Macktown Christmas December 24, 1843

Tags

1840s, Christmas Events, living history

Spending time at historic sites with your fellow interpreters and spreading cheer to the public is the best way to end the season/start the new year. I love the fresh greenery and hand made ornaments and bright oranges and delicious cakes and cookies and breads.

At the start of December, 11 of us put on a special Christmas event at Macktown in Rockton, IL. We used two buildings and actually portrayed the people who lived in them at one time (interpreter’s dream come true? maybe an analysis for another post).

The first building, the stone house, is one we use often at other events. It served as Mr. Whitman’s trading post and tavern.

The fine Mr. Whitman himself and his second wife.

 

He was excited because his new stove just arrived, but he was waiting for someone to cross the river to help him move it in the house. Mrs. Whitman is less than thrilled because she wants it in the house now, so she can use it for Christmas.

 

There was a lot of bustle and commotion in this building because they were just moving in, unpacking boxes, and putting away dishes to prepare for the celebration of the 12 Days of Christmas.

 

They offered warm cider to the guests.

They hired another man, A, to assist with business affairs.

The other building was the Stephen Mack House – the original one from the 1840s (or 30s?). It’s a decent sized house, with cheery yellow trim and good sized rooms. I played Hononegah who married Stephen Mack when she was quite young. It was the first time I got to wear something other than stays at an event!!! (It was quite freeing I admit).

 

Mr. Mack prepares for visitors.

In the kitchen we were making paper ornaments with the children. Christmas trees were just starting to become popular in the early 1840s so that allowed for us to question the children about the types of decorations they have around their houses.

Mrs. T kept a careful eye on the children to make sure no one injured themselves with scissors.

 

The dining rooms was decorated with sumptuous food and we had a small tree in the corner, which we decorated.

 

 

Mr. Mack entertained local neighbors. The adults helped decorate the dining room and parlor with fresh greenery and Mr. A and Mr. Mack took turns reading the story of St. Nikolas, which was written in the 1820s.

 

The neighbor, Mr. A, also shot a turkey for part of the Christmas feasting.

 

 

C, Mrs. S, and I all had ourselves a mini sew along for our 1840s dresses for this event. Even though I played Hononegah, I made an 1840s dress to wear after our official event was over when we walked in the parade. I had a quick costume change (probably the fastest I’ve ever gotten in and out of historic clothing — thank you front hooking Victorian corsets!). Sadly we did not get a picture of the three of us all together in broad daylight.

But here’s me, in the house, in my 1840s dress, before we walk in the parade.

All research and prep behind the scenes was accomplished by the delightful Mrs. S! None of it would have happened without her.

 

All photos on this post are courtesy of Mrs. B who was not dressed in period clothing, but was instead our official event photographer!! Thank you!

As part of our program, we invited the public to donate canned food items to a local food pantry.

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1843 Dress Construction Photos

Tags

1840s, Historical Sew Monthly

Here are some behind the scenes photos of my construction. This is my usual sewing process:

1. A few months out from the event I start collecting pics on pinterest, consulting books, and asking friends if their books have conflicting evidence with what I’ve found.
2. Depending on the person I’m playing and time of year, decide on fabric and color, then buy the fabric.
3. All of the fitting/sewing/finishing usually ends up taking place in a month or so. I figure out my pattern pieces; make a mock up; adjust; cut stuff out and then sew away.

I think this is pretty standard for most people who sew historical clothing.

Sources consulted

First, here is my 1840s pinterest board. I think I’m like most people who love historical clothing in that I’m drawn to certain lines, trim details, and colors. There is definitely a distinct style for my board. The tricky part with this sewing project was that the Christmas event we were a part of had a super specific time period: Dec 1843. My dress had to be within the date range of 1842 – 43, but not after. That also meant getting the sleeves right and the bodice construction right. Here’s the other kicker: I did not buy a commercial pattern. There are things for 1830s and 1845, but nothing exactly at 1843. Why would there be? That’s such a random date. Unless the historic site near you has that date within their time range.

