My first item of clothing in my husband’s Regency wardrobe is a white shirt.
Throughout the 18th century, men of all classes wore long white shirts with off-the-shoulder sleeves as a basic undergarment underneath their clothes. The shirts often doubled as nightwear and were usually made from linen or cotton. The only visible part of the shirt during the day was the upper edges of the collar peeking out from underneath the cravat, and maybe the frills on the cuff, which extended below the jacket sleeves in the 18th century. The tails of the shirt were also extremely long, designed to be pulled between the legs as an early type of underwear.
By Regency times, little had changed. The frills on the cuffs were beginning to be dispensed with, and by the end of the Regency the frills on the front opening of the shirt had begun disappearing as well.
The Pattern
The pattern of a man’s shirt was relatively simple. It was made from a series of squares and rectangles sewn together to form an unfitted and comfortable undergarment. Norah Waugh has a pattern in her book, The Cut of Men’s Clothes, and there are also patterns available online (from Kannik’s Korner). All of my pattern measurements below DO NOT include seam allowances.
As the garment is so loose fitting, I found it unnecessary to take oodles of body measurements, but I would suggest taking a few.
Body Measurements to take
- Neck circumference (to make sure the collar fits)
- Wrist circumference (to make sure the wrist cuff fits)
- Armhole measurement around upper arm (I adjusted for this later)
My pattern pieces
- Shirt front – 18″ (on fold) x 20″ – cut 1 on the fold
- Shirt back – 18″ (on fold) x 20″ – cut 1 on the fold
- Sleeve – 22″ (on fold) x 18″ – cut 2 on the fold
- Sleeve binder – see below
- Underarm gusset – 4.5″ square – cut 2
- Shoulder gusset – 3″ square – cut 2
- Side seam gusset – 1.5″ square – cut 2
- Collar – 4″ x 17.5″ – cut 2
- Cuff band – 5″ x 7.5″ – cut 2
- Optional: Front frill
- Optional: Cuff and sleeve opening frill
Construction Steps
Step One: Sew the front and back shirt pieces together at the shoulder seams, sewing only 6 inches in from the sides. (I flat-felled – unless stated otherwise – all the internal seams to make it neater and more hard-wearing.) Make a cut 10 inches down the centre front.
Step Two: Fold the shoulder gusset in half to form a triangle and sew it in. (I actually cut it in half instead.)
Step Three: Gather the neckline.
Step Four: Sew the two collar pieces together, with one edge turned up.
Step Five: Turn the collar right side out and attach the unturned edge of the collar to the neckline, adjusting the gathers to fit. The turned edge can then be folded under on the inside and hand sewn to the neckline.
Step Six: Sew the underarm gusset to the sleeve underarm. (For greater detail on how to sew square gussets, see my post on making a chemise.)
Step Seven: Sew the sleeve seam, leaving a 4 inch opening in the bottom end of the seam for the wrist to fit through. Gather the sleeve head and the sleeve bottom.
Step Eight: Sew the sleeve to the body. It can be a good idea to try it on at this point to ensure the arm fits nicely. If it is too tight, you can loosen the gathers around the sleeve head which effectively makes the armhole larger.
Step Nine: Fold the cuff band in half longways and sew short edges together, with one edge turned up similar to the collar. Turn inside out and attach the unturned edge to the lower sleeve edge. The other edge is folded over and hand sewed to the inside, just like the collar.
Step Ten: Sew the side seams down 17.5 inches from the armhole. (Adjust this amount if you made the armhole bigger.) Fold the side gusset in half to form a triangle – or if you cut in half (like me!) hem it – before setting it in the seam.
Step Eleven: Hem the rest of the side seams by turning over the seam allowance and sewing. Hem the bottom edge. (Note: I made my tails much shorter than period examples of up to 40 inches.)
Step Twelve: Many period examples have both sleeve binders and shoulder binders, and these served to reinforce and bind the seams. For the sleeve binder, I cut a length of material 3 inches wide and long enough to go right around the sleeve seam and a little below it. It was sewn on the same line as the armhole seam and then turned to the main body of the garment, thereby covering the raw seam edge in the armhole. (This was a great way to avoid flat-felling or zig-zagging a gathered seam!) Then the remaining edge was sewn down through all thicknesses. I have seen sleeve binders reach as far inwards as the collar. I did not do a shoulder binder, choosing to flat-fell those seams instead, but it is effectively a piece of material with raw edges folded under and sewn on the inside to cover the raw shoulder seam.
Step Thirteen: The raw edges at the centre front slit are turned over and sewn. (Cutting an upside-down V-cut at the bottom of the slit helps when sewing the bottom part, similar to when setting a gusset in a corset or doing a welt pocket). In order to reinforce the base of the cut, hand-sew a heart-shaped piece of material on the inside.
