No Sew Master and Commander Jack Aubrey Costume

JoeRanger in his Jack Aubrey costume

JoeRanger's Jack Aubrey Costume

People sometimes tell me that, since they can't sew or don't have a machine, they can't make a costume. Well, this post proves that you don't have to sew to make a great costume!

JoeRanger, the creator of this costume, contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know that he had made a Jack Aubrey costume like mine for a party, only he did it with no sewing! I was impressed and asked if I could post about it here to give some ideas to others who might want to make a costume without having to sew. He said yes and sent me these photos.

Left: A reproduction Royal Navy uniform from DeborahLoughCostumes on Etsy. Right: JoeRanger's uniform and accessories.

It's not easy to find an inexpensive Royal Navy costume online. Most of them for sale out there are historically accurate reproduction uniforms meant for films or reenactors and cost thousands of dollars. I have a feeling that's way above the budget of most people who find this blog, who are looking for something inexpensive they can wear for a party, Halloween, a convention, etc. Most of the supplies JoeRanger used were scrap, thrifted or purchased on eBay; in total it looks like it cost him around $50.

Supplies

For Jack's uniform coat, he started with a 60/40 cotton/polyester tan trench coat ($9) and dyed it a dark royal blue with Rit liquid dye.

Costume before adding trim and buttons

He cut the trench coat to match the shape of Jack's coat which meant cutting away the lower front parts of the coat. I believe he folded the raw edges inside and glued them together with hot glue.

Costume with trim and buttons

The trim and buttons (plastic with anchors; $5 from eBay) were glued on as well. An alternative would be to use iron-on fusible tape to finish the edges, which could also be used to attach the gold ribbon trim.

Trench coat lining and excess pant material remade into a vest

For the pants, he found a pair of khaki pants for $4. He cut them off at the knee and used the extra to alter the liner that came with the trench coat so it looks like Jack's vest.

JoeRanger's progress photos

The shirt was an old dress shirt with fabric glued on the front, the boots were left over from a Han Solo costume ($30 on eBay) and he constructed the pistol and sword from scrap in his workshop.

Thanks for sharing, JoeRanger! I hope that these photos are enough to show those of you out there who want a Jack Aubrey costume that, if you're willing to get creative and put in some effort, you can find a way to make an inexpensive costume without having to sew.

Master and Commander Movie Costumes

This past weekend we took a little trip over to San Diego. Because of my obsession with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World I couldn't miss the HMS Surprise at the Maritime Museum! I wasn't too sure what sort of exhibits they had on the Surprise but I had my fingers crossed that they would have some costumes from the movie. I got lucky! Behind Plexiglas in a tiny room they had four uniforms, belonging to Jack Aubrey, Mowett, Blakeney, and a marine. Sadly they seemed a little forgotten. There weren't any signs or labels to indicate that they were from the movie and they were all crowded in a corner. Jack's costume was hidden behind all the others; all that could be seen was his hat and collar!

I took advantage of the opportunity and spent about an hour sketching what I could see of each costume. I also took a few photos but the glare on the Plexiglas kept them from turning out very well. I thought I'd post my photos and sketches here in case anyone needs some reference material when trying to make their own costume. FYI, I've left all of my notes on the sketches including my spelling mistakes and some stuff that's unrelated (like the names of the guns on the Surprise!). If you need me to translate any of my writing please let me know.

(By the way, if you're serious about making costumes from the Master and Commander movie, you need to buy The Making of Master and Commander by Tom McGregor. I just bought it and I wish I had it when I made my Jack Aubrey costume because it has lots of great reference photos! *See the update at the bottom of the page for another great reference book.

Second Lieutenant Mowett Uniform

This appears to be a Lieutenant's uniform, and I decided it was Mowett's because he's the only Lt. I remember that wears a top hat. You can see a photo of Mowett in hat and uniform on page 102 in the Making of M&C book.

Midshipman Blakeney Uniform

Since this midshipman's uniform had the right arm pinned up it could only be Lord Blakeney's!

Blakeney and Mowett Uniforms

Blakeney and Mowett Trousers. Mowett's have stirrups at the bottom (you can see them better in my sketch).

All that can be seen of Captain Aubrey's Uniform

Royal Marine Uniform

Unfortunately the hat is about the only thing that can be seen in detail on Jack Aubrey's uniform. I don't know which character wore this Marine's uniform. It's not Captain Howard because he wears a different hat. The edging on the Marine's uniform is cool, it's white with a red stripe and a blue stripe (I put asterisks on the sketch to mark where this edging was used). There's a good photos of a bunch of Marines in uniform on page 86 of the Making of M&C book.

Sailor's Outfit

This sailor's outfit was not in the same room as the other costumes. I don't recognize it so it might not be from the movie (it could be a real antique outfit for all I know!). I thought it was interesting that the edges of the jacket weren't turned under and hemmed. Instead they've completed all the edges with an oversewing stitch (I couldn't think of what it was called when making my sketch so I called it a blanket stitch).

*Update 7/12/09: When visiting the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich this summer, I ran across this amazing book: Dressed to Kill: British Naval Uniform, Masculinity and Contemporary Fashions, 1748-1857. It's written by Amy Miller who is a curator at the NMM. The book describes a number of uniforms in the museum's collection with front, back, and detail photos of each as well as line drawings showing their pattern construction. I remember seeing it on the internet while researching my Jack Aubrey costume but there was no indication in the very brief Amazon description that it contained all these amazing reference photos and drawings. If you are interested in making an authentic Royal Navy uniform you definitely need this book!


