Khan's Jacket The
Wrath of Khan construction notes
Taken from photos from images of the original Paramount
jackets as sold by the propstore.com, Hollywood auctions, and other photos from
the film and star trek experience displays.
General observations
The jacket appears to be made form a knitted velour/velvet
material in an orange/mustard yellow.
The colour is hard to determine in all of the images it appears to change
dependant on lighting etc. As well as the fact it is has a heavily warn look.
Why I think it is a velvet or velveteen and not a suede or
moleskin fabric.
I am aware that in some costumes of this polar fleece,
moleskin and suede has been used which in my opinion is not as accurate as
velvet/velveteen. Looking at the drape
and pile in the photos and closely looking at edges and seams it appears to be
a knitted velvet, like a draylon which
was a popular fabric in the 1980's. (see
images below)
Also the label close up shows it is a knitted fabric with a
pile (possibly looped) fitting with a
velvet/velveteen fabric. In its favour it is easy to work with and age/weather
and is less expensive than leather or moleskin it also has a more
modern/futuristic look compared to those fabrics; Velvet was also a sign of
wealth and luxury in the past where as leather and suede were seen as more
common natural working cloth not tying as well in to a futuristic aesthetic as
velvet; Also artificial fibres and newer techniques made velvet cheaper at that
time and was prominent in 80's fashion, there were a lot of velour tack/leisure
suits around then which were the basis of the jacket design in my opinion.
For my jacket I was unable to get a knitted velvet that was
not a crushed velvet and so for the raw edge hole to prevent fraying I will
have to over stitch them.
Front View
It is well warm with
heavy staining and wear (oil like on the right arm) general dirt and small burn
makes (like tobacco /sparkler burns. It also has a darker thread edging hole in
a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying to give it a well warn you cared for look as
if it were all you had left after being abandoned/ post crash and had been warn
since. Lots of parts are partially attached or look repurposed such as the tie
look like salvaged ribbed edging from an original jacket design (see white ring).
Note the main collar has stitched ribbing which is stitched before folding
giving it a round edge unlike the arm and tie it is also attached only up to
the collar bone or slightly past meaning items can be threaded thru back to
front like the belt/bag/sash Khan wears. (see pink ring)
The approach
There is a strip of Velcro used to hold the arm ribbing on
the right and main jacket shut (see yellow rings)
Also the piping is made separately and hand sewn on (see red
ring)
There is also a machine straight stitch forming a curve to
the front about two to three inches from the edge, the same can be seen around
the large holes it is possibly decorative or maybe stay stitching to reinforce
the fabric at these places (see green ring)
Large raw edges are zigzag stitched in a darker thread
adding to the repaired threadbare look whilst preventing fraying/tearing see(
blue ring)
The right arm cuff has a heavily warn frayed look to
the outer edge aging the item with
realistic wear and tear see purple ring
The left arm has a different cuff design to the right above
the elbow (see side view) and the piping appears to be tied below the elbow in
to a circular cuff type design before wire attaches the 'communicator' wrist
strap (see orange ring)
Close up of the bottom of the front of the jacket
Here the Velcro placement, hand sewn piping and stay
stitching are more visible
Here
we can clearly see the collar is not
attached to the main back and is zigzag edged to prevent fraying . The wear and
tear is more visible here as the back is one whole piece. there is some fabric
bleaching and what looks like rub off of dye or dirt from the belt and just
above a belt. The detached piping is clearly seen here and it the fact it is
hand stitched is shown from the lack of seam below the piping see yellow ring.
This lack of seams also demonstrates the fact it is a one piece back.
The right arm cuff (three to four inches wide) has a Velcro
closure (see green ring) and look at stitching there is a stitched oblong again
near an obvious opening.
Side View
Side View
This shows the difference in cuff design and the piping and
how it is tied/stitched. It also give us a good look at the communicator cuff.
We can see the side and front appear to be two pieces formed
from the front and back of the arm pit. see yellow ring. However when looking at all of the pictures
closely this anomaly any is seen on this side and appears to be a combination
of decorative stitching at the top and a repair near to the piping at the
bottom as it does not extend to or thru the rolled lower hem. therefore this is
a one piece front making this a three piece make for the main body two for the
left and right front sides and one for the back.
Looking at the arm it's hard to see if it is a
two piece arm but I have a feeling it is a single piece especially when looking
at the right arm and overall design. The drape of the fabric in the arm and
overall style fits with the single piece method of construction more so than a
two piece method.
The communicator
cuff necklace sash and belt buckle images. These are mostly made of old
electronics and hardware parts sewn on to fabric or leather or for the belt
sheet metal, apart from the broken Starfleet
buckle. the cuff fastens via Velcro the necklace appears to be a clip an d ring although I have seen replicas
using a male to female jack to close the necklace.
The approach
Pattern construction
Using shoulder,
chest, waist and hip measurements including the length I created a basic paper
pattern. The pattern for the main body is
in three parts two for the front and one for the back. There is a full one
piece sleeve, a part sleeve and a cuff.
Starting with a basic straight pattern I then shaped the sides etc to suit a female
form. To help with the shaping and the curved front I will probably use part of
a jacket pattern or a blouse to gain an even curve and more feminine shape
before cutting.
The quilted collar will be made as a trapezoid shape pattern
double width of fabric and wadding to be folded and stitched closed on the
outside (wrong sides together) after stitching ribs at 1.5 to 2 inch spacing.
The other ribbed bands will be made of double width straight pieces to be
folded in half stitched inside out with a single layer of wadding then stitched
with one inch ribs vertically or in the left arms pattern.
There are several bits of piping which I will make in long strips
of fabric 2 -3 inches wide turned inside out to form long tubes I may stitch
several lengths together to attain the lengths required to go from front to
back and for the left arm.
After cutting the main pieces they will be sewn in the order
of shoulder to shoulder, arms to shoulder then sides together and right arm
cuff then the collar will be part attached. this is when the weather the main
body and roughing up of the edges needs to be done, replicating the holes over
stitching, straight stitching and zigzagging where needed. also this is when I
will
Next is hand
stitching on the piping as per images before adding the ribbed parts
