Demon Cat

I voted black, since that's the colour I intend to make mine out of, but green, blue, purple, or floral are all colours I considered and would be interested in. My hubby wants wants his coat in bright red.

When watching Devil's Advocate, I kept waiting for Keanu to say "Dude! I'm a lawyer"

Is that lovely hunting outfit going to be included?

The garb I'm putting together is just for fun, and not for re-enactment. The approach I take is to research the actual history, and then modify as I see fit to make things more interesting (from a fantasy/Hollywood perspective). By starting with a historic base, it helps "sell" the outfit, making it feel more belivable. The costuming in POTC basically takes the approach. Many of the clothes they used were accurately based upin historic sources. But, there is artistic lisense taken in places, and the costume pieces appear to have been taken from range of periods in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Its not uncommon for studios to dip into their own library of recording for backgrounds and previews. There's also a good amount of classical works in the public domain that get used for this stuff.

I'd be interested in that, ifn its not too much trouble

Mad Jack, does Designs by Janelle have a website? Or are these items simply designed by a friend named Janelle? Great outfit!

Is a 5oz fabric heavy enough? There is also a 7oz version of it available. My "client" has requested his breeches be of a relatively fine material as he wishes to protray a well-off captain sort of character, so, while wearability is important, I don't want something that will look too course/heavy.

I'm going to make some for my fiancee (and later myself). He wants something "poofy" that can by tucked into the top of his boots. This material looked promising: http://www.fabrics-store.com/first.php?got...f&fabric_id=103 Pattern recommendations? There this simple one for early 1600's: http://reddawn.net/costume/breeches.htm What sort, if any, changes would need to be made to it? Should I use something else entirely?

First, you want to harden the steel by heating it evenly to a cherry red glow. Then, quench it to cool it quickly. Different steel alloys should be qenched in different manners, but are usually oil or water quenched. The blade at this point will be very hard and brittle. To temper it, heat it around 300 or 400 degrees farentheit, or until the steel takes on a light straw color. Note, this refers to a discoloration of the metal and NOT a glow. You can probably do this part by heating it in your oven. Once heated to this point, allow to cool slowly, like in a warm room. Fully hardening and then tempering makes it much easier to control what's going on. There is a technique to making the piece progressively harder as it reaches the blade edge, but doing so, from what I understand, is something that requires lots of skill and practise to pull off. A fine Samuri sword might be tempered in such a manner. Another consideration is to avoid heat cycling the work too much as you form the blade. Doing so can prevent hardening from working. This includes heat build-up from grinding.

Good to know, but not of much help. I don't even know what Ghirardelli's square is. Except a prodigious decadant chunk of chocolate. Its a plaza in San Francisco owned by the chocolatier. In addition to their own marvelous confections and ice cream shop, there are a bunch of other little stores there. Wasn't sure if you were in the Nor Cal area or not.

There's a woodcarver's shop in Ghirardelli Square that sells turned redwood hairsticks in different patterns.

RumbaRue, do you have a link for that pattern?

I'd like a nice frock, the sort with great big cuffs and some good swish in back. I'd also like it to fit half decently. Sure, I know plundered coat would always fit the wearer very well, but I don't care. I've lots of nice things for men on the web, my favorite being Audrey Carol's. But, other than getting it in different sizes, WYSIWYG. I've get a bad feeling that making one is may be the only course. My entire sewing expirience consists of a chemise and two skirts of questionable quality for Renn faire and the idea of a well-tailored coat is a bit daunting. Should I even attempt this with minimal skills?