18th Century Breeches - Completed!!!

18th century fall-front boy breeches

Yes, it's unbelievable, but I finally, finally finished those darn breeches for my son! It's a good thing I made them too big. He keeps growing, but I don't sew any faster. What held me up all these long months, besides working feverishly on my book, was those darn buttons. All 14 of them. I had to cover each bone mold with fabric, then sew it on the breeches, then cut and finish the buttonholes. All 14 of them!!! It was tedious, but I'm sure you've gotten the clue already. :-)

I'm pretty proud of them overall. I'm always a little astonished at the end of any pants/trouser/breeches making, because they seem like such a difficult piece of clothing to make, but somehow they turn out in the end. And they look like pants!

My son is so thrilled. When I showed him the finished breeches, he smiled and said, "Good! Are you going to finish my shirt soon?" Ugh. Poor kid. He's had to wait ages. The shirt is the next hurdle. Every time I look at the pattern by Kannick's Korner I go through some mild fuming. Why does it have to look so complicated? (It's got 4 gussets! Maybe more... It just seems so unreasonable.) I'm half tempted to just buy a different, more simple pattern like from Past Patterns, just to get my feet wet. I'm bound and determined to sew like a madwoman this winter. I really want us all to be dressed for the 18th Century Market Fair at Ft. Frederick next year!

Back of the breeches

Detail of buttonholes and ties at the knee
(see video below!)

Detail of the font button flap with a peek at the back lacing holes
The pockets are partially open, but buttoned. An interesting design.

I found this video by Ft. Ticonderoga on doing correct 18th century buttonholes to be very helpful, and I think my buttonholes have turned out vastly better than ones I've done before. I didn't follow his instructions exactly, since I did them from memory off his video, but adding in the bar tack does make the holes look nicer. I'll have to try them using his whole method next time for my son's waistcoat, when I get around to making that.

I do still need to whip stitch the inside seams and then wash them to get rid of my markings, but really, they are wearable, and that's all I care about! Whew!