Royal Wedding 1981 The Groom 18 inch Doll Clothes Pattern

This pattern by Genniewren Designs, is an 18" doll-sized recreation of the Naval Commander's full dress uniform worn by Prince Charles on his wedding day back in 1981.

The pattern includes a frock coat with a cutaway front skirt, slim-fitting military style pants, and several accessories: a ribbon sash, white gloves, a belt, aiguillettes and a sword. Two styles of gloves have been included to fit most shapes of doll hands. The uniform look is completed with a navy and white cap, made from the Military Style Cover pattern which is published separately.

The fully lined frock coat has a slightly extended shoulder line supported with shoulder pads, contrast epaulettes and a contrast collar. It features an asymmetric front fastened with snaps. The coat back bodice is sewn in three parts for a traditionally tailored look. The coat skirt is pleated and vented at the center back and has mock pocket flaps at the side back. Shiny brass buttons provide the military flair required for a prince's uniform.

The matching belt features two lines of gold braid, and a large shiny button used as a decorative buckle. The sword is attached to the belt using gold braid and cords.
The slim-fitting pants are military style with a faced waist instead of a separate waistband, a front fastening fly front, and gold braid on the side seams. The fit is enhanced by darts at the back waist.

The sash is made from ribbon and features a bow and a small medallion. The medals are created from ribbon and sequins or stamp tags.
The aiguillettes are made from two different sizes of gold cord, and the conical aiguille ends are created out of gold foil.

The sword is crafted from wood, flexible plastic, wire, beads, foil and vinyl or felt and features gold braid to represent the figured molding on the scabbard.

This pattern includes hand embroidery designs for the wings and the two patches on the front of the coat. A set of machine embroidery designs for these is also available.
Information is included to help with sourcing trims and other supplies needed to complete the items in the pattern.

Be sure to check out the companion Royal Wedding 1981 patterns for The Bride and Diana's Bouquet.

Recommended Fabrics: The coat and pants should be made from medium weight woven fabric such as cotton drill (the fabric used for aprons) or lightweight woolen fabric. The gloves are designed for four-way stretch lycra dancewear fabric.  

Supplies Needed:
Coat and Pants:

• One yard (meter) of medium weight woven fabric;
• Half a yard (meter) of lining fabric (I used a poly/silk habotai lining fabric as it is very fine and helps to reduce bulk at the seams);
• 9" x 3" (23cm x 7.5cm) gold satin fabric for the epaulettes;
• 18" x 3" (46cm x 7.5cm) white twill fabric for the collar;
• 12" x 3" (30.5cm x 7.5cm) lightweight fusible interfacing (you will need extra interfacing if you choose to interface the coat bodice as some of the testers did);
• 4" (10cm) square gold satin fabric for epaulettes;
• 22 gold buttons approximately 3/8" (9mm) in diameter (slightly smaller will work better than slightly larger);
• 2 tiny 1/4" (6mm) flat gold buttons for the epaulettes;
• 6 snaps 1/4" – 3/8" (6-9mm) in diameter;
• 3 yards (meters) of gold soutache (Russia braid) or satin ribbon 1/8" (2-3mm) wide;
• 8" (20cm) square of fleece or thick felt fabric to make shoulder pads;
• 24" (61cm) of 1/2" (1.2cm) wide gold military braid, ribbon or gimp for the pants stripe;
• 3" (7.5cm) of 1/2" (1.2cm) wide hook and loop tape (both sides) for the pants fly front fastening.

Gloves:

• 12" x 4" (30.5cm x 10cm) or 6" x 8" (15cm x 20cm) white four-way stretch lycra fabric.

Accessories:
Belt:

• 1 yard (meter) of ½" (1.2cm) wide navy grosgrain/Petersham ribbon;
• One 3/4" (2cm) diameter gold button (flat backed) for the buckle;
• 1 yard (meter) of 3mm wide soutache (Russia braid) or 3mm wide satin ribbon for the trim;
• 1" (2.5cm) length of 1/2" (1.2cm) wide hook and loop tape for the belt closure.

