The Plimoth Jacket, bucket list item checked!
Carolyn Hastings, who created the lace pattern for the Plimoth Jacket based on the Layton garment at the V&A Museum, holding the garment box with the jacket on our field trip in 2026.
I have been chasing the Plimoth Jacket for years and yesterday I caught it! When Jill Hawkins--my first lace instructor--told me about this project, I was enchanted. Reproduction lace for period garments was exactly my goal in learning to make lace.
She pointed me to the video (on youtube) of the "reveal" of this jacket, and I loved it. But I didn't know where to see this jacket myself. Jill organized a field trip for our New England Lace Group!
Yesterday I also met some of the lacemakers who worked on it--including Carolyn Hastings who recreated the pattern. She's there with the box.
It had gone to Winterthur Museum and I didn't know if it came back.
It did return! It is now at Plimoth Patuxet Museums and the fabulous curators--Annie and Emma--let us see it yesterday.
It is so wonderful in person. And I found out which original garment the lace pattern was from. The Layton jacket which is special because there is even a portrait of Margaret Layton wearing it! Check out the extensive photo collection of the jacket and it includes the portrait at the V And A Museum.
But seeing this recent jacket was so moving because it looks brand new, which gave a different sense of what these looked like when Margaret first wore it. Of course the V&A piece is wonderful and well cared for. But 400 years is hard on a jacket and threads and metals.
This look at a vibrant jacket was amazing! I am so inspired right now. And I found out you can still buy this thread from Thistle Threads and I may now own some and those spangles.... More to come on that.
Credit: Plimoth Jacket, Plimoth Patuxet Museums.
More backstory [PDF] Contains a lot of great images of the creation and sources from Winterthur: https://pressroom.winterthur.org/pdfs/Plimoth-Jacket.pdf
#BobbinLace #embroidery #17thCenturyFashion #textilehistory
A section of the metal lace trim on the Plimoth Jacket from our field trip to Plimoth Patuxet Museums in September 2026.
