Buttonholes on Cuff Of Civil War Sleeve

[CC sewing]

Forgive cross posting - I put this on another forum as well.

Unless I missed it in the instructions or in the pattern pieces, the Simplicity 4551 does not indicate which side of the cuff the buttonholes go on. On women's CW dresses, did the buttonholes go in the back of the sleeve cuff or in the front?

I looked into this a lot while making hubby's shirt (not completed yet). I was looking at the photos in the book, Thoughts on Men's Shirts. The vast majority from the photos of CW era shirts there showed the buttonholes in the back. And to clarify, by the back I mean that if the shirt were laid out on a table with the sleeves stretched out, you would see the cuff button uppermost, and the buttonhole would be on the underside (does that make sense?). Just FYI, in the book, he shows the shirts with the sleeve crossed over, as if the man were crossing his arms. So in his photos, you actually see the buttonhole. But I think he did that to fit the shirt on the page better. The buttonhole is in the back of the cuff.

I am not sure if the same would apply to women's cuff buttonholes.

Thanks.

[CC sewing]

Re: Buttonholes on Cuff Of Civil War Sleeve

I think I may have figured out the answer to my own question! I'll post it here in case it can help someone else.

First, I looked on all of the other Martha McCain patterns I have to see if they had any clues. No such luck. But then I did (what I probably should have done in the first place) this:

I took the sleeves that matched the one in the pattern illustrations (edited to add: this pattern that I am using, Simplicity 4551, is another Martha McCain pattern, which are well-researched Civil War patterns). I was going on the assumption that the illustrations used the same sleeve for this part of the instructions. At first it was pictured inside out. So I made sure I had the correct one, turned inside out. Then in the next illustraion, it was right side out, showing the buttonholes and buttons. The way they showed it was opposite of the way the shirt buttonholes were for the men's shirts in Thoughts on Men's Shirts. So, the buttonholes were in the front part.

An historical seamstress on another board pointed out that this was a practical arrangement as well as easier to button. If the buttonholes were in the back, the overlap would be easier to catch on something with movement.

But if anyone has info to the contrary on the placement, please do let me know.

Thanks.

[annmaddox]

Re: Buttonholes on Cuff Of Civil War Sleeve

At a recent Sleeve Workshop, we had the opportunity to study a couple of originals. THe dress that buttoned at the cuff, I can't remember which side it was on, my pic is only of the cuff, no way to tell if it's the left or right. I'll check some others tonight to see if it's in the background.

ANYWAY, my point was the button itself was not centered along the edge of the sleeve. It was rather closed to the side of the band where the sleeve is attached. This is apparently extremely common.

New knowledge to me. Hope it helps & I'll check pics tonight.

Ann