Red-Handed Jill

Capt. Grey, my sentiments exactly! Maybe it's just the pre-menopausal hormones talking, but I feel smarter, sexier and more creative at age 45 than I did at age 25. I think it's the confidence that comes with wisdom and experience. Or I may just be losing my marbles. There's something to be said about having at least a "4" as the first digit of your age. Lots of unnecessary stuff just goes by the wayside - at least for women (can't speak for men of course, not being one...) Haven't you noticed that you can get away with so much more, as well?

Whew - what a night! Jack and I would like to give everyone who volunteered a big THANK YOU for helping us make this happen. This would not have been possible without your participation. And Jack is planning on doing something perhaps even bigger next year... It was much faster to dismantle everything than to build it, but we were still there until 5:00 AM. But then we realized the time change; it was only 4:00 AM - we were even faster than we thought

For those of you who were not fortunate enough to attend the Buccaneer's Ball, you missed seeing a resplendent coat. And that dress was magnificent! You need to post some pictures!

Yes - Iron Jack outdid himself on the props and sets, as well as the whole setup. (It was nice to see that galleon in a room more accomodating to its size - i.e. larger than our dining room...) A couple of folks have requested cannons from Jack and are already arguing about who will get theirs first! Ace - you did great! (Even with the acoustic issues, we had no trouble hearing you.) Everyone seemed to be having a great time. And Skip Henderson and the Starboard watch were terrific, as always! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them. (Hey - did anyone besides my sister bring their camera?)

As someone past 40, thirty-two sounds pretty young to me. We in Tales of the Seven Seas are a pretty mixed bunch, age-wise. So far it looks as though the average age is early 40's (except when they have their kids involved.)

What's so sad about this is that the Church of Satan is a farce. Anton LaVey was essentially making it up as he went along and his book is nothing but plagarized extracts from an obscure 1896 tract called Might is Right by a guy named Ragnar Redbeard. Check it out here.

I'm one of the people with a sleeve issue. I used upholstery fabric for the coat, but I don't think that created a problem. I've been sewing for 26 years, so by now it's unlikely I'd cut the sleeve wrong or use the wrong size. It was an easy enough problem to fix. The rest of the coat went together in no time. I debated on adding a lining, but the coat is very heavy and my costume weighs more than enough as it is. I've run into sleeve issues with another pattern before and have seen one or two other fitting issues with patterns as well. Years ago, I never saw any problems with problems - QA is always the first thing to go.

...bias tape, white pencil, one of those little sharp thingys that pick out seams (my mind is a total blank on what that is called...) and be sure to use the straight pins with the balls on the end, not the flat metal ends (used to use those when I was younger and then decided to stop torturing myself.)

You've got plenty of time - a whole week! I'll say it again - excellent work on the coat, Broadside! :)

Bump It's in a week folks - we'd appreciate help getting the word out.

Hey - me too! I have this huge square basket that is overflowing with Joann Fabric specials, much of it from the upholstery section. I recently picked up some black fabric with a nap that looks something like woodgrain. Haven't figured out what to do with it yet, though. And all three of the pirate vests I sewed from Simplicity 5958 were done with upholstery fabric, along with my latest bodice and my breeches.

Most costume patterns have no linings, but the Simplicity 5958 pattern has linings for both the coat and vest. It's a very high-quality pattern, particularly for a costume. I've made three vests and two breeches from it and am working on the coat right now - they have held up to a lot of use. (The "Jack Sparrow" breeches are better, though.) The "Jack Sparrow" pattern looks fine without a lining. It wouldn't be too difficult to put one in if you wanted to. Other than the copious amounts of decoration, it was a pretty easy coat to put together. You will need to make judicious use of buttons and trim so that the facing doesn't flap open. Rather than doing the five sets of two buttons higher up on the coat, I spread them out a bit more and that worked better. Duchess - I completely agree with you on using upholstery fabric. My coat is made of lovely but extremely durable charcoal grey fabric that I got on sale in Joann Fabrics' bargain upholstery section. Another benefit is that you don't have to bother with interfacing, particularly for the cuffs.

