The Great Pattern Review
J.P. Ryan
1750's Coat with Military Variations for the Officer or Enlisted Man
Robert Brooks - Recommended
It is a nice between pattern for early to mid 18th century. I found the garment cumbersome to work with but, I did make it out of red felted wool and black Linen lining (a heavy combination). The skirt pleats did take a bit of fiddling and gentle persuading. I recommend pinning and hanging the garment on a dummy to let the fabric fall properly. the pockets historically accurate. The cuffs are rather modest; you might need to alter sleeve/cuff pattern is you want larger cuffs. Otherwise, it is a great coat and looked great on my husband on our wedding day. All in all I would recommend J. P. Ryan patterns for the instructions alone which are very helpful and insightful. I consider myself and learner or intermediate sewer. Crash or Crash Through type of sewer. I ordered several J. P. Ryan's patterns for my Pirate Wedding. I found these patterns very straight forward. The instructions were clear and even helpful with encouraging notes from the author with hints and suggestions for historical accuracy. The pattern instructions were clear. The patterns are printed on sturdy paper.
Rachel Tibbetts - Recommended
This is definitely for the intermediate and above sewer. I heavily modified the hem line of the jacket and drafted a modified pocket. I used the unmodified sleeves, which went together very well and fit excellently. The only problem I had with this jacket was because I did not thouroughly read and comprehend the instructions before I proceeded. I appreciated the distinction between the "historical" and "easy" construction. While I am very pleased with the result I still want to emphasize that you will need to have your wits about you and make a muslin if you want success with this pattern.
Basic Six Piece Wardrobe
Jennifer Osterman - Recommended
This is the first pattern set I bought for Revolutionary War fashion. I made the whole of it in a week, hand sewing while riding in a car (the pattern pieces were cut and pinned beforehand). I don't believe the instructions indicate the appropriate width for petticoats, however. The fabric of a petticoat should be no less than 120" for an average adult woman, however the complex calculations indicated in the directions gave me a 90" circumference, which turned out to be pretty wimpy. The short gown didn't fit me after I pleated the back, but I have very broad shoulders (and forgot to buy a size larger and tailor down to accommodate), so I just took the pleats out and it fits me fine.
Breeches
Robert Brooks - Recommended but for Intermediate and higher experienced sewers.
This pattern has a lot of pieces. It does take a little time to slowly go through the instructions. The author does warn you of the complexity and carefully guides you through the construction. The author also warns of the reaction that some wearers might have with the fitting particularly the baggy bum. This fit is historically correct; it is the way these breeches were worn. My partner wears them comfortably now and has got used to them.
Caraco
Wendy Moyer - Recommended
This pattern went together easily. The only sticking area was when reading how to put the cuffs on the sleeves; however, when pinning and folding the instructions made sense. If you have already made the JP Ryan Stays, you can use your adjustments from the Stays pattern in making up this garment. In my case, I removed 1.5 inches at the marked shorten line on the pattern. The sleeves are a bit snug. That may be do to my body rather than the pattern; I do have rather thick arms. With the second wearing, the fabric stretched and the Caraco now fits perfectly. I may take a bit off the sides where the stomacher is attached as I ended up with the appearance of a very small stomacher. I have not yet made up the petticoat or the sleeve flounces so I am not sure how they go together. Wendy is shown wearing her Caraco in the photo to the right.
Jennifer Osterman
The directions for this pattern are confusing, which is unusual for a JP Ryan Pattern, however, they were confusing enough that I have some serious reworking to do on this garment before it is wearable. N\I'm not sure that the result is worth the hassle of deciphering the directions.
Ladies' Jackets for Undress Wear
Jennifer Osterman - Recommended
I made Jacket B out of linen, with a reversible stomacher. I love wearing it with a bum roll. I did have to tailor it, somewhat, as I am fairly broad shouldered; however, once I had pinned the pieces together, I just angled in the center back seam to fit to my waist and voila! I do recommend using the tabs on the stomacher for running a lacing through and tying behind, rather than pinning it to your stays, simply because mine never seems to stay pinned--but that's not a pattern fault. Otherwise, directions were easy to follow and the finished result was fantastic. I have now almost completed View D from JP Ryan's jacket pattern, and it is just as easy to make as View B. It seems upon review of others' results in addition to my own, that the pattern really requires a bum roll to look right, especially for View D (otherwise, the swallowtails cross).
