Civie shirt pattern?

[SGulley]

Searched the forum, nothing turned up. Where can I find a good civilian shirt pattern?

Thanks for the input.

[Gerkin]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

Mr. Gulley,

I would recommend either the Hollyday, or Louisianna shirt pattern from County Cloth. His website is: County Cloth
Anyone else know of some good ones?

YOS

[Hank Trent]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

Here's one from the April 1857 Godey's. http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/images/glb4-57dip.jpeg

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Michael Semann]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

I would recommend to all who are serious about making an authentic men's period shirt that you take a look at the book THOUGHTS ON MEN'S SHIRTS IN AMERICA 1750-1900 by WILLIAM L. BROWN III. It shows in detail various period shirts, their construction details, material, buttons, etc. Any doubts about these details should be answered in this book, and if you are the least bit handy with needle and thread, you should have no problem drafting your own patterns from the detailed drawings provided.

[SGulley]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

My thanks to all.

[Canton Zouave]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

I agree. William Brown's reference is an excellent source for various shirts. I have made several shirts based on Shirt #7, and trully enjoy making it.

Another thought, would be to find "A Workwoman's Guide by a Lady, 1838". Portions of it are featured in Brown's book, and both aided my in drafting my first "On The Square" shirt patterns. The "Workwoman's Guide" can be had through Old Sturbridge Village Book Store, the last time I checked.

[markj]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

Scott,

If you want a much better reproduction of the 1857 "Godey's" shirt, let me know. I copied all of the men's items from Godey's, Peterson's, and Arthur's issues from the 1840's - 1871 over a year ago.

A word of advice: I had a professional seamstress, with many years of experience, take a look at the Godey's pattern but she had trouble figuring it out. Perhaps others will take issue but the pattern seems to have been addressed towards women who already knew how to put together these types of items.

Contact me privately and we'll discuss this further.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger
"Tar Water Mess"

[Hank Trent]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

Perhaps others will take issue but the pattern seems to have been addressed towards women who already knew how to put together these types of items.

Definitely. Nineteenth century patterns are going to be aimed at nineteenth century people, with all their accumulated knowledge.

The only thing I'm not clear on is the "neck binding." It's not shaped like a neck gusset, it's short for a collar band, it's wide for a shoulder strap... where does it go?

I'm guessing the cuff shows the option of either a button fastening, or a two-buttonhole sleevelink fastening, and you're not supposed to put both the button and buttonhole on one side.

The unlabeled triangle is apparently the underarm gusset.

Have you tried making it? How does that neckline work in the bosom? The curve looks like it goes up too much in the front (i.e. I'd expect the lowest part of the curve to be where the two bosom pieces meet in the center front, not an inch or so on either side).

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[markj]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

Hi Hank,

At this point, we've only gotten as far as trying to "visualize it in 3-D." I guess the only way we'd know for sure is simply cut the fabric and then try to assemble it like a proverbial jig-saw puzzle.

One other consideration I thought about was the possibility that something may have been left out of the pattern either accidentally or, perhaps, simply because it was "understood." I discovered this could and did happen when I came across that 1861 Mississippi "blanket overcoat" pattern, which I discussed in a "Watchdog" article about a year ago. In that case, some buttons described in the pattern were not included in the accompanying illustration.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Hank Trent]

Re: Civie shirt pattern?

I haven't made it either, but the pattern looks like it's all there to me, except for a collar or collar band, and with the addition of that mysterious neck binding. There's no strip that covers where the bottom of the bosom attaches to the main front, but you could do without that by turning under both the bosom and the front in some manner to cover the raw edges. And it's implied that the back will be the same as the front without the bosom.

I think the pattern also is implying that the pleats (or whatever decoration is desired) and the placket will be sewn into the bosom so that the bosom's finished size will match the pattern piece.

I've discovered on a couple other Godey's patterns, including a paletot that I'm making for my wife right now, that the pattern pieces seem to be drawn by eye, rather than carefully drafted to scale. Lengths of pieces don't always match where they're to be sewn together, and the shape doesn't always match the illustration. Also, on the paletot, the description calls for a double row of buttons fastened with elastic loops, while the illustration of the finished coat shows a single row of buttons, presumably with buttonholes.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net