Jacket and petticoat

This jacket was the first pattern I enlarged and used at my very first costuming project, "The Marriage of Figaro". I had to make do without stays or paniers, and they were not very good. But I have always liked the pattern, one of Arnold´s jackets in Patterns od Fashion, and I always wanted to make it as it should be made. I used a fabric of linen/cotton in a light blue colour. At the time I had no pocket-hoops or paniers, so I made the petticoat with a very wide hem, so it would be easy to change, when I had one. It´s simply two lengths of fabric pleated to two waistbands. Now that I have pocket-hoops, the changes needed only took a day. I ripped of the waistband and un-stitched the hem. Then I made a new waistline adapted to the width of the pocket-hoops, pleated it anew and restitched. And hemmed it again. I hate to hem! I was lucky with the jacket, as it needed very few changes. As Arnold´s patterns are made from actual clothes and this jacket evidently had belonged to a woman smaller than I, I had to make the pattern bigger. The patterns in the book are 1/8, so I simply enlarged it 1/9 instead. It worked very well for me. The main change was to make the front pieces wider, so I could close the jacket. Luckily I made a mock-up first. The jacket has winged cuffs, I have made them, but not sewed them on yet. I liked the sleeves plain and I can always put them on when I feel the need of a little variation Here´s a picture when worn without pocket-hoops and proper closure. The jacket draped oddly. The lacing seen in front is actually the lacing of the stays, I made the stays stomacher of the same fabric as the jacket. The jacket is pinned directly on the stays.

And here is the final, for now, ensemble. The odd drape disappeared when worn over hoops. And the front looks so much nicer when closed with ribbons. I´m not completely satisfied, the bodice is too long, which shows in the horizontal crease at the waist, but it is, after all, the very first thing I have made for myself. The cap is purely my own design, a very hasty work when I realized I needed it the evening before I was going to wear it. I guess I´m going to re-place it, someday. Here is a side view. It is obvious that I need more petticoats. The hat is originally a cheap straw hat, with a much higher crown. I cut off the crown, shortened it and sew it back on. Voila!