1570s Germans Continued: The Jerkin

This has been a rather long journey, and it is finally nearing its end with the completion of this project--a slashed jerkin as part of my 1570s Germans suit.  The suit consists of pluderhose, doublet, jerkin, and hat, all drafted from my own patterns.  Like the other garments in the set...you don't get to see it being worn until the debut (probably in January).  Because the two garments are so closely related in pattern and design, I highly recommend reading my documentation for the doublet first. 

Sources:

The sources for construction and the primary inspiration are essentially the same as those for the doublet; with a few changes to show slashed jerkins.

A Robe for Reading: 1760s Banyan. I suppose I need sleeves, don't I?

And it's time for Part Two of Three on the making of my Banyan, based on an example from the 1760s in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  As you might guess by the title, the majority of this post is on drafting the sleeves--the cuffs and collar are both quite simple.

For a recap, this particular garment is based on the one the LACMA provided a lovely pattern and information on.  However, while they provided a pattern, they do not tell you how to draft the garment so it fits you (their scaling grid is also terrible).

The way I do sleeves is fairly simple; essentially you take the measurements of the armscye, and transfer those to your sleevehead.  However, a word of warning that some parts of sleeve drafting--the hang of the arm in particular--are rather complicated, and something you will have to learn on your own (until I get good enough that I can explain it); when it comes to the lateral rotation (as swinging your arms normally) you want the top and bottom of the sleevehead to be in line with the natural hang of your arm.  As such, it may not hurt to mark the low point while the body is on your victim as well.

Featured Garment: Bottle Green Overcoat (1820s?)

And I'm jumping back to the Regency, to share an elegantly plain overcoat or redinote.  This Featured Garment will likely be fairly short.

The victim of my mangled descriptions this time is a wool overcoat from Augusta Auctions, in the style of early frock coats...i.e. a body coat with a waist seam. As it should be, with the given date of the 1820s.  It caught my attention because of the elongated look, and how low the buttons go (which is slightly unusual).  The following is the description from the Auction Site:

A Robe for Reading: Drafting Mid 18th Century Banyan, Part I

For some time now, I have been planning to make a banyan from a grosgrain brocade woven of dead dinosaur (i.e. synthetics, if you aren't familiar with the euphemism) I have had in my stash for years.  Not the loose, kimono style of banyan, but the variety more closely related to the contemporary frock coat.  I love those things.

Featured Garment: The Bedford Hours Ark

It's been a while since I decided to do a medieval Featured Garment--I really should do more in my main--SCA--period...

This week, we are taking a look at one of the pages in the Bedford Hours--a beautifully illuminated manuscript from the early 15th century (1410-30).  The Bedford Hours, more formally known as Book of Hours of the Use of Paris was produced sometime during these dates, with the book possibly being worked on for over a decade, and being added on to.  Some of the important inclusions to the book are: the Calendar, excepts from the Gospel and prayers to the Virgin, Psalms and more prayers, the hours, and a "cycle" of miniatures from Genesis--the last being the source of the Ark image.

Obnoxiously Plaid Skinny Pants and the Irish: The Dungiven Trius Documentation

I am extremely happy to say that this is the end of a fairly long project.  Not the trius, which are the principal subject of this post, but the Dungiven Suit project in general:  making the garments--consisting of doublet, trius, and shoes from the Dungiven find.  I chose to leave the brat/cloak of the find out of my recreation because I already have a late period Irish brat made, albeit with wider material.

This project is a pair of trius--close fitting Irish trousers--based and patterned from those in the Dungiven find, in Northern Ireland. 

Photo by Travis "Twobears" Abe-Thomas.  Trius are being worn with the full outfit*.

Featured Garment: "17th" Century(?) Jacket

Seriously, this piece is bizarre.  But I'm going to attempt to keep this to strict observations, at least at first.

Standard Disclaimer: This article is rife with opinions, as well as facts (which can mostly be verified through observation).  My intent in writing it is to educate myself, and promote discussion--i.e., if you have other observations or research, please post in the comments at the bottom of the page.

  Ok.  The Met museum states this as being a 17th Century piece, and British.  It was donated to the museum by one Mary Dykman Dean (wife of Bashford Dean, who founded the Museum's Arms and Armour department).  Other than the length at center back, that is all the information the museum has--I asked, and waited several weeks for them to get back with me before beginning to write this.