2015 Year in Review

Tags

18th century clothing, 19th century clothing, Historical Sew Monthly, sewing projects

I really love the end of the year when all the seamstresses post their “year in review” with all their photos. It’s great to see everyone’s hard work. While I’m proud of the work I’ve accomplished, I feel bad that two years in a row, I had very ambitious plans, but did not finish much. I think after three years, I’ve figured it out. I am on Christmas break for two weeks. School is in the background – it practically no longer exists once I step out the door on the day before break. I look at pinterest and get all these ideas. I think, yeah with my skill level, I can totally whip that out. Except in the past two years, I’ve forgotten that I work 12 hour days (6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m), with the hours of 3 – 6 spent coaching. When I get home, I eat and fall into bed and do it again the next day. I spend all of my Sat from mid Jan to the start of April at Forensics tournaments and these are 8, sometimes 9 hour days. I get home, sleep for 12 hours and grade whatever I can on Sun. From Jan to April there is zero time for sewing. Zero. I think after 3 years, I have finally come to accept that. It is what it is. So given that a quarter of my year is spent not sewing, I guess what I accomplish in the other months is pretty darn good.

Finished projects:

May – Corded petticoat (for 1830s/40s dresses)

May: 1830s Dress

June: 1815 Dress (for my sister, who wore it at the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo)

 

August: Two 18th century jackets (and not pictured – re-done/fixed waist band on brown wool 18th cent petticoat)

Linen

 

Wool

 

November: 1840s Blue/white striped wool gown

Quilted Petticoat

 

I didn’t think I had made that much this year because not many (or most) of my projects fit with the Historical Sew Monthly Challenges. Because of that, I felt like a wee bit of a failure because every one else was cranking out these awesome projects that fit all the challenges. As a result, after three years of trying to make things for challenges and then getting frustrated because I feel like I’m not keeping up, I will, as usual make my start of year list for what I want to complete that will fit the challenges, and whatever gets made, gets made. Whatever does not, does not. It’s not the end of the world. I just have to do what works best for me, my historical clothing wardrobe and my living history needs.

Then I struggle with wanting to make more of the same garments for the centuries I’ve sewn for already because I want to make a better product, but at the same time I want to make more accessories, but at the same time I want to branch out more and try more eras – even though I have zero events in my area for that time period. It’s such a conundrum!!!!!! 🙂 But in a good way. #thesewingstruggleisreal

Here is my proposed list of projects for 2016 that won’t get started until after April 1, 2016.

Jan – Procrastination: Regency short gown

Feb – Tucks and Pleating: 18th century cap

March – Protection: Mantilla Cloak for Mid-Victorian OR 18th century pinner apron

April – Gender Bender: Regency Pelisse

Aug – Patterns: 1920s dress (will most likely make this because I have patterns and fabric all ready to go; more to come in later posts!)

Nov – Red: 1920s Middy blouse

 

I’m for sure going to bite the bullet and make myself a new 18th cent cap. I only have one, and while it’s okay, sometimes when I see myself in pictures I think woah, my head looks weird in that thing. Vain – perhaps, but a good enough motivation to make my own finally!

 

Artsy photos from Harvest Supper

Tags

1830s, 19th century clothing, food, Ox Bow Tavern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest Supper at Apple River Fort

Tags

1830s, 19th century clothing, Apple River Fort, food, Harvest Supper, Ox Bow Tavern, reenacting

The basics: Apple River Fort is located in Elizabeth, IL. It’s a little fort from the Black Hawk Wars. To welcome autumn, they have an intimate supper for the public (advanced ticket purchase necessary). The Ox Bow Tavern cooks the five course dinner. This year the menu was as follows:

1st course – pepper pot soup and pumpkin biscuits w/ jam

2nd course – cheshire pie and Jefferson’s mac ‘n cheese with sour dough bread

3r course – fish cakes and collards with wheat bread

4th course – sauer braten and spaetzel with red cabbage and dark bread

5th course – assorted pies, cookies, and cakes for dessert

It was really excellent to cook over a nice hearth. The other oddly delightful moment that was totally unexpected was being asked to serve at table and I was running back and forth from the house where we cooked and the block house where the diners were located. It was just like Downton Abbey!!! Only 1830s!!

