HANDCRAFTED HISTORY


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18th century jackets

This is incredibly modern to be me, I know! My latest infatuation has totally been the 18th century pattern drafting, mainly jackets, gowns and a whole bunch of skirts. And hats. Who doesn’t love hats?

Jacket in green wool twill and skirt in deep blue wool twill

Anyway, after my first attempt making a 18th century ballgown, I wanted to dive deaper and learn more about 18th-century pattern making and clothing styles, so I have spent the last couple of years on learning a bit about different 1700styles on my free time.

First out after the corset, shift and petticoats came these two jackets, based on an original piece and a drafted pattern from Costume Close-up (which is an incredible interesting and fun book that I recommend). I altered the pattern a bit, both to fit my measures but also to another style that fitted the extant pieces and fashion plates I was inspired from. Then I made a jacket in printed cotton, lined with linen and with linen ruffles on the sleeves. It came out really well both in pattern drafting and seams, and I was happy…

Reproduction cotton printed fabric with flowers

So I just had to try to make it in wool to experience the difference in fabrics. I choose a scrap from an old project; a thin wool twill that I lined with striped linen from another project. I love small but complex projects that means lots of sewing on a small fabric budget!

Green wool jacket, front.

Since I found the pattern with the stomacher pinned onto the jacket difficult to put on fast, I tried another style for the wool jacket with the stomacher fastened behind the ribbons in the front. To make it even easier, I basted the stomacher to the jacket on one side, and added two hooks and eyes to the other side to be able to fasten it before pinning and tieing the ribbons. The hooks are not a historically based solution as far as I have seen but a very convenient and fast one.

Front lacing before stomacher.

The cotton flower jacket was laced in the front before pinning the stomacher over, covering the lacing and the corset. It is perfect for adjusting the size and the lacing strips with the eyelets where fun to made.

Pinning the front in place.
Fashionable autumn outfit to keep warm

I made a whole outfit to go with the jackets (except shoes, I need to get me good shoes)

  • linen shift
  • corset
  • under skirt
  • wool skirt
  • fishu
  • bergere hat in wheat straw
  • linen cap with a lace edge
  • cape/cloak in red fulled wool
  • white fine knitted socks

The linen shift and corset are the same that I made for my ballgowns, but since they are not showing I intend to go with them until I do more serious 18th century adventuring than a photoshoot or a picnic.

The underskirt is a simple cotton skirt, and the overskirt in wool is slightly longer and wider to make the silhuette nicer and make sure the undergarments are not showing. I had to piece the skirt together from several scraps of fabric, which of course is historical even if it doesn’t show in photos. I am planning to make an apron to go with the outfit in the future.

The fishu was great for consealing a modern tattoo

The fishu (scarf) is a trangle of thin silk which you tuck into your jacket to look modest and warm (and fashionable too!) The hat I made with wheat straw and silk fabric cut and sewn (and maybe a bit of glue too) to the hat in a fashionable pattern, and then I added broad pieces of silk fabric to tie it in the back.

The linen cap pattern comes from the American Duchess book, but I adjusted it a bit to fit well. The cloak pattern comes from a pattern diagram from Costume Close-up but I had to adjust that too, to be able to use it with the piece of wool fabric I had left. I also added slits for the arms and a small, almost invisible closure with hooks and eyes at the front in order to be able to wear it closed while doing things outside.

The garments are handsewn with the exception of some longer inside seams machinesewn to save time, and I used linen thread and silk threads for everything.

Dressed and ready for autumn!

The redrafted pattern for the jackets in size Eu 36-38 is available, send me an email if you are interested!


2 Comments

Learning new things

The longer I’ve been doing historical handcrafting, the clearer it is that I find it important to improve myself and my knowledge all the time. In the first half of 2019 I spent making lots of outfits for customers, and some for myself as well. The projects were all fun and turned out nice, but I had the feeling I was missing something.

New challenges.

So, during the autumn I decided to spend time learning new things and chose some things I haven’t explored before. The result was attending a distance tablet weaving workshop to get new inspiration for patterns and workshops, and trying out a new handcrafting technique in the form of felting hats. The black one is my first, it got a bit uneven but I am getting better!

I also researched and made an (inspired) mid 18th century outfit and went to a historical ball event with that outfit, dancing and dining historical style.

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I feel very satisfied with learning new things and got new energy to continue to work on lots of projects. Yes, at once- of course. I am one of those handcrafters that fill the entire room with projects, stash them in baskets and have them lying around the whole house in periods.

I also felt inspired to take up some old research on brocades. I am interested in late medieval style brocades and have somewhat of a stash hidden in the shop (for customers, of course!) with small samples suitable to make pouches, purses, sleeves and details. Mainly, it is because I get so curious about the different weaving patterns and styles that I just Have To Order a small bit… (this is my pinterest board on the subject)

medievalbrocade

I also, kind of unexpected, happened to buy several meters of a lovely silk brocade that is going to be a new medieval dress. I am in the progress right now of sewing it together, taking photos and notes as I work to make it into a new tutorial when I have the time.

Alas, I do have time… But I am also working on a tutorial on Herjolfnes side gores, how to make a pair of medieval pattens and a handsewn project for a customer. I am not good at doing one thing at a time…

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As late as February I still thought I would have a normal, busy season with workshops, road trips and market work, beginning with next week. Now the world feels more unsure and I don’t even know if there will be enough work to put food on the table. On the other hand, I do have lots of time now to experiment and learn new things. Really trying to decide this might yet be a good thing, I am working on new tutorials, garments for myself and lots of new things to sell when there will be markets again.

I also put up a small webshop at my Fbpage in order to give all my followers and customers a chance to order handcrafting tools and have a sneak peek at all the nice stuff I’ve got for the markets. It would help a lot if you would like to check out the shop, follow me on social media or show my page to a friend. This too shall pass, and until then all we can do is our best.

How are you doing out there? I know I have readers from both Australia, the USA and many places in Europe as well as here in Sweden. I am praying for your good health and hoping for spring and summer that will be better than today.