Step Fourteen: Attach a frill around the front opening and/or cuff/sleeve opening, depending on the look you would like to achieve. As a general rule, gentlemen had frills and working class men had none, but this does depend on the particular era you are interested in. I only did a front frill.
Step Fifteen: Attach a button to each cuff and one to the lower edge of the collar. The collar could have as many as three buttons.
The next item in Mr Knightley’s wardrobe will be a cravat.
To read all my posts on MY Mr Knightley, go to My Regency Journey.
Related Posts
My Regency Journey – A group of posts about women’s Regency costumes
Sources and Relevant Links
The details of an 18th Century shirt from the picture above, in the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Cut of Men’s Clothes, by Norah Waugh – buy on Amazon
A pattern for a man’s shirt available online (as well as other men’s period clothing patterns), by Kanniks Korner
An 18th Century reproduction of a man’s shirt, by Kanniks Korner
An 18th Century extant example of a man’s shirt – at All The Pretty Dresses
Making an 18th Century shirt – cutting and sewing instructions from 1760
Embroidering the initials was a very sweet touch. Ahhhhh.
🙂 That’s what I thought! So romantic!
[…] MY Mr Knightley: Making an 18th Century Shirt […]
Made this for my my husband to pose to be Colonel Fitzwilliam for the cover shot of a book I wrote. It turned out pretty well! My only comments: It says so it clearly, but pattern piece sizes do NOT include seam allowance…It didn’t matter, except I think the shoulder gusset was too small and when the shirt was pulled on, we kept trying to pull the neckline ‘up’–it pulled a bit from the neckline to the back of the arm. If I had to do it over, I would also have the gathers the most gathered at shoulders in front and back.
A few other things:
-Had to remake the collar and cuffs–even with seam allowance, it was still too small. FINISHED size of cuffs needed to be 10″.
-Doing flat felled seams on the gussets was tricky. If I did it again, I would not flat feld.
-Mark on the front and back pieces where the sleeve attaches–should be equal distance up from bottom. If you don’t, the front or back will be longer than the other. Also mark the center of the sleeve so you know where to attach it at the shoulder
-I did not do gusset near the bottom hem. Did not flat feld side seams; just pressed side seams open, and stitched the last 4″ of seam down and tacked across the 4″ mark. (I only made mine 32″ long as well)
-Broadcloth was a great idea; on sale at $1.99 a yard. I bought 3 yards and had almost nothing left. Will have to buy more to make cravat.
-It was a little unclear if the arm piece was 22″ from shoulder to cuff, or 22″ around the shoulder. I did 22″ from shoulder to cuff and it was just about the right arm lenght. (My hubby is about 5’9, 170 lbs, decently broat chest–wears a men’s medium shirt) I think I did the 18″ side on the fold which is what the illustration shows, but not what the directions say.
-I did one button at neck at bottom of collar, and 1 button in center of each cuff (looked at men’s dress shirt for spacing help). Several times I went to you tube and watched ‘Pride and Prejudice lake scene’ to see a ‘real’ shirt on a man. At the beginning, and about 1 minute in, you can see the detail. Also on youtube ending scene of North and South shows a shirt although the era is about 50 years later, shirt is about the same.
Yes, the pattern doesn’t include seam allowances. That is very important!
The second thing that is important with these types of patterns (that have been drafted off extant garments) is that it is VERY important to take measurements of the body that will wear it! I do remember having to remake several of the pieces because I hadn’t taken accurate enough measurements of my husband, particularly on the cuffs and collar.
Flat-felled seams on gussets are quite tricky! I have heard that when hand-sewing the seams it is easier to get them to sit flat. I had to clip my seams to help them sit flatter, but they were still a bit wonky.
Regarding the arm panel piece, the 22″ is supposed to be from shoulder to wrist (but do make sure you measure the arm length of the person who will wear the garment!). And the 22″ edge is supposed to be on the fold. (Please excuse my illustration, as it wasn’t drawn to scale, but was more of a guide as to layout of pieces.)
I am glad your sewing project still worked ok and thanks so much for your feedback. I hope the photo shoot was a success! It must be nice to have a Colonel Fitzwilliam around the house now! 🙂
Forgive me–in my initial reply I failed to say THANK YOU for posting the pattern! It was very generous of you to inlcude pictures along with the directions. I also appreciated the link to how to do a gusset as I would never have figured out the sleeve gusset.
I am toying with the idea of making the waistcoat as well. I saw the PERFECT fabric at the store : )
I will try to upload a pic of my Mr. Knightly –I mean my Colonel Fitzwilliam when we do the photoshoot.
