What is a tattercoat? | What do they look like? |
What you need | How to make it |
A base garment - Tatters - Extras
A base: shirt, waistcoat [vest], jacket or coat
- A densely packed or highly decorated coat can be quite heavy, so it's best not to choose something too heavy to start with if you plan to put a lot on it; it also has to be thin enough for your sewing machine to cope with
- On the other hand, the base does need to be strong enough to support the weight of the tatters, so although it can be scruffy it should be structurally sound!
- A sweatshirt, cut open up the front and hemmed, can be a good compromise, but it's not so easy to sew onto stretchy fabric, and elasticated gathering round the hem can make difficulties
- Choose something large enough to wear over your ordinary clothes
- For warm weather wear, longer, more sparse, tatters are better, but that does mean the base garment will be very visible, so it needs to be fit to be seen and in the right colour(s)
- You can buy lengths of fabric, or scour secondhand outlets or your own ragbag for suitable clothes or curtains to cut up
- It's hard to say how much you'll need, because tattercoats vary so much. For my last one I bought material, half a metre [yard] of 5 or 6 different ones, and that was a bit more than I needed for a fairly dense but short one.
- Try to vary the textures of your fabrics as much as you can for more interest
- Be aware that some fabrics will fray badly, especially satins and metallics - it doesn't mean you don't use them, just take precautions (see under making up instructions below).
- Some fabrics, especially thin, flimsy ones, will curl in use - again, it doesn't mean don't use them, just be prepared to allow for this - maybe get enough fabric to cluster the strips in groups, or to sew a matching backing patch onto the base garment underneath the curling strip. Some will curl the 'wrong' way in use, exposing the back - if you're using a very one-sided fabric, eg a print, consider sewing two strips back to back, though this can make for unwanted stiffness. (In my experience, using a proprietary liner, iron-on or sew-in, doesn't help - the fabric still curls the wrong way and exposes the liner)
Sewing machine: It doesn't have to be a fancy one, all you need it for is sewing in straight lines. I've always sewn mine, but it may be possible to use fabric glue - try it on something small first!
Thread: You'll get through a lot of this! Get two reels of multi-purpose.
Fastenings: These can be tricky because the tatters get in the way - zips are a no-no. I use a toggle-type button and make loops out of wire-stiffened braid
Optional collar: Most people seem to leave their necklines unadorned, but I prefer to have something to conceal my dodgy sewing, and why waste the opportunity for a bit of glam? Besides, the top few rows can lie awkwardly because of the changes of direction and a collar can help smooth these out. If you wear your hair long and loose, it helps to have a detachable collar (I use Velcro dots) made of something easily washable. I've used lace, marabou trim and fur fabric as collars at various times.
Optional fun bits:This isn't strictly traditional, because impoverished C18th and 19th farm workers didn't have access to them - but I bet they'd have used them if they had! Ribbons, braid, sequins, buttons, tassels, fringes, beads, rhinestones, marabou ... whatever you can get, pile it on! You can keep adding to these for years (only stop before the coat gets too heavy to wear).
Cut strips - Mark up base - Sort strips- Sew - Shoulders & sleeves - Finish
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Rough edges are part of the garment's charm, but if you've got material that frays easily, to the extent of disintegrating, you'll need to reinforce the edges - what I do is just run the edges lightly along a bead of fabric glue: the merest trace is enough, and it won't show.Top of section |
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How far apart is up to you again. Overlapping by around two-thirds the length of the strip is fine, depending on how thick you want it and how much of the base garment you're prepared to allow to show. You can always put in extra rows if you think it needs them, though that's a bit fiddly.Top of section |
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Points to note about sleeves. To machine-sew the sleeves, you have to unpick the seams as far as the armpits, open them out and then sew them up again - it won't matter if the seam is a bit bodged, because it's not going to show under the tatters. |
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For practicality, the strips need to be short round the cuffs and along the underside of the forearm - otherwise you'll find you're trailing them in your soup!Top of section |
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Fastenings and Collar: If you're using fastenings and/or a collar, put them on now - keep fastenings non-fiddly and accessible.Top of section |
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