Sash:

• 1 yard (meter) of 1" (2.5cm) wide royal blue double-sided satin ribbon;
• One snap approximately 3/8" – 1/2" (9mm – 12mm) diameter;
• one flat oval bead approximately 3/4" (2cm) long; and a small seed bead to make the "medal" on the sash bow.

Medals:

• 2¾" (7cm) of approximately 3/8" (9mm) wide striped ribbon in two different colors;
• Two sequins or circular stamping tags approximately 1/4" - 3/8" (6-9mm) in diameter;
• One small brass (lingerie) safety pin - maximum length ¾" (2cm);
• A small piece of felt 3/4" x 1/4" (2cm x 6mm);
• One small Maltese-style cross charm, approximately ¾" x ½" (1.7cm x 1.2cm) including the hanging loop;
• A length of 1/8" (3mm) wide red or burgundy ribbon sufficient to tie around the doll's neck.

Aiguillettes:

• 22" (56cm) fine gold rope-twist cord approximately ⅛" (2-3mm) diameter;
• 12" (30.5cm) gold rope-twist cord approximately ¼" (5-6mm) diameter;
• 1.5" (4cm) gold ribbon approximately ⅜" (9mm) wide;
• Matching gold thread to bind the cord ends;
• Fray blocking fluid;
• Four 4" (10cm) square metal (not plastic) gold foil chocolate wrappers or you can use gold Washi craft tape if you prefer;
• Craft glue.

Sword:

• 1 wooden tongue depressor/wax applicator approximately 6" x ¾" (15cm x 1.8cm);
• 7.5" x 4" (19cm x 10cm) black pleather or marine vinyl for the scabbard;
• 6" (15cm) wire or one large paperclip flattened to give this amount of wire;
• One 1/4" - 3/8" (6mm – 9mm) bead with a hole large enough for the wire to thread through;
• 4" x 2" (10cm x 5cm) soft flexible plastic (I used a piece from a hand lotion tube);
• 8" x 4" (20cm x 10 cm) aluminium foil to shape the handle
• Approximately six 4" (10cm) square metal (not plastic) gold foil chocolate wrappers;
• One gold D-ring with a half inch aperture (or wide enough to fit your chosen military braid);
• Three scraps of military braid at least 2" long;
• Half a yard of 1/4" (5mm) gold soutache (Russia Braid) or similar for the part of the sword that attaches to the belt at the back;
• 12" (30.5cm) of 1/8" (2mm) diameter gold cord;
• Two tassels (optional);
• Craft glue.

NOTIONS AND TOOLS YOU MIGHT FIND USEFUL

• A pressing cloth is necessary to prevent shine spots on your fabric when pressing bulky seams. I use a silk organza pressing cloth as it is semi-transparent and allows me to check alignments of seam allowances etc. before pressing.
• A mini iron is useful for getting into those tiny areas when pressing the seams on your doll's clothes. These can be found in most quilt stores, or online.
• A sleeve board is ideal for pressing doll's clothes rather than using a standard size ironing board. A mini tailor’s ham and sleeve roll will also help. If you do not have a small sleeve roll, you can use a tightly rolled washcloth inserted into the sleeves when pressing.
• Tailor’s chalk, chalk pencil, dressmaker’s carbon paper, washable or air dry marker pens for transferring pattern markings to the wrong side of your fabric.
• Fray blocking fluid for sealing seams, edges and cord ends.
• Clothes pins to hold the sword scabbard in place until the glue dries.

Skill Level:  Intermediate 

What You Get: One 82 page sewing pattern that you digitally download as a PDF file so you can start your project immediately! The PDF sewing pattern provides full color step-by-step illustrated instructions and full size pattern pieces.  This pattern includes a Summary of Instructions section so you can print out just the text version if desired to save on printer ink!  A PDF reader is required to view and print the files (example: Adobe Reader or Preview for MAC). The download link is received immediately after the transaction is complete. Print copies are NOT available.

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