A little progress made....

...on my "Marianne" inspired coat.

I've scribbled....

....and scratched out my ideas for construction on the 1790's inspired Pelisse/Robe I will be making.  If' you are brave enough to try and decifer my terrible handwriting, click on the two above pictures and zoom in. (Be kind to me if I've made any spelling errors...it's a downfall of mine.)  You just might be able to make out the madness in my mind.  I promise you it makes sense to me.

Two of the books I'm using as an inspiration are Costume in Detail, 1730-1930, by Nancy Bradfield and Costume Close-up, Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750-1790, by Linda Baumgarten, John Watson and Florine Carr.

The back of this gown, in particular, gave me the idea for the pleats, and I love the long sleeves.

This is the seam construction I will be employing.  It is the same that I used on the red Open Robe I made for me friend Laura, here.

I'm starting with the Sense and Sensibility Pelisse Pattern but I am altering the front by making it more of a cross-over style, adding in two more darts, and changing the shape of the collar a bit.

A sketch of the back...

...and of the interior construction.

Today, I cut out my altered pattern pieces from Swedish Tracing Paper (so I can save my original pattern pieces) and then cut out a toile from some cheap muslin.

I basted together the bodice, fit it to myself.....

....did some adjusting....

...and fit it again.  Since I will be wearing this garment as a coat, I will leave it a bit loose.  The plan is to hand stitch any visible seams, and machine sew the ones that aren't, so that I can wear this to historical events, but also have the seams strong enough to wear in the modern world on a daily basis.

Now...on to cutting out the real fabric.  Hopefully, I will have this coat done before cold weather comes.

Oh, and p.s. - I found a fashion plate from 1799 that shows a lovely, cross-over style Pelisse/Robe.  Someone's handwritten in the comment "morning dress" at the bottom of the fashion plate, but it looks suspiciously like a "coat" type garment to me.  Oh, well...I'm wearing mine as a coat, and no one can stop me!