Jacket,
2011
My friend Ida had an
acute need for a black 18th century jacket for a LARP game where
her character would be a housemaid in a manor house filled with
dark and scandalous secrets. Black and white servant's uniform
is actually more of a Victorian thing, but we must make
allowances for the game creators imagination.
Ida however thought that she wouldn't like to dress in black in
re-enacting events, so she wanted two-sided jacket with
something lighter. She found a beautiful light grey wool for it.
For the black side she bought black linen, of which her
Grandmother made a skirt for the maid costume.
We decided to copy
the lovely tailed skirts of the jacket in Linda Baumgarten's
"Costume Close-Up", but with a little less flaring, and a center
front closure with hooks instead of stomacher. We also decided
to make the sleeves full length for warmth, though they can be
turned up for fashionable elbow-length.
I had to come up with the pattern quickly as Ida needed the
jacket for next weekend, and luckily it turned out quite okay.
For the sleeve I used the two piece pattern from my riding habit
jacket with small alterations.
Due to the tight schedule I also machine sewed everything I
possibly could, and bag lined the whole thing. As the gray side
was to be the mainly worn side I turned the edges slightly on
the black linings side. I stitched the seam allowances on the
black side, where the stitch is more inauspicious but still
helps to keep the skirt edges from bagging to some extent.
I sewed the seam allowances of the top layer and lining together
on armholes and on the side seam waist where the skirts begin to
flare. I also clipped the seam allowances on the armhole very
meticulously and ironed them open so that they wouldn't show
strain on either side of the jacket.
![18th century jacket](kuvat/idas%20jacket3.jpg)
The jacket front
neckline settles higher that the stays top edge, so I gathered
it a bit for better fit and sewed narrow tapes on the seam to
secure the gathering. As you can see in the picture, it ended up
just a bit too gathered. Later I have begun to use the more
period method of tie casings on the neckline, which gives more
room for adjustment.
I had turned the bag lining from the openings on front edges, so
the last thing was to finish them. I sewed a ready-made hook and
eye tape on the edge and sewed the lining on by hand. That was
the only piece of hand sewing I did for this project.
The finished jacket has small fitting issues, mainly the front
waist being too long and small. I think we did the mistake of
trying it on with just stays and no bulky skirts. Considering
the time I spend with it it's okay, though, and Ida has worn it
a lot.
![18th century jacket](kuvat/idas%20jacket%205.jpg)
I admit I was a
bit sceptical at first about how a two-sided jacket would work,
but it was good to have an opportunity to try and make one. If I
had made this more carefully and attached the lining by hand
from the outside it would no doubt have been neater still, while
now there remains some bagging at places. A two-sided garment is
of course a very convenient way to get more variety to your
wardrobe while saving money and storage space.
![18th century jacket](kuvat/idas%20jacket2.jpg)
Originally Ida had planned to use the black side only once, but
when she put it on for the photoshoot we both thought that it
actually looks kinda nice too. The linen is very even, tightly
woven and a little shiny. Without the cruder apron a black
outfit is actually a neat thing on 18th century when the black
materials were still more costly.