The Definitive Magnoli fabric and GAP Comparison

By Alex Murphy

I had a great time at Gallifrey One last week, and met up with some old friends, as well as some new ones I had made online in the last year.
One is Alex Murphy, who I’ve been chatting to on and off for a while.

He has recently started his own blog, and has written a very informative comparison between the Magnoli replica GAP fabric and the real deal.

The Ginger Doctor

It is reproduced here with kind permission.

There has been much speculation in the cosplay community about where to get the best-of-the-best in terms of Tenth Doctor gear. Tennant’s Doctor is extremely popular at conventions and his iconic suits and jacket are a hot commodity.

Magnoli Clothiers began offering a custom reweave of both the brown and blue suit fabrics a few years ago, which they used on their Ten suits as well as selling by the yard. But at a hefty $60 per yard, cosplayers are naturally interested to know EXACTLY what they are getting for their money. I finally bit the bullet a while ago, after observing several Magnoli suits at various conventions, and decided that even if it wasn’t totally accurate, it was a damn good replica.

So after taking a huge financial leap and having a custom tailored suit from Magnoli’s brown suit fabric, I had a stroke of good fortune – someone sold me scraps of an old pair of GAP trousers!

Putting the two on top of each other, I hope I can give everyone who’s invested in the Magnoli fabric a huge sigh of relief!

While not 100% perfect, Magnoli’s current reweave is EASILY the best available option. The stripe spacing is the biggest problem, being too wide (1/2″) between stripes (the GAP fabric is approx. 1/16″ narrower between stripes). As you can see above, the blue on the stripes is nearly perfect in color, and although the Magnoli choice in browns appear too dark, this is a nearly brand new swatch, and many of the Magnoli suits I saw at Gallifrey One this year had faded to exactly the shade of the GAP trousers after some wear. Minorly, you can see that the stripes are SLIGHTLY too wide themselves, although woven correctly.

Feeling the two in my hands, the Magnoli fabric is ever-so-slightly thicker, which I think is merely a slightly thicker yarn used in the weave, which would account for the scale problems. Magnoli’s cotton is still a wonderfully lightweight choice.

But the above picture isn’t all I have to offer!

I met a fellow Ten cosplayer at Gallifrey One, introduced by some mutual friends. You may know him from Steve Ricks’ blog, as he is the one and only Kevin Coppa!

Kevin is an absolutely wonderful person, and was gracious enough to oblige me in wearing his GAP suit next to my Magnoli suit for a true side-by-side comparison!

He was even nice enough to let me wear his suit jacket!

As you can see, you’ve really got to put the two next to each other to even notice that they aren’t the same fabric.

Hopefully this can help to ease the minds of all who have shelled out the money for the Magnoli fabric – it’s WELL worth the investment! Hopefully they can even revise the stripe spacing so that a Magnoli jacket can be worn COMPLETELY seamlessly with a pair of GAP trousers! But even so, it’s an excellent investment to make, if you were on the fence about where to throw your money.

Alex also has a great blog where he makes Doctor Who inspired cocktails!
Well worth a look.

Doctor Who Cocktails
If the TARDIS had a bar…

Costume Station Zero - Tennant Suit chit-chat

My good friend Bob Mitsch in the US has recently started Costume Station Zero - a free podcast dedicated to all things cosplay.

It was launched on September 13th, exactly thirteen years to the day since the moon was torn out of Earth orbit in the classic 1960s series Space: 1999!

Although not strictly limited to Doctor Who, with Bob’s fascination for the series it will inevitably have a heavy Who orientation.

Already a number of episodes have been posted, and the current download has some Doctor Who content.

EPISODE 4

2nd October 2012

This episode is of particular interest to readers of this blog, as it features Kevin Coppa, who commissioned me to make The Ultimate Tennant Suit.
He also talks about 10th Doctor Cosplay, his Vespiform, Scaroth and more. Find out more about Kevin at his DeviantArt page.

Episode 4 - 10th Doctor Talk

The Ultimate Tennant Suit at Bad Wolf Bay

Last week I showed you some photos of Kevin Coppa, wearing his Ultimate Tennant Suit, at my local golf course surrounded by dinosaurs!

Well now I have some pictures of him at Southerndown Beach, aka Bad Wolf Bay.

First was used in Army Of Ghosts and Doomsday, it was where Rose said an emotional farewell to The Doctor (see right).

Later they return to the bay for a similarly emotionally charged scene in the close of Journey’s End (see left).
More recently it was the crash site of the Byzantium in the Matt Smith episodes Time Of Angels and Flesh And Stone; and it is due to appear again in series seven.

The photos below form part of a massive shoot we did in Cardiff, more of which will follow soon on my blogs, so watch out for them.

Southerndown Beach is very popular with swimmers and families, so we had to choose our moments to get the views to ourselves. Sometimes the locals got in the way, but they were a friendly bunch! (see left)

While we were there, we did some portrait shots, as well as some more action stuff! (see below)

But the main shots we wanted to do were the ghostly appearances of the Tenth Doctor from the close of Doomsday.
We did a couple of set-ups, and I’m pretty happy with the results. Let me know what you think!

