1860s paletot and hood

Completely unplanned little photoshoot today...but we had the first proper snowfall of the season, and one of my friends made the clever suggestion that I actually get some halfway decent pictures of my 1860s hood that I threw together for Gettysburg. Not to mention my paletot!

(The paletot's still lacking some intended trim, but it's more done than not, and I didn't get any nice pictures of that either at Gettysburg, since it was mostly too warm for it during the day.)

I'm sure you'll forgive the side-part (very occasionally seen in the 1860s, but not enough that I like to wear it for events) and the eye makeup (I did wipe off the lipstick though!) - as I said, it was very spur-of-the-moment, and I was afraid the snow would stop if I took too long getting ready!

Obviously, it did not.

I'll talk about the paletot, or coat, first, as I don't think I ever did a real writeup on it.

I started it in 2013 - a long time ago in sewing time! There are definitely some things about the fit I'd tweak if I were starting it now, but to fix them I'd have had to take it completely apart, and I didn't have the heart for that when I pulled it back out in the fall to finish for Gettysburg. It's warm and cosy and that's the most important thing!

I was inspired by this probably-late-1850s photo. I decided to make the sleeves a bit smaller to bring it more into the 1860s, as I don't really do late 1850s - and because I prefer not to have cold breezes going up my sleeves whenever possible! I didn't manage to get quite the same proportions on my stripes, but that's alright. My pockets are a little awkwardly placed...but I really like having coat pockets so I put them in anyway.

Please admire my amazing pom-pom scarf; Katherine C-G knitted them for all of us for Gettysburg, and yes that is a brag! (I got to room with the great Koshka-the-cat for an 1860s weekend! I'm still not over it! Hee.)

Managed to get the traffic sign in a large part of my pictures. Oops. My bad.

The details: The paletot is made of a mid-weight tan woolen, interlined with cotton flannel, and lined in electric blue silk shantung (which you can see just a bit of in some of the pictures!). The stripes are dark brown velveteen, cut on the bias in strips, and the piping is the same brown velveteen.

Some of the wrinkles are from dubious fit; some wrinkles are from not actually bothering to put on a corset for getting a few quick pictures!

 I made up my own pattern for it - just did a bunch of draping on my dress dummy over my hoop. The main seams are sewn on the machine; finishings are done by hand, as usual. The stripes were all sewn on by hand, as I think machine topstitching would have been too visible, and not nearly as easy to work around those curves on the skirt.

I would definitely try for a smooth sleeve if I were mocking this up now...but at least it gives me plenty of room for dress sleeves undeneath?

I think that's all the exciting info you need about the paletot...on to the hood, then!

I was inspired by a print of an 1862 "Princess Capote" in Peterson's Magazine...though I imagine mine's probably made of warmer materials! ;)

I made up the pattern myself - that hood point was surprisingly very difficult to get to look not-dumb, and I think it's still not quite there. Presentable, though.

I made the hood big enough so it can be pulled even further forward around the face, so it is in fact very practical for snow...but it didn't look nearly as picturesque in photos, and the only shot I took was of me making a very dumb face, so.

The hood is made of midweight red woolen; actually it's the same fabric as the paletot, just in a different colorway. I snapped up a lot of wool when my local Joann's closed a few years back, what can I say. :) Lined in middle weight brown cotton sateen, through which I indiscriminately put all my ugly stitches while attaching the trim at the very last minute, so the inside looks fairly awful. The trim is brown rabbit fur and is possibly not cut entirely evenly all the way around. But it's very soft and snuggly and warm! The hood itself is almost entirely machine sewn, as I knew I'd be hand-sewing fur on, and that would cover up any ugly machine stitches.

The tassel...is a tassel. Which I just put on this afternoon so I could take a picture of it entirely finished! I didn't have one back in November.

Why yes, it IS in fact still snowing.

I look positively dismal in this one! Excellent.

I still need to get photos of my satin ballgown for the blog, but when I do I'll be done with all my Gettysburg things! I'm in the process of making a fur-trimmed 18-teens pelisse (why? why not, should be the question), a bonnet to go with, and very many half-finished Regency hats for the shop. I won't be at the annual Francaise Dinner in March - that was a hard choice to make, done for various adult-y reasons. I guess it's a blessing in disguise as I maybe don't quite fit in my pink sacque any more?