I JUST finished my 1864 Civil War outfit a few minutes ago. I didn’t use a pattern for anything sewn, I made my own drafts. The hoop skirt and collar (vintage) were purchased online. The brooch was my great grandmother’s. The outer garment is an open sleeved paletot. Sleeves are sleevils. lol. I started the process of figuring out what I wanted to make close to 2 years ago and it took many months to get sew due to my rheumatoid arthritis. Wish I could sew faster.
Thank you for the compliment but I thought I already had entered it into the Halloween contest. That’s why it’s tagged the way it is. Did I do something wrong?
Amazing work!! I can’t believe you drafted the patterns yourself.
I think you have to link this post to the contest post as well as add the entry info to your title to officially enter the Halloween costume contest. Good luck!!
Ahh. Yes and no. I was reading the post on my phone, (after my dog woke me at 4:45) so I didn’t see the whole title, which you totally did perfectly. Then I checked the Costume Challenge thread, and didn’t see a post from you, submitting it, which is required, so I was afraid you didn’t know about the contest. Be sure to post a link to your project post in the Halloween Costume Challenge thread. I’ve already added you to the list of submissions there.
Oh, thank you! I appreciate you doing that for me. I have chronic illnesses, and the underlying cognitive disfunction that accompanies it (aka Brain Fog) so sometimes I don’t get things right.
No worries friend. I was also sleepy, and since I’m running the Challenge, I am always on the lookout for folks who might not have seen it, and therefore have missed entering the contest.
Thank you. The difficulty with using historical patterns is most people sewed their own clothing back then so knew what they were doing. Women’s magazines, Godey’s for example, gave pictures of the pieces to cut (if you were lucky) but not give you instructions on how to put it together. So you have to take those pictures, draft them to fit your own body by adding darts, gores, gussets, or other things to make them look how you want them to. Basically, each time you draft something like this, you have to make a muslin mock-up – which then becomes your pattern.
Here’s what I had to make the paletot. In the link, scroll down 1 page.
Yup, that’s all they gave - 3 pattern pieces.
I had to add a panel to the back, add breast darts the front panels, cut the armscyes larger too. Then I had to rip out the dratted sleevils 4 times to get them, and the armscye caps, to sit correctly! GRRRR! lol “-Original- Pre 1929 Historical Pattern Collection”
LOL!
I showed off my undergarments because I seem to always get asked two questions: What do you wear underneath and is it hot.
Answers: What I wear underneath depends upon the era of the costume and, no, it’s normally not hot - it depends upon the humidity not the heat (Note: I made the bloomers too).
Nothing like those little touches to add authenticity!