Thursday, December 27, 2012

December Regency Project - 1790's Jacket

For Christmas, a friend gave me a copy of Fashion, A History from the 18th to the 20th Century from the Kyoto Costume Institute. I was totally overwhelmed with inspiration while thumbing through the pages (who wouldn't be?) and totally fell in love with some of the 1790's jackets I saw. Several were way too elaborate for me to want to attempt (at least in this season of my life) but I really liked this one:

Which you can see here, at the KCI Digital Archives.

Mine will be made in a silvery blue cotton print and I think I will wear it with my brown wool hobbit petticoat until I get some proper 18th c. style petticoats made.

Today I began the mock up. To start with I used the 1780's bodice pattern I draped last fall. I lengthened the back piece to include a peplum skirt and added a side seam to the bodice, so I could have a short peplum at the side as well. I added length to the front of the bodice to meet the length of the center front point. The original jacket has lacing that starts at waist length. Below the waist, the jacket flares open.
sorry for the poor quality of the photos. I was in a hurry and the lighting was very bad!
My first mock up attempt was pretty close. To be more like the original, I would have to raise the neckline some and reposition the tabs at the front/sides to be more at side center. . .but I think I will go with what I currently have. If I raise the neckline anymore I won't be able to breastfeed and I am not too concerned with identically recreating this exact style.

I need to tweak the fit of the sleeve above the elbow, but other than that, I think I am ready to cut into my fabric!

I hope to make progress on it over the weekend and maybe even finish it before the 1st!

I'll keep you updated.

Love,
Sarah

4 comments:

  1. Your mock-up looks fantastic! I look forward to seeing the finished outfit. :-)

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  2. It looks good! Perfect fit; the advantage of patterns you already have, right? :-)

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  3. Hana - Marmota, ha, yes, exactly. ;) I am so glad I kept a paper tracing of that 1780s bodice mock up. I ended up modifying it a bit more when making the final pattern for the jacket. I eliminated the side seam and made the front bodice and side back bodice all 1 piece with a tab cut at side center more like the original. I also added width to the neckline and straps so the neckline is more the original, although I did not actually raise it any. . .I figure I can make the lacing go from bottom to top so I can unlace it when I breastfeed. Hopefully it will all work out okay.

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  4. Oh oh oh, how I love love love the peplum! I can't wait to see it all take shape in the silvery blue!!

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!