Day Trousers: Part 2 (interlining and stays)

After test-fitting my muslin, I cut out my wool fabric. Even though the muslin seemed to fit just fine I was going to add some insets (extra seam allowance) but I forgot to. Well, hope that works out for me.

I'd found a great wool fabric for a great price that I wanted to use for these trousers. The only problem was it was a modern suiting weight, and this sort of trousers should really be a bit heavier. I decided to interline the wool with cotton which will not only give it the drape that I want but also make them a little more comfortable to wear. Don't get me wrong - I wear wool trousers all the time and love them, but sometimes at the end of the day I take them off and just scratch my legs a bit.

Here I've basted the two layers along the centre line, and have begun to serge the edges together. Since I was planning on serging the edges of the wool anyway, this isn't really going to add any time to the process.

You can see the two layers. I think this is the best indication of the colour of the wool I chose. I tried to adjust the images but this one came out the best.

The next step was to prepare the canvas stays. You can see here that I had a few tries at drawing out the fork (crotch) stays.

And some more drawing of fork stays. In the end I actually ended up using one of the white chalk ones instead of my "final" decisive black chalk one.

I basted in the fork stay and then cross stitched it in place. I've also seen the term "catch stitch" for this. I'd worried about this when I decided to interline the trousers, but the lining made it a little more difficult to pick up a few threads of the wool with the cross stitch. If you're not familiar with this stitch, it shouldn't show at all on the right side of the fabric. I didn't get a picture, but I succeeded in catching a few threads of the weave from the back of the wool. I just had to jimmy the needle around a bit and try a few times on some of the stitches.

The fork line reinforced with another layer of linen canvas tape. I'm going to clip the notch in the middle of the tape, and this will hold it steady.

The pocket stay in place. Once again I cross stitched it along the inside edges, and basted it in place along the hem (raw) edge.

An extra piece of tape to reinforce the pocket opening. In retrospect I should have used a lighter weight of linen instead of this canvas. I hope it won't be too much fabric when I turn the hem in.

A close-up of the stay tape and the pocket stay. The basting is still in the stay tape, and I'll probably leave it in until I finish the trousers.

Day Trousers: Part 1 (the draft)

I just started sewing in earnest about two years ago. I've never been afraid of sewing, but I dove into it for my wedding, and by following the directions that came with the various patterns I used I was able to make not only shirts and trousers for myself, but also a frock coat for myself, and my wife's wedding ensemble, including a Victorian riding jacket with boning. I'll tell you, her jacket came out a lot better than my frock coat, but I'd made mine first and learned a lot.

That's just to say that I'm pretty much not afraid of any pattern I can get my hands on. I'm good at reading and following directions, and I have a good spacial sense so I can envision how fabric will end up after being turned inside out and backwards (like collars and welt pockets). The next step is to learn to draft my own patterns. That way I can make anything, and I'll know it will fit!

With that goal in mind I found a book that could have been written just for me: The Victorian Tailor: An Introduction to Period Tailoring, by Jason Maclochlainn. It walks you through the changes in fashion through the various decades of Queen Victoria's reign, details fabrics which were used in making the clothing, teaches you the tools of the time and how to sew various stitches necessary to make the clothes, and then finally tells how to measure and scale your measurements, and how to draft a variety of styles of trousers, waistcoats and coats.

Well. I followed the directions for drafting a general style of trousers (this one isn't given a place in time or style, but there are other patterns for trousers including 1850 pants, shooting breeches, 1868 dress pants, 1870s American pants, 1870s morning pants, and an entire lounge suit). However, the directions for drafting the pattern don't include how to draft a fly or the fly button catch, and of all of the trousers I just listed, only the lounge suit includes those pieces in its pattern. I guess I'll have to use that as a base for these trousers. Also, even though I said above I have good spacial sense, I got a little lost toward the end of drafting my pattern. Apparently the book was supposed to be twice as long, and the publisher had it edited down to its present size, which could account for why some of the directions are extremely detailed, and why other bits aren't there at all. Certainly I can figure out on my own how to make a fly covering, especially as there are details on the fly lining.

Having said all that, here are pictures of my draft. I basted them together, and they seem to fit fine, despite my kind of mangling the seat portion of the rear pattern.

Victorian Shirt: Part 7 (collar and cuffs 4)

Nearly there!

I drafted a pattern for the cuffs based on #1 of the cuff designs to the right. I wasn't sure why it has the stitches around the centre, however. Was it made in two halves and assembled? That's what it looks like, with the seam stitched, and then a row of topstitching on either side. Well, I made my cuffs as one piece, but added a row of stitching around the centre in any case, figuring it will help keep it from stretching out of shape. Maybe by making the cuffs in two pieces helped use up smaller pieces of cloth the shirt makers had lying around.

I added a quarter inch seam allowance to my pattern, and prepared to sew it. Like the collar I used two layers of fine linen for the outer pieces, and a slightly heavier linen for the interlining, in order to absorb more starch and keep it stiff.

Here's a cuff with the centre stitching completed, and prick stitched around the outer edge. I've punched holes for the buttonholes, but haven't cut the slits yet. I'm going to baste the layers together first so they don't move around once I cut the slits.

Here's the basting, and the slits cut. Once again I used a half-inch chisel to cut the slits, including the diameter of the punched hole in the length.

