Revenge of the Pluderhose: The Panes of Torment

I'm kinda seeing a trend in how I feel about the garment, here *looks pointedly at the title*.
This, the second of the series of posts on the making of /period/ pluderhose, deals with the panes and lining....originally, I was going to include the codpiece in this post, but I suspect that it wouldn't be a bad idea for it to get its own post.  I will not (yet) be showing how to do the lining--that is, the poofs; that particular set of images will wait until I actually begin construction of the garment--they are not exactly complicated, and use a lot of fabric.

Now, if you are reading this, I hope you've been following along and already have drafted the foundation breeches from PART I.  If you have not, you should go there and make them forthwith, because you build the panes from the foundation breech pattern you've already fitted. Strictly speaking, the foundation breeches aren't 100% necessary--the Svante Sture pair doesn't seem to have them, and longer pairs may not have them; so if you are doing without, you will more or less follow the directions there, ignoring the taper of the legs.

If you are doing this correctly (ish, being as there is no true way) there is little shaping of the panes, and what there is follows the foundation breeches; what this means, is that we will be cutting from the panes to give some of the shapes..  However, the pane length is at least 15% more than that of the foundation breeches--I made them closer to 30%--, to allow the draping.  Like the foundation breeches, I am basing it on Erik and Nils Sture's pluderhose.

At some point before beginning, you should decide how many panes you desire--I have seen examples that (appear to) have anywhere from Four to Seven.  Five appears to be the most popular number, however.  More panes would, of course, require more fabric in the lining since you will have more sections .

Seven Panes!

Joachim Ernst von Anhalt by 
Lucas Cranach the younger, 1563. 
Four Panes

Brunswick Man. 1573. Five panes.

        



Points and line names will be in Italics. Any measurements you use will be Underlined.  The relevant photo is above the instructions for that step.

Start out by making a copy of your foundation breeches, because you are going to cut on them some.  If you have to stitchrip, be careful of stretching the bias.  I also suggest trimming any seam allowances on, since they could muck up your measurements  (I will be using the original one, because they came out slightly too small, and I wish to conserve fabric.  I will also not be lengthening them much, for the same reason).  This time, I will be doing the markings in Blue.

We will start off by measuring over by 1 to 2.5 inches from Point FR. This measurement is dependent on your size and taste--I am fairly slender, so will be using a measurement on the narrower side.  This line should usually end up around the front of your thigh or to the inside, depending on whether you want a pane over the front of your thigh or not.

Line FS: Front Seam: Draw a vertical line.

Line BS: Back Seam: Lay your rule vertically at the edge of the backseam--essentially cutting the taper off.

Inside Leg Panel: Cut along those lines.  This piece becomes the inside leg panel, and nothing more gets done to it other than lengthening it by 5-10% and flattening the bottom.

You know that wedge you cut off in the last step?  Line it up with the other side of the back seam, making it vertical on the freshly cut edge.

Line B1: Now, draw a line vertically there, from the edge (the stitched edge, so remove the seam allowance.

You've already determined how many panes you desire--I am going with five.  Now, you have a couple of choices to make--I prefer to cut my panes all separate and attach them to the waistband; I feel it makes finishing easier.  However, if you prefer, they can be cut to within a couple inches from the top (in which case you will bind the edges).
As said, I will be using five panes.  Minus the inside leg one which is already cut, that would be four.  Divide your remaining waist measurement [13"] by this number (four) to find how wide each of the remaining panes will be at the top [3.25"].

Sometime around now, you should trace the butt cheek--give yourself a touch of ease to allow for the thickness of the foundation breeches--around 1/4 inch should do.


Measure about halfway up the cheek piece.

Point Q: Mark a parallel point on the closest vertical line.

Line B1/Q: Now, curve a line, rounding the end of the cheek piece and up diagonally (here I switched to brown ink).  You want this to be slightly straighter than the cheek piece.

Trace the cheek piece, following the line you just drew on your pane muslin, using more curve on the diagonal line (so that you will have a convex seam against a straight one).  Now cut off the cheek piece and set it to the side.


Cut along the vertical lines, including the butt piece.  If you opted to keep them attached at the top, the butt piece (not the above cheek piece) stays attached at the top as well.  When it comes time to decorate, the butt piece and the inside leg panel get no trim.
Remember to add seam allowances where they were cut off (around the butt piece, and that entire side).

The Poofs (Lining) 

The puffs are made of a rectangle of fabric; silk (possibly backed with linen), and worsted wool are both period options, and linen is a option for the poor re-enactor in warmer climes; whatever you chose, it needs to drape fairly well.  The three examples from the Sture suits have 72", 78", and 108" inches of fabric....per leg.  Each consists of multiple smaller pieces of fabric, joined at the selvage (since the width of the fabric used was only around 18") to give the full width.  Note that Nils' pluderhose (with the 108" of fabric) uses a different method of construction in the poofs--the entire thing is cartridge pleated, rather than being knife pleated only between the panes.


On to drafting:
Once you have figured out how much fabric is going to be in each leg--for me, it is limited by the amount of fabric I actually have (a touch less than 60", actually).  Figure that you want the outseam of the poofs to be around 10-20% longer than that of the panes.  So, you now have a rather large rectangle.

Pick up your panes--which should still be flat--and start measuring.  You are going to measure from the first pane opening, closest to the front opening, to the far side; both the total, and each pane width will be needed.

Crappy photo is crappy.  Hopefully you get the point.  It says 1.5, 4.5, 4 5/16, 4 3/8, 4, 1.5

Mark them down as shown, adding a 1.5" to each side; this 1.5 inches is the overlap where it will be sewn down to the pane.  Add the 3" to your total [20.25"].  Subtract this measurement from your desired leg width to determine the total fabric you will need to pleat. [72 - 20.25 = 51.75" (which I will round up to 52")].
Divide that number by the number of poofs you will have--5 for me. [52 / 5 = 10.4"]  So I will end up needing to pleat 10.4 inches of fabric into each puff.

Now, sketch them out as shown, with the crosshatching denoting pleated zones.  For the shorter panes--the one on the back leg seam, for instance--measure down from the waistband, and remove a rectangle that high from your fabric, as seen.  You can easily measure this off onto your fabric when it's time.

Onwards to PART III--the Codpiece.

And Part IV; putting it together. 

(Or back to PART I)

© John Frey, 2016. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.  Photographs of my work may not be duplicated.