Simplified shell jacket?

[RetiredCanuck]

If you look at the versions I-III of the Richmond Depot you see a gradual simplification of the shell jacket.
This to save some material, but also labour on garments with a lot of hand sewing.
Then I saw this picture posted on another thread:

Tait contract jackets had a 3-piece back, eliminating the middle seam.
It led me to speculate: If you altered the pattern above slightly to pinch in the darts at X,Y, Z and M-W,
and placed the long edge of the centre back on a fold line, you could (in theory) construct the entire body in one piece.
The only seam to stich would be the shoulder O-L. That would save a lot of hand sewing.

I tried it last night with just a paper cutout and it seemed to work.

I'm almost convinced to give it a try for real, but I'd end up spending $100 worth of materials on a jacket that had no historical use.
Any thoughts?

 

[HatEnjoyer]

If you look at the versions I-III of the Richmond Depot you see a gradual simplification of the shell jacket.
This to save some material, but also labour on garments with a lot of hand sewing.
Then I saw this picture posted on another thread:

View attachment 523357

Tait contract jackets had a 3-piece back, eliminating the middle seam.
It led me to speculate: If you altered the pattern above slightly to pinch in the darts at X,Y, Z and M-W,
and placed the long edge of the centre back on a fold line, you could (in theory) construct the entire body in one piece.
The only seam to stich would be the shoulder O-L. That would save a lot of hand sewing.

I tried it last night with just a paper cutout and it seemed to work.

I'm almost convinced to give it a try for real, but I'd end up spending $100 worth of materials on a jacket that had no historical use.
Any thoughts?

It's an interesting theory. I feel like the main issue is that it will require a large piece of fabric, and it will produce a lot of waste. One good thing about the original pattern is that the sides and back panels from the original pattern can make use of smaller scraps to get as much out of a single bolt of fabric as possible. The back and side panels are also small enough to be turned on their sides and angled to use fabric that would otherwise be wasted when making jackets with the large template you propose (I know I'm not explaining this well haha). I'm curious to see a mock-up, which you could make using an old bedsheet or inexpensive polyester fabric.

 

[RetiredCanuck]

It's an interesting theory. I feel like the main issue is that it will require a large piece of fabric, and it will produce a lot of waste. One good thing about the original pattern is that the sides and back panels from the original pattern can make use of smaller scraps to get as much out of a single bolt of fabric as possible. The back and side panels are also small enough to be turned on their sides and angled to use fabric that would otherwise be wasted when making jackets with the large template you propose (I know I'm not explaining this well haha). I'm curious to see a mock-up, which you could make using an old bedsheet or inexpensive polyester fabric.

Was actually thinking of doing just that, as regards the old bed sheet. As for materials-fabric comes in 54" width and that would be sufficient to suit chest sizes far beyond what was issued.
I think as far a wastage is concerned, it would be a wash. Bear in mind you are eliminating 5 seams and thus the 1/2"-5/8" seam allowance on 10 edges.
However I disagree with the idea of using up smaller pieces by turning them to fit i.e. bias cut). The grain of the fabric should align vertically or the garment will look and fit differently.

In any case it didn't really happen-just one of those what-ifs that people like to muse on.

 

[HatEnjoyer]

The grain of the fabric should align vertically or the garment will look and fit differently.

Ah right, that was silly of me to forget about that! I could have sworn I saw a Confederate uniform piece with a different grain on each piece, but then I remembered that the piece I was thinking of was actually the Speck waistcoat, which of course was not made by the Confederate Depots . Please keep this thread updated if you decide to experiment with this concept! I'm very curious to see the end result.

 

[RetiredCanuck]

Ah right, that was silly of me to forget about that! I could have sworn I saw a Confederate uniform piece with a different grain on each piece, but then I remembered that the piece I was thinking of was actually the Speck waistcoat, which of course was not made by the Confederate Depots . Please keep this thread updated if you decide to experiment with this concept! I'm very curious to see the end result.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do this now. I need to source some material cheap. I like the thrift shop idea, but I still have that dark brown wool fabric I posted about a while ago.

I don't reenact any more so this would never be used on the field. Still-I take pride in my handiwork and want to do a proper job.
Stay tuned.

 

[RetiredCanuck]

So-now I feel a bit foolish. As I mentioned I tried this with a non-full scale pattern and it seemed to work.
But I forgot one important issue, which became obvious when I tried a full-scale pattern
When you pinch out the X-Y dart it will radically change the grain direction of either the front or back.
(Should have re-read my own post above LOL)

And you can't just forget about the dart, which is about 2" per side. You'd end up with a 9 button shortie sack coat, which will not fit properly.
I'll have another think about this, but for now it does not look feasible to create a workable garment.