The cuff fastened on the sleeve. The top stud is a button stud, which goes through all four layers: the two cuff band layers of the sleeve and the two layers of the cuff itself. That holds it onto the sleeve. The bottom stud is actually a collar stud until I get some button links that I want to use. I could use cufflinks, but the links with the swivel foldy bit (technical, I know) aren't period correct for a Victorian shirt. Button links are two shank buttons connected by a little loop of metal - basically just a double-headed button.

The view of the cuff most people will see. Well, they'll only see an inch or so peeking out from beneath a coat. That's the hard part of spending so much time on a shirt - people will only see a little flash of white, and the rest is always hidden. Oh well, I'll know (and so will all of you, having seen the whole process).

The last step is to wash out the chalk marks and starch and press the collar and cuffs. Then it's on to the next project!

Victorian Shirt: Part 6 (collar and cuffs 3)

The collar is finished. I need to starch it, but I'll wait until I've finished the cuffs, and do them both together. Still, it stands up nicely on its own. The starch will help that, and will give it an almost papery sheen as well. I'll press the seams nice and crisp too. It isn't clear from these photos, but one thing I did to help alleviate some bulk in the buttonholes was to give the front holes a...hmm, I'm not sure how you call it. It isn't just a straight flat hole, but a round punch-out where the stud rests, and then the slit for the rest. I'll post an image later of what I mean.

In any case, here are some close-ups of the collar front and back. As always, you can click the images for a larger view.

Victorian Shirt: Part 5 (collar and cuffs 2)

I decided to start with a collar from the Cutter's Practical Guide. The first thing I did was measure between the buttonholes on my shirt's collar band to figure out the actual measurements. Then I chose collar pattern #1 and scaled their dimensions to mine. I've actually made a set of scaled measuring tapes, but for this it was actually easier for me to just scale it by eye.

(I'm sure I'll make a post in the future about scaled tapes, but basically you get your real measurement, let's say for example 9.5" from the back centre of the collar to the tip, and compare that to the 8.25 the pattern calls for. Find a tape where 9.5" matches 8.25, and then use that tape for all your measures. It doesn't matter that 8.25 isn't in real inches, but just that all your measurements come from that tape. Make sense? No? I'll make a post about it in detail later.)


You can see below my pattern, with a quarter inch seam allowance added, and the nearly-finished collar. I made it of two layers of handkerchief-weight linen for the outside, and interlined it with the 5.3 oz linen I used for the rest of the shirt. From what I've read the heavier lining not only gives it more form on its own, but also absorbs and holds more starch, making it crisper in the end. I apologise for the horrible quality of the photo, but at this stage it's been sewn and prick stitched around the edge, and I've started on the centre back buttonhole.

Here's a closeup of the buttonhole in progress. I've basted around it so the three layers don't move while I work on it, and serged the edges of the buttonhole so it doesn't fray. I cut the hole itself in the traditional fashion, with a chisel. This keeps the hole cleaner than if I try to snip at it with scissors.

Finally, the finished buttonhole. I made my own twist with two strands of linen thread, waxed and twisted. Of course it picked up a little dirt and oil from my fingers when I did that so it isn't perfectly white, but I think that will partly wash out, and in any case will be under my tie while I'm wearing the collar.

Victorian Shirt: Part 4 (collar and cuffs 1)

The shirt is finished! I don't have a picture of it!

Well, it pretty much looks like the last photo in the previous post, except that it has a collar band on it.

Interestingly, since finishing I learned about a different method of doing cuff bands and collar bands that would drastically help with my problem of too much fabric to fit a collar stud through (though I think it won't be a problem with this shirt). Instead of fashioning the bands from fabric, reinforced with interlining, simply use a piece of stiff ribbon or tape, such as petersham or a starched grosgrain. It would certainly cut down on bulk.

Now that I've finished the shirt I need to make a collar and cuffs for it. Thinking about the styles, I came across some really interesting cuff designs from Ageless Patterns:

It strikes me as odd that all of the cuffs fasten from the centre of the cuff instead of at the ends. Since the first set of buttonholes is for attaching it to the cuff band, that means that half the cuff comes back over the sleeve and the wrist. I don't know if that would even be comfortable. I may have to draft a cuff like this and try it out, just to see what it's like.

In any case, I'll make a collar or two as well, and will probably choose something from The Cutter's Practical Guide (189?) or from patterns from the Costumer's Manifesto.

Victorian Shirt: Part 3 (wristbands)

Augh, it's been so long since I posted! What can I say? I haven't had as much time to sew lately, but the main reason can be summed up in three words: Game of Thrones. Once I started reading I couldn't stop until I'd finished all four books that are out in paperback now. Okay, now to the shirt:

To finish the sleeves I needed to add cuffs, but since I want to have detachable cuffs on this shirt I added shorter wristbands to which the cuffs will be attached with button studs. Instead of using interfacing I interlined the wristbands with the same linen as the rest of the shirt:

Then after sewing all three layers I turned the wristbands right side out and pressed one tab inside to attach it to the sleeve.

And here is the finished wristband, with two buttonholes to push a button stud through:

This shirt gets gussets at the bottoms of the side seams, just like the Regency shirt, except that the bottom hem of this shirt is a lot more curvy, more like the curved shirt tails of today:

And finally, the nearly-finished shirt. All it needs now is a collar band. I want to be careful with that, making sure that it isn't too bulky where the collar stud will go through the front. I'll have to trim the seam allowances close there, especially where the front button placket comes up into the collar band.