The garment itself is somewhat complicated, and I am sure has been the cause of many grey hairs in re-enactors--partially because there are no patterns or instructions for them online. Well...there is one, but it is not remotely period as it seems to be based on modern pajama pants). Reconstructing History also sells a pattern, which I have no experience with, and no desire to--I don't need help going mad. So, when I went to draft out a new pluderhose foundation pattern, and found that my old instructions had issues, I realized I would have to mostly rewrite it. As before, this pattern is based on the pairs worn by Nils and Erik Sture (mostly Nils, because I believe Erik's pair of foundation breeches got stretched with wear).
This tutorial series for the pluderhose consists of four parts; the base breeches/foundation shorts; panes and lining; codpiece; and assembly. In the example pairs, the foundation breeches were made of a fine leather, similar to chamois or a soft deerskin--previously I used a heavy cotton (cotton drill), this time I have deerskin splits to use (which should be attributed to my madness, because it will be a pain. Spend the extra money, and don't use splits if you decide on leather, since they are uneven in thickness). Depending on the particular style, the foundation breeches can be around knee length (and sewn to the legband at the bottom) as in Nils', or free at the bottom and a bit shorter as I believe Erik's was.
 |
| Foundation shorts of Nils Sture's pluderhose, 1568. Patterns of Fashion 3, by Janet Arnold |
