I hand sewed a pirate shirt using 18th century sewing methods

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Music:
'A King's Ransom' by Bonnie Grace
'Across the Ocean' by Bonnie Grace
'Odd Behaviour' by Arthur Benson
'Countess Castle' by Jon Bjōrk
'Peace in the Realm' by Bonnie Grace
'The Juggler's Curse' by Jon Bjōrk
'Highland Hymn' by Bonnie Grace
'The Norman Kings' by Bonnie Grace

[dianatorok]

''This is a great beginners project'' she says and we all start eyeing the bedsheets for pirate shirt material

[Jane-sspg]

They're more of what you'd call guidelines, rather than actual rules. /CaptainBarbossa

[ArtemisScribe]

Bernadette: *exists*
Skillshare: "I'm about to sponsor this whole woman's career"

[aarna]

Bernadette: This is actually a great beginner's project!
Bedsheets: *sweats nervously*

[aspenarent]

When Bernadettes sewing is so neat you couldn't even tell the shirt was inside out.

[marys.]

For those who may have difficulty reading cursive handwriting, the notes on the diagram are:

Shirt body:
-width of fabric IF c. 40-44 in, or roughly double width from shoulder to shoulder
-x1 (x2 if split at shoulder seam)
-this space measures the length between base of neck to tip of shoulder +2-3". All space in between is left for neck hole opening.
-neck slit—usually ~10" on men's shirts but mine is c. 5"
-length from shoulder to mid-thigh

Sleeve:
-25" (top of shoulder to wrist, +2")

Cuff:
-4" (to be folded in half)
-circumference of wrist +1 1/2" for ease and closure overlap)

Collar:
-3 1/2" or—height of neck from base of neck to about 1" under chin
-circumference around base of neck + about 1" for ease

Gusset:
-I ended up cutting these down to 5x5 to fit my armscye

Reinforcement Patches, x5, 1"x1"

General:
-(sorry about the state of this, electronic tablets are real weird, it turns out)
-*pieces not to scale lol
-*seam allowance NOT included


Hope this helps anyone who might need it!

[musikkfreaken]

Hi everyone! I'm a seamstress from Norway, and as I saw this I just really wanted to leave a comment with some measurements for you guys. I work with making "bunads" which is Norway's national costumes- in short- historically accurate renderings of 18th century garments worn by people in Norway.

Anyway, back to my point. I've made lots of these shirts and just thought I'd leave you with the measurements I use when I cut them.

These are all in cm, if you work in inch you'll have to convert but anyways.

The men's bodice is cut at 160 cm length. For the width you take the bust measurement and ad 24 cm for movement. Divide by two (since the back and front is in one piece).
For a woman's shirt I'd cut the length to 150, and use the same formula as for a man, though I never cut the bodice narrower than 58 cm. If I get 56 cm from my calculations, I'll still cut it 58, so the shirt doesn't get too small if the client adds some weight later on.

The gusset for a man's shirt is 12 by 12 cm, while women's are 10 by 10cm.

I'd calculate the length of the arm from the measurement taken from the centre back of your neck and to your wrist over an bent arm.

Measure the distance from the centre back of your bodice to the edge of the shoulder. Say you get 29cm (if your bodice is 58 cm wide, this is the measurement you'll end up with). Measure from 29 cm ( or the measurement you got) on your arm piece, and to the full length of your arm, then add 5 cm for selvedge and movement.

For the width of the arms I cut them 58 cm wide (note that I do not make the wrinkles in the shoulderseam as wide as Bernadette did, but alas I make bunad shirts, not pirateshirts even if the tecniques are identical). If you want more wrinkles, cut them wider.

For the cuffs I'd cut the neckpiece 20 by 60 or 70 cm ( depending on the clients neck measurements), and the cuffs 20 by 30 (this is for men)
For women I'd cut the neckpiece 20 by 50 (also depending on neck measurements) and the cuffs 20 by 25/30 cm. I always fold the cuffs over to the back.

