Riding Habit

[Sonatine]

@StitchinTime I have V8333 but I cut it a few years ago so it would need a bit of tweaking to fit. I love the shape of it, I'm not sure why I'd decided it wouldn't work because it looks so close to what I'm aiming for. I'll get it out and have another look, but if not the other vogue one looks like a definite possibility too. Thank you!

[Tiggy]

I made a Side-saddle habit this time last year.  Strictly for Au Concors classes, so not to SSA specs.

I got the skirt pattern from www.vena cava.  Good site for historical patterns.
The top was a butterick pattern.

Prior Attire is a site that does historical and side-saddle clothing, including riding corsets.....

[elisep]

I've made this Suitability "Hunt Coat" - http://www.suitability.com/product_p/5004.htm
Which sadly appears to be discontinued. She also does a dressage jacket - http://www.suitability.com/product_p/5850.htm
however it has a waist seam, I don't think it would be overly difficult to cut it all in one. It apparently does have an option for a side saddle cutaway, however looks like it only has a centre back vent - wouldn't be difficult to make them side back vents.
The Hunt coat I made went together nicely, I did make a toile and had to make a couple of alterations - namely, the collar came up small so I added about 1.5cm all around, and it was a bit short so I lengthened it (and lengthened it again to make the side saddle version which has been waiting for the lining to be sewn in for around 5 years  )

Even better if you could find a copy of the hunt coat pattern kicking around on ebay or somewhere!

[Sonatine]

@Tiggy I love the concours costumes but I'd never have the chance to wear one, I have made a dark grey 1880s habit though probably using the same patterns as you! My 'everyday' riding corset is from Prior Attire but it's moderinised with elastic bust and hip inserts. I'm starting to get into corsetry so once I've made a few simple corsets I'm going to have a go at making a more historically accurate Edwardian riding corset if I can find any info on them. I can't wait for Izabela (who runs Prior Attire) to publish her ladies riding-wear book!

@elisep I like the look of the Suitability patterns but they're so expensive to get hold of in the UK. I don't know where I got the information that the jacket needs to have double vents from, re-reading the SSA guidelines there's nothing about it at all so a single vent should be fine if needs be. I'll keep searching for the suitability patterns second hand, the hunt coat has exactly the lines I'm looking for.

I'm also now attempting to find a piece of tweed to match my existing jacket as closely as possible so that I can make an apron for it, but it's turning out to be pretty difficult to get close to the same herringbone / colour / overcheck combo. I wish I'd gone for keeper's tweed instead!

[Tiggy]

I made a Suitability hunt coat for my daughter out of tweed.  She was at that awkward stage where everything was the same measurement.  It just stuck out in different places..... 12 year olds!  I cheated, I didn’t make proper welt pockets, I just sewed the pocket flap on to look like pockets.  (She only stuffed gloves in them anyway).  It did the job though.

I make her astride concors outfits now.

[Sonatine]

Going further back historically for my next attempt...

A pattern for a full habit (jacket, skirt, trousers) plus riding corset from an 1891 French fashion magazine. Pieces for multiple patterns are on top of each other to be traced off for use - looking at it makes my eyes swim! First job is to get the pattern sheet printed and then translate the instructions. The corset appears to have a 21 inch waist and the habit jacket is 23 inch waist and 38 inch bust. I'm going to take my waist in a bit with the corset but I won't reach anywhere near the size it's drafted at and I'll pad the bust a bit but again won't reach the original size so I'll have to see how far I can alter the pattern without losing too much of the silhouette.  It's certainly very dramatic in the illustrations.

It calls for jersey for the trousers - from a quick initial google it seems like this used to be a heavier woolen cloth, does anyone know what it's likely to mean / where I could source it from nowadays?

[Tiggy]

Somewhere, on the Prior Attire website, is a list of suppliers used by them to source their fabrics.  I’m sure that they would answer any questions you have because they seem to be very nice.

[bessc]

The mods seem to hate me when I post links, so you'll have to look this up yourself. 

From the V&A:

" By the 1870s, male undershirts or vests made from knitted fabric of wool, cotton or wool blended with silk were being worn for sports. Called 'jerseys', they were widely adopted by athletes. As demand grew, companies such as John Smedley – which had started producing knitted garments in Derbyshire in the early 19th century – shifted their focus from knitted underwear to outerwear. Machine-knitting developments made such items both more affordable and more widely available."

you can find (online) a really good visual example of this fabric, used for sturdy women's outerwear, in a dress at the  Metropolitan Museum in NYC. search for "walking dress C.I.40.88.9a–c". The dress is red and black, dated 1899-1900.

there is also an excellent period illustration  to be found (online  ) in the Internet Book Archive Image.

 Image from page 8 of "Illustrated fashion catalogue : summer, 1890" (1890)

Identifier: illustratedfashi00bloo

Title: Illustrated fashion catalogue : summer, 1890

Year: 1890 (1890s)

Authors: Bloomingdale's (Firm)

The fabric is like a very tightly knit, fairly bulky, sweater knit. Usually wool. I doubt if I'd use something similar today. I'd use, instead, something like a modern stretch twill.

just to add, this would be sooo much easier if I could just post the link. Otherwise I need to post a month worth of my local weather so I can up my post count to be legit. Are you all really interested in hearing my weather? Sunny today. 

[Acorn]

Nothing personal @bessc - it's in the membership agreement.

[bessc]

a really good modern fabric to use is stretch bengaline...it has a rib to it, like the original wool jersey.

look at old football jerseys, bathing costumes, bicycling bloomers, and similar sportswear from turn of the century.

still sunny here. 

[StitchinTime]

 Great alternative use of the pin icon, seeing as we are lacking weather icons, @bessc .

If you want to increase your post count, perhaps you could start a hello thread in the "hi, I'm new" board and post daily (or hourly  ) weather reports or just say hello to some of the other newbies - I'm sure you could reach 25 posts quite quickly.

Usually weather/daily activity posts appear in The Cafe, but that is only accessible to subscribers.

[Acorn]

The cafe is available to all members, not just subscribers.  You just have to be logged in to see it, so that we all have a modicum of privacy.

[StitchinTime]

Sorry for the misinformation @Acorn and @bessc  - I knew the cafe was restricted somehow but the exact details eluded me.

[Sonatine]

@bessc thank you so much, those sources are wonderful! I hope you don't mind but I've linked them below, both for my own future reference and in case they're helpful to anyone else who reads this thread.

Wool wallking dress
Jersey bodices in 1890 catalogue

For this one I'd like to aim to be as historically accurate as I can so I'm going to try making a pair of trousers from wool jersey. I've found a heavy navy wool knit online that seems to be the closest modern equivalent to the period fabric and I only need 1.5m so I'm going to give it a go.

[Sonatine]

Made a start on the corset today - traced the pattern, then used it to make a paper toile. It has the most incredible shape, even just made out of paper, and the pattern is beautifully drafted. It was difficult to get a photo but this gives an idea:
 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  
It's a good starting point to work on the alterations before the first fabric mock up. I can see where most of the excess bust space is and which pieces will be able to have some taken out. I think the waist should be ok as long as I have a few inches of lacing gap at the back, which means it definitely needs to be taken in a considerable amount at the bust, even if I pad it!