Rapier Armour

Remember the photo I posted back in February, of the lovely paper pattern pieces I'd drafted for my husband's new fencing armour? I've finally found time to work on the project. I started it on Monday and spent most of my free time this week on it. It turned out not to badly, all things considered. I thought the fabric was an awesome choice in terms of looks but it turned out that the satin stripes were very prone to fraying. That meant a few seams that were lumpier than I'd have liked.
The shirt however turned out really nicely. I'd tried a method that my friend developed and it turned out an easy to make shirt but that was too small. ( my son is happy though as he got a totally awesome fencing shirt, although he doesn't participate much anymore) I ended up going back to my latest shirt pattern I'd done myself and it turned out perfect, in size, shape and design.
The doublet has 3 layers and was punch tested so it's SCA legal. The tabs turned out well, but they only have 2 layers, woven interfacing and piping which made the seams turn crisply. The 19 button holes need some fray checking and the 19 buttons are brown plastic that look like woven leather. I hesitate to put really nice buttons on a garment which will be tossed in a washer and dryer, poked, prodded and otherwise mal-treated.
The fit is okay, considering I used a totally different pattern drafting method. Although I'm not fond of the collar shape, that is easily changed. The armscyes fit a treat which is good considering it was drafted to have sleeves. The sleeves aren't done and won't be for a while. I wanted the outfit done before this Saturday and so the sleeves will be lace on at a later date.

Oddly enough, the cat really wanted nothing at all to do with the project, other than inspecting the pattern pieces back in Feb. Now to clean up the mess. When I work in my sewing room, I have bags taped to the edges of work surfaces to catch the threads and snippets. However, I was in the diningroom and I ended up using the floor.. egads.. what a mess!