A Brief History
Throughout history shirts were made out of mainly squares and rectangles, allowing the process to be more economical as little material would be wasted. It only in modern times that this has changed. Traditionally shirts would be made out linen, the only difference between rich and poor men's shirts being the quality of the linen and the amount they owned. Contrary to belief, poor men's shirts would be well looked after, as wives and daughters would constantly mend them to keep them looking smart as they would probably only own one or two. This is important for me to bear in mind when creating realistic costumes in the future. Another detail to note is that, up until after the recency period, buttons were all hand made.
In the 1700 Sir Richard Arkwright created a water powered spinning machine for cotton, which completely changed the production of shirts. The production of linen was a time consuming process, and was a cottage industry. However, Arkwright invention allowed cotton to be produced on a large scale, meaning it soon over took linen as the main material for shirts. This had a huge impact on the country and even the world, as it cased factory's and mills to spring up, especially in the north, and also boosted the slave trade.
My Design
Although my whole class were given the same pattern we were asked to design the details of it out selves. From doing some research I found that shirts would never have a slit that went all the way down, instead they would have one between 9-12 inches, allowing the shirt to be pulled over the head. This slit would not have buttons going up it but would be attached at the top via the tall collar, which was often accompanied by a cravat. As well as having a tall collar, the cuffs would also generally be about 3 inches wide. (Kane, K., 2008).During the recency era (1811-1820) frills and other adornments went out of fashion, and a more simpler style of shirt was favoured. This is why I have decided on just a frill down the front. (Jane Austen Centre, 2021).
I found it very difficult to find reliable information on the recency shirt. However, the facts I have used are backed up by the official Jane Austen website, which should be reliable. However, after doing this research I was advised to use the V&A website as a resource as the have lots of clothing in their collections which I plan to do in the future.
Making
The sleeves: Sew the gathers. Start 5cm from edge of seam allowance, either side of the top of the sleeve. Sew gathers on the outside of the seam allowance. Sew at least two rows of gathers, as this will make it more uniform.
Sew gathers on the bottom of the sleeve, between the two seam allowance points.
Sew gusset onto sleeve, match it up with the top corner of the sleeve, and sew down until you reach the seam allowance line of the gusset.
Now pin both sides of the sleeves together, making sure not to catch the gusset. Sew from the gusset stitch all the way down until you get 10cm away from the edge of the seam allowance.
Then sew the other side of the gusset to the other side of the sleeve. This stitch is perpendicular to the other gusset stitch.
Now double turn the edges of the split and top stich before then doing a lap and fell seam on the remainder of the seams.
Gather the end of the sleeve so it fits on the cuff. Making sure to leave extra to over lap for the buttons. Machine stitch onto the front then turn and slip stitch onto the inside.
The Body: Sew gathers on the front, 20cm from the edge to to the T cut at each side. Then sew the same along the back, do not gather yet.
Make T cut down the front of body.
Pin hem one edge of the frill, sew gather line down the other side, curving at the bottom. Trim to gather line, then gather. This should result in the curve changing direction.
Sew on the frill to the outside of the shirt, then add placket. The placket shouldn't be seen from the outside.
Sew on gussets into the 20cm allowance at each side.
Slip stitch on shoulder straps on the outside of the garment as reinforcements.
Gather top to fit onto collar. Attach on collar the same way as cuffs.
Sew up sides.
Gather sleeves then attach on.
Lap and fell all raw edges and hem the bottom.
Make Dorset buttons and button holes, attach the buttons.
Calendar
Black- initial action plan.
Red -altered action plan
I found the calculations for the sizing of the shirt difficult to do, but found if I drew a diagram it was a lot easier. I also need to work on cutting my pieces out more neatly as my wobbly edges meant that my seam allowance was uneven, resulting in my lap and fell seam being difficult to do. However, I did feel confident completing the lap and fell seam as I had practised and learnt it when creating my samples for my other project.
I found when attaching my collar that the amount of material I had wouldn't gather into it. This meant I had to make each gusset 1cm smaller at each side. I also did a smaller stitch for the gathering so it would gather up more. I also found that I had to slip stitch the lap and fell seam round the shoulders so that the stitching wouldn't interfere with the gathers.
Overall I am really pleased with my shirt, and the problems I have had I now know what I would change to make it better next time. I also really enjoyed learning the new skill of making Dorset buttons, but I must remember for next time how time consuming the process is, so that I make time to do them more neatly.
Self and peer assessment
After presenting my work I wrote down all the strengths and weaknesses of my shirt that me, my tutor and my peers thought of.
Strengths: My shirt fit my model well, was complete and had all raw edges neatly hidden. My Gathers were also well spread out, and overall it looked neat.
Areas to develop:
If I did the shirt again, I would make sure to make the body less wide. this would result in less material to gather which would mean I didn't have to make my gussets smaller. This would hence mean it would have a better fit around the neck.
Don't press the frills as much, so they look less squished.
Make sure to double check position of button holes before cutting them! As the extra flap at the collar needed to be tucked at the back to the shirt is symmetrical.
References
Kane, K., 2008. Keep your shirt on! [online]. Available at: https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/keep-your-shirt-on/ [01/10/21].
Jane Austen Centre, 2021. A Brief Overview of Men's Regency Fashion [online]. Available at: https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/mens-fashion/an-overview-of-mens-regency-fashion [01/10/21].
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