Sewing menswear

[elizabeth_mn]

As of right now I am setting aside all my own sewing for myself and completely focusing on making menswear for my HB. If you are stalking me on Pinterest (like I am stalking most of you) you have probably noticed my current mens clothing obsession. Here's what I am currently contemplating.

18th century summer - Linen coat, a light vest, breeches
Victorian summer - Linen single breasted frock coat, a light vest, light pants, a patterned shirt
Victorian separates - plaid pants, plaid pants, and plaid pants
Something for the renaissance festival - ???

Today I ordered the Laughing Moon men's pants pattern. I've been making him pants from that old simplicity pattern and I want something new and different. I have a bunch of patterns already for everything else on the list as well as a stack of possible fabrics.

I'm hoping with all the Victorian pieces he can have an effective mix and match wardrobe and pull something out for the Little House Party or any other event.

First up is summer Victorian. We don't have any events or anything but it's what I feel like working on so I should probably take advantage of that.

Comments

[sewloud.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy sewing for the husbutt. It's just so nice to do tailoring and fitting with no boobs in the way :-p plus I love pad stitching it's so zen.

[the-aristocat.livejournal.com]

Definitely a good plan to start with what inspires you at the moment. One day I want to find the inpiration to finally sew something for Mika too. I've wanted to for ages but not enough to set my own projects aside.

And speaking of men's wear. How did the Victorians sew pants? I need to make riding pants from a mid weight wool and the (period) source says only that the waistband should be lined with something sturdy, nothing else. Do you know if they used linings, felled seams or what?

[ashamanja-babu.livejournal.com]

I usually find the idea of him being able to come with me to events to be motivation enough. But if you need more, here is my foolproof guide to menswear inspiration:

Step one: Look at portraits/photos/fashion plates/TV/movies/anything featuring hot guys in period dress. Repeat this step until you feel all fluttery.
Step two: Take a good, long look at your man.
Step three: If you're not already imagining how unbearably delicious he would look wearing something amazing you've sewn, I am not sure I can help you.

For trouser construction I rely on a mix of modern and period-ish sources. Roberto Cabrera's tailoring book is invaluable, and I also like The Victorian Tailor quite a lot. Really not much has changed in 200 years. Zippers in pants. Fusible interfacing has appeared but very fine tailors still use sew-in interfacings. Modern tailors still use all the same horsehair canvas and linen chest padding the Victorians did. Probably we have some finer wools now. I remember reading that the Super 100s and 200s that are pretty much standard in tailoring now just didn't exist then.

So, in a nutshell: the trousers are made with plain seams, hand overcast or left raw if the wool is fulled. No lining, or maybe occasionally a partial lining or a small scrap of lining on the croth fork. Traditionally the pocketing fabric serves as a kind of lining. With the four pockets it does go all the way around the body. Interline the waistband with linen canvas and line it with pocketing fabric.

Victorian pants were relatively simple. It seems they saved their efforts for the coat. Kind of the opposite of 18th century menswear.

[the-aristocat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!
And this far I've succedded in step one and step two. I'll practice step three a bit more. :)

[vanessa-lynne.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to see all of these projects!