Costume in Detail dress I studied:

 

 

Patterns of fashion dress I studied:

 

 

While my mom who grew up learning how to sew purely from commercial patterns freaked out over me not using a pattern, I really enjoyed the challenge of studying a picture and mulling over how the fabric was cut, tucked, folded etc so it looked like it did in the drawing/photo.

Luckily the sewing teacher at the school where I teach was pretty good at looking at a drawing and looking at my mock up and saying, yep you’ve got the right lines; you’re good to go. Cha-ching!

Mock ups:

(stripes look good!)

Construction and research on construction

I think I’ve been lucky with the other things I’ve sewn and the patterns I just so happened to use for those projects. I admitted in my other post that I never had to sew darts. Yeah not sure how I got away with that for so long, but I did. I always thought they were scary. No idea why. Thank goodness for the website, Historical Sewing! I read and re-read this post on Victorian bodice construction and it really helped a ton. I read this one on flatlining a bodice. Then I read this one on sewing darts. I’m pretty sure for the last month, I had these tutorials open on permanent tabs on my computer.

I was really proud of my reuse of a garment. I had made a not so authentic 18th cent petticoat when I first started reenacting. It was a brown/red stripe and looked fine. The sewing was nothing particularly outstanding, but it was the first article of clothing I had ever sewn by myself. Because I now only wear linen and wool petticoats, I decided it was time to repurpose my first cotton petticoat into the lining of my 1843 dress. I washed the petticoat (because I couldn’t remember the last time I had worn it and whether it had been washed) and then ripped it apart. I thought I would be sadder than I actually was! The other reason for using the old petticoat was two-fold: 1) I couldn’t be bothered with another trip to the fabric store because that would take away from important sewing time and 2) I wanted to work the bodice and fashion fabric in stripes so I knew which way was which.

Petticoat post rip:

 

Using the mock up as pattern pieces and cutting out bodice lining:

 

Flatlined bodice pieces:

I don’t know if this is historically accurate, but I used the pieces of the piping to conceal the inner seams. I still have to tack it down.

Spreading out the piping:

 

Completed bodice inside:

(piping attached to bottom, but not tacked down)

 

The fabric was about 60 inches wide. I didn’t want the skirt to be enormous nor did I want to hem all of that, so I used three panels. I really like pleating. I debated about doing cartridge pleats. I love the way they look. However, I’d never done them before. There are tutorials, but it wasn’t something that I wanted to try out given my time constraints. I had to repleat my skirt about 5 or 6 times to get the fit and bell shape just right. Working with more than two panels (a la 18th cent skirt) was a tad more challenging than I had expected. I tried to not get too annoyed / frustrated with myself. I determined that I just need more petticoats as well. I definitely need a double or triple flounced one. And I need one made of organdy that is stiffer.

Pleating take 1:

Pleating take 2:

Petticoat ghost:

 

Another fun/interesting part was making the sleeves. Again, I only had a pattern for the leg o’mutton 1830 sleeves, but by the 1840s, the sleeves started to be slimmer and more fitted all the way around. I could have done a gathered/pleated sleeve head with a little poof around the elbow, but again, that seemed like a lot of extra effort/time that I could not spare. By the time I got around to making the sleeves (which always seems to be one of my last steps), I was at my mental capacity. I used the top of a regency sleeve pattern because I knew it was fitted enough, and then I wrapped a string around the widest part of my arm to get a measurement. Then I used a different regency long sleeve pattern. I decided I only wanted one seam and I cut the fabric on the bias (because diagonal stripes are fun!) and to get a closer fitting sleeve.

Sleeve pattern:

Lining pinned together:

In looking at various 1842/43 fashion plates, I couldn’t exactly tell where the sleeves stopped. I purposely cut it longer just to be safe.

Sleeve length 1:

Sleeve length 2:

(I ended up cutting off a good 2 inches from the end of the sleeve. I will most likely use that as a cuff of some sort).

Two nights before I was to wear my dress, I was playing around the trim. My sleeve head did not come out as dropped as I would like it. But it is what it is. I have no desire to rip out all the stitches holding the sleeve in place, so I thought I would trim it in a sloped fabric of some sort to give the illusion of a dropped shoulder. Below are two options.

