Sorry it's taken so long to get these pics posted. Some time after my post I had some computer problems and kind of lost track of the thread.
I wish I'd taken notes when we were making my jacket, but we were in a bit of a time crunch, and didn't have time to. Keith had made several of these before, so he didn't need any notes.
Hopefully, we'll be able to take some time and write up a tutorial on the build process, but I don't expect that'll be any time real soon. But I can give a quick, vague overview from what I remember from a couple years ago.
I think we were able to make this in a week, maybe two (it was under a month), once we had everything we needed: 2 oversized 4 pocket BDU ripstop shirts, a couple olive drab head bands, patches, velcro, zipper, snaps, elastic, and and quilted liner material.
I don't remember if the shirts were 1 or 2 sizes too large, but we removed the collar, cuffs, buttons and pockets. I think we removed all 4 pockets, but I'm not sure now. Both shirts were extensively disassembled, but some seams were left as they were. Two of the pockets were used as spare material for the upper pocket flaps and as the piece that goes on the collar.
The extra length was removed off the bottom, since the BDU shirts are longer than the Offworld Jacket. Part of that was used to form the storm flap, that extra material that goes on the inside, behind the zipper to keep wind from blasting through the zipper area.
One of the OD head bands was cut up and serged to form the collar, the other head band was cut up even more to form the cuffs. When we attached them to the sleeves, we didn't pay quite enough attention to where the seam was, so one of them is visible from the front. One of the seams can be seen in the closeups of the collar. It would probably look better if it were on the back or torso side of the cuff, but it's not worth ripping off and fixing.
The existing button holes had to be stitched up. You can see one of them on the close up of the collar, just below the collar and to the right of the zipper. I don't quite remember how we did it, but the back of the jacket has a pleated panel running down from the top of the shoulder seam to give extra freedom of movement. That's another one of the reasons you need 2 oversized shirts, to have enough material to sort of cut up the back and add more material to it.
Elastic was added to the bottom of the jacket. It had to be stretched before being fully sewed in and repeatedly stitched across so that it be nice and snug. We apparently weren't paying close enough attention to dimensions or the orde to do things, because the zipper wound up being a little too long. The bottom panels on either side of the zipper extend a little below the rest of the jacket, because, well, the zipper only comes in full inch increments, and we weren't paying attention to that when we decided what the bottom lenght of the jacket would be. Luckily, it's not noticeable when the Blackhawk vest is on. And I don't think it's very noticeable when I wear it in the real world. The fullness of the jacket, plus the quilted liner help the jacket to puff out a bit and kind of the disguise the "oops."
Keith was pretty excited about it when we got this one done. I think it was the 3rd BDU conversion, and it was the first one where the zipper could be zipped up all the way. One of the adjustments that can apparently go wrong can make it so you don't have enough material on the front to zip it up fully. He was also surprised how well this has survived the last couple years of use.
I really, really like this jacket, and wear it year round, mostly in the winter, (although it's too warm for most summer wear). I had sort of gotten used to the idea that most people in the real world don't know what it is ("just some surplus military jacket"), but I got 4 complements in 4 days last week from people who recognized it. The best one was when I walked into a Guitar Center to have a look-see. The clerk behind the counter started to ask me if I needed any help, did a kind of double take, then said, "Okay, you win. I know the year's not over yet, but no one is gonna come in in the next 3 weeks with a better jacket than that. You win." Most excellent!
I really enjoy the heck out of this jacket, and want some of the other variations. I'm getting kind of antsy to get a black M-65 Field Jacket and convert that (already with pleats and pockets!), but Keith pointed out that M-65 jackets do not come in ripstop, and the ones on the show are ripstop. But I'm thinking most people aren't going to notice. Just make sure that the BDU pants are also non-ripstop (and same poly/cotton blend, cuz that's also noticeable), and it would still give a pretty good effect. And Walgreens has black knit caps that could be converted to cuffs and collars..... I'd like to convert a desert camo M-65, too, but I haven't found a very close color for the cuffs and collar, and the Blackhawk vest is totally different. Might have to find a source for the vest mesh and make that, too.....
