Pants saga, day 3

The pants, while majestic, really were too big.
Yesterday, I unpicked all my pleats, and cut some fabric out, and put them back together.
I had some fun with Geraldine, turning her into Gerald. I had hoped to stick pins in her, not fz, but the crotch of the pants was too hig, and the base of the dummy too low...So I had to set the waist a little lower than is normal. But I got a good idea of what I needed to remove. The left leg is the one full of pins.
I ended up taking 40cm out of each leg. The white line is where I cut. So last night was spent running gathering stitches. I can now have my pleats meet at the fly, add a flyflap, and hopefully bob's someone's uncle.
I'm glad we tried them on. He decided that the waistband could be 15 cm tighter, too. I based that on the last pants...gawd, you know, it's so much easier to make stuff for me. At least I'm always there to try it on.

Pants Saga: The beginning

After Festy '09, I decided that my boy needed to look more dapper. And he'd look great in some late period German stuff. Or maybe I'm just blind to any other culture.
I wanted him to look like this:
In varying degrees, of course. A bit from here, a bit from there. I'm in love with the fisherman's jacket, with all those pleats. It might be my first foray into leather sewing.
I'm also in love with the pants the boys wear in How Green is my Cactus.Even though I know they're outta period. A button fly! Too cute.
St Janet has examples of much higher-class duds, with pinking and other exciting decoration, often shorter and poofier, and sometimes with pockets! I'm not keen to pad them - He gets hot enough as it is, withough wearing pink bats on his legs - and I'm not trying to make anything high class. It's fisherman's pants for him! I'm also planning to use quite rough, heavy wool, which should have enough oomph in it to get the look right.
Climate + materials x period look = a useful costume.
My first attempt was a rushjob. They're cute pants, in grey wool. They are box pleated into the waistband and cuffs. They fit, and work, but they just aren't very big. I've built them a codpiece...need to figure out the best way to put that on...He can wear them, if he wants, but he's not allowed to say who made them.

Mark II is much better. I cut them out yesterday, and I really wish there was a size indicator in this pic. It would be much funnier then:
As a hint, the waist line at the top of the pattern is 92cm. Times that by 4. And the pattern is skewiff because I was standing at one end...
The wool is quite heavy, part of the Great Fantasy Fabric Haul, and almost polar fleece in feel. It has a fair bit of stiffness, and when pleated should stand out nicely.
I've decided to cartridge pleat the waist and cuffs in. Why? beacuse St Janet's pics show even, rounded pleats, and I know it will give me the same effect. I'm pleating straight to the waistband. The waistband is already finished, lined in linen (I had some spare) and prickstitched at the top.The pleating pinned in. I really like the colour of this wool, and it goes with just about anything. Which is good - I have no idea what to make the rest of his outfit from.The pleats from the outside. I'm not quite half-way round yet, so there's still a gathering stitch in there. And you can see the prick stitching - I really do like the look of a bit of prick stitching. And it's not just because of the name.
I had decided to give them a button fly - because buttons are easy to make, as are holes; they're easy enough to get in and out of; no codpiece to brain, or wear, or avoid in the dark, or make lewd jokes about...but I might be changing my mind. As I start the pleating, I left 3cm either side of the fly, to prevent pleats from encroaching on the buttons.
But.
Let's say I hook and eye the fly closed. If the pleats abutt the fly, then they help to cover the gap. And if there's a flap, as per garment 12 in POF, then all accidents are accounted for (then again, garment 12's eyelet holes do suggest a missing codpiece...yup, "The codpiece has been discarded and the front opening fastns with points through worked eyelet holes, backed with a large velvet flap. The opening is almost completley hidden by folds of material." I suppose the question is: who discarded the codpiece?
Choices, choices...Ok. Flat hooks. No codpiece. Flap. Means either jigging the flat pieces I've left behind, or unpicking the pleats I've already done...there's a lot of double work happening on these pants. I really do need to learn to be a bit slower with my decision making.

