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Pattern for making leggings

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Billnpatti

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I have seem many pictures of woodsmen of the Colonial period wearing some sort of leggings that came up to just above their knees. What are they made of and where can I get a pattern to make some?
 
Thanks, Lobo. I am not sure if these are the leggings that I am looking for. These are appropriate for Native American wear or possibly white fur traders who have "gone native". The leggings that I am looking for were those worn by Colonial Malitiamen or Rangers. They wore pants of some kind, possibly drop front pants and the pants may have been knee length. I could not tell from the pictures other than to say that they were wearing pants not breachclouts. The leggings, and they definately were leggings, fitted similarly to the high top boots worn by some men in Europe during the Shaksperian times. In the pictures of the malitiamen, the leggings were close fitting appeared to be made of a relatively lightweight cloth or a very thin buckskin. They were worn over the pants and ran from the ankles to midthigh. Any ideas on these leggings?
 
bill ,what you are talking about are gaiters or leggings. they are essentially used in the time of the Fand I war..by rev war they were ankle height and called spatterdashes... if you google rev war clothes a site call c d jarnigan has the leggings you are talking about..i am currently working on a pair that are what you described..i am working on a farmer impresiion but i am wih a continental unit...but those high leggings are really badass!!
 
If you are looking for more military type leggings or gaiters, try the North West Territory Alliance website (www.nwta.org). If you click on "Resources" at the left side of the homepage, you will go to NWTA's list of resources. Click on "Clothier/Patternmaster" on the Resources page. Then click on "Tin Box" on the Clothier page. Scroll down and you will find a wealth of patterns and information. Check out the "Full Gaiters" pattern (#212). Might be what you are looking for. If not, there are several other legging/gaiter patterns and articles on the Tin Box page.

Good luck.

Lobo
 
What ya want to know!? Leggings are very easy to make and they can he overcomplicated quickly... Eastern woodlands type were predominantly side seam in my area, you do see the center seam variety among tribes as well. Essentially they are a tailored tube that fits over the leg. The patterns out there are IMO for reference only as most people have different leg sizes. If you would like some good images I'd be more than happy to send you some. I personally have eight pairs along with experience making countless pairs for others.

They very much so were worn during the Revolution as well, many native's around during that time and frontiersman! Isolating their use to one period is not accurate, all things considered. I tend not to like the "long hunter" term as I've personally never been able to nail down a concrete period mentioning of the term being used, but many use it freely to describe thoses individuals who wore them unfortunately, glad you said woodsman! You type in longhunter leggings in google I bet you'll get a truck load of images...
 
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Crew,

Are you saying you can't find documentation of the term "Longhunter" being used during the period of Westward expansion into the Western frontier from the Colonies ?
I thought that term was used in reference to the extended hunting expeditions during and shortly following the time...
 
Wrap the leather/wool around your leg, pinch together at the side of the leg and pin/staple together. Try kneeling/squatting down to see if there is sufficient space so you won't pop the stitching and adjust as needed (usually a little more space is needed over the calf and around the knee). Sew with waxed linen and either bind the edges of wool leggings with Fox braid or fold over & sew, or trim to width (leather). Frontier leggings usually come to a hand-span above the knee while "mountain-man" leggings are taller.
 


I don't consider Wikipedia a reliable source for historical citations in all honesty, which that piece came from it. What I have lacked in finding is period accounts of the term being used in common life throughout the 18th century. I'm sure the term "likely" existed but I for one don't claim it to be 100% factual. Back to leggings though, off topic already.
 
The term long-hunt might describe the activity, but the term "longhunter" is rather meaningless. One is a hunter when engaged in hunting, regardless of how long the hunt takes....
 
I don't consider Wikipedia a reliable source for historical citations in all honesty, which that piece came from it. What I have lacked in finding is period accounts of the term being used in common life throughout the 18th century. I'm sure the term "likely" existed but I for one don't claim it to be 100% factual. Back to leggings though, off topic already.
I said it was an interesting read I didn't say it was 100%. But there is a lot of References thru the article and at the bottom article to think that there is some merit to it.

Jerry
 
Wrap the leather/wool around your leg, pinch together at the side of the leg and pin/staple together. Try kneeling/squatting down to see if there is sufficient space so you won't pop the stitching and adjust as needed (usually a little more space is needed over the calf and around the knee). Sew with waxed linen and either bind the edges of wool leggings with Fox braid or fold over & sew, or trim to width (leather). Frontier leggings usually come to a hand-span above the knee while "mountain-man" leggings are taller.
If you get tightly enough woven wool, you may not need to sew the raw edge or bind it with ribbon or tape. I have a pair of wool leggings just like that, and so far there has been no reveling at all.
 
If you get tightly enough woven wool, you may not need to sew the raw edge or bind it with ribbon or tape. I have a pair of wool leggings just like that, and so far there has been no reveling at all.
Very true. But they do look prettier....
 
I have made my gaiters from the NWTA pattern. The gaiters are very much a military article of clothing to protect the legs and the stockings. You don't find too many gaiters for civilian wear. Leggings if used by civilians would have been the tube type normally associated with native Americans or long hunters. I use the button up gaiters for my interpretation as a grenadier during the F&I war. I wear deerskin tubes when I go out a civilian hunter.
When making gaiters it is important that they be tight fitting. Nothing more out of place than gaiters that sag. I have sewn a button on the leg of my breeches to hold the gaiters up. The button can be above the buttons on the side of the breeches or in the back of the leg. But even with well fit gaiters, you need something to pull the gaiter up. Don't forget the leather garter belt to shape the gaiter at the knee and also help hold the gaiter up.
 
These British military leggings seem very much like the ones used by civilians or NAs. Captain John Knox, Historical Journal, 1757. He was with the 43rd Regiment of Foot at that time.

"The Colonel is ordered to provide the regiment with flannel under-waistcoats, and Leggers, or Indian stockings-, here follows a description of them: Leggers, Leggins, or Indian spatterdashes, are usually made of frize or other coarse woolen cloth; they should be at least three quarters of a yard in length; each Leggin about three quarters wide (which is 3 x 3) then double it, and sew it together from end to end, within four, five or six inches of the outside selvages, fitting this long, narrow bag to the shape of the leg; the flaps to be on the outside, which serve to wrap over the skin, or forepart of the leg, tied round under the knee, and above the ankle, with garters of the same colour; by which the legs are preserved from many fatal accidents, that may happen by briars, Humps of trees, or under-wood, &c, in marching through a close, woody country; the Army have made an ingenious addition to them, by putting a tongue, or sloped piece before, as there is in the lower part of a spatterdash, and a strap fixed to it under the heart of the foot, which fastens under the outside ancle with a button. By these improvements they cover part of the instep under the shoe-buckle and the quarters all round; the Indians generally ornament the flaps with beads of various colours, as they do their Moggosan, or slipper; for my part, I think them clumsy, and not at all military; yet I confess they are highly necessary in North America; nevertheless, if they were made without the flap and to button the outside of the leg, in like manner as a spatterdash they would answer full as well: but this is a matter of opinion."

Spence
 

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