Civil War Trousers: John T. Martin Contract
Based on the in-depth study of an original pair of John T. Martin contract U.S. trousers, this digital full-size pattern has 100 pages of detailed instructions and images for recreating an authentic Civil War garment.
Closely following the details of the original trousers, this Civil War uniform pattern features authentic construction features, that include:
- Unique shaped back yoke seen in variants of J.T. Martin Contract Trousers
- Watch pocket
- High waist
- Side seam pockets
- Unique inner fly details
- Wide legs
- Rise of back panels in waist band
- Cotton tape waist adjustment ties
- Pieced cuff
- Cuff side vent
- Suspender buttons
- Button fly
- Bar tacks
- Hand stitched buttonholes
- Graded back yoke to correspond with changes in trouser size, a feature seen in some examples of original John T. Martin contract trousers.
As one of the largest contractors of United States uniforms during the American Civil War, John T. Martin used his experience in the readymade clothing trade to fill contracts with goods that were delivered to both the Eastern and Western Theaters of the war. While not much is known about the specifics of uniform details from Martin contracts in the early years of the conflict, surviving uniforms from their 1864 and 1865 contracts provide a window into how the company’s clothing was sourced, patterned, and constructed throughout the war.
The trousers replicated for this pattern are from a January 2, 1865 contract for 250,000 trousers at $4.59 per pair, to be delivered to the United States arsenal at Cincinnati, Ohio. Surviving trousers, from this one specific contract, show a variety of construction, fabric, and pattern details. This provides evidence that the trousers made to fill the large volume of this contract were likely made at multiple facilities in John T. Martin’s network, and the company may have even sourced trousers from subcontractors. It was not the first contract for trousers from John T. Martin, and just in 1864 and 1865, there were hundreds of thousands of trousers purchased by the United States government from his company. The female sewist (or sewists in an assembly-line-like atmosphere) who created this garment, did so in a rushed manner as they were likely paid by the piece, not the hour. As a result of how quickly these trousers needed to be sewn to make it profitable for the sewist (or sewists) who stitched it, the garment features details such as slightly wavy machine stitching, mismatched yoke components, varied seam allowances, and poorly constructed buttonholes. Despite these imperfections this pair of trousers passed inspection and was purchased by the United States government to clothe one of its soldiers.
The imperfect sewing and construction, make this garment an ideal candidate for being replicated by sewists with little to moderate sewing experience by using our digital patterns.
What is included in a digital pattern?
Sizing:
To avoid confusion with "vanity sizing," the size of this pattern corresponds with the actual suggested size of the person (or mannequin) wearing this garment. This means that a size 38 waist trousers, will best fit someone who measures at a 38 inch waist.
Confirming your size is a very simple endeavor and can be performed at home with an economically priced sewing tape measure, by visiting a mens clothing store, or politely requesting your measurements from an establishment that rents formal wear clothing such as tuxedoes.
Fabric and Thread Required:
- 1 ¾ to 2 ¾ yards of twilled (2 over 2 weave) sky blue wool kersey, 60” wide
- 1 ¼ yard of natural colored cotton drill for inner waist band, pockets, and inner fly pieces
- ½ yard of lightweight medium brown colored cotton for additional inner fly pieces
- 7 stamped tin four-hole buttons 5/8” in size for suspender buttons and top fly button
- 4 stamped tin four-hole buttons 1/2" in size for lower fly buttons
- 1 yard of 1/2" (or 5/8” if not pre-shrunk) wide two-panel twilled cotton tape for waistband adjustment tie
- 2 spools of blue cotton quilting machine stitching thread (the original was machine stitched with blue thread that was likely dyed with indigo), the closest match to an economically available commercial thread is Gutermann’s “6250 English Navy 100M Cotton Thread”
- 1 spool logwood dyed cotton thread for hand stitching a small number of specified elements (the hand stitching on the original trousers was done in a thread that was certainly blue at the time of the garment’s construction, and was likely dyed with logwood, which has since faded and oxidized to a light brown color)
Blue Wool Kersey Required for Trousers by Size
Helpful Sewing Notions
- Tailors chalk
- Sewing pins
- Fabric cutting scissors
- Small-pointed scissors for work like cutting thread and trimming
- Seam ripper (just in case something would look better if it was re-sewn)
- Basic steam iron