HSM 2017! It's happening again! The plots thicken...

As you may have guessed by the title, the Historical Sew Monthly is happening again, and this is my second year helping run it--I'm quite looking forwards to it, although some of the challenges are giving me trouble.

For those who do not know, the challenge is to make or finish a historical (up until 1939) piece of clothing (or accessory) by the last day of that month, and is meant to support and encourage period methods.  The piece can be finished up to two months before that--meaning the January challenge could be finished as early as December.  The link to how it works can be found HERE, at the Dreamstress' page.

(SCA) Period Buttonholes, the Class Handout

Buttonhole construction for All; Medieval and Elizabethan Buttonholes 

Photograph by Halfdan "Twobears" Ozurson of the Buttonhole class at Selviergard Yule.

Essentially, the way it works is that the construction and form of buttonholes has changed a fair amount since they show up in the early 1300s. Happily, the changes are actually linear for once—you can easily see the evolution from the original, fairly rough examples, to the modern keyhole buttonhole. However, since this is an SCA class, I will only cover the evolution through around 1600.  The full article can be found as my Buttonholes Through the Periods.

They can basically be broken down into two parts, as you might guess; Medieval, and Elizabethan. I could probably add Late Medieval/Early Renaissance (1400s) in there as well, but since it is firmly between the other two in style and construction, I doubt I need to. Both styles are worked with a buttonhole stitch—not ever a blanket stitch--, which you hopefully know how to do; if not, you’ll learn.  All period buttonholes are worked perpendicular to the edge of the material, and fairly close to the edge.

Continuing on: Putting the Banyan together

I suppose I should go over how the 1760s banyan goes together, shouldn't I?  All in all, it's fairly straightforwarded...however, I found that there are a couple of counter-intuitive details in sewing the lining into place.  I based the order of construction, and these little details on an excellent thesis on 18th century Waistcoats (in bibliography), which I figured are closer in construction that a full coat (assuming there are major differences).  Other details are from discussing an extant frock coat with someone who had it to hand.

1570s Germans Continued: The Jerkin

This has been a rather long journey, and it is finally nearing its end with the completion of this project--a slashed jerkin as part of my 1570s Germans suit.  The suit consists of pluderhose, doublet, jerkin, and hat, all drafted from my own patterns.  Like the other garments in the set...you don't get to see it being worn until the debut (probably in January).  Because the two garments are so closely related in pattern and design, I highly recommend reading my documentation for the doublet first. 

Sources:

The sources for construction and the primary inspiration are essentially the same as those for the doublet; with a few changes to show slashed jerkins.

A Robe for Reading: 1760s Banyan. I suppose I need sleeves, don't I?

And it's time for Part Two of Three on the making of my Banyan, based on an example from the 1760s in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  As you might guess by the title, the majority of this post is on drafting the sleeves--the cuffs and collar are both quite simple.

For a recap, this particular garment is based on the one the LACMA provided a lovely pattern and information on.  However, while they provided a pattern, they do not tell you how to draft the garment so it fits you (their scaling grid is also terrible).

The way I do sleeves is fairly simple; essentially you take the measurements of the armscye, and transfer those to your sleevehead.  However, a word of warning that some parts of sleeve drafting--the hang of the arm in particular--are rather complicated, and something you will have to learn on your own (until I get good enough that I can explain it); when it comes to the lateral rotation (as swinging your arms normally) you want the top and bottom of the sleevehead to be in line with the natural hang of your arm.  As such, it may not hurt to mark the low point while the body is on your victim as well.

Featured Garment: Bottle Green Overcoat (1820s?)

And I'm jumping back to the Regency, to share an elegantly plain overcoat or redinote.  This Featured Garment will likely be fairly short.

The victim of my mangled descriptions this time is a wool overcoat from Augusta Auctions, in the style of early frock coats...i.e. a body coat with a waist seam. As it should be, with the given date of the 1820s.  It caught my attention because of the elongated look, and how low the buttons go (which is slightly unusual).  The following is the description from the Auction Site:

A Robe for Reading: Drafting Mid 18th Century Banyan, Part I

For some time now, I have been planning to make a banyan from a grosgrain brocade woven of dead dinosaur (i.e. synthetics, if you aren't familiar with the euphemism) I have had in my stash for years.  Not the loose, kimono style of banyan, but the variety more closely related to the contemporary frock coat.  I love those things.

