Wednesday 29 June 2011

Romana Frock Coat (blue version)
pattern grading stage one

I'm still working on my Tom Baker coat - but things have been a little slow of late as I’ve been distracted with a number of other projects - Ultimate Tennant Suit ... Season Six tweed ... Six Frock Coat ...

One of them has also been a commission from a friend to make a proper Romana Frock Coat for his wife!

Like a few of my other commissions, the request has been slightly left-field from the original: rather than in PINK it is to be in a cornflower blue; plus I need to make it for a larger dress form - all of this is easily done, but it just takes a bit of attention and application to make it work.
Firstly the fabric is fairly easy.

I am using my new supplier who I have been working with on the Six Frock Coat. He can dye short-run wools for me to match my exact colour requirements.

I then need to adapt my pattern block to fit the shape I require.

To recap, the work I have done so far on my Tom Baker coat involved creating a block true to Lalla Ward’s size from the pattern trace I took. I then went through a couple of rounds of pattern grading to bring it up to a male form size.

Lalla Ward was literally a size zero and the Pink Frock Coat she wore was tiny. For this commission I will need to create a block to the same vertical dimensions, but increase the girth by grading it accordingly.

My starting point where I will jump back in will be the original Lalla Ward block.

I had already done an initial enlargement of the block by using focal points, from which I projected the pattern shapes larger.

Luckily for me when making the Tom Baker block, Lalla Ward is fairly flat chested, so there was negligible bust allowance to remove, but now I need to go the other way and build it in to create a proper bust shape.

But before I can do that I need to size the block up further.
This time round my tutor favours a slicing and dicing technique.

Here is how we did it.

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Bonhams auction - 29th June 2011 -
the viewing

This week is the bonhams entertainment sale, so I popped along to the viewing to see the Who-related items for myself.

There is only one item relating the Tom Baker’s era: one of the original Mona Lisa paintings from City Of Death.
Like the real thing the paint is done on wood board, but on this occasion cheap ply wood!

It was hand painted and some of the brushwork is actually pretty good close-up. It was a shame the face doesn't really look like the real Mona Lisa!

Pity the words This Is A Fake weren't visible . . . although there was some mysterious notes on the back (see right, bottom). Maybe it’s something to do with the Da Vinci Code? Or maybe not!

Friday 3 June 2011

Bonhams auction - 29th June 2011

Being June, it’s time for the next bi-annual Entertainment Memorabilia sale at Bonhams.

As usual there are a scant few Doctor Who items on offer, some more interesting that others.


As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:
Here are just the lots relating to the Fourth Doctor era
Lot 114
Dr Who: a 'Mona Lisa' painting from 'City Of Death'
Oil on panel, 57 x 72.5cm (22¼ x 28½in)

Estimate: £1,000 - 1,200
Sold for £2,400

Footnote:
Featured in the Tom Baker story broadcast in 1979, this is one of six such paintings produced. According to information received, this particular painting hung in the Dr. Who production office during the 1980s.


Lot 115
A miniature TARDIS model, created for exhibition purposes, of painted board, with plastic paper-backed windows, and plastic casing to light, having internal electrical workings (plug removed), height 5ft, width 15 inches.

Estimate: £150 - 200
Sold for £900