Trim options:

 

Lastly, it never fails – – I am *always* hemming my skirts the night before the event and usually this process starts some time between 8 and 9 p.m. What is my deal?! I had timed myself in the past and on similar length fabric, it took 2 hrs. This time I got it down to 1.5 hrs! Woot!

Kitty helps with hemming:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenge #11 Silver Screen – 1840 Jane Eyre Dress

Tags

1840s, historic clothing

The dress was made specifically for a Christmas program at Macktown in Rockton, IL. I will write another post about that event, but our time period was 1843. In researching, I looked at photos from the movie and then I realized that the November challenge was about movies! So I realized that I would finally be able to complete another challenge. Sadly, had I not needed this dress for an event, I’m not sure I would have made it so quickly (in about 4 weeks) and had it done by the time Nov was done.

Construction photos here.

 

Here were some of my inspiration; fashion plates from winter 1842 found on the Digital Collections, Thomas J Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art NY:

And from 1843…

 

What the item is: A navy/white striped 1843 wool dress

Challenge #11 Silver Screen

Onscreen inspiration: 2011 Jane Eyre movie (I also read the book in college and loved it).

Fabric: Wool from WM Booth Draper (got the last 6 yds on the bolt!)

Pattern: Costume in Detail, Patterns of Fashion, modified 1830s dress I already made

Year: 1843

Notions: thread (of various types and colors (cotton and linen only) depending on where/what part I was sewing, hooks and eyes (which are too big, so I’ll be replacing those)

Historical Accuracy: I’m going to say pretty a lot because I used two books where the patterns are based on original garments. I’m not entirely certain that some of my construction techniques were *exactly* period correct. I did what I could given my time and given my understanding of the pictures in the two books. Because of time, my ridiculous amount of piping was sewn on the machine as well as the longer skirt seams. If I had not done that, there was no way I would have made my deadline. But everything else was done by hand.

Hours to complete: As usual when I’m under deadline, I end up dedicating several weekends of about 8 hrs of sewing, followed by as many hours as I can squeeze in here and there throughout the week. But I bought the fabric Oct 31, started sewing cutting out the pattern the following week.

First worn: Sat Dec 5 for our special Christmas program

Total cost: Around/just under $100.

Here are a few more photos…

Without the fur collar so the neckline is visible. (I know everyone is their own harshest critic, but I’m not entirely sure why that weird ripple is occurring on my left shoulder. I must be more uneven than I thought……oh well.)

 

Underneath I’m wearing my “all encompassing Victorian era” corset, a lightweight cotton petticoat, a corded petticoat, and a new quilted petticoat on top of that. (Yes, I’m standing on a chair to take this photos because, believe it or not, we do not have a full length mirror in the house).

For the petticoat, I purchased a twin bedspread quilt from Kohl’s on sale with a bunch of coupons. I don’t have a ton of petticoats for other eras, so getting the poofy bell shape of the 1840s was a bit of a challenge. Soon, I need a tiered petticoat that is a little stiffer. I’ll make one eventually.

I did not get to wear my dress the entire day, but overall, I really like the style. I like the tighter sleeves and different neckline. I was also quite pleased with my ability to line up stripes for the center front as well as make the pointed “V” at the front. I did not have time to dress it with any trimmings etc, so while the spirit is still moving me, I’d like to jump back to it and make some thing. The first inspiration fashion plate shows the brown dress with minimal trimmings, so I took that as a hint to give myself permission that my dress didn’t have to be trimmed to excess in order to be finished. I needed that otherwise I would not have made my deadline of Saturday!! I don’t know why I’m getting that goofy ripple near my left shoulder and above the V. Given that this was the first 1840s dress I made, without a pre-purchased pattern, and I had the sewing teacher at my school help me with the fitting, and I’ve never really put a dart in anything, I’m quite proud of myself. There’s a first time for everything and I’m glad this dress pushed my limits and comfort level. After the forensics season is done in April, I’m ready to tackle something new. (Or maybe I can crank something out over Christmas break).