This is Going Sewingly

I love being the Villain...

made a new coat!!!!

June 24, 2025

If you’re familiar with how to sew, feel free to skip large portions of my explanations, as this is what I would consider a beginners guide.

I took great inspiration from Shannon's house-robe on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=856Jlcu3RqI), and Brielle's house-robe on her own website (https://www.briellecostumes.com/hobbits).

Photo references:

Skill needed: none. I had never used a sewing machine or overlocker before, and had never used a sewing pattern nor sewn a garment. I did, however, receive a lot of advice from family members. This project was a brilliant introduction to sewing and quilting.

Time taken: 1.5 years, but that was with a massive hiatus. Probably <1 month if you knuckled down.

Cost: ~$40 AUD. I got my patchwork material from a lovely woman on Facebook who had it as scrap, so it cost me nothing. The thing it cost me the most was time lol

Glossary:

Patches: the small pieces of fabric that will make up each patchwork ‘square’, ranging from 5-15cm

Squares: the 30x30cm squares made by overlocking the ‘patches’ together.

Materials needed:

4m squared of patchwork material

4m squared of lining fabric

2m squared of velvet

Tools needed:

Everything you’d normally need for sewing (pins, thread picker, thread etc)

Sewing machine

Overlocker

Pattern

Patchwork:

1. Find a pattern. I chose to use Burda Style 6094 Size 18 (A) because of three factors: the inclusion of a hood (which is not movie-accurate but I love me a big hood), the availability in my area, and the price. Basically, it was cheap and what I could get fast, but it did the job well. My normal US clothes size is 6, but I wanted the robe to be comfortable and baggy, and it ended up fitting me perfect after the addition of darts along the sides.

2. Choose your fabric. For the patchwork, you’ll roughly need 50 different patterns/colours, each with roughly 50x50cm of fabric to ensure you won’t run out. Very roughly, I used 14 different reds/burgundies, 3 dark oranges, 2 yellows, 10 greens, 4 blues, 10 browns, and an assortment of different floral patterns. I would recommend avoiding whites, light colours, and bright colours, and black. All colours should be autumnal and muted for best accuracy to the original. Lay all of your fabrics on the floor to see which ones stand out and don’t look right. For the lining, I chose a nice cotton with a repeating floral pattern. Patterns are good because they hide stains and irregularities. For the velvet trim, I used a burgundy/dark red velvet, though I can’t remember what kind. All I know is that it did not stretch, which was brilliant.

3. Cut out your patches. I needed roughly 700 patches for 4m squared of final patchwork. Yeah, it sounds crazy, I know. But if you knuckle down, you should be done cutting them out in 3-7 days. It has been recommended to me that using a roller cutter would be more time efficient, however, I used scissors due to personal preference. I made these patches in four different sizes to offer variety and visual interest: 7x7cm, 7x12cm, 12x12cm, and 7x17cm. When overlocked together, the theory was that it would use up 1cm of bias on each side of each patch, making them easy multiples of 5 to figure out (e.g. 7x7cm became 5cmx5cm because 1cm on each side was used up). This allowed me to more accurately make each square 30x30cm. I made templates for these patches out of a stiff and durable cardboard. Start out by cutting 3 of each different size patch from each fabric pattern (e.g 3 of the 5x5cm, 3 of the 5x10cm etc). This will not be the last of cutting patches, but it will give you a good starting point from which you can judge how many more you might need.

4. Prepare the patches. Run the patches through the washing machine on cold wash to avoid uneven shrinkage once overlocked together (I put them in a bra bag to avoid a patch induced disaster in the washing machine). Hang them out individually to dry on an airer, though I suppose you could stick them in a dryer if you have one. Iron them flat once completely dry (yes it’s tedious, yes it’s necessary), which will make overlocking them together more seamless.

5. Arrange the patches in squares. Toss all of your patches on a flat surface and clear a large space (preferably on the floor or large table) where you can start assembling your 30x30cm squares, which will be joined to make the final patchwork fabric. When deciding which colours go where, I would recommend grabbing about 20 patches of varying sizes and dimensions (no two with the same pattern), and with at least one yellow patch (it just looked better for some reason). Then just start laying them down, interlocking them and deciding which colours look best together in whichever orientations, making sure to not have two of the same pattern touching, or preferably, within ~20cm. This will make the placement seem spontaneous and natural. Keep going until there aren’t enough patches left to make another whole square. Take lots of photos and number the squares, ensuring you have a reference for when you overlock them together. Put them in bags or some other form of storage, and number them clearly.

