Hello fellow Xmarkers. I recently found myself with an extra uniform jacket that I would never wear again and realized that I could probably create something like a Balmoral Doublet with it. I have embarked upon my journey and am starting to realize why doublets cost $600-1000 and higher. Of course, as is the case with many renovation projects, it is frequently harder to remodel than it would be to make something from scratch...but I really didn't want to get into making lapels and shaping the chest, etc...so in this case, I think there's a benefit to using a previously constructed jacket as a starting garment.

I've invested about $25 in materials so far (still need to buy some grosgrain silk and buttons). My time investment...well...we won't talk about the amount of time it took to cut and then rip all those stitches and press everything flat as I selvedge fabric for reconstruction...but the tashes have proven more time consuming than I had anticipated. I'm very happy with how my first one has turned out though, so I'm driving forward.

Here's the facing of my first skirt flap showing the basting that I'm using to install cording as trim.

Here's one section of cording blind stiched and the remaining two basted.

A view of the flap from the back side...showing Hymo stitched to facing and blind stitch along the right hand side.

Completed front section of first tash, minus buttons

And finally...my first completed set of tashes...only three more to go!!

Check back in from time to time...I'll try to update this thread as I continue to make progress on my project.