Featured Garment: The Bedford Hours Ark

It's been a while since I decided to do a medieval Featured Garment--I really should do more in my main--SCA--period...

This week, we are taking a look at one of the pages in the Bedford Hours--a beautifully illuminated manuscript from the early 15th century (1410-30).  The Bedford Hours, more formally known as Book of Hours of the Use of Paris was produced sometime during these dates, with the book possibly being worked on for over a decade, and being added on to.  Some of the important inclusions to the book are: the Calendar, excepts from the Gospel and prayers to the Virgin, Psalms and more prayers, the hours, and a "cycle" of miniatures from Genesis--the last being the source of the Ark image.

Obnoxiously Plaid Skinny Pants and the Irish: The Dungiven Trius Documentation

I am extremely happy to say that this is the end of a fairly long project.  Not the trius, which are the principal subject of this post, but the Dungiven Suit project in general:  making the garments--consisting of doublet, trius, and shoes from the Dungiven find.  I chose to leave the brat/cloak of the find out of my recreation because I already have a late period Irish brat made, albeit with wider material.

This project is a pair of trius--close fitting Irish trousers--based and patterned from those in the Dungiven find, in Northern Ireland. 

Photo by Travis "Twobears" Abe-Thomas.  Trius are being worn with the full outfit*.

Featured Garment: "17th" Century(?) Jacket

Seriously, this piece is bizarre.  But I'm going to attempt to keep this to strict observations, at least at first.

Standard Disclaimer: This article is rife with opinions, as well as facts (which can mostly be verified through observation).  My intent in writing it is to educate myself, and promote discussion--i.e., if you have other observations or research, please post in the comments at the bottom of the page.

  Ok.  The Met museum states this as being a 17th Century piece, and British.  It was donated to the museum by one Mary Dykman Dean (wife of Bashford Dean, who founded the Museum's Arms and Armour department).  Other than the length at center back, that is all the information the museum has--I asked, and waited several weeks for them to get back with me before beginning to write this.

Featured Garment: 1873 Morning Coat

You know, one of these times I should probably find something /really/ different.  Maybe I'll go to Ottoman Turkey....  But because this is on a single garment, and an actual example, this post will likely be shorter than usual.

Anyways, we're moving forwards by yet another century to 1870s Great Britain, where there is a lovely example of a double breasted morning coat in the V&A museum.

The Next Piece: Stripey Doublet of Eyeblinding..ness?

Yeah, a stripey doublet...I know.  After doing a bunch of resource gathering, I noted a number of doublets with horizontal stripes...and remembered that I had a bolt of lovely voided striped velvet.  Especially after making this year's pluderhose, I needed a new doublet to go with them.  I designed the doublet in an (early) 1570s German style to match the pluderhose.

Featured Garments: William Wollaston, 1759

The last two featured garments featured hunters--from the same decade, but different cultures and classes; so, this week we'll take it up a few notches by moving up a class and a century.  Thankfully, there should be less guesswork this time around, since the painting is both clearer, and I have more data to pull from.

The topic for this week is a lovely, blue and white suit worn by one William Wollaston, in a painting by Thomas Gainsborough in 1759--can't get that much different from 1640s German working class.  Or can you...?  Commonly, this is close to a style beginning to appear at this time--the ditto suit, where coat, waistcoat, and breeches were in the same fabric.  Obviously, it isn't, since the coat is white, however....

Oil painting of William Wollaston, 1759, by Thomas Gainsboroug. Holbourne Museum.

Early Front Fall Trousers...Code Name: Hobbit Pants

For the HSM (link to the right, as always) Monochrome challenge, due at the end of July, I decided on a pair of narrow fall, front-fall trousers in white corduroy.

This particular project was actually fun, actually; fairly simple, and new enough to not be boring.  When I ran across a pattern drafting manual by Amanda Jones from 1822, I simply had to make something out of it...and since I both needed a new pair of relaxed pants (which fit well enough in the waist that I wouldn't need a belt), and eventually need to make a pair of narrow front fall trousers to go with my Wanderer Frock coat. So my "Hobbit pants" project was born, as a practice piece.