A very special visitor

Today is the final day of The Twelve Regenerations Of Christmas over on the Eleventh Doctor Blog.

As a big finish I posting something rather special. It’s just a picture, but its a good one!

In early December I had an email out of the blue from Louise Page, who had stumbled upon my Tie Index. She found it very interesting, and wanted to share with me a gap in the information I had posted.

This was how I discovered the label for Tie Nine (see left), so it came from a cast iron source.

After exchanging couple of email she expressed an interest in meeting me and talking Tennant suits and coats!

Her timing was perfect, since I currently have the Ultimate Tennant Suit back for some minor alteration, so I suggested she might like to view it.

Just before Christmas she came to visit and we had the chance of a quick photo with the suit.

Louise is so nice and was most impressed with my work, which was the best Christmas present I have ever had!

Ultimate Tennant Suit does SDCC 2011

This past weekend was the San Diego Comic Con.

It’s one of the biggest conventions in the US, and is a major draw for the cosplay community. All manner of costumes from every show you can think of and as many you have never heard of get to be paraded around the venue.

One costume you will know if you read this blog is the Ultimate Tennant Suit, worn by Kevin Coppa.

During the weekend he had the chance to get some great portrait shots taken by Lydia Chen.

Here are the photos she took, while Kevin picks up the story to the photoshoot.

So I got to take the Ultimate Tennant suit to The San Diego Comic Con 2011. Steve had done an incredible job as always and after he and I both got to show it off in public for the first time at Gallifrey One 2010, it was time to take it to it’s sophomore geek-gathering.

Ultimate Tennant Suit -ultimate photo-shoot!

My deadline for the Ultimate Tennant Suit was to make sure it was ready for Kevin Coppa to wear at this year’s Gallifrey Convention.
With just a few days to spare I got it done, and he was able to proudly show it off for all to see.

The convention has several trails you can follow, depending on your personal interests. As part of the cosplay events over the weekend, Scott Sebring brings his professional camera equipment along and offers a free portrait service for anyone in costume!

Kevin had his chance to get get some great pictures of him wearing his Tennant Suit, as well as a Tennant Coat I had made him.

First they did some portrait shots of just the suit (see below).

All photos by Scott Sebring

Ultimate Tennant Suit -trajectory: Gallifrey 2011

Time for a little confession.

The Ultimate Tennant Suit I have made over the past couple of months wasn’t actually for me – it was a commission from a US-based client, Kevin Coppa.

Ultimate Tennant Suit - FINISHED!

Yippeeeee!!

After several weeks sewing – a year gathering trousers – a couple of years knowing the fabric originated from GAP – the day has finally dawned when The Ultimate Tennant Suit is FINISHED!!!!

I can’t hide that I am pretty cuffed about how well it has come out. I have spent a lot of time researching and studying the suit, as well as testing how to make it, all of which appears to have paid off.

Here are some detail pictures of the completed jacket.

Ultimate Tennant Suit - setting sleeves, lapels and collar

The jacket of The Ultimate Tennant Suit is coming together well, and next I need to set the sleeves.

Assembling the sleeve is pretty straight forward - just stitch up the two seams! It’s what you do with it next that makes or breaks how well a sleeve looks on.

Once the sleeve is assembled, I stitch two parallel lines around the sleeve-head. I use a very strong thread, with my machine set to a very slack tension. This allows me to pull the threads through to gather the head of the sleeve and shape it, creating a roll to it. Great care has to be taken to not gather too much and make puckers; or to not do it enough and nothing happen.

Next I fix the gathering and stabilise the sleeve opening by stitching a line of pre-shrunk cotton tape (see above). This sets the gathering so it can’t slip before sewing; and stops the underarm area sagging through repeated wear.

Next I need to turn attention to the lapels and the inside pockets.

I have patterned a special panel for the lapel facing and the lining, which when joined together equal the shape of the fronts (see above).
Into this I set the necessary welted pockets.

I am doing three in total: one narrow one very high up to take a sonic; below this a wider standard pocket; and on the other side ranged in the middle a further wide standard pocket.

I need to set the sonic pocket very high as it needs to be accessed without undoing the top button (see left). A point easily overlooked.

Ultimate Tennant Suit - cutting phase two

The Phase One of the cutting gave me the fabric to circumvent the body of the jacket, as well as all I needed for the external pockets (see right).

Everything went well, so it’s time to return to the cutting bench and prepare some more pieces for assembly.

Pair 2 -
Size 34 x 34

I am cutting the sleeves for the suit now, and its a pretty forgone conclusion that the lower sleeves will be cut from the fronts of the trousers due to their width at the shoulder (see left, top); and the upper sleeves are cut from the backs (see left, below).

I need to angle the sleeves such that the top parts are on grain, and the forearms are a little bit across the grain. when I get to the assembly of the sleeves I’ll show why I have done this.

