16th-17th c Hosen & Stockings

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Patterning, fitting and assembling 16^th-17^th century stockings

Now that we have discussed their construction and popular decoration methods, let’s discuss creating a pair of stockings of our own. The pattern that we will be draping is based on extant examples depicted in Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 4 and we will be patterning our stockings by draping them directly onto our subject’s leg.

Stockings of the period would have been sewn by hand using the stitches we discussed earlier. In this tutorial we will save a little time by using a machine for inner seams, which aren't visible.

Materials Needed:

Scissors
Straight pins
Thread
3 yards (3m) of 45" (112cm) wide muslin (for draping and mock up)
1 yard (1m) of 60" (150cm) wide linen (for the stockings)

Draping the Pattern:


1: Cut a 45"x45" (112cmx112cm) square of muslin for draping your pattern. Your subject should be wearing cycling shorts or gym shorts. As the stockings will be cut on the bias, pin one corner of the square mid-thigh or higher on your subject's leg. This will help hold the stockings up while you drape the pattern.	2: Beginning above the knee, at the bottom of the thigh, wrap the fabric around the leg, pinning it together so that the seam runs down the middle of the back of the leg. Strive to keep the fabric on the bias.

3: Continue down the back of the leg, all the way to the base of the heel.

4: As you pin, check that the seam down the back of the leg remains straight.	5: Have your subject lift their heel. Continue the seam around and underneath the heel, until it ends directly below the ankle.

6: Trim away the excess material from the back seam, leaving at least two inches (5cm). Cut a slit from where you ended the back seam just above the ankle. Adjust your seam over the heel to ensure that it stays straight.

7: Smooth out the remaining fabric over the top of the foot. Try to make the fit as smooth as possible but do not be too overly concerned if some wrinkles still remain at the ankle. There are examples of portraiture in period showing wrinkles in cloth stockings around the ankles. (Fig 1,3)	8: Trace around the foot.

9: Take measurements of the foot for use in drafting the bottom of the stocking. Measure the foot at its widest point and note that point's distance from the top of the foot. Measure the length from the top of the foot to the end of the back seam at the base of the heel, as well as the length from the back seam to the top of the ankle slit.	10: Mark and cut the top of the stocking. It should run around the leg approximately between mid-thigh and the knee. Also mark both sides of the back seam.

Your final draped pattern should look something like this. Cut it out, adding at least half an inch (13mm) of seam allowance.	11: Draft a pattern on paper for the bottom of the stocking, using the measurements you took in Step 9.

12: Trace the upper leg pattern to paper and mark both patterns with grain/bias direction, seam allowance, and any other information you wish to add.	Note: The bottom of the stockings should be cut on the grain, even though the upper portion of the stocking is cut on the bias.

Fitting Your Pattern

Cut out your paper pattern and trace it out onto the remaining muslin fabric to make a mock-up for your stocking. Cut out your pattern pieces and assemble the mock-up. Baste the back seam together first and then add in the bottom piece of the stocking:


1: Locate the center line of your foot piece.	2: Pin the center of the base of the foot piece to the bottom of the heel.

3: Pin the center of the top of the foot piece to the toe of the top of the stocking.	4: Pin the remaining parts of the foot piece to the top of the stocking, leaving the tips of the gore sections (the clocks) open. There is no need to sew them closed for the fitting. They will be sewn by hand on the final piece.

5: Sew the footpiece to the upper section of the stocking.	6: Ask your subject to try on the mock-up stocking and check it for fit.

7: Make any adjustments required by pinning away the excess.

8: Mark your changes.	9: Take your mock-up apart, noting the changes you have made to your pattern. Adjust your mock-up pieces by cutting away the excess, remembering to leave enough seam allowance. Transfer these changes to your paper pattern.

Assembling Your Stocking

Trace your newly altered pattern out onto your linen fabric. Remember, the bottom of the stockings should be cut on the grain while the upper portion of the stocking must be cut on the bias. Cut out your pattern pieces.

Sew the leg seam of your first stocking and sew in the bottom foot piece as you did for the mock-up. Remember to leave the tops of your gores open, as we will be sewing those in by hand. If you wish, treat the edges as you sew seams by serging or oversewing them with a machine zig-zag stitch. If not, press them open.

Sew in the tip of your gores (the clocks):


When you start, the tops of your clocks should look like this.	Carefully pin your clocks into the top of the slit of your stocking. Ease out as many of the wrinkles as you can before sewing (a good reason for sewing the tips in by hand.) Sew the seam closed with a small running stitch, easing out the remaining wrinkles as you sew the seam closed. Take care to keep your stitches small, as smaller stitches are stronger. When you are done, carefully clip away any excess fabric at the tip of the clock and treat the raw edges.

Finished clock, right side.	Hem the stocking tops by hand with a slipstitch (which I prefer) or whipstitch. Assemble your second stocking following the steps you used to assemble your first.