Victorian Suit

Emily (1yr old) and Peter at Cedar Creek (or was it Anteitam?) , 2007

Don't you love the plastic bottle and the cars in the background? Very authentic, no?

This was the first outfit I made for Peter in the hopes that he would dress out with me for an event (This was the only one he's dressed up for - 2 years ago!). I use the Buckaroo Bobbins coat, trousers and vest pattern. The shirt (I think) was a Past Patterns, but may also have been the Buckaroo Bobbins (I had it in my collection for a while).

From my memory, the patterns all worked up very nicely. I definitely suggest using all the interfacing and padding as the pattern suggests (or did I get this from another book?). It really helps with the shaping. I find that the coat patterns can often run narrow in the shoulders and across the chest - this is a great place to use a muslin mock up first.

The shirt was collarless and I didn't have time to make a collar, so Peter is wearing a black silk cravat loosely tied. That and his big "gambler's" hat make him look more Wild West than Civil War, but the look is still accurate according to my research.

I have just made him a collar (again from Buckaroo Bobbins). The collar was very easy to make. It called for interfacing, but since I didn't have any available at 2am when I was sewing, I just put an extra layer of white cotton muslin in -worked perfectly.

Front of collar with black cotton "tie"

This is a fold-down style collar I see a lot in pictures. I'd like to add a wing tip or stand up collar as well for a different look.

Back center with button hole. The small pearl button is attached to the shirt and the collar buttons on here so it does not "ride" up.

Now it's all ready for the next time he'll dress up and come out with us. . . .