There is a lot to be said for doing it the old fashioned way. Rectangular construction was a hallmark of most garments well into the 17th century. And after then, it remained in the construction of utilitarian garments like shirts and other underclothing. I roughly followed the instructions from the Renaissance Tailor and Marquise to make this shirt.

Starting with rectangles is easy. Starting with rectangles is easy. Cutting out the pieces involved making small clips at the desired locations and then ripping the fabric. You know for sure you're on the straight of the grain and there is almost no waste. I worked with 36" unbleached muslin and tore off 2 30"x30" pieces for the body. The remaining 6"x60" strip became the collar, cuffs, gussets and strips for trimming the slits in the sleeves.

Ripping out the pieces was the easiest part. I cut a hole for the neck from the front and back pieces, remembering to put the majority of the opening towards the front. It's a huge hole, but the fabric will be pleated onto a collar made to the correct neck size. I measured in the width of the shoulder plus 1" for seam allowances from each edge to determine the size of the opening. The length of the front slit was equal to the circumference of the head going through it minus the collar size. (I added a couple of inches for ease in dressing, too.)

Setting in the shoulder gussets was tricky. This time I did it by the guess and check method. Having no clear direction as to the size of said gussets, I estimated from the picture here .

On the right is a photo of a finished gusset attached to both body pieces and the collar. I sewed the gussets onto the body front using felled seams, which are typical for the period. I then matched up the shoulder seams and completed them. There is a lot to be said for hand sewing as opposed to machine. It would have been far easier to finesse the intersection of body and gusset working by hand.

After joining the shoulders, I pleated the shirt onto the collar. I set the pleats by hand, distributing the fullness from the center out. Looking at the picture, you'll see that the pleats fall towards the shoulder in the back, leaving a flat spot in the center. In the front, the pleats fall towards the center of the shirt. Pleating is the way to go. A lot of contemporary patterns for alleged period shirts tell you to gather the fullness. Don't do it!

Next came a little bit of fussing. Per Marquise's great translation, I added the breast heart to reinforce the bottom of the slit.

At last the time came for underarm gussets and side seams. I attached the square gussets to the inside top edges of the sleeves. Then I pleated the sleeve onto the shoulder seams, centering the width on the seam and pleating the bulk to fit between the marks for the correct armhole depth. In this case, there wasn't a lot of fullness in the top of the sleeve so there wasn't a lot of pleating.

The hand work on the shirt speaks for itself. Eyelets on the collar allow for lacing the shirt. The buttonholes are sewn with silk thread. I had to use plastic buttons because of my customer's budget, but I did find 2-hole rather than 4-hole buttons. Two-hole buttons are hard to find! If you see some and you're planning on making period clothes, buy them.

I am pleased with how the shirt came out, but the ultimate test is the customer. Take a look at him in his new garb. He's a happy scoundrel.