Theme Wednesday: Jackets- The Watson

So a few years ago, I was sitting at home with my boyfriend and we had nothing to watch. I was drooling over shoes on the internet and the boyfriend was flicking through Netflix and he came across the new Sherlock. He asked if I wanted to watch it, and I said "eh" but then rethought it because Arthur Dent was in it and I loved Arthur Dent. See, I was loyal to the idea that only Robert Downey Jr should ever be Sherlock Holmes.

Of course, I became more obsessed with this show than my boyfriend.

And one of the things I loved most about it was the costumes. The costumes in this show had these small details but they were still modern and at the same time loyal to all the other Sherlock universes. When you think of costumes and Sherlock, I know that most people think of Sherlock's coat but I became fixated on John's coat. I loved the shoulders. As you know by my obsession with MCR, it's details. I like tiny little details on things, and the asymmetrical leather applique detail on the shoulder of John's jacket just- Wow. Every time that jacket came on screen I would just sit on the couch and try to take it apart in my mind. How do I make that? Will my machine sew through leather?

Watson's Coat via Pinterest

Fast forward to two weeks ago. Having received an epic pattern book from my boyfriend for the holidays, I'd already been planning to make this coat from scratch. Then came the trip to Philly Aids Thrift where I found my pirate coat. See, last winter I shrunk my favorite purple coat and was unable to find a coat as warm before this winter. Luckily it didn't matter- last winter wasn't cold, but we're getting into the 15-20 degree range here and I freeze waiting for the bus. At P.A.T., clutching my beloved pirate jacket in my hands, I decided to look through the rack of coats. I figured I wouldn't find anything.

Then I found the black wool Guess jacket.

It's beautiful. It's incredibly heavy (of course it would be, I found it on the warmest day we've had all winter and had to drag it back to the train station). It only cost 18$. And it fit.... except in the sleeves. But I still bought it, already thinking of ways to make the sleeves bigger.

I found my Watson coat. And it had a super dramatic collar so it's really like Watson's and Sherlock's coat had a love child.

Now, Watson's coat has a furry collar. I do not like fur- it makes my hair static-y and frizzy, so I left the collar on this plain. (UPDATE: Have been corrected, it's not fur, but corduroy also makes my hair frizzy and gross.) Since the sleeves were too small as is, but everything else fit fine, I added a long strip of faux-leather suedecloth down the under part of the arm which made the sleeves two inches wider. I had planned to add wool, so it would blend more with the original fabric of the coat, and use real leather for the applique on the shoulder, but when I was standing in JoAnn's I fell in love with this suedecloth. (No, really, I did. I was going to make a dress out of it but thought 13$ a yard for a dress was too pricey.)

There is a pleat in the underarms to make the sleeves fit into the original hole. This is a problem- I didn't realize the part where the sleeve attached to the jacket would be too small, too, so I'm going to go back in and add a panel of the suedecloth to the under arm. (Hopefully it doesn't look weird.) 

 

And here are the detail shots of the whole coat, the shoulder and then the sleeves. I'm in love. Even with the added fabric, this coat is still warmer than any other coat I own and I love the details on it. It's a very subtle fangirl jacket and I think it looks entirely bad ass. :-) What do you think?

The theme keeps going on Friday, when I show you my newest Lisette dress. See you then!

Update: According to Tumblr, 1/29 is the day that John met Sherlock or something like that. LOL I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW! So coincidentally I scheduled a Sherlock themed week during the week they would have met. Love it.