Progress on the Schaube/Rocks (German Men’s Coat) – The Beauty of a Good Pattern

Sometimes, when things come together, it’s just beautiful!

Now that I have the actual pattern and method of construction for the schaube, and I know how it all fits together, I’ve been assembling the pieces. What was a jumble of weird shapes that didn’t work together is now a very well-designed coat. A thing of beauty! And I love that I know without any doubt this coat was designed at least over 450 years ago, and quite probably a bit older than that as this style of coat was popular for some time in the 16th century in Germany, England, and Italy.

Here’s my progress on my wool version of this coat:

  • 8 yards of dark red wool, pre-washed, pre-shrunk, cut, and ironed (I believe I could have gotten away with a little less, maybe 7 yards)
  • Coat, collar, lapels, and lining assembled and sewn with silk/cotton threads (machine stitched long inside seams, hand-stitched the collar and yoke)
  • Black cotton velvet guards cut, sewn, and attached to the collar with gold metallic thread (note: I machine stitched all of this gold metallic thread on the guards because, frankly, it’d take a year to do it by hand myself and I do not have a stable of minions to help!)

 

What remains to be done:

  1. Stitch velvet guards onto the puff upper sleeves and the straight lower sleeves, then attach them together and to the coat
  2. Hem the cloak to the length of Gregor’s knees
  3. Cut and sew the multiple black velvet guards to the hem
  4. Make the passementerie knot and attach it to the right sleeve

 

Photos of the coat in progress:

Back of Coat in Progress

Close-up of Back Collar

Close-up of back collar where it joins the front collar

Front of coat in progress

 

Close-up of guards on front collar

This wool coat is my “practice” version, and I’ve learned several things already that I’ll improve upon for the one I make out of silk damask. The biggest thing bothering me right now is the metallic stitching on the guards. I did it by machine for this practice version, but because it’s harder to control than hand stitching, it isn’t consistent in places. That bugs me. So I will need to handstitch at least some of the metallic threads in my final coat.

Additionally, the point at which the back collar joins the front collar is tricky for matching up the guards. I could have done a better job at that, and I’ll pay more attention on my final coat.

Finally, I noticed that the folds of my practice coat aren’t falling as evenly as those in the photo BUT I know that the photograph of the extant coat has an unusual coat-shaped form under it, and that form has the folds in it. I also know that the original coat is gathered, not pleated, so I suspect that it has that nice, big, even drape thanks to the form more than the coat itself. It’s also likely that the velvet guards will add more volume and shape to the drape. So we’ll see how it turns out when it is done.

Now to work on the sleeves!

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6 Responses to Progress on the Schaube/Rocks (German Men’s Coat) – The Beauty of a Good Pattern

  1. Sylvie says:

    Interesting. I have a (not nearly so complex) coat on my future to-do list. I’m interested in how they/you finished the shoulder seams (assuming it has one under that collar. I’d love more info.

    Sylvie

    • Genoveva von Lubeck says:

      The shoulder seams were were pretty straightforward — one of the things I really liked about the pattern. It went together well (once I knew how to do it). I can be more detailed and take photos for you. Do you mean the seam between the front and back yoke (it’s what’s under the collar). Let me know!

      • Sylvie says:

        Honstly I’m looking for the whole she-bang. What’s under the collar? How does the front attach to the back? There’s a yoke? What type of seam was used? Is there a lining?

        • Genoveva von Lubeck says:

          Okay, I’ll get to work on it. May take some time to create the pattern file and instructions, but it will get done!

  2. Lady Cate says:

    What really matters is how it looks on Gregor. I found with the one that I made for my husband, it looked marvelous on him and not so much on the hanger. I think it takes a big guy with all the right under pinnings to really pull this one off. It really is a lot of coat when you are trying to sew it all together. My hands and armes ached from trying to muscle all this material together. The one that I did was made out of black pleather lined with a gold patterned material originaly use for quilters. Most people think that its real leather. It has a set of pleather basses, & pleather jerkin, and pants. He also has a black as well as a white shirt to choose from both with gold buttons. I left off the decoritive bands though because of time limits. I have always wondered if I should put them on? I would like to encourage any one who is on the fence about doing a great coat like this for their gentleman do it it’s well worth the work. Your guy will be just fabulous in this. And I am positive Gregor is going to out shine any wearing this one. You always do such great work!

    • Genoveva von Lubeck says:

      Thank you! The coat has been made and he does look fantastic in it! It’s on my list to blog more about the construction of it. Here’s a photo of him in it: Gregor in his red schaube

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