Research Dump: No 9

Well, that was...fun.  I realized it has been over a year since I assembled a research dump--shame on me.  Even so, there aren't a massive quantity of links, since I haven't been doing true research and reading of academic papers for some time.

This collection covers a wide variety, but are mostly clothing and textile of a variety of periods, including Ottoman Turkish, 18th century, and high medieval.

Featured Garment: 1640s German Hunter

Disclaimer:  As always, my featured garment posts are meant to give ideas and promote discussion; unfortunately, this one is more filled with supposition than usual, since it is neither my period, nor one I could find much in the way of articles on.  If you do know of good quality articles on working class 1640s Low Countries/Germany--please, share!


To contrast with the last featured garment--the 1650s Anglo-Irish hunter--have another hunter from only a decade prior....but a whole different social class.

The topic this week is a painting by one Joachim von Sandrart, titled simply as November, and was painted in 1643.  I chose it because--let's be honest, that looks like a wonderfully warm and comfortable outfit.

The HSM 2016; Challenge No. 8: Patterns

The Historical Sew Monthly challenge for the month of August is Patterns--all the varieties of patterned fabrics, and the garments which feature said patterns.  A vast subject, as I found when I volunteered to write this inspiration post--I mean I knew it was large, but this is almost ridiculous.  I will be doing my best to include things for everyone, and barely touching on the history of individual patterned fabrics.

Late 13th Century Lampa brocade.  Italy.  V and A

759-1893

Doublets and Spiderwebs: A brief tutorial on 16th Century Thread Wrapped Buttons.

Updated with another style (Rib in) on 12-23-16

First off, there are several other tutorials and articles filled with photos of period examples out there...that's where I learned it from.  They have decent information...but not very good step-by-step photos of the process--which is what I am publishing here.

Featured Garment: 1650s Anglo-Irish Hunting Suit

It's been quite a while since I managed to write any of these--a full 4 months, in fact.  Not only have I been lacking inspiration, but I haven't had a computer capable of serious research.  Not fun.

Anyways, I'm still having issues with finding pieces I felt like writing about, but finally did find one today, in the Hunting Clothing folder of my Pinterest.  An...intriguing painting of Sir Thomas Southwell,  an Irishman of English decent (his Grandfather came to Ireland during the Rule of James I, presumably sometime around the Plantation of Ulster, 1609), in hunting dress.  At the time of the painting, I believe he was "High Sheriff" of three Irish counties (Kerry, Clare, and Limerick)  I think the first thing that drew my eyes were those boots, followed by the firearm, and only then did I notice unusual fastening on the jerkin.

In the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds

1860s "Sailor's" Topcoat; Travel Challenge

 

I really don't try to do these poses.  And it really does help your balance--I was walking on a submerged log.

The Project:

This was actually a fun project, and fairly quick once I got it drafted--a topcoat made of a single layer of canvas.  No shaping, and little handwork beyond hemming and sewing the various facings down (and buttons, of course.  Those don't count since they are a given.).

What it is is a slightly rough coat made of canvas, and made to the pattern of the very early sac coats or a semi-in-between garment known as a paletot (which clearly evolved from the frock coat, and is a semi-fitted overcoat).  Because it is only made of a single layer of material, and has no shaping--and isn't closely fitted--it is a quite comfortable garment for hot weather...something I rather needed.

Six month Review; Jan - June 2016

Last year, I did a year end review of what I had made....this ended up being slightly long (although so satisfying to see everything I managed to finish).  This year, I figured I would split it into two, with bi-annual reviews of completed projects.

Odd Things: Woven Tophats

Some time ago, a rather unusual accessory came up for discussion on the HSM group....a top hat, woven of walebone (baleen) and rattan, from the Swedish Museum (made in Stockholm).  So I decided to take a look around and see if I could find more examples; I did.  No others of those particular materials, but several examples woven out of straw, or even willow.  Oddly enough, I'm not finding anything written on them--don't know why.  Neither could I find any fashion plates that /may/ depict them (and no, searching for summer fashions didn't work).

1805.  Met Museum

The Dungiven Project: Part Shoe!

The Dungiven Project is my journey to attempt to recreate--to the best of my resources and abilities--the outfit from the Dungiven find; primarily a doublet, trius, pair of shoes, and a brat. There were a couple of other fragments--including a belt--but they are not quite as important.