Now for all the pictures!

 

 

Inside the cabin that served as the kitchen…

 

 

 

 

 

Food prep…

Cheshire pie = layer of fried smoked pork sprinkled with nutmeg, a layer of apples sprinkle with sugar, repeat. Add top pie crust. Bake in baking kettle.

 

 

 

 

Apple pudding (not on the menu; we made it for fun).

 

 

 

Cooking outside…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting the table for the guests…

(I think Mr. Carson would be proud!)

 

 

 

 

 

With our guests…

 

Obligatory selfies…

 

 

 

Pony and a Photo Shoot

Tags

19th century clothing, historic clothing, Historic Clothing Photo Shoot with pony, Miss F's Dress 1815, Regency, side saddle, The simple life

Though I should be posting about my trip to Europe in chronological order, I’m actually beginning at the end with a photo shoot at my friend’s house. She owns a wonderful farm, writes fabulous stories, and is living her dream. Check out her blog. I met my dear friend at Camp Anna Behrens. She was a counselor in training and I was a camper. Soon after, she was a counselor and I was the one in training. We shared several summers together that turned into a life long friendship. She was gracious enough to spend a few hours with me last week, teaching me to ride side saddle and taking photos of me dressed in my (sister’s) Napoleonic dress, riding her horse (the best horse ever). Below are the best photos from the bunch she took. I couldn’t decide on “old timey color,” black and white or sepia….so they are all mixed.

 

It was a huge challenge to keep the horse still and smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See…can’t decide which version I like more….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss F’s Dress on location – Waterloo 2015

Tags

19th century clothing, hand sewing, Miss F's Dress 1815, Regency, sewing projects, Waterloo 200

The dress made its debut in Brussels on June 19 2015 for the Inferno Opening Spectacle at Waterloo 200. My sister was a really great sport about running through the downtown Brussels train stations in period clothing.

Here are a smattering of photos from that day and then a few from our hotel in Bruges. (The more artistic photos are on her camera, so those will be posted later).

 

The hotel, Hotel Patritius, is an 1830s house right near the Grot Markt in Bruges. It was the perfect hotel for our architectural souls. Though the house is a later date than our dresses, it made a gorgeous backdrop for our little photo shoot!

Here are some random photos at the Battle of Waterloo site.

 

Obligatory selfie

Right as I took this photo, a huge gust of wind poofed her dress. Bahahaha.

 

 

DIY 19th Century Shoes Hack

Tags

19th century clothing, Costuming Hacks, shoes

For those of you who read and follow, you know I’m hard core authentic, natural hand sewn everything. However because of time and lack of knowledge and money and guts, I will not be wearing authentic-historically accurate-period appropriate shoes at the Battle of Waterloo Reenactment. I can’t bear to bring my new American Duchess Nankeen boots with me for fear that if it is muddy, they will get ruined. I just can’t. I had considered covering some old shoes in scrap fabric because I’ve seen other bloggers do that. But I was all, oh geeze, that requires gluing and waiting and cutting and measuring and possibly messing it up. (Though I still intend to make them at some point).

A few years back, of all places, I found a pair of oxfords at Urban Outfitters that had a striking resemblance to 19th century shoes. I bought them for $60.00, wore them to work a lot and loved them. They are all leather and have a leader bottom. They are one of the comfiest and easiest shoes to wear. Some of my living history friends said they could “pass” for 19th century shoes, but I’d have to cut off the ties with tassels on the end.

 

I really did not want to cut off the tassels just yet. My plan is/was to use ribbon to tie them closed, but I’m worried the ribbon will be too slippery and won’t hold them closed very well. I left the tassels, purchased ribbon (not silk like I wanted, but it *kind of* looks like it. It’s just black satin stuff).