Update 8/16/11: I was checking the Amazon link for Dressed to Kill and saw that it is out of print, with resale copies going for over $400. Ouch! Same thing over at Amazon UK. The price I bought it at was £15 (so about $30). It is still listed at that price on the National Maritime Museum's list of publications but with no option to buy. If you are desperate to have it but can't pay the insane resale price, my only suggestion would be to contact the museum to see if they still have any copies.


(Oh and thanks, Amazon, for offering to buy back my copy of Dressed to Kill for $5.52 so you can resell it at $424.99. That sounds like a great deal!)

Jack Aubrey Costume

Jack Aubrey costume with jacket

Jack Aubrey costume without jacket

Here's the details on the Jack Aubrey costume that I wore to our Halloween party. I made this costume based on the everyday uniform worn by Russell Crowe in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. I made everything but the boots from scratch. Below, I'll cover each part of the costume individually.

Update 5/22/08: If you're interested in more costumes from the Master and Commander movie then please check out my photos and drawings of several outfits on display at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Update 9/18/12: Check out some photos of a no-sew Jack Aubrey costume here.

Jacket

Project Name: Jack Aubrey costume - jacket
Time Taken to Finish: 2 weeks
Pattern: Modified from McCall's 4626, size Men's Small *(See update at bottom of page)Materials Used: Blue polar fleece, cream heavy weight cotton knit (for lining, same fabric used for vest and pants), 3/4 inch buttons, gold fabric, gold fringe, fusible interfacing, blue and gold thread
Special Tools Used: Singer 221K sewing machine
What I Did: So that it would resemble Jack's jacket, I modified the McCall's pattern by adding the fold-over lapels (where the buttons are) and removing part of the jacket below the lapels. I made the epaulettes (shoulder decoration) separately and sewed them on at the end. The buttons were cheap white ones that I spray painted gold (the same with all the other buttons in the costume).
What I Liked About the Project: Of all the costume pieces, the jacket took the longest to make but I think it turned out great. It was surprisingly comfortable.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: The weight of the lapels often caused them to roll back and show the lining of the jacket. The epaulettes could have been a little bigger. I wanted to use real brass anchor buttons but it would've cost me around $40 to get them. The spray painted buttons look fine, but those on the sleeves are already starting to get scratched.

Vest

Project Name: Jack Aubrey costume - vest
Time Taken to Finish: 1 week
Pattern: Modified from McCall's 4626, and McCall's 4864 size Men's Small *(See update at bottom of page)
Materials Used: Cream heavy weight cotton knit, 5/8 inch buttons, fusible interfacing, cream thread
Special Tools Used: Singer 221K sewing machine
What I Did: I started with the pirate vest (McCall's 4626) and modified the pattern by giving it a high neckline. I did that by adding the neckline from the McCall's 4864 colonial jacket pattern to the pirate vest pattern. I also made the vest significantly shorter. Since I don't have a buttonhole maker, I originally considered using sew-in snaps hidden under the buttons. But the snaps could not be hidden well, so I broke down and made real buttonholes by hand.
What I Liked About the Project: Considering that I had never sewn a buttonhole of any kind before, I think they looked very good.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: I wish that I had used sew-in interfacing instead of fusible interfacing. The fusible interfacing under the buttons caused the fabric to ripple. Since the vest was lined in the same fabric as the outside, I was able to turn it so that the ripples were on the inside.

Pants

Project Name:
Jack Aubrey costume - pants
Time Taken to Finish: 2 days
Pattern: McCall's 4864 size Men's Medium *(See update at bottom of page)
Materials Used: Cream heavy weight cotton knit, 5/8 inch buttons, fusible interfacing, cream thread
Special Tools Used: Singer 221K sewing machine
What I Did: I sewed the pants according to the pattern. The only change I made was in the number of buttons on the legs of the pants.
What I Liked About the Project: It was fast! The pants were the easiest part of the costume to make.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: I should've made the small size instead of the medium, because I had to pin the pants to keep them sitting at my natural waist. Since the pants were white-colored and unlined, they were practically see-through so I had to wear white tights underneath them. Even then you could still see the tucked-in shirt tail clearly through the pants.

Shirt

Project Name: Jack Aubrey costume - shirt
Time Taken to Finish: 3 days
Pattern: McCall's 4864

size Men's Small *(See update at bottom of page)
Materials Used: White light weight polyester, 5/8 inch buttons, sew-in interfacing, white thread
Special Tools Used: Singer 221K sewing machine
What I Did: I also sewed the shirt according to the pattern. Again, I hand-sewed the buttonholes on the neck and wrist.
What I Liked About the Project: The fabric is light and comfortable.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: The shirt was the last thing I sewed and I did not have time to figure out how to add ruffles to the neck (as Jack's shirt has). Also, the shirt tail needs to be made shorter because there is too much to tuck in.

Captain Aubrey in action!

* Update 8/22/08: I just found out that McCall has discontinued both of the patterns I used in my costume (4626 and 4864). They're still available in the "Out of Print" area of their website but I'm sure they won't be around much longer. However, I recently ran across Butterick pattern B3072 which is really a better match for all the pieces in the costume than the McCall patterns. The Butterick pattern has the jacket, vest, shirt and pants all in one package. If you're looking to make your own Jack Aubrey costume I would definitely suggest starting there!

Update 10/4/08: I've uploaded several high resolution close-up photos of the jacket. You can see them here:

Jacket
Jacket lapel
Jacket lapel close-up
Jacket epaulette
Jacket sleeve cuff
Jacket back