Civil War Sack Coat: John T. Martin Contract

Based on the in-depth study of an original John T. Martin contract U.S. fatigue blouse (sack coat), this digital full-size pattern features 92 pages of detailed instructions and images for recreating an authentic Civil War garment.

Faithful to an original fatigue blouse, this Civil War uniform pattern features authentic construction features, that include:

• Four-piece body
• Two-piece sleeve
• An option to piece the under collar and front facings (a cloth saving measure seen on the original garment, and in other period fatigue blouses)
• Cotton sleeve linings
• Wool flannel body lining with a turned bottom hem instead of a “hard” return selvedge edge (a detail seen in several surviving original John T. Martin contract fatigue blouses)
• Small rise in the sleeve cap where it meets the armscye (arm hole) as the original
• “Kidney” shaped front pocket (pattern features a sewing template for accurate placement on the coat body)
• Bar tacks at the collar notch
• Hand sewn buttonholes

As one of the largest contractors of United States uniforms during the American Civil War, John T. Martin used his experience from the readymade clothing trade to fill contracts and deliver goods to both the Eastern and Western Theaters of the war. While not much is known about specific uniform details of John T. Martin contracts from the early years of the conflict, surviving garments from their 1864 and 1865 contracts provide a window into how the company’s clothing was likely sourced, patterned, and constructed throughout much of the war.

The fatigue blouse replicated for this pattern is from an October 18, 1864 contract for 250,000 lined “sack coats” at $4.55 each, to be delivered to the United States arsenal at Cincinnati, Ohio. Surviving coats, from this one specific contract, show a very wide variety of construction, fabric, and pattern details. This provides evidence that the coats made to fill the large volume of this contract were likely made at multiple facilities in John T. Martin’s network, and the company may have even sourced coats from subcontractors. This was not the first contract for sack coats from John T. Martin. Just in 1864 and 1865, there were hundreds of thousands of blouses purchased by the United States government from Martin, with contracts ranging from as little as 700, to as large as 285,000 coats. The female sewist (or sewists in an assembly-line-like atmosphere) who created this garment, did so in a rushed manner as they were likely paid by the piece, not the hour. As a result of how quickly this sack coat needed to be sewn to make it profitable for the sewist (or sewists) who stitched it, the garment features details such as slightly wavy machine stitching, poorly pressed seams, varied seam allowances, and crudely sewn buttonholes. Despite these obvious imperfections, this coat passed inspection and was purchased by the United States government to clothe one of its soldiers.

The imperfect sewing and construction details make this fatigue blouse (sack coat) an ideal candidate for being replicated by sewists today, with little to moderate sewing experience.

What is included in a digital pattern?

Sizing:

To avoid confusion with "vanity sizing," the size of this pattern corresponds with the actual suggested size of the person (or mannequin) wearing this garment. This means that a size 42 chest sack coat, will best fit someone who measures at a 42 inch chest.

Confirming your size is a very simple endeavor and can be performed  at home with an economically priced sewing tape measure, by visiting a mens clothing store, or politely requesting your measurements from an establishment that rents formal wear clothing such as tuxedoes.

Fabric and Thread Required:

• 1 ¾ to 2 ¼ yards (dependent on sack coat size) of twilled (two over two weave) dark blue wool flannel, 56 inches wide
• 1 yard of gray wool twilled wool flannel for the body lining (the original lining was vegetable dyed gray (possibly logwood or sumac dyed), but has largely faded and oxidized to a light brown color), 56 inches wide
• 1 ½ yard of natural colored cotton muslin or lightweight sheeting, 45” wide
• 1 yard of interfacing (medium weight linen or fine burlap), 45” wide
• 4 general service (3/4” diameter) U.S. Eagle buttons
• 2 spools of machine sewing quilting thread, but please note the original was machine sewn with what was most certainly vegetable dyed blue thread that has faded and oxidized to a light brown color
• Logwood dyed hand sewing thread (for closing sleeve linings, buttonholes, buttons, and bar tacks as the original had what was certainly vegetable dyed thread that had faded/oxidized to a light brown color), and also natural colored basting thread

Blue Wool Flannel Required by Size

Helpful Sewing Notions:

• Tailors chalk
• Sewing pins
• Fabric cutting scissors
• Small-pointed scissors for work like cutting thread and trimming
• Seam ripper (just in case something would look better if it was re-sewn)
• Basic steam iron

Highlighted Vendor Sources for Fabric, Thread, and Sewing Notions