After a day of wear at 3-Barons Renfair.  I got a number of compliments on them!

End of the Road, Finished Pluderhose

So, this is something unusual for me--this project isn't based on any one particular object...normally, my serious projects are duplicating one object or another (or I don't care).  However, this one was primarily testing my new system for drafting pluderhose, based on the Erik and Nils Sture examples, as part of making a period (1570s) suit.  So--a pair of 1570s German Pluderhose.

Pluderhose: Putting it all Together

Things have gotten a bit wonky, since drafting the poofs is part of this post, but that is getting done before I have drafted the codpiece (which is done after the majority of construction is finished).

Revenge of the Pluderhose: the Codpiece of DOOOM!

Making the codpiece was definitely a learning experience--the last time I did it, I cheated in the forming of the...for lack of a better word...bulgy bit.

The HSM 2016: Challenge No. 6: Travel

For the June Historical Sew Monthly Challenge (Due the last day of the month. Ish.), the subject of "Travel" was chosen; Make a garment for travel, or inspired by traveling. The original idea stated "Clothes and accessories worn or useful during travel, on foot, riding, in a carriage, on a ship.”.  A rather broad, and possibly tricky theme.  Throughout history--more in some periods than others--special clothing or accessories might have been used for traveling, by carriage (or automobile), boat, foot, or horse; a number of these items could overlap with the Protection Challenge (March).  You might also get ideas from The Great Outdoors challenge of 2014.

1880s Dress-Improver: HSM #4

The April Challenge for the Historical Sew Monthly was a real challenge....to figure out what to do.  See, the challenge is Gender-Bender; Make an historical clothing item which is either for the opposite sex, or has elements inspired by the opposite gender.

As a guy, the second option is almost out--you don't see historical menswear inspired by lady's fashion.  My first choice was men's stays, based on a late Regency pair which is essentially a back brace, complete with spring elastic (made of....springs); unfortunately, this had to be discarded due to issues sourcing good quality boning of the right width (I would still like to make it someday, though).  Other options that came to mind was the Skjoldehamn find, which we don't know gender of (using Schrodinger's Authenticity to slip it in, as it was remarked by one person I asked).  Other thoughts I had were possibly a pair of boots or shoes with heels (I have seen it stated that heels started as a male fashion, and as a female one), or a coat from the 1820-40s, as male and female fashions at the time sorta mirrored each other (wide shoulders, narrow waist, wide/full skirts); both those these would have required a fair amount of research, and some arguing--not against doing so, but I ran out of time.

Revenge of the Pluderhose: The Panes of Torment

I'm kinda seeing a trend in how I feel about the garment, here *looks pointedly at the title*.
This, the second of the series of posts on the making of /period/ pluderhose, deals with the panes and lining....originally, I was going to include the codpiece in this post, but I suspect that it wouldn't be a bad idea for it to get its own post.  I will not (yet) be showing how to do the lining--that is, the poofs; that particular set of images will wait until I actually begin construction of the garment--they are not exactly complicated, and use a lot of fabric.

Now, if you are reading this, I hope you've been following along and already have drafted the foundation breeches from PART I.  If you have not, you should go there and make them forthwith, because you build the panes from the foundation breech pattern you've already fitted. Strictly speaking, the foundation breeches aren't 100% necessary--the Svante Sture pair doesn't seem to have them, and longer pairs may not have them; so if you are doing without, you will more or less follow the directions there, ignoring the taper of the legs.

If you are doing this correctly (ish, being as there is no true way) there is little shaping of the panes, and what there is follows the foundation breeches; what this means, is that we will be cutting from the panes to give some of the shapes..  However, the pane length is at least 15% more than that of the foundation breeches--I made them closer to 30%--, to allow the draping.  Like the foundation breeches, I am basing it on Erik and Nils Sture's pluderhose.

At some point before beginning, you should decide how many panes you desire--I have seen examples that (appear to) have anywhere from Four to Seven.  Five appears to be the most popular number, however.  More panes would, of course, require more fabric in the lining since you will have more sections .

Seven Panes!

Joachim Ernst von Anhalt by 
Lucas Cranach the younger, 1563. 
Four Panes

Brunswick Man. 1573. Five panes.

