Fabric Notes and "Substitute" Material Recommendations

FABRIC NOTES

White and black wool gabardine (superfine or regular) is not difficult to find, but the cavalry twill/wool elastique is another matter, especially in the screen-accurate gray (for the officer version of the formal jacket). 

Alternatively - or, perhaps, ideally - one can purchase white or undyed wool gabardine and/or wool elastique then dye them matching gray accordingly to screen-accurate specifications.

"SUBSTITUTE" MATERIAL RECOMMENDATIONS/ALTERNATIVES

We're also aware of "vegan" sensibilities and the sometimes prohibitively expensive nature of screen-accurate materials. They may look make for a far more impressive, screen-accurate replica, but superfine wool gabardine and wool elastique/cavalry twill aren't cheap; neither is naval lace! Expenses can add up quickly.

Fortunately, there are some ways to "cut a few corners" and still produce a reasonably good replica. 

Perhaps the most notable cost-effective substitute is to use "regular" wool gabardine (which one can typically find for about $10-$30/yard) instead of "superfine" wool gabardine (which seems to hover in the $90-$120/yard range). 

An even more cost-effective substitute would be to use white and black cotton twill or wrinklease as substitutes for the wool gabardines, as cotton twill can typically be purchased for $6-$12/yard. 

Substituting polyester cavalry twill for the yoke and bib is another option. 

Another possibility for the yoke and bib is to use corduroy or rib-knit cut at an appropriate angle (61° works nicely) so it appears to have a diagonal weave. A protractor is handy for this! 

(We'd like to thank Michael Cowart for this "out of the fox" idea!)

The following uniform constructed for this tutorial was 100% cotton (jacket and trousers)
and bemberg/rayon (lining). No animals were harmed in the making of this tutorial. 

As mentioned previously, the ½" metallic gold braid/naval lace varies considerably in price and quality. 

Below are two different naval laces from two different sources; note the difference in both shininess and color.

The lower is obviously the cheaper of the two, but it still looked good on the finished uniform! 

(We used the upper naval lace on our prototype formal uniform back in 2012, and the lower naval lace on the newer jacket constructed for this tutorial in 2015.)

If you're on a really, really tight budget, any ½" metallic gold trim, braid, or ribbon can do in a pinch, such as this cheap trim from our local JoAnn:

To be honest, though, we hesitate to even mention it as an option here, because the quality is so much lower than even the cheapest naval lace we could find; below is a comparison photo of nice naval lace (top), inexpensive/midrange naval lace (middle), and the JoAnn trim (bottom):

For the ⅛" gold/black twisted piping, to be honest, you'll probably just have to scrounge around and do the best you can with whatever you can find; unfortunately, we know of no source for 100% screen-accurate piping, and the passable substitutes we have come across over the years appear to always be coming and going ... 

NOTE: For the formal uniform in this tutorial, we used the following materials: 

* White cotton wrinklease (twill) as a substitute for white wool gabardine

* White cotton rib-knit cut at a 61° angle for the jacket yoke and bib

* Black cotton twill as a substitute for black wool gabardine

* ½" metallic gold naval lace from an eBay seller in India (we got 10 yards for about $35)

* Burgundy upholstery piping from our local Hobby Lobby (see previous page)

* Heavyweight collar interfacing from B. Black and Sons

Now that you've been briefed on the uniform and have all your materials gathered: 

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