A 1740s brown linen jacket

settembre 21, 2017

A 1740s brown linen jacket

New event, new creation! It seems I'm getting addicted to jacket and lower classes outfits. They're so practical, easy to make and lovely to wear, plus they're fast to draft and assembly. For the event in Villa Manin (UD) I decided to portray a lower class woman again (although not-so-poor) and I needed a new jacket since my previous one isn't designed for pocket hoops. The event was set in the late 1730s-very early 1740s so I needed something to go over large pocket hoops and with fashionable winged cuffs.
Unfortunately the day was really cloudy and rainy so the photos I took didn't show the dress how I want; the following images have been taken the week after in Marlia, Tuscany.

I had a lovely remnant of the same brown linen of the skirt in my stash and I couldn't be happier: I love that colour! I had enough to make a jacket with very lovely wide skirts, plus I found a ruffled cotton ribbon I made a while ago to go over the sand stomacher - which would have been really simple otherwise.

The construction has been really straightforward so I didn't take many photos. I simply took my blue linen jacket pattern from Janet Arnold book and elongated the pieces to create wide skirts. I used as reference a lovely diagram by American Duchess for the drafting process (you can find it in the online .pdf she shared after releasing her Outlander inspired patterns) and it worked great. I basically measured my side length adding just 1.5 cm for the armhole/sleeve seam and then I drafted the elongated pieces without adding a waist seam. The skirts are 20 cm long but you can make them longer if needed. The larger the skirts, the wider the circumference of the jacket so experiment with math! Remember to make them large enough to fit your pocket hoops/hip pads.

The rest of the jacket is the same but I omitted the front lacing and went for pins.

I forgot to say the jacket is fully lined in white cotton with visible top stitching.

Now the cuffs. Winged cuffs were extremely popular in the first half of 18th century and they're kinda easy to make. They're a simple rectangle with optional lining (but I recommend it) which is sewn at sides and then pleated to fit the arm crook. Easy, no? You can made them with or without interfacing - mine are made without.

I wore the whole thing over my reed boned pocket hoops, a cotton shift, a cotton petticoat and my stays. The stomacher is pinned over the stays and the jacket over the stomacher.