A Norfolk Jacket for Cycling

Back in April, late one night I decided I needed a cycling jacket--I started doing most of my commuting and errands on two wheels back at the beginning of December, and having to wear a Carhart jacket for warmth was just killing me.  Not a look I like, and not designed for cycling, either.  I also had issues in that it was way too warm for anything above 20*F, never mind rainy weather--I would get soaked both from sweat and the precipitation.

More photos of it being worn towards the bottom
of the post.
And safety first, even when just getting photos!

So I promptly drafted and cut one out in light brown bull denim and wool flannel.  The original plan was to go with something similar to my Sailor's topcoat--a paletot--I ended up modifying it into a Norfolk jacket.

 While I normally would have referred to Vincent's Tailoring manual of 1890, I did not have my computer available...the result is that I drafted it freehand.  On the whole, I am happy with how it came out. 
When drafting something complicated like this, I like to draw it out on paper first, possibly to scale.  This allows me to get a feel for the shape and directions, as well as potentially letting me separate the pieces so that it actually has seam allowances.

A bit more detail on the first steps can be found in my April Project Journal.

When I first cut it out, I decided to leave the sidebody attached, and just sew up the dart there.  I ended up liking this enough that I just left it that way, forming something more like a long sac coat draft.

Because it is a cycling jacket, it was more important that the jacket fit when I am in this bent over position (all the way down to back parallel to the road), than when standing up.  Which means the back needs to be slightly broader and longer than for a normal coat, and the sleeves also require slight adjustments. 

The coat was sized so that I could wear it over my woolen waistcoats in cold weather.

Again, because of the position you are in whilst riding, you don't want to have stuff in front pockets--at times my knees touch my chest.  So I included splitting the garment at the middle of the back to form a back pocket

The full front piece, with the linings of tan wool flannel (a thrift store find) being cut out.

Just for a touch of whimsy, I decided I wanted red facings on this garment.  If I had thought of it, I would have inserted the reflective piping below in there as well, but the scrap red flannel gives a flash of colour.

Sometime around there, I decided that I wanted to turn it into a Norfolk jacket, with applied pleats.  And because I wanted some reflective material...I had to piece them out of three strips, plus the piping in the seams

The slightly heartbreaking feel of cutting open the back of your coat...  The result was a double swing-back to give better range of motion.

And the piping does work, as you see.  This and the photo below were taken with flash.

Rather than having a swing front, I elected to install somewhat hidden front breast pockets!  This was surprisingly a bit of a challenge, since I had never done this style before; in order to help you do so, I wrote up a tutorial on how I did it, which can be found here.

 Body being all but assembled...sleeve drafting was required.  I used a fairly standard method, with nothing fancy beyond lengthening the hindarm seam slightly.

And tried out for fit.

I had decided I wanted a cut on cuff--this was partly because I was running seriously low on fabric.  I managed it, but I barely had enough of the fashion material.

 For safety reasons, I elected to run reflective piping down the hindarm seam and around the cuff.  One of the worst things is when somebody elects to pass you (usually on a blind corner) as you are signalling a left turn*.  I considered piping it in the shape of a giant arrow, but elected not to as you can see.

*I don't know if they don't know what manual signals look like, or if they are just jerks (substituted for ruder word) and ignoring it, but it ticks me off.

Sometime after the sleeves were assembled and flat, came the first dose of Scotch-guard--I wanted to spray down the inside of the denim as well.

 Rear pocket installed!  Corduroy (scrap) on one side, and denim on the other.  I ended up redoing the opening--binding it on the top edge rather than a rolled hem, but that doesn't change much.

 Front patch pockets in place!  These aren't intended to get much use--mostly just a place to put something like my sunglasses when I get off the bike.

So...little secret here.  I had not intended to put leather shoulder yokes on the garment.  But for the life of me I could not get the applied straps to line up front and back.  The result was that I elected to just cover it up with scrap leather--it does have the bonus of covering up the seam to increase weather resistance as well.

Side and shoulder seams sewn (and felled, as well), and the signature belt of a Norfolk jacket sewn in place.  It's only sewn on the back (sides are loose), and doesn't go through the pocketing.  Why a leather belt?  ...because at this point I was completely out of denim.

The belt is actually rather low in the back--about hip level when I stand up straight.  This is because, as said, the fit is designed for being in a cycling posture.

Back lining laid in place, and sewn  down to the seam allowance of the denim.  And felled to the red facings.

 This is a shoulder seam, but I did the side seams the same way--one side sewn to the seam allowance, and the other side felled on top of that.

As with the front and the vent facings, I faced the cuff in the red flannel as well.  Start by sewing right sides together...

Then it magically becomes a neatly mitred corner.  Really!

No, but I have a tutorial on how to make working suit cuffs on the blog.  These didn't come out the prettiest, mind--I recommend moving the seam joining a separate cuff slightly so you don't have a bunch of seams in one place. 

Lining was sewn in place via the usual method...install sleeve lining, fold the cuff back, and overcast in place.  Some trimming may be called for.

When the sleeves were sewn to the body of the jacket, I went through all the layers.  They then got bound with a strip of wool.

 Front facing in place.

I more or less freehand the collar, cutting it out of bias cut canvas.  Because I intended to sew the topcollar from leather, I could not have a >< shaped center back seam--it would have been too bulky.    This just made things a little more difficult, but I managed.

Also, I hate drafting collars even worse than sleeves--and I know this is because I don't really understand them.

The undercollar was cut in the red wool flannel, same allowances turned to the inside and sewn down to the canvas.  Then I padstitched to give the collar stand some stiffness and shape the break.

I decided that this would be another good spot to include piping, and so basted it in place.  The collar was also pressed to help it behave.  I did not pad-stitch the entire thing mainly because I ran out of red-linen thread.

 Top collar in brown leather going into place!  It was handsewn in place, of course.

And installed!  I am fairly happy with it, although the part where it joins the revers is a bit rough.

At the top of each side vent, in order to cover up the less than attractive join, is a small patch.  Not something you see in modern suits, but you do in 18th century ones (and I didn't know what I was doing).

Buttonholes and prick-stitching the front edges were the final steps and fairly straightforwarded.

Ready to descend!  Or fight a headwind. 

This was my first attempt at a Norfolk jacket, first time not using a base drafting method for this kind of thing (going off the cuff), first time sewing something with modern suit vents (and English ones, at that!), first time in 10 years that I have used piping of any kind.  I learned a fair amount on what to do and not do when it comes to more modern style coats--hopefully I can retain it!--, plus the learning which comes from doing topstitching on a machine--something I also haven't done in years.  I figured out how to do those front pleat pockets on Norfolk jackets.

Where I am probably 50% of the time that I'm not expecting to brake.

On the whole, I am fairly happy with it.  The collar is a touch rough in fit, and I wish I had designed it so that the front pleats had run all the way down--with the belt going under them like belt loops, rather than concealing the ends of the "pleats" as I did.  I also misplaced the vent on the sleeves--the buttons are in the way when I lay down on the hoods.

Nicely comfortable on the hoods.

In the end, this is a functional garment, and works well for keeping me warm, dry, and stylish...in theory.  Since I finished it, it pretty much hasn't rained at all, and has been too warm to actually go for a ride while wearing the coat.  But I am looking forwards to giving it some serious use come winter.

Collar up for inclement weather.  I dosed the undercollar with scotch-guard as well.

© John Frey, 2019. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material.  Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.  All photos in this work below to the Author, and may not be used for commercial purposes.