18th Century Neckwear

So, a while back I had a request for a custom pattern. It was for a Wellie-size boy outfit so Felicity could have a little brother. I threw myself wholeheartedly into the project, to the point where, on the big loom right now there is enough warp for three colonial coverlets to fit Felicity’s bed! Yeah, priorities. I had amazing plans for shoes and hats, craft projects for accessories, a whole girl collection, resizing of everything for different dolls, and, and, and…

Just a shot of one partially finished coverlet:

You don’t know it, but this happens ALL the time. Whenever you see a collection here or on etsy, the final project shows at most 50% of all the actual things I managed to finish, and maybe 10% of the grandiose initial plans. Another piece of this puzzle is engagement with you, the blog readers. AG Claudie had a plan that spanned MONTHS, yet the comments after the last ~2 things I published did not seem to say that people really wanted any more 1920s stuff for her. So she’s got a coat and apron and Halloween costume and a really nice dress collection that never appeared, because it takes a REALLY long time to get out even one blog post. From designing the outfit, to making and revising muslins, making the final things, digitizing the pattern pieces, taking construction pictures, final portraits, writing instructions, editing everything, fighting with the horribleness of wordpress, etc.

I could go on and on with the Tudor collection I did for AGAT Elinor, the Georgian/Colonial collection for my Gotz Happy Kid, the Victorian project that followed the Regency collection for AGAT Helena… OK, you get it. What’s amazing, though, is that even though I’ve published hundreds of patterns, I’m often more upset at myself for what I haven’t finished than proud of what I have done. Crazy, right?

Anyway, for the “10%” from this project:

At its minimum, a boy’s outfit from the 18^th century would have comprised breeches, shirt, and waistcoat, and that’s what is included. You can get the new pattern here

If there’s interest, I have lots more partially-finished things like a coat and some girl items and…

Free for you today (and easily adaptable to any size doll) is a stock/faux cravat:

Get the pattern pieces here and instructions here

Just like a well-dressed 1950s man needed a necktie, a well-dressed 18^th Century man needed…something around the neck. A cravat was just a long rectangle that could be tied to suit the wearer’s fancy, but the stock simplified things greatly. All the pleating was done during construction, and the man just buckled it on. This pattern is for a stock that you can also adapt to a faux cravat.

Here are some links for you to see authentic cravats and stocks:

Here is a cravat with decorative ends:https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/122610

See a stock here: https://emuseum.history.org/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:89190

And a stock buckle here: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O112609/stock-buckle-unknown/

I have not seen any stocks from the time with attached ruffled bits in the front, which leads me to believe that when you see a painting with something that looks like that, it was probably a cravat. There is a stock with an attached “frilly bit” here: https://emuseum.history.org/objects/9977/stock?ctx=7d1b4d8d283ef339577503fb47883449e218c9e1&idx=12 but note that it is labeled 19^th century.

There was something called “falling bands” see here: https://emuseum.history.org/objects/9975/falling-bands but they didn’t give the same look. For example, here: https://collections.dar.org/mResults.aspx?pS=cravat&db=objects&dir=DARCOLL# are engravings tagged with the label “cravat”