Pet-en-l'air or Robe à la Française
Kendra van Cleave - Recommended
This pattern is for Intermediate to Advanced sewers. I say that, not because it is a terribly hard project to sew, but because the fitting was just awful. Granted, I decided to make things harder for myself by changing the dress front piece to have a separate bodice and skirt. I really feel this type of garment needs to be draped in order to fit correctly. Given that, I do think this is close to being the best pattern it could be. All the pattern pieces match and the instructions are helpful and clear. Don't be intimidated by the fact that you have to lengthen the pattern if you choose to make the full robe; this is very easy. Beyond the fact that this is a tricky garment, the only things I didn't like about the pattern was the fact that the bodice front and skirt were cut in one piece. This makes for an imprecise fit and dates the dress to the 1750s. You have to cut the skirt and bodice separately for later decades in the 18th century. I think there is too much fullness in the petticoat. I did not like the effect from the pleating instructions. The petticoat front need to be relatively flat in order to hold the trim. Go really slowly when fitting the robe. Measure everything carefully, especially the bodice length. I made a mistake in measuring this part and made the bodice too long. It caused all sorts of fitting problems. Definitely make a muslin for the bodice lining and the dress itself. Pictured on the left.
Robert Brooks - Recommended
The Robe à la Française needs stays. For historical accuracy you should always start with the correct undergarments. The fitting of the stomacher into the bodice took a little bit of fiddling but this would be expected at this stage of the garment as I was going for the full length version. The instructions for lengthening the stomacher are simple. I really appreciated the quick formula for creating a matching petticoat to go over pocket hoops. Even the daunting prospect of the pleating at the back of the garment was quickly defused with the detailed instructions given. Pictured above-right.
Pocket Hoops
Jennifer Child - Highly Recommended
This pattern went together without a hitch on the first try. It is extremely simple; even for someone with no experience in this sort of thing. It goes together very quickly; I was able to make these up all in one Saturday! Jennifer's new Pocket Hoops are shown in the two photos on the right.
Robert Brooks - Highly Recommended
The Pocket Hoop pattern was quick, easy and effective. I found that the resulting feel of it under the dress was at first unfamiliar (like I had airplane wings) which would have lead to me altering it to make a rounder silhouette. After looking at it in the mirror for awhile, I realized that for the Robe à la Française, the silhouette was correct. I would recommend it for historical accuracy when dealing with undergarments.
Kendra van Cleave - Not Recommended,
for those with large waist-to-hip ratios.
For others, I'm sure this pattern is just dandy. The instructions were clear and I didn't have any crises, but the mythical one-size-fits-all did not work for me! I ended up with nearly horizontal pocket hoops rather than the nicely sloping effect I was going for. I ended up cutting off the inside part that rests against my hips (and the bottom), and pulling the edges of the pocket toward each other with grosgrain ribbon (which I was then able to adjust for my shape). If you have a large waist-to-hip ratio, I'd recommend trying this, or cutting the pocket inside and bottom wider than the pattern piece. (Unfortunately, it's hard to tell how the hoop is going to look until you've finished, so you may be looking at some rework!) I'd also recommend adding ties at the bottom CF and CB edge to pull the pockets toward each other. The photo to the right shows what the pocket hoops looked like following the pattern instructions, before I reworked them.
Robe à l’Anglaise or English Nightgown
Spencer Ingram - Recommended
I have made both view A and view B. The pleats down the back of view B are not really to my liking; they seem more uniform and less curved than the typical pleats on an English gown from the 18th century. On both views, I had to really alter the fit of the shoulder strap at the front, because it was too long and the neckline didn't lay flat. The back neckline was also a little high, but it's not difficult at all to make it lower. The assembly of the pieces is simple, but there were a couple of steps in the directions where the illustrations were hard for me to follow. However, with a few alterations and tweakings, I'm quite pleased with the gowns I've made from this pattern. Pictured on the right.
Catherine Scholar - Highly Recommended
I was nervous about this pattern after my crash-and-burn with the stays. But I’m delighted to report that it was a joy to work with. I made view A, the polonaise. The pieces all fit together well. I had to alter out quite a bit of space in the upper back, which was a bit odd (I’ve never made that adjustment before), but simple. Also, the back neck is quite high. Again, a simple fix. I did not much use the instructions. I used a "theatrical" construction for the bodice since my weight fluctuates and I like to have easy alteration access. So I flatlined my fashion fabric onto twill and turned the edges with bias tape. It worked well and looks just the same from the outside. The sleeves are shaped oddly to my 19th century-trained eye, but they are period for the 18th century. I had to alter them bigger but that’s not unusual for me. My only quibble with the pattern was the loops to gather up the skirt. If you follow the instructions they end up very short, and just looping a bit of ribbon over a button doesn’t hold if you move at all. I made the ribbons quite a bit longer, and tied a loop at the end that just fits over the button. They stay well and look nice.
Carolyn Gardner - Highly Recommended
First gown: Once upon a time I made a polonaise gown from Mill Farm Pattern (#MF13) but didn't like the back seam lines and I realized the open robe wasn't all that useful/safe around camp (read: mud and fires). I took it apart and re-made it using the Round Gown skirts with the Polonaise bodice. Went with the 135” skirt option as I’m thin. The major thing I changed is how I put the sleeve in. The pattern calls for 3 pleats in the top of the sleeve cap in both the sleeve and lining. I went with the 18th Century method of sewing the under-arm seams and then inserting the lining into the sleeve and treating them as one when sewing them into the armscye. Once the sleeve is in, tack the body lining to sleeve lining at the armscye to enclose the seam. Pictured on left.
