FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Grace’s Bloody Jack
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
photographer: my lovely husband, Allen
Outline the story …
I was inspired by "Bloody Jack", a YA novel by L. A. Meyer. It is set in 1790, and is about a young girl from Cheapside, London, who disguises herself as a boy and gets a job on a Naval ship. She gets the name Bloody Jack when the naval ship catches up with a pirate ship off the coast of Gibraltar. They board the pirate ship, and "Jack" sees her friend about to be stabbed by a leering foe. She shoots and kills him, earning the "bloody" nickname that sets the tone for the rest of the series. While nameless, the slain pirate is a pivotal character.
In the book, she makes her own clothes to blend in with the men, and I loved that about her character. However, I decided that the looser, more "dangerous" vibe of the rapscallion she shoots was more my style, so I set out to invent him. Since it's the 1790s, I based my design on two regency menswear staples-- a poofy white shirt and fall front trousers. However, since clothes in the period were expensive, I imagined that my pirate simply stole his trousers from a dead crewmate (waste not, want not!), and hence, wears a button fly style that fell out of favor a few decades before.
The gold buttons represent the pirate's "treasure", while the fraying, rolled cuffs evoke the hard work/wear and tear that comes with sailing. Plus, of course, massive, hidden pockets for carrying all that booty!
Outline the construction…
The shirt was made from a 100% cotton shirting and mostly sewed by hand. The only thing machine sewn were the basic seams (side seams, armscye, attaching cuff/collar). Everything else was done by hand - I felled all the seams down to finish them, did a hemstitch inside the collar and cuffs, gathered the collar and cuffs by hand and then hand-basted them together to prevent shifting. I also sewed the button-holes, buttons, and reinforcement patches by hand.
At first, I followed Bernadette Banner's "pirate shirt" tutorial, but finished the shirt before I realized that the proportions were all wrong for me. So I had to rip it all out and start again, this time with help from some lovely Costube friends (namely Katie from Latina Living History). I cut off bulk from the body, reset the sleeves, and added neck gussets and shoulder reinforcements. That helped TREMENDOUSLY.
The pants (linen) were a HUGE challenge. I mostly followed Kannik's Korner KK-4303, but decided I didn't like the look of the fall-front, so I found a blog post on button flies (linked below) and did my best to meld them. Again, most of the pants are hand sewn. I mainly used hemstitch and prick-stitch to finish the fine details (though I machine sewed the fly, save the buttonholes, as I didn't trust myself). Buttons were thrifted vintage.
All in all, I learned a TON. I've never made pants, never done so much hand sewing, and never made a complete historical garment.
Button fly link- https://www.closetcorepatterns.com/install-button-fly/
Ahhh, I love those books! Super nicely done!
Great job on those buttonholes! Your costume looks great! Arrrgh! ⛵
Your phots are great they really capture the vibe! I love the fit of the breeches.
Your work looks so neat and delicate! Great job❤
So cool! Great done job!
You did such a great job! I love this look! That shirt is just lovely!!!
How fun! I love this! I am currently ripping out seams because I can’t seem to get things right! Thank you for such a nice, fun entry! Good luck!
The pants look so nice! Specially the buttons, I love it!
Love the simplicity and understated details of this ensemble. The puffy sleeves, and the tailoring on the pants is so great. Feels so authentic without wading into “costumey” territory.
I watched a ton of Black Sails when I was working on my piece, and immediately thought of Anne Bonny when I saw this!