How I make a doublet
Apr. 7th, 2008 12:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_sewsI'm going to make a simple doublet, one without shoulder tabs, with attached sleeves.
I figure I'll do a "How I..." tutorial while I'm at it. And by How I and Tutorial I mean "If you've never sewn anything before in your life then you should be able to follow these directions, cause I had to figure all this shit out myself, so anyone should be able to follow along." :-D
Step the first. Make sure you have fabric.
This is some pink linen-like (that after washed was an effing DREAM. It's so soft and lovely. I wish I had more, but I got the last there was, just enough for lining.) The pink and black striped fabirc was intended for patterning fabric, but I kind of fell in love with it and decided I needed a doublet out of it. It's just a generic cotton, much like the yellow - so, not period. But pretty! And some burgundy fabric that feels nice that I will use for the sleeve lining (since I don't have enough of the pink. Which SUCKS.)
Step the second.
Have a pattern.
If you don't have a pattern already, you can refer to this page for directions on drafting one. (No, I did not draft my own pattern, because I suck at that. I had Bri make me one.) And also for the sleeves you can use these directions, from my favorite "How to make a cotte" site.
Step the third.
Lay out your fabric, and your pattern. You can do one of two things here. Either trace the pattern with chalk or your chosen writing instrument, or simply cut around the pattern. You do run the risk there of cutting the pattern. Just so you know.
Things to keep in mind: If you have directional fabric, like the striped fabric I'm using here, make sure you lay out your pattern so that both pieces are going the same direction. It would look really dumb for me to have horizontal stripes on the front, and verticle stripes in the back.
Do NOT lay your pattern out like this:
DO lay your pattern out like this:
Obviously, if you have non-patterned or non-directional patterned fabric, this is not an issue and you can lay it out to maximize your fabric usage. It's always good to have some left over.
*Note - Usually you will lay the back piece of your doublet on the fold, so it is one piece - Here I have a seam I have to put in the middle because of how I laid it out to get the direction I wanted on the stripes.
And now it's time for construction.
Once you have cut out your main fabric and lining fabric you need to sew them together. You will do them each as separate pieces. First sew together your main fabric - shoulders and side seams. Make sure you sew them together "right sides" facing so your seams will be hidden. *G* (Dude. I sew things together backwards all the time, usually when I'm not paying attention.) If this IS your first time sewing, then I suggest pinning all of the seams you need to sew before you do it, so you can make sure everything goes together the way it should.
Once the shell and lining have been sewn up you should have something that looks like this:
(Minus the shirt, obviously, that's just there from when I was testing a complete outfit.)
Next you're going to iron all of your seams flat. You can see the difference this makes:
Now is when I attach the two together. This is going to be a very simple doublet. No tabs, and attached sleeves. It's going to make construction and finishing mush quicker and easier.
You're going to lay the shell and lining together with right sides facing.
What this is going to do is ensure that all of your seams are hidden once the doublet is complete. This makes it stronger and more attractive and everything lays better. (I honestly can't imagine a doublet with visible seam allowance. Ugh.)
Then you are going to start at one side of the collar and sew down toward the bottom point. DO NOT SEW THE COLLAR CLOSED. What you are doing now is closing up the front and the bottom. Sew all the way down the front, around the waistline, up the other side and end back at the collar.
In the end it should look like this:
Turn the whole thing through the collar. You'll now have a slightly lumpy garment that looks like this:
Get the seams all pressed out flat and iron them down. The seam allowance on the inside will fold down nice and flat and then it will look like this:
So now you have the body of your doublet done. The next step is attaching the collar and sleeves. Which I will do in the next post because this one is already picture heavy. :)
I figure I'll do a "How I..." tutorial while I'm at it. And by How I and Tutorial I mean "If you've never sewn anything before in your life then you should be able to follow these directions, cause I had to figure all this shit out myself, so anyone should be able to follow along." :-D
Step the first. Make sure you have fabric.
This is some pink linen-like (that after washed was an effing DREAM. It's so soft and lovely. I wish I had more, but I got the last there was, just enough for lining.) The pink and black striped fabirc was intended for patterning fabric, but I kind of fell in love with it and decided I needed a doublet out of it. It's just a generic cotton, much like the yellow - so, not period. But pretty! And some burgundy fabric that feels nice that I will use for the sleeve lining (since I don't have enough of the pink. Which SUCKS.)
Step the second.
Have a pattern.
If you don't have a pattern already, you can refer to this page for directions on drafting one. (No, I did not draft my own pattern, because I suck at that. I had Bri make me one.) And also for the sleeves you can use these directions, from my favorite "How to make a cotte" site.
Step the third.
Lay out your fabric, and your pattern. You can do one of two things here. Either trace the pattern with chalk or your chosen writing instrument, or simply cut around the pattern. You do run the risk there of cutting the pattern. Just so you know.
Things to keep in mind: If you have directional fabric, like the striped fabric I'm using here, make sure you lay out your pattern so that both pieces are going the same direction. It would look really dumb for me to have horizontal stripes on the front, and verticle stripes in the back.
Do NOT lay your pattern out like this:
DO lay your pattern out like this:
Obviously, if you have non-patterned or non-directional patterned fabric, this is not an issue and you can lay it out to maximize your fabric usage. It's always good to have some left over.
*Note - Usually you will lay the back piece of your doublet on the fold, so it is one piece - Here I have a seam I have to put in the middle because of how I laid it out to get the direction I wanted on the stripes.
And now it's time for construction.
Once you have cut out your main fabric and lining fabric you need to sew them together. You will do them each as separate pieces. First sew together your main fabric - shoulders and side seams. Make sure you sew them together "right sides" facing so your seams will be hidden. *G* (Dude. I sew things together backwards all the time, usually when I'm not paying attention.) If this IS your first time sewing, then I suggest pinning all of the seams you need to sew before you do it, so you can make sure everything goes together the way it should.
Once the shell and lining have been sewn up you should have something that looks like this:
(Minus the shirt, obviously, that's just there from when I was testing a complete outfit.)
Next you're going to iron all of your seams flat. You can see the difference this makes:
Now is when I attach the two together. This is going to be a very simple doublet. No tabs, and attached sleeves. It's going to make construction and finishing mush quicker and easier.
You're going to lay the shell and lining together with right sides facing.
What this is going to do is ensure that all of your seams are hidden once the doublet is complete. This makes it stronger and more attractive and everything lays better. (I honestly can't imagine a doublet with visible seam allowance. Ugh.)
Then you are going to start at one side of the collar and sew down toward the bottom point. DO NOT SEW THE COLLAR CLOSED. What you are doing now is closing up the front and the bottom. Sew all the way down the front, around the waistline, up the other side and end back at the collar.
In the end it should look like this:
Turn the whole thing through the collar. You'll now have a slightly lumpy garment that looks like this:
Get the seams all pressed out flat and iron them down. The seam allowance on the inside will fold down nice and flat and then it will look like this:
So now you have the body of your doublet done. The next step is attaching the collar and sleeves. Which I will do in the next post because this one is already picture heavy. :)