I’m glad you found it helpful!
It is always dangerous to see the “perfect” fabric at the store… It means that you need to keep sewing! Hope the waistcoat goes well (if you decide to do it), and I would love to see pictures.
I only do 18th century tailoring and wonder why you decided to have a front and back for cc the shirt as two seperate pieces. The 18th century shirt I have seen, the body of the shirt is one piece folder in half. I’m thinking of making a regency suit for myself and you pattern for the waistcoat is a big help.
The only reason I have a separate back and front for this shirt is because Norah Waugh’s pattern (which I used as a guide and is based on a shirt in the Gallery of Costume in Manchester) seemed to indicate that they were separate. The pattern by Kannik’s Korner also appears to be cut in a similar way, with “shoulder bindings” to cover the seam.
However, for both the 1760 sewing instructions for a man’s shirt and the extant example of a working man’s shirt (links above) the shirt body was cut in one piece, with the halfway-fold on the shoulders and a slit cut in the panel for the head to fit through.
To be very honest, I did not find these links until after I had completed the shirt so I was unaware that this was another method of construction. Purely the fact that the 1760 sewing instructions states it, leads me to think that having a fold on the shoulder would be preferable in the period. Unfortunately I have yet to examine an extant example of this type of shirt so all I have to guide me are online and book resources!
Have fun constructing your Regency suit! I am only a beginner in making historical garments for men, but the next one on my list is an 18th century frock coat.
[…] also found several excellent tutorials online. I can especially recommend The Victorian tailor and Tea in a Teacup. It was not difficult at all, really very straightforward. I know, it´s a lot of work for […]
I want to make this shirt for myself and wanted to know as a female if I would have to cut down the measurements provided above for it to fit me I usually wear a size US medium and I dont want the shirt to be too big or too lose fitting.
It is designed to be very loose, regardless of what size you are, so bear that in mind when you are making it.
The only measurements that really need to “fit” are the neck/collar circumference, the wrist/cuffs circumference, and probably the length of the arms/sleeves.
To calculate the length of the sleeves, I would measure from your neck to your wrist. This measurement will include the length of the shoulder seam as well as the sleeve length. Remember that the shoulder seam should reach down off the shoulder (as you can see from the finished picture), so once you know where that point on your body is, then you can then figure out how long each piece (the sleeve and the shoulder part) should be.
If you find the body of the shirt too loose, you can always take it in at the side seams a few inches, but I would be hesitant to cut it down too much before being able to try it on…
It does always help to make a toile or a mock-up in cheap material just to check how it will fit and how it might need to be adjusted to fit you.
I hope that helps!
Reblogged this on Across the Pond and Back Again and commented:
For those of you making your Halloween (or Theater) Costume this fall, this tutorial on how to make a Regency Shirt is a great resource!
[…] there are a good few shirt-making tutorials available online. The two I liked best were Kelly’s tutorial and this one from Marquise. After some measuring and drafting around, I decided to make the […]
[…] Pattern: Shift: Sense & Sensibility “Regency Underthings” chemise with modifications, based on this extant shift. Jacket: My own, inspired by Kelly’s shirt tutorial. […]
Thank you for the tutorial. How did you arrive at the pattern piece sizes. Was it based on the measurements? If so, how does one calculate that? You can email me at sjpiche at shaw.ca if need be.
I firstly looked at the various patterns that I found online (see the links in the section above), some include measurements but I also particularly looked at the size of each piece compared to the other pieces (for instance, the gussets compared to the sleeves). Then I did measurements of the person I was sewing it for.
So, the length of the “shirt back/front” panel should be the height from shoulder to bottom (or where ever the hem will be). The TOTAL width of the Shirt panels (remember there is “back” and “front” and they are both on the fold) should be double that of the chest circumference as a guide. My TOTAL width is 20″ x 4.
The length of the “sleeve” pieces should be the length of the arm (from shoulder to wrist). The sleeves will sag off the shoulder and will reach below the wrist, which is period. The sleeve panel should be 18″ wide on the fold (so 32″ when opened up). This measurement should not need to be altered.
The collar needs to fit around the neck (with a little overlap). And the cuffs need to fit around the wrist (with a little overlap).
The sleeve binder can be cut out to fit the armhole (once you have fitted the garment and figured out the best armhole size). The gussets (shoulder, underarm, and side seam) should not need to be altered.
Remember to add any seam allowances. I hope that helps!
[…] have made 18th century and Regency shirts before, for my husband and sons, but for a while I have wanted to make one entirely by hand. When my husband said that his […]
[…] Tea In a Teacup Regency Shirt Tutorial […]