The Tailor's Apprentice: men

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Regency long breeches - Jane Austen Festival

As well as the Regency evening full dress knee breeches in silk, I am also making J-L another pair of long breeches in a caramel colour.

I really want to make a pair of buckskin breeches, but I have yet to find a source for it, there isn't one in Australia sadly. If you know of one, I'd appreciate you telling me about it in the comments section below. Buckskin was meant to be the most comfortable fabric to have your breeches made out of, gentlemen lived in their buckskin breeches, as we do in our denim jeans today. They were meant to be incredibly soft, yet strong and the more you wore them, the more comfortable they became, yep, just like jeans again!

But as I don't have any buckskin, I am using a heavy weight chintz or polished cotton for these breeches that was in my stash.

I showed how I created the drop fall for the breeches in the knee breeches post, but I forgot to talk about adding in the back gusset and the waist band. So I will cover it here.

This is the shape of the waistband when the centre back gusset is added

Another shot showing the left side of the waistband

Right shot of waistband

To find where your waistband gusset will be inserted into the back seam of the breeches, pin the waistband and gusset section to the trouser back seam BEFORE stitching up your breeches back seam. Mark the spot, unpin the waistband, stitch back breeches up to your mark

Now stitch your front and back breeches together, both inside and outside legs.

Next put the pleats into your back breeches, depending on your pattern suggestion, I wing it, rather than marking them out. To do this I pin the waistband onto the front of trousers and around to the centre back. The excess in the back trousers is then turned into pleats and then I do this for the second side. I find this is quicker than marking and yes there is a small 'fiddle factor' but less than pencil marking the pleats and thenstill needing to fiddle to get them sitting nicely on the band.

Back of breeches with waistband, gusset and pleats

I do love these baggy breeches!

I love these front fall trousers, sadly though I forgot the fob watch pocket again, d'oh! Ah well they are also in J-L's waistcoats.

Front fall, I ran out of my fashion fabric and had to use another piece for the inside waistband, no matter as its hidden.

Friday, July 6, 2012

A Regency man's dustcoat - Jane Austen Festival Bath

The image on the far left is what I'm aiming to make for J-L. These dustcoats probably evolved from the 18th century banyan as Cunningham suggests (see quote below), men donned the banyan over their waistcoats and trousers at home to be comfortable, similar to the Victorian smoking jacket.

The banyan was a loose, full kimono style in the early 18th century, but later evolved into a more fitted style with set-in sleeves, similar to a man’s coat. It was known as an Indian gown, nightgown, morning gown, or dressing gown. First used as a type of robe, it was originally worn for leisure and in at-home situations; but came to be worn as a coat out-of-doors, in the street, or for business. Many gentlemen had their portraits made while wearing banyans. They were made from all types of fabrics in cotton, silk, or wool

(Cunningham, 1984).

Darcy wears an outdoor version of it in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice as can be seen on the right. Ever since J-L saw this coat, she has been pining for one and so now I'm going to fulfill that dream ... well that's the plan lol!

The dustcoat pattern, 1801-02, on the left is taken from an out-of-print book from the National Museum in Copenhagen and it comes from Aylwen's History in my Wardrobe blog. She is also intending to make a version of this dustcoat.

Here's a Spanish version from Coleccion general de los trages que en la actualidad se usan en España : principiada el año 1801

You can see the simple banyan front and I love his pink breeches, aren't they fun!

Fitting the toile
I copied out the pattern and enlarged it further to fit J-L's dimensions and then cut out a toile.

Front, of course this is way shorter than the real version will be

Back view, this is far more fitted and my toile was too loose, so I had to take it in considerably

Side view

I'm pleased with this toile, its fitting well and apart from incorporating the changes to the back seams, it seems to be working, woot!

Next installment 9/6/2012

I enlarged the sleeves and collar and added them to the toile ...

Front with collar and sleeves added, draped like the portraits, see image below

via Aylwen's blog

Side back with sleeves and collar

Back, with sleeves and collar

Coat over the waistcoat toile created by my apprentice, looking good

Back view of coat over toile, the dummy is a small size 10, so its not fitting that well.

I am very pleased with this, next phase is to add a length, add double breasted extension to the front and add facings and sleeve cuffs.

Long skirt extensions, now this looks right I think, but it will take a ton of fabric, I am wondering how the narrow fabric in the Regency was used. The pattern from Danks Modern doesn't have gores, which would be the way I would normally do it with narrow fabric, I will have to ponder and research.

Facings and proper collar added ...

Isn't it just 'tickety boo'? I'm tempted to dye it as its such a lovely toile, rather than making it in a fashion fabric, but then, I'd have no pattern, le sigh!

Here's two gentlemen also posing in the dustcoat toile, such elegance, I especially love G with his hounds ...

Onto the actual garment, I am using a beautiful silk suiting in very dark green, its light, has a lovely hand and drapes beautiful, srangely it usually photographs as black.