What do you do with a roll of narrow whale black corduroy? Shirts of course! But not any kind of shirts. You take your inspiration from the best in the world, people like Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, who head Milanese luxury brand Prada. For the festive season the duo proposed several menswear silhouettes, but a relaxed black wool overshirt, with zippered front closure and satin collar caught my eye.
I started the project by assessing my materials: black corduroy – check, separating zipper – check, buttons – check. I had to decide what material to use for accent pieces like collar or cuffs. In consultation with the owner of the garment-to-be, we decided to use faux leather for a patch pocket. Check.
Overshirt pattern work
Now, for the corduroy overshirt pattern. I debated between using a classic shirt pattern, drafting a pattern myself, or adapting a coat pattern. To save the time, I decided to adapt the coat pattern, because I could use the Burda coat I made some time ago as a reference point. I could also benefit from the pattern pieces like two-part sleeve and collar with the stand.
The changes I made to the pattern are as follows. I drafted a generous yoke in the back, shortened the sleeves to account for added cuffs, straightened and raised the centre front, and shortened the overshirt. As for the collar, since I changed the neckline of the front, I decided to put the body of the shirt together, cut a trial collar, baste it to the neckline and drape it on the body. Finally, the shape of the collar changed significantly, as we decided to make it narrower and open up the outer edge to account for the new neckline.
Making up of the overshirt
Putting the corduroy overshirt together was fairly straightforward. All of the seams were felled, just like a shirt would have it. The cuff opening on the sleeve received the same treatment as a jean jacket. I turned the seam allowances of the under seam in as hems, and attached the cuff to the constructed opening.
I used the facing piece provided with the pattern to conceal the raw edges of the zipper at centre fronts.
It was a fun quick project to complete just in time for the past holiday season.