And now my 19th century shoe hack tutorial. (I was too lazy/excited to put stockings on).

1. Cut ribbon to desired length. Thread through holes behind original laces.

 

 

 

2. Tie original laces first.

 

 

3. Tuck laces behind flaps.

 

 

4. Tie ribbon laces.

 

 

When I make one bow (single knot), they look like the above photo.

5. Make a double knot/bow for extra holding power. Then the bow flips.

 

6. TA-DA!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Although I’m not keen on wearing black and brown together, I figure wearing it this way once will help me decide what color silk ribbon I should buy. Not bad self. Not bad.

Challenge #6 Out of my Comfort Zone

Tags

1830s, 19th century clothing, Historical Sew Monthly, living history, sewing projects

Normally, I’ve been sewing 18th century and early 19th century, but nothing past 1815. This was a perfect challenge for me because I literally did not have to think super hard about what to make because the plans had been laid for this dress.

Here is me at Apple River Fort! (You can tell it’s a fort because of the wooden palisade behind me).

1830s Dress

Underneath: 2 petticoats: 1 plain and my new corded one. I think the corded one gave it the perfect poof! While I feel pretty girly in my 1780 – 1815 wardrobes because I portray women, I’m usually ripping meat apart with my hands and my apron is super dirty. But at this event, I did not have any cooking duties, so that, combined with my poofy skirt, made me feel ultra girly!!! Or maybe it was the sleeves? Or the brand new first worn American Duchess Gettysburg boots?!!!! Yeah it could have been those! (I totally forgot to take a picture at this event where I showed them off. Will need to do so in a photo shoot soon).

I really like this style of dress. It was extremely comfortable. The only part that felt a little odd were the shoulder/arm holes. I’m not exactly sure if they were too small or what. When I made the mock up, it fit perfectly. I was like oh yes, this is comfortable. Swell. Then when I actually attached the sleeves, I was like hmmm. Well too late now. I do have an extra one or one and a half yards left of the fabric. If needed to, I could redo the sleeves or add another panel to the skirt. I can’t decide which, if either of those, needs to be done.

Because I was on a huge time crunch to get this thing done (literally cranked it out in two weekends) I did not make a tutorial or anything. There are enough of those online already. Also if I were truly a lady of the 1830s, I don’t think I would have been showing my arms/wrists, however, I did not put on the cuffs on the sleeves because I did not have time. Woops!! But no one asked me why I had them rolled up, which I found odd because it’s not like I was scrubbing floors or anything.

What the item is (and why it was out of your comfort zone): early 1830s Day Dress. It is out of my comfort zone because I have never made anything in this time period that involves piping. I drool over the creations on other people’s blogs who produce gorgeous pelisse’s or spencers etc with perfect piping. Jealousy was a good motivator and I figured if they can do it, I can do it! I sewed the piping by hand and then found when I constructed the bodice, it was easier to feel where I should place stitches along the piping to get it to lay neatly and be uniform in how much of the piping is seen.

The Challenge: Out of my comfort zone

Fabric: 100% cotton with brown background a peachy/pinky/coral vine-y pattern to it. Up close I love it. Far away, it just looks brown like so much of my “day dresses” in my historic clothing wardrobe.

Here is a picture from Andoverfabrics.com Jo Morton’s collection:

Pattern: Period Impressions 1828 Day Dress

Year: 1828 (officially), but I dropped the waist line about 2 inches because I needed the dress to work for 1830s also and the waists dropped a bit.

Notions: Hooks and eyes from my friend’s stash

How historically accurate is it? 92% I think the neckline is supposed to be piped (it’s not); and I’m not exactly sure about the waistband. I know it’s how “it’s supposed to look,” but I would like to know the proper historical construction so I can do it correctly the second time around. Oh and I machine stitched all the seams you can’t see because I did not have that much time. But for the record, my piping was all made by hand – I did not use the machine for that.

Hours to complete: Several weekends – two of which were 8+ hrs of sewing both Sat and Sun. I had the pattern drafted in Feb, but did not get around to it until later.