6. Overlocking the patches to form squares. Finally, the part you’ve been looking forward to. Compared to the previous steps, overlocking the squares together feels like sprinting 100m after crawling 500m. When overlocking the patches together, try to create straight lines to join them along. See below for an example. Follow actions 1-14 to make this particular square, but it’s just an explanatory example. There are many different orders in which each square can be put together, and sometimes you’ll need to rearrange the way each square is organised to make it easier to overlock together. Make sure that each join uses almost exactly 1cm of bias on each side. Precision is key to a neat product and hassle-free assembly!!

7. Arranging the squares. After making my 45 squares (one of which was omitted because it was terrible), I put them all on the floor and organised them into large panels from which I would cut my pattern. The main body panel required 24 squares arranged in a 6x4 shape, the hood required 6 arranged in a 2x3 shape, and the sleeves required 12 arranged in a 3x4 shape. These dimensions and number of squares required will, of course, be different for everyone, depending on which pattern you use and the size of said pattern. Try to evenly distribute patterns and colours so no two patches of the same colour/pattern are touching. Once you’ve decided you like the look of the arranged squares, take reference photos and stack them in three piles, preferably in order of which ones to overlock together first.

8. Forming the panels. When joining the squares, I found it was easiest to line up the horizontal lines of each square, mostly ignoring the borders on the top and bottom of each square. These will more of less even out by the time the panels have been fully assembled. Below I’ve demonstrated how I assembled the squares into lines. In terms of which panel side to start from, for example the main panel is 4x6 squares, I decided to make four, 1x6 lines out of the squares and then join those to form the main panel. I suppose you could do it any way you wish, that’s just the way I chose. Once you’ve formed your main panels, congrats! No more quilting!

Assembly

9. Cut out your pattern. The pattern I used did not include a lining layer, so I just doubled the pattern and made one set out of the patchwork and velvet, and the other from the lining. When cutting out the patchwork pattern pieces, try and keep everything straight. I cut the main body panels as one piece and added darts on the inside instead of cutting them individually.

10. Follow the pattern to completion. There’s not much more I can say regarding the pattern, as everyone’s will be different to assemble. On the topic of pockets, before I attached the outer to the inner layer, I cut two horizontal, symmetrical lines through the patchwork where I attached my pockets on the inside, between the layers. It was impossible to get the sewing machine in there, so I had to hand sew it. Quite frankly, the top of the pockets looked horrendous, but it was easily covered by adding some red velvet trim over the top, which I also had to hand sew. I also hand sewed three belt loops, which I did before I sewed the bottom hem up. Continue on to completion, making sure to adjust the length and sleeves to fit you best.

Lauzun jacket. Half-fitted overcoat, rather short, in black taffeta; the shape is rounded in the back, shorter on the sides than in front and behind, with sleeves that are a little wide; on the overcoat, dropping from the waist, a rather long coat basque is found, pleated and edged with black lace. A wide lace borders the whole overcoat; it is surmounted with a narrower lace, laid flat; the epaulettes and lapels are trimmed with lace.

Dubarry casaque. A type of short overcoat, in bright blue taffeta; the lower edge is pinked into two rounded notches, edged with a very narrow black lace. Two very wide flounces of black lace arer positioned on these teeth; a bridging lace surmounts the teeth; a beautiful, up-to-date black passementerie marks the sides of the casaque and trim the fronts, the collar, the sleeves, and their armscyes.

Parisian. Overcoat in black taffeta, with jagged edges: in each notch, there is an application of black lace; on the edges, a flounce of wide black lace; a bridging lace edges the fronts, increases into points over the arms, descends again, trims the overcoat in the back, and rises again on the other front.

Brazilian. Traveling talma in poppy-colored cashmere. This talma is only flat and takes a Louis XV form in the back, represented by a very wide pleat. The trimming is composed of a wide band of black taffeta, surmounted by a narrower band; the tabs are of black taffeta, trimmed with black metal buttons, positioned on the back pleat, diminishing in length as they descend to the lower edge of the talma.

For more context on these descriptions, mostly definitions of words and explanations of cultural references:

Bonjour everybody, I did a thing, and I am very proud of the thing, so you should totally go check out my blog post that I wrote on Ko-Fi about the thing cause it took forever and now I need so many attentions to recover my energy.

