Federal issue shirt

[straggler]

Comrades,

Given their simple construction of the issued shirts would the seams have
been left raw or were they flat felled?

[Agate]

Re: Federal issue shirt

Comrade John,

The Regulation shirt did have felled seams, or at least it was supposed to, as described in Crosman's unpublished Quartermasters manual which, thanks to Mr. Daley, we have a glimpse of.

Personally, I have viewed only one irregular or "contract" shirt, and speak with little authority. The shirt I viewed had pressed seams, with little seam allowance.

One thing to consider is that seam allowances on surviving examples of Army clothing generally are much more narrow than we sometimes tend to allow for. When we consider that manufacturers dealt with amounts in the tens of thousands or greater, it becomes obvious as to why, quite a savings.

http://www.cjdaley.com/research.htm

Something we should be very thankful for, IMHO.

Good luck,

John

John Sarver

[Will Eichler]

Re: Federal issue shirt

John,

I highly recommend you pick up a back issue of the Military Collector & Historian, from the Company of Miltary Historians. You want Vol. XLVII, No. 3, Fall 1995. In it is "The Union 'Army Standard Size and Make' Shirt" by Dean Nelson. It focuses on an issue shirt made by a contractor named A. Saroni. Your question on felling and many other will be answered by it. I'm making a shirt myself right now and can tell you it is an immense help, as well as good reading.

Find CMH at www.military-historians.org

Good luck.

Will

[RyanBWeddle]

Re: Federal issue shirt

In addition to those articles read:

Adolphson, Steven J. and Larry Strayer - 'Rather Coarse and Scratchy: U.S. Army Shirts of the 1860's. '
The Company Wag November 1994, No.8., pp 1-7.

&

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5576

Good luck. BTW - they were hand felled on the M1851 Regulation shirt.

[Jake Marley]

Re: Federal issue shirt

It's necessary to fell the seams of the issue shirts made of canton flannel. If you don't, the raw edges will unravel faster than when Grant went through Richmond. That is some coarse fabric to work with.

Nic Ellis

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Federal issue shirt

Hallo Kameraden!

"It's necessary to fell the seams of the issue shirts made of canton flannel. If you don't, the raw edges will unravel faster than when..."

Assuming I am not reading this post in the wrong light...

The reason for felling seams on reproduction clothing should be because felled seams were what was found on the original garments.
Granted, the period reason for doing may be because of unraveling- but the way I am reading your post the reason for felling is to prevent unraveling.

Not picking here, just focusing in... (and I could be wrong concerning the intent of the advice, and am sorry if I am.)

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt

[Jake Marley]

Re: Federal issue shirt

I don't know what the originals had. I just know what I've seen on a well-made repro, and what the seamstress who made it told me based on her research.

All I was trying to do was help the guy out by explaining what evidence I saw to convince me that flat-felled seams are necessary when making a shirt out of canton flannel.

Nic Ellis

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Federal issue shirt

Hallo Kamerad!

Thanks for explaining, I appreciate it.

Being new to the AC Forum, you may want to think about or consider going back through some of the posts and reread some of the discussions to get an idea or understanding of some of the concepts attached to the H/A Wing of the Cw Community.

For example, here are four "quick" ones:

1. One should be striving for serious, researched, documentable, if not scholarly postings and discussions on the life and times of the CW soldier (or civilian.)

2. One should ALWAYS be looking for the "original" in terms of surviving artifacts; relics; period materials, paterns, and construction methods; regulations and polices/orders governing their manufacture, distribution, and use; and primary and secondary accounts shedding light on any of the previous.

3. It is a good rule to follow in never comparing a reproduction to a reproduction, but rather originals to reproductions or reproductions to originals.

4. It is also a good rule to follow in not looking toward modern reenacting and even living history practice, custom, tradition, and campfire and car pool lore for much of anything.

I am reminded of the restoration efforts at Fortress Louisbourg a few years ago. A reproduction of a pail was requested to be made from an artifact/relic specimen. When the protype came back, the "ears" had been changed.
When asked why they were different, the tinsmith said "If I made them as on the original, they would have broken off after time just like the original!"
BINGO!
It was requested that he make them "just like the original" even though the inherent design flaw would cause breakage, "just like the original."

Once again, Kamerad! I do not want to come across as singling you out or picking on you. I just want to bring you up to speed on what and who the AC Forum is for, and how it works.
And I look forward to your future posts!
Thanks for your interest and participation in the AC Forum.

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt
Moderator

[hardtack1864]

Re: Federal issue shirt

Not to go of subject to much, but one of the posters talked of canton flannel shirts, but I have only heard of canton being used for drawers. So my question is, was canton ever used for shirts, civi or army? Thanks

[James Masson]

Re: Federal issue shirt

"All I was trying to do was help the guy out by explaining what evidence I saw to convince me that flat-felled seams are necessary when making a shirt out of canton flannel."

Not trying to pick, but Federal Issue Shirts are not made out of canton flannel. They are either made out of domet flannel (wool/ cotton blend) or wool flannel (in the case of Contract Issue Shirts). Canton flannel is 100% cotton...Federal Issue Drawers are made out of canton flannel.

[Justin Runyon]

Re: Federal issue shirt

I can't add much to Kurt's excellant post except for a quick rule of thumb, that I'm sure has exceptions from time to time. Generally speaking you'll find that garments that were intended to be washed frequently were sewn in a manner that left no raw edges. Shirts were among those frequently washed garments and this saved the garment after time. You'll find fewer seams felled on trousers and frocks etc.

[Millie Fillmore]

Re: Federal issue shirt

Hello Everybody!

I just wanted to help clear up the federal issue shirt thing. I'm the seamstress who made Mr. Ellis (aka Jake Marley) his shirt. Yes, it is made from domet flannel, not canton flannel. I always mix them up and call them the wrong thing, and I expect I mixed Mr. Ellis up, too! Sorry about that.

The shirt I made is made to specs from Dean Nelson's article, "The Union 'Army Standard Size and Make' Shirt", Journal of the Company of Miltary Historians , Vol. XLVII, No. 3, Fall 1995. Since the original shirts are so rare, I have no hope of physically inspecting one. However, the article asserts that all the seams are felled.

After making the shirt, I could see why they were felled. Besides being a period finishing technique, domet flannel ravels like crazy. It's absolutely necessary for the fabric edges to be contained, or the shirt would literally fall apart.

This was a major frustration in the construction of the shirt, and I spent so much time yelling at the fabric that I think Mr. Ellis shared my annoyance. Thus, I believe he just wanted to impart a little explanation as to why so much hand-finishing was necessary on these garments.

Regards,

Miss Katie Guslick