Interestingly, only the sleeves were lined with raw cotton muslin, if at all.
Breathability of sleeves is very important, as is, whether the coat is to be a warm winter coat or a lighter spring (or work) coat, is having a lining; with a
balloon sleeve style especially, a lining the same size (or a bit
larger than the cut of the sleeve) helps to fill it in, and give it some depth.
Patterns around 1865 typically have no smaller than 9" at the elbow, with no more than 12", keeping in mind that the height of the style was around the start of the decade. This means that sleeve is pretty roomy! part of the proper construction is having that lining there.
Here are the sleeves on a c.1865 pattern sack coat I began two weeks ago. Close to finishing - I did the sleeves as one of the first completed parts of the coat, which proved to speed the pace of work up, as the main work still left is inserting the sleeves and sewing buttonholes.
Pay attention to how the sleeves look flat - I attached the lining by hand, and it is larger than the cut of the sleeve (widest point 9.2", total length from top of the seam to bottom of the cuff, ~28". I intentionally made the sleeve long so that I have much more room for adjustment when attaching them, rather than for example having them too short - and being able to do much less about it!)
Still a work in progress - don't worry, the imperfections will mostly, literally be ironed out! This is a fairly hasty coat I am making for personal use, a quick, nice-looking coat that can brave the rapidly approaching autumn weather.
There is a certain
volume given by the addition of the lining; balloon sleeves look like wearing robes without them! So even unlined coats typically have sleeve lining.
As to the
material - in my immediate example here, the lining is nothing special; just some cheap, natural brown cotton that I am using up the remainder of in this coat - body & sleeve lining all the same.
On its "sister" coat made from the same pattern I have on the way, much less finished - I do have
raw cotton for the sleeves.
Raw cotton muslin is used for the sleeves both for breathability and durability; the reason for using polished cotton on body lining is because
1) it is a very fine material - having had the pleasure of seeing and touching original coats, polished cotton was made as quite a luxurious fabric. That leads to
2), which is that it is very comfortable (raw cotton muslin is not so much, and this is
not the same cotton muslin used in shirt linen, which was generally very fine &
3) it is much better suited to
quilting, of which the era from the 1850s-70s probably reaches its peak in ordinary coats. Any nice coat had quilted and often padded linings.
(And #4 - polished cotton does not really go well on sleeves! Sleeves are one of the main areas of the coat where the most wear and tear happens. Polished cotton is not ideal for anything that will be bent and moved around in, and much better for a body piece! It's like using silk for working trouser lining.. no!)
As for quilting - It's one of the reasons I love this era in particular - accurately, properly quilted and padded coats are extremely comfortable.
An example from a frock coat I made earlier in the summer - using some tartan, ordinary natural cotton because it is what I still had to use up - the results are nice,
but not as good as if I had used some finer, polished cotton! Here's is the lining as it looked in the process of development:
You'll notice the back panel I did by hand here, the front by machine. Only basic patterns.
And how the actual coat ended up looking - I never quite finished it! But it looks finished enough from the outside:
As to the body lining - a last minute alteration included not actually installing the back pieces in the end here - which is not an inaccurate:
An officer's sack coat was a commercial item that varied from the government issue. Needless to say, there were many custom features in a taylor made sack coat.
As the sack cost was a utility garment, the officer version typically did not vary far from the government issue. A finer grade of woolen material, appropriate buttons, staff officer e.g. & a deep patch pocket for holding maps instead of the issue hidden pocket.
As to
body lining - something you will see in many original examples of US frock coats is a similar
lack of back panels. Even when there is a
complete lining in a frock coat, 9 times out of 10, the only layers on the back pieces will be the
coat fabric and the lining fabric - intentionally contrasting with the layering on the rest of the coat. In a very structured front, i.e. like here, this makes for great ventilation as an open front billows air through, more or less allowing the "vents" at the back of the coat to act as actual vents and allowing for ventilation even if buttoned up.
While this is
frock coats I am talking about, the same logic is often used for many
sack coat styles, and indeed I am also incorporating into the pair of sack coats I am currently working on. This enhances breathability by a lot. Which is why the images I took here (Around 90 degrees Fahrenheit with no air conditioning mind you!) were done in relative comfort. It turns you into your own air conditioning!
All of this applies to one extent or another, as this is civilian fashion, and often is incorporated in the wide range of private purchase in the war, from officer's sack coats to the odd custom uniform of an enlisted man. There are of course, other examples of plenty of frock coats with fully quilted, padded back panels (i.e. as was quite literally my original plan with the aforementioned frock coat) so this isn't a strict rule, of course. But it is the purpose and effect.
Hope this insight and viewpoint helps at least slightly! In short, a brief explanation and contrast between a sack coat in the works, made with haste (and largely with machine) in two weeks vs. a mostly handmade frock coat I took 2 months for.
Particularly incredible example of one of Lincoln's overcoats displayed at Ford's Theater - look at that brilliant, patriotic quilting! Much easier and displays better with polished cotton. Quilting on coats, be them military private purchase or ordinary civilian coats of all sorts, range from simple lines and basic patterns to highly intricate designs. I've seen many great examples of both machine and handstitched examples.
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