Second gown: Round gown with the sewn-down back-pleats in a soft suiting-weight wool. It went together very straight-forwardly. More hand sewing - but I knew that going in. The thing I found VERY fiddly was pleating in the skirt! The dress back had been pleated and sewn down and there were quite a number of seams all coming together at the side-back seam and trying to get the inverted pleats at the side-back seam to work right took several tries. (It still isn't perfect but it's good enough!) Pros - nice rule of thumb (literally) for pleating. 2-step sleeve insertion. Pretty clear directions w/ good pictures. Cons - Not much mention of trimming seam allowances - to trim or not to trim? Pictured on right.
Strapless Stays
Wendy Moyer - Highly Recommended
This pattern went together quickly and simply. I used metal boning so I did have to measure each channel. The most time-consuming part is the binding. I did end up switching to front and back closure after I wore it the first time as the fabric stretched a bit more than I expected (even though I shrank the fabric). I highly recommend making up the cardboard mock-up before cutting any fabric. I found I needed to shorten the pattern by 1.5 inches vertically. I also suggest making it to bit a bit tight because it will stretch. Pictured at right.
Jennifer Child - Highly Recommended
This pattern was unbelievably easy! The boning was very time-consuming, as you have to cut and fit many pieces of reed, but it came out so well, that it was worth it. I would be willing to make this pattern again. I would definitely recommend this person to someone with no prior corset/stay-making experience as a good first project.
Stacy Rinner - Highly Recommended
I'm most pleased with this pattern. The instructions were detailed enough that they didn't leave me guessing on the construction. the pieces fit together well general. The inner part will be a tad off; the inner lining should be sewn slightly shorter than the outer facing of the stays. These strapless stays work fabulously even on a frame and body type like mine.
Catherine Scholar - Not Recommended, at least for larger or curvy ladies.
This pattern went together very easily, all the pieces fit together perfectly and the instructions were simple and easy to follow. I boned mine (fully boned) with .25 inch steels and was surprised to find that the finished stays did not weigh very much more than my half-boned Victorian corset. HOWEVER, the finished stays looked absolutely awful on. I am a larger woman with an hourglass figure. The stays, despite many muslins and much fitting and fiddling, compressed my bust but not my belly, making a completely unacceptable slope downward and outward. I took them to a friend who costumes professionally. She examined the pattern and said that it seemed fine for smaller figures, but was not scaled up well, and didn’t accommodate much in the way of bust. I cannibalized the stays for boning (before anyone could get photographic evidence of me wearing them) and started over with a different pattern.
Waistcoat
John M. Keahey
I have made two size 42 waistcoats from J. P. Ryan's Waistcoat pattern. In general I found this to be an easy pattern to use and the instructions allowed a sewer of moderate skills to construct a garment with accurate period fit. I did not make a waistcoat with sleeves and so I can not comment on the usefulness of the pattern for a sleeved waistcoat. Regretfully, the pattern's lack of hand-finishing instructions inhibits the sewer from creating an accurate period garment, as opposed to a costume piece. For example the instructions lack any information about how the period garments were top stitched, except around the pocket flaps. My garments were for a 1750's British military application and the pattern is more tuned towards a civilian garment in a couple of its aspects. For example, the pattern calls for sixteen front buttons. Most military waistcoats of the period that this pattern represents would have had a ten to twelve button front. I do not doubt that period civilian waistcoats were encountered with a sixteen button front, but the instructions do not make such a distinction. The pattern also calls for the front buttonholes to be only ¼ inch from the front edge. Again, while not wrong, placing the buttonholes so close to the edge does not seem to be typical practice for a working man's or military garment.
The pattern does have several problems that can trap a sewer. First, the front shoulder seams are not long enough to match the back shoulder seams. The mismatch is not enough to ruin the garment, but enough to cause concern. Second, the pattern is VERY long in the body. J. P. Ryan mentions in her instructions that the garment is sized to a "barrel-chested Irishman", and she urges pattern users to make a fitting garment first. This was good advice. I found the pattern sized to fit an average chested male, but one with an exceptionally long upper body. The garment, as taken from the pattern, is about two inches too long in the body from waist to neck on a regular size 42 man. The instructions discuss the proper fit of the waistcoat and discuss as well the alterations necessary to fit a long or short individual. What the instructions fail to mention is that the proper fit can only be achieved by significantly shortening the fit to a regular size man in the upper body. This is not the type of discovery one likes to make after cutting-out pieces. One hopes that pattern creators do not urge the making of a fitting garment in order to cover the fact that their products do not fit a normally proportioned person. Waistcoats are relatively simple garments and this pattern is adequate for making them, but do make the fitting garment first.