        

Bibliography of Historical Tailoring and Cutting Manuals

To the best of my knowledge, there is no place online that gathers the various--freely available--Victorian and earlier cutting systems.  Professional tailors--and cutters, which is a separate job, often in the same shop--use cutting systems rather than actual patterns.  The main difference, of course is in fit and style--a pattern may come graded to a number of sizes, but these are still ideal and won't necessarily fit; cutting systems, on the other hand, use scales and mathematics to give proportions and how to draft for the body of the customer.  They typically also have notes on modifying the draft for varying postures and such.  The majority of the systems were for menswear, and that is my focus--however, there were variations for tailored ladies' clothing as well, and I will include those that I find.

From E. Dilday's Plain and Concise Method of Garment Cutting, 1856

Documentation: A Bibliography and Bonus Outline

Some time ago, I found that people didn't realize that there are resources out there on writing documentation, either for competition (which is the general focus) or just because you're interested in it.

I am not going to tell what is required--a number of articles have already been written, by people with more experience than I.  However, I will give my thoughts each of the various articles; plus, below the links there will be my personal outline, which I use to ensure I don't forget anything. 

Norse Shoes: The Second Pair

Last year, I put together my first pair of Norse shoes--ugly things, and can be found HERE.  This time, I used a somewhat different pattern, attempting (unsuccessfully) to base them on the Staraya Ladoga pair, as well as making them much closer fitting (the last pair was made to wear with many socks), and in better leather.

So, this project is a fairly generic pair of Norse shoes, made for warm weather and Summer wear.

Staraya Ladoga shoe sketch.  Supposedly from

Swann, June, History of Footwear in Norway, Sweden and Finland,

Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, 2001

Norlund 78 Hood, the Finished Project

This is a project I started quite a while ago; it's been almost two years since I drafted the mockup (April of 2014).  I had to wait until I got around to making the Dungiven doublet first, because I was using the same fabric.  Anyways; this project is a slightly scaled recreation of the Norlund 78--Museum No. D10606--hood, from a Norse settlement in Greenland.  It is my entry into the Historical Sew Monthly (link to the right) Protection Challenge.

 The Find:

This garment I chose was one of a number found at Herjolfsnes, the Norse settlement in Greenland, as part of an archaeological excavation by Poul Norlund, starting in 1921.  From what I can tell in Woven Into the Earth--my main source of material--the body it was buried with decomposed to the point of uselessness, but it was found with what may have been a child sized shroud [WitE, pp. 215].  It is a vadmal sewn hood, with a liripipe, and extremely short cape.

1570s Tall Hat: Construction

This post is exactly that--the image heavy, step-by-step article of how I made the tall hat.  It is not the Documentation, with all the information on the style and my thought process.  That article can be found HERE, and should be read first.

HSM February--A Pleated Tall Hat

For my entry into the Historical Sew Monthly February challenge, the theme being Pleats, I chose an Elizabethan era tall hat.  Which has, as you might guess (and can see), a pleated crown.

The finished Tall Hat.

The Project:

An Elizabethan Tall Hat or Pleated Tall cap.  This form of headwear was seen starting in the '70s (1570s, that is), for a good 30-40 years.  It was typically made of a heavy felt base, covered with pleated silk.

Sources:

This project of an Elizabethan tall hat was based on several examples in period artwork, but particularly on an extant example in Patterns of Fashion 3, by Janet Arnold.  There are a few variations of the garment in the artwork of the period--shorter, tall, and decided crushed (which seems to be the more common in Northern Europe during the '70's).

Philip II. By Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (1553–1608)

Vaandrig, Abraham de Bruyn, (1550 - 1587)

Featured Garment: Männertracht aus Braunschweig (23v)

It's back!  Well...occasionally, anyways.  Lately, I've been in a mood for German Renaissance--not Landsknect, but 1560s to 1580s; i.e for pluderhose.

Yes, pluderhose. Yet again.  I'm really not sure where my minor obsession with them came from--the challenge of drafting and understanding the blasted things, the drapey-fittedness...just liking to say the word.  This week's example is from one of the 16th Century German clothing books, Kostüme der Männer und Frauen in Augsburg und Nürnberg, Deutschland, Europa, Orient und Afrika.

