Quote:

---

Originally posted by ljosalf:
Kansas,

I have not yet found a pattern for Mal's coat that is close. Since it is loose fitting and the sleeves drop about 1"-2" off the shoulder, I opted to combine a bathrobe pattern for loose fit, shoulders, sleeves and length with a modified front-closing windbreaker for front closure and collar. I made a muslin out of polar fleece to mimic the thickness of the leather and then discovered that I had misread the location of the seams on the sleeves and have had to redraft some of my pattern pieces. I started this project back in June; now that the cold weather has arrived in the northern hemisphere, I have hopes of finding more men's coat patterns commercially available that I can use for reference. If you are interested in my rather lengthy analysis of the coat's structure, try this thread about Mal's costume in general and scroll down to the bottom.

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=13&t=7311

Zoe's jacket is pretty plain in style. They have worked the leather in various designs to give it some character and the sleeves extend down into sort of half-gloves that Zoe wears over the backs of her hands with the last section folded back--I can't tell if this last piece is designed to extend over the backs of her fingers or to cover her palms. Either way, there will be no commercially available pattern with this particular design feature; you will have to wing it. I liked the look of Vogue 2704 but also picked up the plainer Simplicity 4953 although the collar isn't quite right and the overall length is a bit longer than Zoe's. I got both patterns on sale for about 25% of list--they retail at $25 and $16 respectively. I saw several patterns from the major pattern companies that came very close to the basic design, though. (BTW, it looks like a zipper closure--I don't see any buttons, button holes/loops or other obvious hardware for keeping it closed.) I haven't had a chance to make a muslin of either yet.

Good luck! And I would love to know how it goes.



Ljosalf

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)

---