First worn: A few weekends ago for a new event where I *needed* to be in 1830s!!

Total cost: $50.00 for the fabric (I think).

 

The other thing I want to make to go with this outfit is a pretty white collar – one that is just coming into fashion in the 1830s. I also want to try my hand at white embroidery work for this project. I think it would really dress up the ensemble a lot. While I love my fichu that I have thrown over my shoulders, I feel like it hides the waist part of my dress and some of the sleeves. The next thing I’m debating about making are the under sleeve poufs of obnoxiousness. That may be one of those projects that looks simple but turns out to be a bit more complicated. We shall see.

Oh and the next 1830s dress I make will be pink. And maybe a green one. I don’t have anything green in my historic clothing wardrobe.

 

Challenge #1 – Foundations – Corded Petticoat

Tags

1830s, 1840s, 19th century clothing, corded petticoat, historic clothing, Historical Sew Monthly, sewing projects, Undergarments

Just getting around to finally posting about the first challenge now that it’s, oh gee, the end of May. Woops!!

In preparation for some 1830s/1840s events I will be attending in the next year, I made my own corded petticoat. I hemmed (no pun intended. ha) and hawed about whether I should just buy one, but I already had fabric and the cording and I figured, how hard can this really be? It was time time consuming (like I had read on several blogs), but mine required more hand sewing because the fabric I used was a heavier duty muslin that once folded, is very difficult to push a needle through with bare fingers, thus requiring me to wear my leather quilter’s thimble (no I don’t quilt). This made it bearable. I used this information to guide me.

If I can (read: have the time), I usually prefer to hand sew everything for the time periods where a sewing machine was not around. But with school and coaching responsibilities, winter sew projects have a bit less time dedicated to them and I needed to wear the item Memorial Day weekend (the day I’m writing this), so I did what I needed to do to get it done on time and that meant hand sewing all the channels and the waist band, but machine sewing the side seam.

Also because of my time restraints, I have very few construction process photos and so this is not a tutorial. But here are some “making of” photos:

Sewing the cords with Twiggy’s help

(I don’t know if anyone else experienced this when using cording, but my cat LOVED the smell/texture of the rope. She could not stop rolling all over it. I had to open up a separate package of cording and put it off to the side for her so she would not roll around on my fabric. However, white fabric and white cat works well…).

Just a few notes about my construction process:

1. All cords are sewn with a basic running stitch.

2. Fabric is 80 inches wide.

3. I sewed on the “right side” of the fabric and constantly folded my fabric over on itself to get the cording in nice and tight.

4. Not sure if this is period correct, but I had the fabric out flat while I was sewing in the cording. This actually lead to a boo boo. I left a few centimeters at each edge free of cording because I knew I would machine sew the side seam. I didn’t think my older machine could handle going through the thicker fabric plus the rope and the last thing I needed was for the needle to break because it’s my last one. So……really nice stiff cording all the way around except right along the side seam resulted in a collapsing side seam area. When I have it under my dress, it’s not super noticeable but when I first put on the finished petticoat and noticed this it was like a “awwwww oh no! (but too late now!)” moment. *sigh*. Redo.

5. The other thing I “messed up” was measuring my waist. I have wide hips which keeps things from sliding down. However, my waist is significantly smaller than my hips. I swear I measured the fit of the final waist size before I attached the waist band. However, it was at least 5 inches too big!!!! How did this hapen? NO IDEA! Grrrrr. When I recently wore it, it worked just fine and was in no danger of falling off. Now I’m debating whether to re-do part of the waist band or just add hooks and eyes and call it good.

Overall, I’m SUPER excited to have this kind of petticoat now!!! I can’t wait to make more 1830s/40s dresses to wear over it. I want one in ever color!

 

(Ignore the top thing on the dress form, it’s the mock-up for the 1830s dress).

 

Challenge #1 – Foundations

What the item is: corded petticoat

The challenge: foundations

Fabric: creamy off white muslin

Pattern: none, a rectangle, but based on these.