Also, for the gathering thread I usually insert it 4 by 4 threads so to make the pleates more even, and I leave the gathering thread in the shirt afterwards so they'll stay nice and snug for a long time.

I hope someone will benefit from these measurements and that they're not too confusing. It's really a fun little project that certainly doesn't need to be so daunting. (In contrast to this ridiculously long comment, hehe)

Happy sowing!

[evelynarnaut]

*looks at the gray sheets my mom doesn't want anymore*
*looks at our sewing table*
*looks at the Sweeney Todd Motion Picture Soundtrack*
It's go time.

[plebianne]

I dont mean to reduce your content from artistic historical recreation to teaching us beginners how to make a shirt. But I really appreciate you showing us certain stitches and creating simple things we could recreate. The history is an amazing bonus, and it is also helpful to know I /can/ make clothes myself since it was done before.

Paying $20+ for fabric and spending time making a shirt, instead of spending $20 on a low quality ethically questionable tee shirt with the word "taco" written on it sounds amazing.

[m.thompson]

Bernadette: "I'm pretty sure there are no rules in piracy."
Me: "I'm pretty sure there Arrr."
...
I'll see myself out.

[psychopathetic]

I love how Bernadette's "procrastination" is being productive by prepping other pieces while my procrastination is refreshing yt for the 80th time cuz I've watched every video on the internet despite me having a metric ton of work to do

[theemperor]

1:54 tip about pre-washing fabric
2:16 measuring and cutting, drawing threads
3:45 putting body pieces together
4:15 counter hem explanation
5:09 stitching shoulder seams, historical thread explanation
6:20 gussets and armscye sizing
8:19 preparing collar and cuff pieces
8:50 preparing sleeves and gussets
9:54 backstitching explanation
10:57 felling the sleeve seams
12:13 adding reinforcement patch to sleeve slit
12:43 installing sleeve poof (gathering sleeves)
14:00 preparing body piece
14:50 attaching sleeves
16:43 leaving slits in side seams
17:18 center front slit
17:41 gathering collar edges and attaching collar
18:13 attaching buttons to cuffs
18:47 hemming bottom edge of shirt
19:01 Project Epic Pirate Shirt complete!

[JackRackam]

I've always wanted to feel like a pirate king, but alas I know nothing of sewing

"And it's beginner friendly!"

Weigh anchor! Batten down the jib, shiver me sea shanties!

[lizzyv]

Poofy shirts tucked into high waisted pants are universally hot, I don't make the rules

[aaliyahdailey]

"Bernadette makes a pirate shirt"
Me, who has never sewn a shirt a day in her life: AND IT'S BEGINNER FRIENDLY! YAAAASSSS!

[__-fmqv]

As someone who has accidentally ripped a few linen shirts through excercise (get all sweaty, it sticks to your skin, and them movement rips it), I do apprieciate a strong seam! Maybe I should try making a shirt to make sure its made durably...

Edit: As an engineer I love that the patch is oriented diagonally to main weave, and therefore able to take strain at an offset angle much better! Its the same thing done with many carbon-fibre lay-ups, and cool to see it can or is done in a clothing applicaiton too.

[charlobscura]

bernadette : calls it clickbaity to use pirate shirt in the title
also bernadette : sets the video to distinctly swashbuckling music, definitely leaning into the pirate aesthetic

[beranovatyna]

Other youtubers: using clickbates and making videos about something completely different
Bernadette: apologising for calling a pirate shirt a pirate shirt..

[gloriaash]

Also, I'm fairly sure "romantically smash the patriarchy" is the most amazingly Bernadette thing I've ever heard and I am now forced to embroider this into some project or other very very soon. I love all of your creative endeavors and seeing that you are indeed well and still creating is a light in this fairly dark time in our more recent history. Thank you for existing.

[mr.neverrest]

The fact that you do this all by hand makes me extremely happy! As a teenager with no access to a sewing machine and very low funds, I'm glad that I can be able to do this project! I'm also a beginner in terms of sewing, and this video will help me immensely in starting! Thank you, from the bottom of my glitter filled heart, thank you.