Keeping Busy

I’ve been starting to tackle the intricacies of 18th Century costume making. My brain is such that I cannot understand how to read or use patterns, so I’ve been tackling the easy stuff first. I have to make clothes for four people, but I’m starting with the children because it’s harder to get hold of garments that they can borrow. Ailith particularly! So, so far I’ve made a shift for Rose, a petticoat for Rose, a shirt for Ailith (mad amounts of hand sewn reinforcements!) and a pair of sailor’s trousers for Ailith. If I can make Ailith a sailor’s short jacket, that will conceal the lack of waistcoat until I can make one of them too!

This is what I have so far:

Ailith hates breeches with a passion, so she is going to be kitted out as a sailor.  She needs a waistcoat and short jacket.  Rose needs another petticoat and a short gown, stays and cap.  Then I need shift, two petticoats, shortgown and cap and Andrew needs breeches, shirt, waistcoat and coat.  But first of all I need to teach myself how to make a short jacket when I have no pattern and wouldn’t understand it if I did.  It’s an interesting challenge!  However, previous to this I had never made anything that had to be pleated onto a waistband, or buttonholes or trousers with flies, so I’m making progress.

, that’s one of your lovely reproductions pewter buttons on Ailith’s slops there.  Thank you!  I think she’ll get the rest on her jacket 🙂

Other attempts to be industrious include writing a blog post reviewing ‘Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination’ by Peter Ackroyd here

and another one on The Past as a Series of Blobs on the Macaronis blog here.