March: Comfort at Home

This post is late because I haven't been able to get any good photos of my project yet... as soon as I get better ones I will update this!

For March, the challenge was "Comfort at Home", and as someone who almost always wears historical clothing in front of other people out in public, I was initially stumped. However, it only took a little brainstorming for me to realize that I wanted a banyan! I've always been a fan of wearing sweatshirts, bathrobes, etc. around the house, and a banyan is just the 18th century version of those things, so it would be a prefect project for me.

After a big sale this summer, I had a lot of pink flowered fabric in my stash, but after sewing a jacket with an almost identical fabric (I'll post that as soon as I have pictures taken), I was kind of sick of the pattern, and didn't want to wear it on a gown or anything like that. So, it was perfect to use for the banyan, since it would be easy enough to re-cut as a gown if I ever changed my mind about the banyan or the fabric.

Simple shapes make cutting many 18th century garments easy

It was easy enough to make; I worked off of the pattern in Fitting and Proper, and altered it for my own height. Banyans are essentially rectangles with rectangles for the sleeves, and they flare out slightly at the bottom. There are pleats at the back of the neckline, which I might tack down the back at some point in the future to give it a more fitted look, depending on if I ever use it for anything outside of the home.

I've worn it around my home, and I also wore it during a sewing circle evening with some friends - it was definitely a much needed accessory for me!

A reaction to dramatic information being revealed in such a historical manner!