#explorerswanted

I started with the Common Man’s or Sailor’s Jacket pattern from Reconstructing History.  They have patterns for long waistcoats, but I already had the jacket pattern from a previous project, so I just went with it.  I knew that I was going to have to make a lot of alterations, so instead of cutting the pattern out, I traced it.  I don’t have a tracing table, though, so I improvised:

It worked surprisingly well!  I transferred the pattern to tracing paper, cut it out, and then made a mock-up.  And then another mock-up.  And another.  And another.

If anyone reading this is able to just cut out a pattern, use it to make a garment, and then have that garment fit correctly, you are very lucky!  Or I’m just oddly shaped.  Or both!  I probably could have cut a couple mock-ups out of the process if I had a duct tape double, but I haven’t gotten around to making one yet.

In any case, after I got my pattern where I wanted it, I was able to move to my “real” material - dark drab lightweight worsted wool from Burnley and Trowbridge and unbleached linen from Joann’s for the lining.  This was my first time working with worsted - it felt a lot like modern suiting fabric!  I cheated and sewed the inner seams by machine with cotton thread and used a modern lining method (since this waistcoat is for a LARP, not reenacting), but I did hand-sew all the visible seams.  I also hand-worked the buttonholes:

I used a product called Mandarin Floss in dark beige for the buttonholes - I would have preferred to use linen thread, but the wool proved a tough color to match.  The floss is made from bamboo and comes in 6-ply, but I split it down to 3-ply for the buttonholes.  Like I said, it wasn’t my first choice of fiber, but the color is almost perfect!  I bought some of Townsends’ small pewter button 2nds, so they’ve already got a little character to them.

Here’s the finished garment on a more talented model:

I started with a 100% wool woman’s floppy hat from Target.

Not really my look, I think!

I removed the weird metal hatband thing and trimmed the brim down to about 3 inches.

Much better!

I’m not usually a fan of distressing clothing artificially, but I want this kit to tell a story in the way my other impressions don’t really need to.  With that in mind, I pulled out my trusty arts and crafts cutlass and took a swing at the brim.  Haha, just kidding!  My cutlass wasn’t sharp enough, so I used one of my wife’s seaxes.  The resulting slash in the brim had a slight curve and unevenness to it that I don’t think I would have gotten with scissors.  I then repaired it with a quick baseball stitch in linen thread.

That was a close one!

To finish up the hat, I added a twine trim hatband and macaroni’d it up with a couple feathers from the craft store.

The hat still looks too crisp and new, but I’ll wear it while I walk the dog in the rain and use it to fan a few campfires into flame and the like, and that should fix it right up!

The base layer of the kit will consist of a linen shirt, a worsted wool waistcoat in the longer 1750′s style, and wool knee breeches (most likely modified from modern pants, because I really don’t like making pants).  Hoods aren’t historically correct for the 18th century, but this is a LARP, not reenactment, and I’ve gotten accustomed to wearing one out in the woods.  This one will be made of wool and split in the front and fringed in imitate the look of the capelet of a hunting frock.  In addition to the hood, a floppy wool hat will help keep the sun and rain off.

For footwear, I’d like to make leggings and center-seam moccasins, but if I run out of time, I have a pair of knee-high Minnetonka mocs that I can use.  Belt pouches had fallen out of style by the 18th century, but longhunters may have still used them, and the belt and sash combination over a waistcoat seems to fit the overall impression I’m going for.  And of course, I rarely go out into the woods without my trusty haversack!