Year: 1830s/40s

Historical Accuracy: 80% – all materials are cotton. Most of it is hand sewn. I’m not sure if laying it out flat and folding it up as I laid in the cording is historically accurate though. I machine sewed the double running stitch for gathering the waist band because I was not going to hand sew 80 inches twice.

Hours to complete: several weekends. One of those weekends resulted in two days of 8 hours of sewing (minimal half hour breaks in between to feed myself and change the load of wash).

First worn: Memorial Day Weekend at Apple River Fort

Total cost: aprox $10.00 for the cording; all other materials I had on hand

And just a few more photos!

One seam. It opens all the way to 10 inches down from top of waist band. The waist band is actually at the bottom of the picture.

Up close cording at the very bottom.

Miss F’s Dress – the first fitting

Tags

19th century clothing, Miss F's Dress 1815, Regency, sewing projects

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Miss F and I were able to meet up in Mi for a fitting. Our grandma passed away last week and Mr. H and I made the drive over for the funeral. I forced my sister into a fitting session when we had some down time at the hotel. I’m pretty pleased with my hand sewing technique and how much it has improved since my other previous garments. Everything is coming along nicely and I’m glad I added extra length to the front and back skirt panels because my calculations were perfect.

Here are some photos. Please ignore any wrinkles as well as Miss F’s obnoxiously striped tank.

 

The sides seams are just pinned and the front bib part still needs to be made and sewn on.

 

 

The angled side gore is not very visible in this photo. I’m wondering if I should have made it larger. But then I looked at some photos on pinterest or some other blog (can’t remember where) and I saw that the 1815/18 silhouette is not all that poofy/angled but it is also not a column. I think mine works! 🙂 Success.

I’ve also been going back and forth in my mind about what type of bib front to add. So far, I’ve only done rectangular ones for myself because that’s what the pattern called for and it was easiest given my sewing skills at the time. However, now that I’m learning more and am more ambitious, I’ve been mulling over the options. (These are the things I think about at night).

I tried a little mock up on my dress form a few weeks back, saved the pieces and then tried them on Miss F. She was confused (mainly because she does not sew), and I had to tell her to keep standing still and be patient.

 

I’m not sure if it was my horrid first time draping ability or my crappy pinning job (because she was rushing me) or my cutting it on the wrong grain, but we were not entirely happy with the look. It could be the shape of her chest and this style just doe not suit her, or it could be my fault. But I made the executive decision to just go for a basic gathered bib front that will pin into place. I’m going to make the top a drawstring so that it is more adjustable for Miss F.

Also it may or may not be evident in the photos that she is not wearing any stays. We decided that because she is not a hard core living historian like I am that it was silly to force her into uncomfortable undergarments (she does not enjoy clothing that physically constricts her) for this event. I know all the purists out there are gasping because how can you make a historically accurate dress without proper foundations?!! Well I am and I’m really okay with that because it’s for someone else and I want her to have fun and feel comfortable.

*Update: since posting, the side seams are now halfway sewn.*

Miss F’s Dress: Skirts

Tags

19th century clothing, hand sewing, Miss F's Dress 1815, Regency, sewing projects

My fabric isn’t wide enough. I have the back skirt panel gathered and pleated and I pinned it to the bodice. I tried it on to see how it felt in terms of flowy-ness and what not. It felt okay. (Miss F and I are similar in stature). However, I think I’m going to add 5 – 7 inch-ish panels to either side so I can have a bit more pleating in the back. I like the fuller back skirt look.

 

 

Sleeves still need to be cut, sewn, attached. Belt/waist tie still needs to be cut, sewn, attached. Front big needs to be played around with: I can’t decide it it should be gathered, pleated, etc. I need to make these decisions now. Then that needs to be attached.

I’m enjoying making another dress of this style. I think it’s giving me another opportunity to refine my hand sewing skills and learn how to alter parts of the pattern for someone other than myself.