Star Trek Movie Jacket TWOK (The Wrath of Kahn) Costume

When I was asked to sew a Star Trek jacket for a co-worker I thought “Great!  Sewing for fun AND profit!”.  Then I was handed the pattern and found only 17 lines of instruction.  As a hobby sewer I depend on well written and illustrated patterns to complete my projects, so this was a bad start to a project that only went downhill from there.  This Instructable is a collection of all the other information from around the web I used to create this jacket with my step-by-step construction notes.

I have provided an exploded view of all the pieces (the thing I missed most from my commercial patterns), but there is no actual pattern here.  This Instructable does not follow the process of either commercial pattern I had access to, it doesn't cover all ranks but is for the man's jacket for the rank of captain and below, and finally it doesn't cover sewing basics (cutting, grain, marking, pressing, basting, etc) so don't presume it will cover all the sewing skills needed if you have never touched needle and thread.  So really, this is just my collection of OCD notes, if you find it useful, enjoy.

Aside from a basic pattern, I highly recommend the following websites for costume references: 

http://starfleet1701st.yuku.com/directory#.TynGl-xJJQg
http://www.st-spike.org/pages/uniforms/2278-2350/uniforms.htm

And if you only get one sewing book for this project make it the Easy Guide to Sewing Jackets by Cecelia Podolak from Taunton Press.  Of the many references I used researching how to make a jacket, this was the most comprehensive, best illustrated and well laid out.

Step 1: A Costume or a Uniform?

My "client" wanted a uniform.  He showed me pictures of wrinkled, ill-fitting orange jackets so I would know what he DID NOT want.  A few things will make this jacket more than just a cheap costume:  good quality shape-able fabric (wool), authentic details (snaps, chain, armband), good fit, and investing time to do it right. I am not a professional sewer so I spent a lot of time researching how to sew and fit jackets and in the end I got it wrong.  Most of the pictures here are of the second jacket I made.  I put together three shells in muslin before finding something close to the right fit, then made a jacket in polyester, then went for the masterpiece and... it came out too big and had freakishly long arms.  This was a result of mistakes I made trying to adjust the pattern for a better fit after the polyester jacket; I obviously flubbed the fit, so I will be starting on jacket #3 and try to post better photos.

Comments

[khitomer]

Superb instructable, you saved my bacon as the lack of an exploded view meant I hadn't a clue about the order of construction. Thanks so much!!!

[Toga_Dan]

Didn't the movie costumes use magnets to secure the flap?

[gephura]

According to everything I read, the actual jackets used snaps, but the designer (Robert Fletcher) liked the idea of magnets as futuristic and used the chain to convey that. I actually looked at using magnets instead of snaps, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble or expense. I would have wanted strong magnets that would work through fabric, but wouldn't want then too big, and I couldn't think of a good way to secure them except with glue that might leave a hard residue.

[Toga_Dan]

I guess you could sew them into pockets between 2 pieces of ribbon, then sew the ribbon between the lining and red fabric. Those strong magnets are pretty expensive though.

[caitlinsdad]

That is some of the best craftsmanship or craftswomanship I have seen in this part of the galaxy. Thanks for the detail on the bespoke uniform.

[gephura]

You have no idea how flattering it is to have this called bespoke, here I just thought it was OCD taking over. ;) Thanks