Tutorial: How to Make Tails

New project! Shifting Frames —> click.
Let’s pretend that I didn’t miss last month’s tutorial, and move on to this month’s.

You can kind of see what I mean by tails on our Blood Dupre. We ran into the Queen and had to take a photo – she made her crown and sceptre out of wood! I’m the geek in the pink trying to hold her skirt down against the wind. I’ll do a tute for wig-making in the next few months.

We’re not talking about animal tails or anything like that here, though these tails would be nice for Hallowe’en. Oh no, we’re talking good old-fashioned coattails here. These tails are super easy to make, and you can attach these tails to any jacket you already have. If you have any questions, please ask! I know our hatter needed me to show her how to make these in person since it was a bit difficult to follow online.

Difficulty Level: 1-2

Materials
+Newspaper
+Tape
+Outer fabric (amount will depend on pattern, should be <1 metre)
+Lining fabric (ditto)
+White chalk, pencil crayon, etc. (Be wary of using colours – they may bleed and stain fabric)
+Pins/weights

For Lexi’s costume, we picked her up a $10 jacket on sale at UB, and got some white fabric similar to the jacket material in the remnants section of Fabricland. The remnants section is a godsend. Since you shouldn’t need more than a metre/yd of each kind of fabric, you can probably get everything you need there. For the purposes of this tut, I’ll be using this paper jacket to show you how it’s done.

Measure across the back of the jacket, in between the side seams(A). Then with the jacket on, decide how long you want the tails to be(B). Measure from the base of the jacket down.

Now take your newspaper, and tape a whole bunch of sheets together to make a big rectangle. This rectangle should have the same dimensions as your measurements from the previous stage. You will also need approximately the same amount of each fabric. Remember that fabric is typically over a metre wide, so unless you want your tails to be longer than 1m/yd, you can probably buy a little more fabric than the measurement across the bottom of the jacket.

For example, pretend my jacket is 20 in across, and I want my tails to end 40 inches from the end of the jacket. Knowing that the fabric is usually 44 in wide, I would ask the salesperson to cut me about 25 in of fabric (20 in + a little extra). Width and other measurements of the fabric should be specified on the bolt or remnant label. Note that if the fabric has a special shot or pattern that you want to go a particular way, this method may not be appropriate.

Fold this rectangle in half the “hot dog” way, and trace out the pattern for your tails (in red in the photo). Cut through both layers of paper along the pattern you drew, and unfold. This will be your pattern piece.

Take your lining fabric, and lay it down unpretty side up. Place your pattern piece on it, and trace around with the chalk/pencil crayon. You can use pins or weights to hold the piece in place while you work. Remove the pattern piece, and you’ll have something that looks like this.

Now draw a 1-inch border around this tracing. Cut along this new line. You now have your lining piece.

Take your outer fabric (the one matching your jacket), and lay it flat pretty side up. Place the lining piece on top of it, unpretty side up. Baste the two fabrics together along the pattern tracing, leaving the top edge open. The purple represents basting; it’s on the inside of the line just for better visibility.

Cut through the outer fabric along the edges of the lining piece. Properly sew the two pieces together over the basting. Now, turn the tails inside out, and press.

You’re done! Use the extra inch up top to attach these to the jacket. You can also use velcro, and make these tails removable, or attachable to more than one jacket. Just sew velcro to the inside of all the jackets you want to wear them with!

Back shot!

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