Double Period Project 1812 / 1912

The Rocking Horse Farm pattern was pretty easy to follow. The pattern instructions were a little awkward in its layout.  It required you to flip instructions pages backward and forward a couple of times to  follow the sequence of instructions.  I obtained the pattern from one of my favorite historical costume sites http://www.lostcoasthistorical.com/  I think I got it for $10.

Above is the actual pattern cover.  The picture seems to illustrate a fairly tall collar, but it is not.

The instructions were step by step, but required you to flip backward and forward, the sequence was a bit off.

The actual pattern, you will notice, that the pattern is not cut out.  I no longer cut my any historical patterns from their original paper, instead, I now make copies and cut the copy up.  In that way, I always have the original pattern to refer to if I need to size up or size down.  What you see under the pattern is the mockup material that I plan to use.  I had't made this pattern in a while, so I needed to make a mockup since I altered the collar.

The brown pattern piece at the lower right hand bottom of the picture is new collar pattern piece.  You can see the original pattern piece just above it.  Notice how the original collar is rounded, as you see I altered it quite a bit.

A better image of the orignial collar pattern with the new taller pattern, I extended the pattern by 1 1/2 to 2 inches in lenght and about 2 1/2 inches in width.

Double Period Project 1812 / 1912

Below are a couple of pictures of the waistcoat that I previously made with this same pattern.  The pattern instructions were pretty straight forward.

In the picture below, you have a better image of the waistcoat collar, which for the DPP will need to be altered. 

While studying the potraits of men from this period, I noticed something.  The fabric which the waistcoat was made,  appeared to be extremely thin, perhaps silk, satin or some other fine light weight fabric. The fabric that I had initially selected to make the waistcoat was now to heavy. It was similar to the fabric used above.

Look at the man's collar above, it is very fine light weight fabric, perhaps silk. From the picture, it does appear to be lined as well. Notice the fine stitches joining the lining and the outer fabric. There is barely any width between the two joined fabrics.

The above waistcoat also shows how fine the waistcoat fabric is. Again, perhaps, silk.

After checking my stash of fabric, I came across this fabric which was a remant from a previous project. It was light enough, a cotton linen blend with a light plaid pattern.  This would do nicely.  Just needed to find some equally suitable lining fabric to compliment the outer fabric.

Double Period Project 1812 / 1912

The waistcoat pattern for this project, I already had in my possession.  I had used this pattern once before.  I'll be using the Rocking Horse Farm Man's 1812 Waistcoat pattern.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the waistcoats of this period for the most part don't seem to have
ties in the back to adjust the fit of the waistcoat.

Although, from the pattern's picture the standup collar looks tall enough, when you actually make it.  The collar comes up quite a bit shorter. Other than the collar issue, I really like this pattern. The additional height for the collar was an easy alteration to make.

Double Period Project 1812/ 1912

The next item of the 1812 Man's Promenade or Walking suit will be the waistcoat.  There are many patterns for this style of  a regency waistcoat.  However, after reading several comments on the regency costuming board.  I started to look at the available patterns with a more discerning eye.  Some of the elements mentioned that should be present when attempting to recreate this particular regency style include: square or straight bottom front of the waistcoat.  The waistcoat has a very pronounced collar, it should be a standup collar.  It is difficult to tell from the paintings from this time whether or not the waistcoat had tie backs.  Most of the patterns do not place ties at the back of the waistcoat.  The waistcoat could just drop below the cutaway bottom of the frock coat or it maynot. The available paintings seem to indicate the drop is no more than an inch or two. Of course there are always variations on the theme.  Again, I think that a man's personal preference came into play here a bit.

One of the original inspirational pictures for the 1812 outfit. Notice the squareness of the waistcoat bottom.

This is a painting of a prosperous Baltimore merchant from 1812, by Peale.  Again notice the square bottom and the standup collar.

This picture is from the victoriana website, the square bottom of the waistcoat and the standup collar.

Another great painting from this period.  You can definitely see the standup collar quite nicely in this painting.

