massa Robert had a military vest with a downturned rounded collar that swoops down for the space of the top 2 buttons so it has seven buttons and an open collar on top. Looks really nice. Its on Pinterest but a quick research on both those people will probably turn up a photo with one of them wearing it. Maybe they both did.
Cheers!

 

[Trooper "D"]

Oh to be skinny enough to use a waistcoat with an angled side...

Looks excellent!

I hear ya Man.

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Here's an update for ya'll! I started the process of cutting out the different panels about 30 minutes ago, and here's what I have so far:

As you can see, I've decided to keep the lapel pieces separate from the front panels which is not typical. I decided to do this because one of the Speck waistcoats is constructed from 17 different pieces, most likely due to fabric shortages, which forced the tailor to make do with what she had. And in this case, she probably only had a few smaller sheets of fabric available. I wanted to keep that character without having to deal with 17 panels, so here we are!

 

[HatEnjoyer]

Another update for ya'll! I finished sewing the outer shell of the waistcoat several days ago, but totally forgot to make an update for that, so here it is now:

Of course this is only the outer shell, so it's definitely on the thin side. I also haven't brought in the seam allowance just yet which is the reason for the wrinkling on the edges of the armscyes.

I also finally worked out how I'm going to make the shawl lapel, so here is a pic of my pattern I made

And my order from tartex came in today with some heavyweight wool-jean for the interfacing, cotton muslin for the lining, and a few wood buttons.

The next thing on my to-do list is to press my new materials and to cut out the pieces I need for the interfacing. Then it's just a matter of pad-stitching the interfacing to the shell and lapel. The lapel should be interesting because I'll need to roll it towards the body as I pad-stitch it, so that it will stay flat when being worn.