Happy Christmas to all my readers!

Wow - another year has flown past - and what a year it’s been!

Photo by Scott Sebring

It started back in January with a once in a lifetime opportunity when I made the Ultimate Tennant Suit. To have the chance to put into practice the actual way the suit was made was an amazing experience. The timing was perfect, as I had a couple of months before started learning traditional hand-tailoring techniques, which I put to great use in making the suit.

Photo by Scott Sebring

I had to follow the suit, and with three days notice ended up going to Gallifrey One in LA!
There I met up with a number of my online friends and many of my readers who had no idea I was going. I also had the privilege of arranging a group photograph with four of my Tennant Coat clients, which was the highlight of the trip.

By the end of April news broke that THE Series Six Shetland Tweed fabric had been found, as well as the Series Five Donegal.

It was like the Tennant Suit all over again: making an iconic jacket in the exact fabric. I was lucky to find the correct buttons and elbow patches to finish it off.

In August the culmination of many month work came to fruition when I took delivery of  my rewoven Tennant Coat lining. I had been searching for years to find a suitable alternative, but finally took the plunge and commissioned my own recreation of it.

The past few months of the year have been taken up with making a popular new garment in my repertoire - the Green Greatcoat.

I spent a while carefully researching the pattern, fabric and construction until I got it just right.

Then in late November I attended Chicago TARDIS, where I entered the masquerade competition wearing a test version of the Colin Baker Six Frock Coat. I won Best In Show: Workmanship for my tailoring – for which I am very proud.

This was one of three coats I had made, the other two were for the wedding of some close friends which is due to take place just before Christmas.

Looking back it has been an exciting year, with more projects than I could have thought to have taken on.

And as the year comes to a close, an even more exciting development is breaking.

More on that in the New Year, but trust me, it’s gonna be worth the wait . . .

Bonhams auction - 15th December 2011 viewing and results

Today was the Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia sale, where some 39 Doctor Who items went under the hammer.
All bar two were from the new series, with a vast majority from Tennant’s era.

But the main point of note were the first ever items of Matt Smith era items to come up at a Bonhams auction, after the spectacular sale of Matt’s Doctor costume on eBay in aid of Children In Need. 

This will be interesting.

One item I particularly liked was a 1964 sketch for the cover of The Dalek Book. The original final artwork sold 18 months ago for £3,600, and this preliminary sketch didn’t disappoint, getting £1,500, over double its estimate.

The one item of classic series, a model spaceship from Battlefield, was nicely presented on a stand with the Doctor Who logo on the base.
This comfortably realised its £5,000 estimate.

The display stand has a curious circular mirror mounted in the base, which once you see the model, is so you can view the highly detailed underside (see left).

Eight-tee

Forbidden Planet’s release of Doctor costume t-shirts nears its completion with the latest wave of shirts.

So far One, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Ten and Eleven have been released.

Now the gaps are starting to be filled with the Eight Doctor.

This is clearly based on the costume on display at The Doctor Who Experience as the positioning of the buttons matches this rather than the screen used coat.
The waistcoat fabric also is the same as the display.

Also released is the Second Doctor.

I’m not over convinced by this shirt – the lapels are too light and the breast pocket too visible.
maybe it will look better on a printed shirt.

With the Cyberman shirt, and ten of the eleven Doctors available, it’s almost two weeks of wear without any washing!!