Pocketses! (and a hat)

[mala_14]

Of course I needed pockets to put things in. So I made some using the print fabric as the fronts and some scrap plain white cotton for the backs. They aren't as capacious as they could be, but they still fit in the standard range of sizes of pockets from the period that I looked at. They're about 14" long and 10" wide at the bottom (6" wide at the top). See my Pinterest board of pockets here. We've all seen the beautifully embroidered pockets of the 18th century, but in my research I found that print pockets were around in the late 18th century and became more popular in the early 19th century. Patchwork pockets were also a thing in the early 19th.

The Challenge: Holes: Pockets are all about holes. Mostly we don't want holes in our pockets because we don't want to lose things, but a hole is an integral part of the pocket, otherwise we wouldn't be able to put anything in the pocket!

Material: quilting cotton print, cotton drapery lining, the pocket opening/hole is bound in the print

Pattern: made up based on pictures of period pockets

Year: c.1810-1825

Notions: cotton thread, cotton twill tape

How historically accurate is it? Close, but not quite. Mostly machine sewn (although hand finished) and the outside edge is enclosed in a French seam (because I didn't want to have to deal with hand-sewing the binding)

Hours to complete: 3.5-ish, for the first time I actually have an idea because I made these in one day, although I did the pattern the day before

First worn: yesterday for a living history event

Total cost: the fabric was all scraps/leftovers from other projects and the twill tape was something I already had on hand, so sort of $0

In other sewing news, I made some starch using cornstarch and I starched 2 petticoats (1880s and 1890s) and my shirtwaist. It was something of a production trying to wrangle the 1890s petticoat because it was rather big, was made out of a heavier fabric (poplin), plus it had the flounce. The other two items were much easier to deal with, being smaller or of thinner fabric. They are currently hung up to dry and the spots that are already dry are quite papery. I used a recipe that I got from the Sewing Academy Forum, but instead of making it heavy starch, I diluted it to a sort of medium-heavy starch.

I'm also working on my hat, which I need for Saturday. I changed my mind on doing a sailor/boater style and instead want something like this:

I like how it has a definite period aesthetic, not a modern one. It's also flatter, so that means less hand sewing. Plus I can make some sort of wacky loopy bow out of the same silk that I used for my bow tie. I've already taken apart one of those straw craft hats and am reassembling the straw braid.

Also, I was wearing my shirtwaist and bow tie last night to try them on and my brother said I looked like a barbershop quartet. lol