I have positioned the upper sleeves as low as possible, leaving me a decent piece of off-cut.

When I first cut fabric from the GAP trousers, I had quickly realised that I would not get fabric wide enough to cut the collar in a single piece. I concluded that the screen used suit must have a join at the back of the neck, so I will use this piece of left over to cut my collar.
I cut this just before I needed to set it, to make sure I cut it to fit correctly.

Pair 1 -
Size 34 x 30

I’ve returned to the pair that gave me the back of the jacket to cut the lapel facings.



While I’m on the cutting bench and have the pattern pieces to hand, I also cut what I need for the lining.

Most a straight repeats of the body of the jacket, but with a little adjustment to allow for movement and capacity inside the jacket.

The backs are cut with the vent allowance (see above); and a special panel is shaped and cut to cover the front panel, minus the lapel facing.

This is pretty much everything I need now to complete the Ultimate Tennant Suit!

Ultimate Tennant Suit - making body

Now I have cut the first panels of the jacket I can get onto some real exciting stuff – making it up into the Ultimate Tennant Suit!

First I had to correct a minor problem with the back of the suit, which involved re-cutting a new panel for the area above the belt. I was trying to get round it, but had to bite the bullet.
Here is where I cut it from:

Pair 3 -
36 x 34

I used the fronts from the pair that had provided the front panels of the suit.
The reason I recut was to correct the grain direction of the fabric, which should run slightly diagonally from the waist to the shoulder, not the centre back.
You live and learn.

Anyway, that out of the way I can at last start sewing some real GAP fabric!
I start with the front panels, and stitch the chest darts, which run vertically from the upper chest down to just above the pockets (see right - the first line of stitching!).

Once this is pressed out, and the fronts are interfaced as per the Hand Tailoring I outlined recently, I can think about making and setting the breast pocket.

It is sewn on the surface of the jacket with a separate flap above. The pocket has a box pleat on the front.
This has to be constructed very carefully, as it must span precisely three pinstripes.
The trick is to stitch up the centre behind the pleat at just the right place so a pinstripe lines both front edges of the folds (see left, top).

I then press the edges under, again lining along the pinstripes, with a one inch roll-fold at the top.
This is then pinned in place, aligning it with the pinstripes on the body of the jacket (see left, middle).
There is a level of compromise here as the chest dart expires under the pocket. This means it is possible to square the pocket to the pinstripes on one side only (take a sneak at the finished pocket and look at the right-hand edge to see what I mean).

Finally the pocket is top-stitched in place, with a sort of stretched triangle of strengthening at the top corners (see left, bottom).

I then need to do the breast pocket flap. This is quite simple really.

First I sew the flap together from two pieces of fabric, leaving it open at the top (see right, top).
This is then clipped at the corner points and the seams graded before turning and pressing it flat.

To stop the attaching edge bulking, I overlock the open end (rather than double-fold it) and then stitch it in place above the pocket (see right, bottom).

Once flapped into position I then firmly press the edge and it happily sits in the right place.

Here is the finished, pressed and crisp result (see left).

The white stitching around the pocket is tack stitches I have put to keep the body of the jacket and the horsehair interfacing together while I work – these will obviously be removed before I finish!

Ultimate Tennant Suit - cutting phase one

This past weekend marked the start of cutting the GAP fabric for the Ultimate Tenannt Suit I am making.

I have been planning this for a while, and at long last the day has finally come   :)

So far I have harvested fabric from three of the pairs trousers:
Pair 1 (Size 34 x 30);
Pair 3 (Size 36 x 34); and
Pair 6 (Size 33 x 32).

This will be enough to get the body of the jacket made, including all the pieces for the pockets and more than enough to get me started.

It’s gonna be funny looking at the finished jacket and know that that was a back of a leg and that was a front!

I think it will change my view-point on the suit next time I see an episode – which will be interesting!

It’s fascinating to see the reality of how they are cut, so here is a breakdown of how the pairs were dissected and what parts of the jacket they each provided. 

Pair 1 -
Size 34 x 30

I choose the waist 34s pair to cut the back panels as they just fit, leaving minimal waste.
What is left over still doesn’t entirely go to waste, as I then used it to cut the breast pocket flap and the back strap.

Pair 3 -
Size 36 x 34

The front panels of these trousers are the widest pieces of fabric I have, which is just as well since they need to cover from the lapel edge to the apex of the shoulder.

The small area of waste at the top gives me enough to make the facings of the outer pockets (the piece you see at the back of the pocket when you look inside it).

Pair 6 -
Size 33 x 32

finally I need to cut the side panels, so to preserve as much of the fabric as possible, I have dropped to the narrowest waist I have.

From these I have used the fronts of the trousers are the narrower of the harvested panels available.
I can still happily get the panel I want out of here, leaving a decent chunk of waste from where I cut the breast pocket and most of the pieces I need for the outer pocket flaps.

This completes the cutting I need for the body of the jacket, meaning work can start in earnest . . .