@diamondot speaking for myself, i just decided to learn it one day a few years ago (i had a viking phase ok) and simply started with it. It's surprisingly easy since all the info is available on the net. Honestly, i don't remember where i started since it has been so long ago and now i just browse pinterest for patterns alone. Google tablet weaving or card weaving (same thing, different names) patterns and some basic explanations and yt vids for how to turn and weave the stuff. Things like

S and Z threading are there for a reason, so mind your card orientation. Start with some easy pattern like simple wave or diamonds above, 6 - 10 cards are good for your first project. Don't lose hope in initial stage. Streching and threading all that yarn can take anything between 20 minutes and 3 hours depending on how big is the pattern and how skilled you are. Since you need some lenghts to secure ends and to turn cards, use about 40 cm more than wished lenght of your final product. Secure lose ends after threading through cards so you won't end with a bundled mess. Streching/knotting them to something is one way. Taping each card threads together or using weights (check pictures below) is another way (good only for shorter stuff though). Cards could be made out of anything as long as they have smooth edges and rounded corners. Cardboard, thicker plastic sheet, literal cards cut into squares with holes punched through them, whatever. These are mine 2 decks, minus cards i am using atm.

When you start weaving and pattern looks like a total mess, try turning cards in opposite directions. It usualy solves the problem (all that forward/backward can be a bit tricky and mirroring motions/patterns/card orientation can be confusing at first seemingly messing all your work even though you are doing everything right technicaly, just in opposite order/direction). Don't lose your hope. I still manage to mess up like first 5cm of every other work i start. It's not an issue as that start usualy gets cut off anyway (the tension is not right for at least first 4 rows, aka 1 full card rotation, until all threads go up and down at least once no matter what you do. Don't sweat it). You don't need any fancy startup either. Historicaly, people used to weave like this and this and this:

I just strech the thing between 2 chairs myself. Door knobs work as well and so does staircase railing. Wherever you have some space. Long hair clips are your friend, especialy when you are done with weaving for the day and you don't want stuff to tangle

This website is where I learned, twenty years ago while u was intending on Sturtevant Wi.

These books are both great, Collingwood is more comprehensive, but harder to just pick up and weave from.

The thing is that the technique looks complicated due to the fact that there is 100 something and that number alone is scary. But. Actually several buts.

But number 1 - the technique is OLD. Meaning - while being somewhat tedious just like any other textile craft, it has been used and learned for a long long time and there's plenty of resources (check out links above or any youtube video explaining the process) of varying difficulty from complicated af to easy peasy lemon squeezy with closed eyes

But number 2 - there is only one core principle/step you need to understand and that is when some threads go from up to down or from down to up (aka when they cross), you need another thread going in between so they won't simply snap back again. That's it. That's the basic principle behind every weaving ever. What card weaving does compared to standard weave is that instead of a single thread going up and down in the single row, you get 2 or 3 or 4 or 6 or whatever number of threads your pattern calls for in the same row

But number 3 - the number of rows = number of cards. Simple as that. Cards turn around to make a cord like when you are twisting 2 or 4 or whatever numbers of threads to make a rope. If some of those threads have different colours, you get a repeating pattern.

But number 4 - card orientation or S/Z orientation or whatever other fancy name for the twisting direction simply means that if you turn all your card in the same way at the same time, which one of them will make the twisted rope in this / angle and which one will do that in this \ angle. That's it. That's the whole mystery between S/Z threading.

But number 5 - you can start with as little as 4 cards to make a custom set of shoe laces or a key strap or whatever and call yourself a weaver. Because you did that. And it was nice. And it was easy. You just turn and thread and turn and thread and then you keep repeating this while watching a movie or something. There's no need for the math finals level of concentration here.

But number 5 - no one, literally NO ONE starts with a pattern like this

No. Everybody starts with something like this

Keep it simple, keep it easy, make 10cm and be done if you want to. It's perfectly fine.

But number 6 - you don't need any fancy items for starting. No hooks, no needles, no loom, no anything. If you have 2 balls of yarn in different color or some remains of your old cross stitch project or whatever and some card-like stuff you won't be sad for making holes in it, you are all set. Back side of the sketch pad is good. Poker cards cut to squares are good. A sturdy enough sheet of plastic is also good. You remember that old pexeso pairs stack you didn't touch since you were 9? Guess what!

There are patterns called "twist neutral" that you might want to look up. I can't remember the source for it. I remember someone in the SCA-sphere telling me there was someone on youtube who teaches those twist neutral weaves

When I was done with this weave, I used it as a decorative element for a hat I made for college