Making a pattern for 16th century joined hose

 In about two weeks our 16th century guild has one of its annual feasts and for the first time in a couple of years we can be inside! I felt that this would be a good reason to finally make David a proper pair of joined hose.

Joined hose is when the hose has taken a step towards being a pair of trousers, they are connected in the back and there is a crotch seam, but the the opening of the hose is covered by a codpiece instead of a closing fly.

A main instriped (and tight) joined hose

Now me and David had discussed if I should make a pair of peasant trousers, which are much more like modern trousers and do not have a cod piece, or a tight pair of hose. Well me being at home with access to the internet, but not the pattern for peasant trousers, decided to go for the joined hose.

Now there are lot of tutorials out there if you search for "landsknecht hosen" "joined hose" or similar terms. Most of them give a picture that is quite confusing, if you like me have never done hose before, and without any measurments or angles to go for. Another common theme to make hose is that you cut up an old pair of trousers and use that as a pattern. I asked and David was not willing to cut up any pair of trousers.

In the end I based my pattern on this instruction, which is in German but thankfully that's a language I know, the instruction was most helpful once I had a pattern to start off from though. In order to get a pattern I found Morgan Donner's Mens' stirrup hose tutorial. She has made it into both a video and written tutorial, which I like. She also uses an old pair of trousers, but she just traces them she doesn't cut them up.

I started off with one of David's pair of trousers. I couldn't trace them quite as Morgan Donner had done, but I manged to trace them enought that I got a paper pattern to start with.

The most important thing for me was to get the crotch seam, or the U-shape correct, so for that reason I have not made this pattern full length,it goes doen to midcalf, for the actual pairs I will need to lengthen them.

I transferred the paper pattern to fabric and added a lot of seam allowance. I made a quick fitting so that I could see what the pattern looked like. Since the fabric is very sheer and it involved David in his underwear I will not share any photos of that. As suspected the modern pair of trousers had a waist that was too low and they were generally too wide. I will lengthen the top of the pattern and I cut off the extra seam allowance, going back to the original seam line that I had made on the pattern.

I marked the pattern with the notes I will need to remember, and then I had a working pattern.

When cutting the main fabric I will still add seam allowance to the pattern, but so much, and it will need more fitting sessions to actually fit well. For David's sake I'm also not going for a very tight pair of hose, it will be ok if there are some wrinkles and loose fabric if that makes him more comfortable.