Absolutely splendid for school programs, dress-ups, historic reenactments, Halloween costumes, and any other time boys want to dress up like they're from the 1700s, these patterns were specifically designed to sew up quickly and easily "by parents and volunteers who might have limited sewing abilities." This is a simplified version of 18th century boys' clothing; if you want to be period-correct, look somewhere else!

How will you benefit from this simplification? Even if you're an experienced sewer, you'll find that the detailed instructions make it harder to make mistakes. The pattern lacks the historical accuracy that can also be described as "annoying fussiness" when you're in a hurry -- and when making clothes for children who grow so quickly, it can seem like a waste of time to work for complete accuracy when you know the item will be outgrown in mere months. If you're dressing a child for a school pageant or interactive history lesson, where the look is much more important than the placement of every single stitch, patterns like this are absolutely invaluable!

The set includes directions and patterns for a simplified shirt, simplified breeches, and a period-correct waistcoat in sizes small (6-7), medium (8-10), and large (12-14).

Recommended fabrics for the breeches: a light colored (which was frequently used) or dark solid colored cotton duck, wool, mid-weight linen, or lightweight canvas. For the shirt: white, simple stripes, or checked (not plaid) cottons, linens, or lightweight wools. Waistcoats: solid colored, checked, or striped cotton, wool, linen, or even silk for the waistcoat. Consider upholstery fabric too. Lining fabric of cotton or linen in white or to match the outer fabric.

Fabric requirements are as follows (assuming 60" fabric):
Shirt, small and medium, 2 yards; large 2 1/4 yards.
Breeches, any size, 1 yard.
Waistcoat, any size, 1 yard of outer fabric and lining.

Notions:
Shirt: Three 1/2" white shell or linen thread buttons.
Breeches: Two yards of 1/2" wide and 1 yard of 1/4" wide twill tape to match fabric, 2-3 pewter, bone, or fabric-covered 5/8" buttons.
Waistcoat: Eight pewter, bone, wood, or fabric covered buttons, 5/8" wide.

This is very clearly a hand-made pattern set, with hand-drawn pictures and the occasional grammatical error or unfinished sentence. I didn't find that distracting from the overall excellence and ease of use, though. The pattern itself is hand-drawn instead of machine-drafted, on heavy paper, and you'll probably want to use Kwik Trace Cloth or Swedish Tracing Paper to trace out patterns instead of cutting them. That'll keep the pattern useful for more sizes, which is always a good thing.