My Festy '10 Dream List

For me:

• 3 more late smocks (there's an early shirt, halfmade...cut the neck lower...hm...)
  
• A few more partlets, with ruffs attached I think. I'll leave this vague, and fix it up later.
• At least one more kirtle - front-lacing, no sleeves, big skirts.
  
• A long over-jacket with huge sleeves.
  
• A better way to deal with my hair - a hat solution or two.

For him:

• At least 2 late shirts (one is in construction)
  
• Brown pants (in construction)
• a doublet, no sleeves or removable sleeves.
• A jacket to go over this.
• A dumb hat.

This list is subject to change without notice!

Pants Saga 1

I made Fz a pair of grey pants a few weeks back. And a codpiece to go with. But I just dodn't feel they were big enough. So today I thought I'd build some huge ones.

I cut them out (based on the original's J-shape in the crotch, plus manymanylots).
I sewed each leg, then put them together.
Pressed everything.
made the cutest little waistband, lined in linen.
Pressed over the waist edge, ready to pleat.
Did my maths, and ran cartridge pleating stitches through.
Pinned the waist band on, just to see if they truly are big enough. Or too bloody big.
Flipped them right way out, to have a better look at them.
Discovered yellow texta on his right butt cheek.
Washed, scrubbed, took dremmel to it, and nothing is getting it off.
Now I'm re-pressing the waist down, having unpicked and unironed the whole blooming thing.
Oh, the happy.

I mean, I'm using KT's tasty machine - the actual stitching doesn't hassle me at all. It's the ironing that's slowing it all down.

Which brings me to:
A NOTE ON IRONING
Steam irons are your friend. They totally roxor, especially after you've taken your glasses off (I can't sew with my shoe on, or steam iron with my glasses on).
But the best pressing you can ever do, particularly on wool, is with a lump of wood to hand. It 'shocks' the wool, cools it quicker, therefore making a nicer crease...and that's why this is taking me so blooming long! Steam, press, wait. Steam, press, wait. Oh well, at least I get to go wahwah about it here while I wait.

The good news, I suppose (she says in her pessemistic fug) is that the size of the pants seems to be ok. I'm still wondering about lining them...but once they're pleated, I don't really have a choice about that. I think the wool is thick enough to do what it needs to, and I don't like the idea of overheating my 'radiator' any more than I have to.

Learning expreience? Check your fabric, fully, BEFORE you hack it up and sew it down!

I'm a looooooooser

What's this, blog number 5? 6?
I want to have somewhere to document the steps I take to make a frock, that isn't my wahwah blog. Hopefully, it will mean that I:
a) Will stop and consider WHY I do what I do, and therefore, perhaps, force me to make some actually period choices.
b) Will have a record of what I do. I'm finding that after my break from costuming, I've forgotten some pretty basic stuff.
c) Maybe, at some point, will share it with intrested parties. Not like this is hard to find or anything, though...

And to start, here's a list of UFOs in the work pile at the moment:

• Fz's late period shirt. It's mostly done. It needs a hem, and the collar and cuffs gathered and put into bands. It's made very simply, with small gores at the neck (I'd never done this before), and a tiny reinforced spider web at the neck opening. It's to go with baggy 1580s German pants and jackets. These are yet to be made.

• The armholes on my recent partlet. I wore it at Midwinter unfinished. It's the work of 30 minutes. The partlet pattern was based on one I'd made earlier. I can't remember why I chose this shape and stuff...that's why I have this blog! It's cotton voile, and the ruff is attached. I chose to pleat the ruff not into triple Vs, as on Renn Tailor, but only doubles. I wanted to reduce bulk in the partlet collar, and make something delicate.
  
  

• There's also some mending/fixing/doing that has to happen to the new gold frock. The sleeves need tweaking, the 'dills need redoing, again. The skirt is a little too short - I'd like to unhem it, add a bias strip and see if that gives me more hem. My other option is to bind the whole edge.
  

Coming soon - The Festy List.