Double Period Project 1812 / 1912

The shirt sleeves were just simple rectangles, typical for this period underarm gussets were used to provide addtitional support and mobility for the arm area.

The picture below shows the inside of the shirt sleeve with the cuffs pinned to the sleeve waiting to be hand sewn.  I think, that I completed one of these cuffs in the morning prior to going to work.  The extra width of the cuff really made a difference.

This is a better picture of the underarm gusset after it had been added to the sleeve.  Once it was added, than the sleeve was added to the body of the shirt.

Also, the pattern suggested a very small gusset at bottom of the body of shirt's side seams. It was optional, but according to the pattern notes, this portion of the shirt received a lot of wear.  Especially, if this was the gentleman's primary undergarment, the long shirt tails of the body were tucked between the man legs forming a sort of brief. The shirt was worn during the day with other outer garments, but at night, it was worn as a night shirt. 

A closer view of the inserted underarm gusset.

Finally, a week later, the 1812 shirt is complete.  Well almost complete, I still have  to add buttons on the cuffs and one at the neck.  I am pretty pleased with the way this shirt turned out.  Also, the hand sewing turned out not to be so bad after all, I rather liked it.  As other costumers have mentioned, there is a bit more control with hand sewing. It may take a bit longer, but once you develop a rhythm, it is goes pretty quickly.

Ok, one item done, next up will be the waistcoat.

Double Period Project - 1812 / 1912

A picture of the front of the shirt with tailor's tack marking the cutting / slashing line.  Once slashed, a front placket will be added to it for additional support.

The placket has been sewn by machine and slip stiched down by hand on the inside.  

The finished and turned front placket.  I looks pretty good and I was quite pleased with my hand sewing.

Next up, the neck gussets and shoulder reinforcements were added.  Again all this was done by hand.

The picture above shows the completed work for both.

The pattern directions did not suggest interfacing the collar, but I did, just to give it a bit more body.  I had a scrap of medium weight white linen that I used.  It gave it a bit of body without being overly stiff as you can see in the picture below.

As the Project Planning article suggested, break up the project into small units of works. In this way, the entire project becomes manageable and not so overwhelming. The 1812 shirt took me about a week. I am an early riser, so on a few mornings, before work, I completed small tasks that helped in the over all completion of the larger task.  It could be pinning the gussets down at the neck or hand sewing one side of the shoulder reinforcement.  The process really did work.

Double Period Project 1812 / 1912

The J.P. Ryan shirt pattern was already apart of my pattern collection.  I actually made the ruffled version of the shirt last year.  However, I have not had an opportunity to wear it. I really liked the pattern, it went together pretty well.  I found that the instructions were a bit confusing with its layout and order, but other than that I liked it.  Oh, there was a lot of hand sewing required for this shirt.  I fudged on the ruffled version and did of it most by machine.  That was shirt was not meant for competition.  This one, I actually did all of the hand sewing that it suggested.

Initially, I was not looking forward to all the hand sewing, I found that I didn't mind after a bit.  My stitches got better with pratice.  As mentioned in the previous post, there were a few alterations to the pattern which had to be made, but only a few.  The collar needed to be a  standup collor, no ruffles down the front and at the cuffs,  since this was a day outfit.  If it was meant for evening wear, than there could be ruffles down the front and perhaps at the cuffs.

I forgot, I also removed about six inches from the bottom of the shirt as well.  The previous shirt came almost to my knees. So, it was pretty full and long.

This is a picture of the shoulder support or reinforcement.  The body of the shirt is cut on a fold with a slash for the head and down the front that forms a "T".  To stop the shirt from sliding, the pattern required shoulder reinforcements and small neck gussets.

The original cuff pattern is at the bottom of the picture above and the slightly wider cuff new cutt pattern at the top. I think that I added about 2 1/2 inches to the original pattern to make the cuff more pronounced.

This picture shows the neck gussets after they have been folded and pressed.  They are now ready to be hand sewn into the neck where the neck slash starts.