Cool - a death mask! And he's not even dead yet!

It breaks my heart to be missing it, but with the Buccaneer's Ball so close, I can't afford to take even one day away. So much to do... At least the cannons will be there!

Great work on the coat! Definitely agree with you on the interfacing - otherwise the cuffs are too floppy.

Check out a few of our concept drawings: Pirate galleon Cannibal paddock Pirate at the wheel

Avast mateys! Anyone planning to be in the San Francisco Bay Area near the end of October? Join Iron Jack and meself at... THE BUCCANEER'S BALL A Halloween benefit for Bay Area children's charities October 29th and 30th 8pm to midnight At the San Mateo Expo Center - less than 20 miles south of San Francisco (21 and older only) There will be plenty of piratical fun to be had: Live entertainment! Costume contest! Fabulous prizes! Dancing! Drinks and desserts! Check it out at www.hideandshriek.com

I had the ends right - it's just that they were overall too large. I've run into this before. One pattern that I used to make a lot of shirts ended up being discontinued because the sleeves were off by almost two inches (I adjusted the sleeves - otherwise it was a good pattern.) My (figurative) hat's off to you if you had to deal with joining two different sizes. :) I thought about leaving the raw edge, since it is pretty much covered over with the cuff, but I'm just anally-retentive that way. Kind of like making sure your toenails are presentable, even if you're not wearing open-toed shoes.

I'm not the only one that noticed this? What a relief! Actually, I've noticed this in a lot of newer patterns; stuff just doesn't match up. Patterns I used twenty years ago were much more accurate than ones manufactured today. This is typical of most products, though - the first expense to go in a company is QA.

The small fits me pretty well - I'm 5'4" and reasonably slim. The sleeves were a tad short, but that was easy to adjust. Except for the sleeve width issue (and the labour-intensiveness of the trim) it was an easy coat to put together (compared with other coats I've done, it was a walk in the park.) However, if you were making it out of heavy material it could be a real challenge. One thing that bugs me about costume patterns is the fit and finish. They expect that the costume will be worn once and probably in the dark so the details aren't always that great. For example, I had to sew bias tape over the raw edge left over from attaching the cuffs. That's something they should have included in the pattern instructions, but that's part of the lack of costume fit and finish...

Did anyone else have issues with the sleeve width at the armhole? I've done two of these coats so far (one medium and one small) and for both of them, the circumference of the upper sleeve was much bigger than the armhole. I saw this early on and adjusted for it, but not having precise sleeve sizes is a real pain, particularly with set-in sleeves. I'm wondering if the patterns I picked up were from a faulty batch. I've been sewing for twenty-six years and have never seen a pattern this far off. Also had to put light padding in the shoulders to give it some structure.

Actually, it is a known fact that a woman's pain tolerance is about 8-9 times what a man's is. Stands to reason - not only are women the ones to give birth, but the ultimate survival of the species has always rested on the mother. Think of early humans - the mothers were always the last line of defense against whoever or whatever attacked her children, so no matter how badly she was injured, she still had to be able to function well enough to get her children to safety. If women didn't have that capability, the species would have died out thousands of years ago. This also makes women more pragmatic as well, which is why we are not usually the ones buying huge TV's or impractical cars. :)

Skip Henderson is great! He used to sing at the Sea Chantey gatherings on the Balclutha, but we haven't seen him there lately. And I've heard him and the band play at Quinn's lighthouse. Singing along is a requirement. :) He's scheduled to perform at the Buccaneer's Ball on October 29th and 30th.

Which version? Do you mean Skip Henderson's?

Simplicity has a pattern for the Jack Sparrow coat. It's in this thread: HERE It's an unlined coat, so depending on what fabric you make it out of, it won't be too heavy. Hemp or a heavier linen blend would work, but you'll need to use heavyweight interfacing on the cuffs, so they won't be too limp. I just put one together and it didn't take that long at all.