I have finally completed the hand sewing of the brown silk 18th Century breeches which I began nearly four years ago at a Burnley and Trowbridge workshop with two of Colonial Williamsburg’s tailors, Mark Hutter and Neal Hurst.
This was a three-day workshop filled with lectures, demonstrations, and sewing time.
Our project was based on an extant pair of breeches in the Colonial Williamsburg collection, acc. # 1971.1564: Small boy’s breeches, part of a three-piece suit of beige-peach ribbed silk…History of having been worn in Massachusetts by Dudley Cotton, great-grandson of Governor Joseph Dudley.
Because these were small, they gave us time to learn and stitch quickly in our three-day sewing class!
Next to my completed pair of breeches, I placed some thread and small scissors to help reveal the smallness of the breeches.
HOMEWORK
Taking home lots of inspiration, information, and one side of a nearly completed set of breeches, I completed hand sewing the basic breeches, with the exception of buttons, buttonholes, and eyelets.
Since my son’s old breeches were falling apart, I used the small silk breeches for reference to incorporate newly learned historical techniques into my son’s newest breeches.
Waylaid by many other projects, I finally finished hand sewing four eyelets, twelve buttonholes, and covering twelve buttons this evening!
HIDDEN DEATHHEAD BUTTON
When I arrived at my sewing class, I had exactly enough of everything I needed: silk fabric, linen fabric, linen thread, silk thread, silk buttonhole twist, and twelve wooden button molds, all period appropriate to the 18th century.
For homework the first night, I practiced creating a small button in silk fabric and a large button in silk buttonhole twist, called a death head button.
Oops…forgetting to order more button molds, I couldn’t bear to snip the buttonhole twist to cover the button in silk.
Death head buttons are a lot of work, and this one is pretty good. So…I snuck it into a hidden spot!