Honestly, this Featured Garment is fairly typical--I don't see much that is truly unusual about it, beyond the beauty of the draping.  It has a lovely simplistic elegance in the design (well, with the exception of those shoes...).  On to the discussion:

From Bayerische StaatsBibliothek

 Doublet?  Check.  Jerkin?  Check  Fancy Pants?  In spades.

Double Breasted Waistcoat: The Construction

So, this is the construction page for the Double breasted waistcoat I started in May of 2015, and finally finished at the end of January, 2016.  Nope, there won't be too much information on the garment on this page--already did that on the documentation post.  Sadly, there are also photos missing because they either got lost, or I forgot to take them.

HSM January--Procraftination: Double Breasted Waistcoat

This is a fairly simple project--which turned out to be frought with complications that lead to my procrastinating for a good while.  This project is a men's double breasted waistcoat in a brocade and is my entry into the Historical Sew Monthly: Procrastination.

The Find and Sources
This project was based on one residing in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  This particular example is from New York, 1853, and is no longer on view.  Naturally, the image of the garment on the museum webpage is my primary source.  I used a 1890s cutting system to draft it.

Revenge of the Pluderhose; the Madness Returns

UPDATE 3-19-18: I am currently reworking this drafting system to streamline and make it a bit simpler to measure.  While I was going to just edit this one, I will have to take all new photos as well, so I will work on publishing a fresh version (which will be linked here).  I did change a few things before I made this decision, so if this makes less sense than you might think, then it's my bad.

This is the first of an intended series of posts on drafting and making up a suit of German (or Swedish) Renaissance men's clothing.  Later in the century, that is--Elizabethan era, not Lansknecht--although the patterning could be used for that as well.  Last time I wrote on this, it was part of a mad frenzy of sewing the Svante Sture suite

The garment is somewhat complicated, and I am sure has been the cause of many grey hairs in reenactors--partially because there are no patterns or instructions for them online (ok, there is one, but it is not remotely period--it seems to be based on pajama pants).  Reconstructing history also sells a pattern, which I have no experience with, and no desire to.  So, when I (for some unknown, warped, reason) decided I wanted to make another suit, I figured it would be a good thing to show how I draft a pair, since last time I made them I didn't have the blog.  Plus, the last pair didn't have the foundation breeches.  This pattern is based on the pairs worn by Nils and Erik Sture (mostly Nils, because Erik's pair of foundation breeches is stretched in a way that happens with the sewing.  You'll see).

I figure it will take around three parts--one each for the foundation breeches and the shell, and one on making them up.  The foundation breeches were made of a fine leather, similar to chamois or a soft deerskin--sadly this isn't an option for me, and I will likely use a heavy cotton (either canvas or ticking).  Depending on the particular style, the foundation breeches can be full length (and sewn to the legband at the bottom), as in Nils or free at the bottom (as I believe Erik's was).

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion 3.  Pp. 64

Fabric Covered Buttons, a la Georgian

UPDATED 3-27-17 with photos using the correct materials.

In the Georgian period (which encompasses Regency), you often see fancy embroidered buttons on various garments--justaucorps, waistcoats, and breeches.  For those of us who prefer plainer garment, there are also plenty of examples of plain ones--especially towards the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th.  Obviously, these are embroidered on cloth...but how do you take the cloth and turn it into a flat button without visible stitches?  It's really not difficult, and how else are you going to have buttons covered in the same silk as your coat or waistcoat.

Mariner's Cuff on a Coat.  1785-1790

Projects of 2015, a Review

I didn't get nearly as much done as I would have liked last year--I had major motivation issues.  I found that when I work on a single project, I tend to maybe work on it for a couple of hours at a time, then set it up, having gotten tired of it--which really isn't too productive.; which means, when I have a project that takes a couple of months, my total number of projects goes down drastically.  I can say that I finished a couple of major projects, at least.

This year, I will try the opposite--work on multiple projects at a time, with varying (or no) deadlines, and discuss my planned projects for 2016 (although planned is such a strong word...hoped for would be better).  But to start, I will go over everything I remember making this year.



A pair of Norse shoes, based on the Oseburg 303s.  They look terrible.  In part this is because of the leather, but also because I made them for winter wear--to wear over multiple layers of socks--so they are somewhat loose.
11 hours of construction time, and many, many more patterning.