A Red Italian Doublet
I decided that it was time to update my doublet pattern. I found a good page on farsetto construction a while back, and put many of the ideas there to use in building this one. It's been a while since I started it, so I don't remember exactly what layers are involved in the body of the doublet, but there are many, as well a large padded area in the central chest area. The lower sleeves are quilted with a layer of quilt batting in the middle. The upper sleeves are completely unlined, though I think they could use a little more substance. The collar is also quilted, both with coarse wool and quilt batting. The buttons are all simple cloth bag buttons, with the button holes done by machine. The holes at the bottom edge for the hose points are hand worked over metal rings. I've had many points pull through previous doublets, and I wanted to avoid that. All pieces of the doublet and lining were constructed flat, then sewn together at the edge and bound with a strip cut on the straight grain. Though the look of this doublet is far superior to what I have done before, I worry that it is somewhat over-engineered and will be far too warm to wear when summer rolls around again. I plan to try lightening up the construction a bit with the next one. The next phase of this project will be to make new hose once I lay my hands on some wool appropriate for the task. My old hose all leave something to be desired, and are not cut quite right for this new doublet, which has its lacing holes significantly lower than the old ones.
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