This post is a continuation of the “making of” the three garments in my 18th century costume for a friend’s Halloween wedding, so be sure to read the post on sewing the 18th c frock coat to get all the context!

As I mentioned with the frock coat, the options for men’s patterns of this era are just a sea of awful pirate costumes, so I was thankful to find Black Snail Patterns’ “Late 18th c men’s breeches” pattern as it’s got the right historical details and is drafted to be an actual garment rather than just a “silly halloween costume” (my experiences with Big Four Halloween costume patterns have been they’re extremely poor quality). Since it’s a men’s pattern, I chose size 42 for me based on my hip measurement (I’m 40 in the waist but these breeches have eyelets to cinch in anyway).

There were, however, some interesting drafting choices in this pattern, which, while historically accurate, were not the look I was going for!

Thanks to your input, I’m posting about this complicated, several-months-long, three garment 18th century outfit a little differently than usual. In the past, I’d take notes as I sewed, but then wait until everything was completed before posting the final outfit photoshoot, then sharing all the “making of” details afterwards. But as this is all for a friend’s wedding in Ireland on Halloween, I wouldn’t be able to even start sharing everything until mid-November, and you told me you didn’t want to wait that long to hear all about the sewing! So I’m posting the details of the muslins and sewing of each garment now, and I’ll share the final photoshoot of the full outfit when we’re back from the wedding.

The impetus for the idea to make a full late 18th c men’s costume for myself came partly because our friend’s are getting married on Halloween and encouraging fancy dress (costumes), but also because I won 7 huge abstract violin brocade panels from the IWTV props auction in Feb/March. And this seemed like the most perfect use for the fabric!