Tudor Trunk Hose (a.k.a. 'balloon pants')

We spent the last three days - Thursday, Friday, Monday - making up the toile for Tudor 'Trunk Hose' (google images with the term if you want some fine examples, or check out this link: Historic Tudor Dress). Our goal: some version of this:

We started with a pattern that was just a page in a book - and ended up with an architecturally amazing structure (see the last part of this post) which must rank among the most uncomfortable clothing in the world. What WERE those Tudors thinking?

Some of the steps, with pictures:

Drafting the pattern (from The Tudor Tailor): enlarging the pattern from its small-grid model to the appropriate size, using plain white paper. Lessons learned in the process:
a) it is unnecessary to completely grid the paper, just mark the sides accurately and then measure strategic points;
b) any problem in the model is compounded when it is enlarged;
c) trust your common sense in following the pattern, because patterns can be wrong!!!

Pattern to be enlarged, on paper
(unnecessarily) gridded by me

Great to have a roomy work-space.
On the left my new Swedish friend Sofia.
We live close so we walk home together after class every day.

Next, cutting out the pattern pieces in muslin to make the toile used for fitting - and practice construction, of course. It's amazing how many things a person can and (if you're me) do do wrong the first time.

The luxury of unrolling meters of fabric!

Finally learning to use carbon paper...
trace the seam and eyeball the seam allowance.
They don't teach you that in Home Ec! 

Layer #3 (of 4, not counting linings) is padded with quilt batting -
works better than one imagines, putting darts into quilted fabric.

Here's the part about the pants that blew us away: the "balloon" section of the pants are held out NOT ONLY with a) quilt batting and b) numerous darts to make it "pouf", BUT ALSO... what is called a "sausage" in the pattern but we dubbed a "croissant." See the picture below: 

"Croissants" waiting to be installed.

These are a 21" square of batting, folded into a triangle once, then rolled up croissant style. Where does it go, you ask? Well - tucked inside the bottom of the ballon, with the points ending under the crotch and the fat part of the croissant filling out the outside of the leg.

Balloon part of hose (top) with tight-fitting under-hose (bottom)
separated by "the croissant" (inside view of hose) 

As I said: what WERE those people thinking? what part of the male anatomy is supposed to be enhanced and made more desirable through padding THERE?

And then try doing the stitching, even on an above average home-sewing type of machine:

I used a size 18 needle, and even then had to resort to
hand-stitching the most difficult parts.

But eventually everyone powers through - here is Pauline modelling the first ones finished, by Jessica (another Canadian):

Jessica and Pauline

My toile version looks really quite terrible - it's really the worst-constructed garment I've every made. But it will do the job of fitting. And I'm hoping my second one, in good fabric, will be better!