6310
Georgetown Pike •
McLean,
VA 22101 • 703-442-7557
A visit to the Claude Moore
Colonial Farm is a visit to another world ...the world
of an 18th Century family living on a small,
low-income farm just prior to the Revolutionary War.
Colonial Day Resources
from Claude Moore Colonial Farm
How
to make colonial breeches
Time to complete:
25 minutes
Supplies:
Old
pair of boy’s shorts or long pants
Choose a pair that are solid, plaid, checked, or striped.
Don’t use pants that are really bright or neon colors.
Scissors
Ribbon or Buttons: 1/2 yard
of string or ribbon, or 6 buttons In the 18th century, a
working man’s buttons would have been made of horn,
bone, wood, or pewter. Choose buttons about 5/8" wide
in brown, off-white, or white metal. Eighteenth Century
buttons usually had 2 holes, not four, or were metal with
a loop on the back.
Fabric glue or fusible web, a sewing
machine, or a needle and thread.
This is the look you're aiming for
Background:
In the 18th
Century, men wore breeches or trousers. At the top, all
of these garments usually opened with a "broad"
or "fall front." The legs, however, were different
lengths and widths. Most fashionable men wore breeches.
These were knee-length, close fitting pants. They were worn
with stockings, long socks that came up above the knee.
The breeches buttoned over the top of the stockings. Breeches
were made of wool, linen, cotton, or even silk. Working
men also wore breeches of leather. Farmers, sailors, and
other people who did hard labor sometimes wore looser, more
comfortable clothing. They might wear baggy trousers that
ended somewhere between the knee and the ankle. Sailors
wore baggy, open bottomed trousers that ended at mid-calf.
The pants we know are the descendants of 18th century trousers.
They came into fashion after the French Revolution, when
it was no longer considered "in" to look like
aristocracy.
Directions
1. Cut the pants legs off at about calf level. They
will be hemmed up to below the knee.
2. Make the leg fit snugly below the knee. To do
this, cut a triangle from the bottom of each pants leg to
a point about 5 inches up the outside seam, or the outside
of the leg if you are using knit pants. If the pants are
already snug, do not cut out the triangles. Instead, cut
5 inches straight up the outside seam, or outside of the
leg.
3. Turn up the bottom edges of the pants legs so
that the hem will end below the knee, and glue or sew the
hem down.
4. In the 18th Century, the side opening in the breeches
above the knee was fastened with buttons, and the band below
the knee was buttoned or buckled. Our pretend breeches lace
closed. Snip eight small holes equidistant from each other.
There should be a little hole about every 1/2 inch. They
should be about 1/2 inch in from the edge of the cut you
made on the outside of the pants leg. These are the holes
for lacing.
5. Lace the string down through the holes as you
would a shoe lace. Tie the lace at the hemline.
6. Instead of lacing the breeches, you can hold
them tight below the knee with a piece of tape, ribbon or
elastic.
The fabric which has been cut from the
pants is in this photograph to give a rough guide as to
how much has been removed - and from where.
