New Reenactment Goodies

I just got my order from Jas. Towsend and Son, and I'm pretty excited about it! I couldn't afford the actual silver wear at this time, at $30, but I'm hoping to get by with my wooden spoons! I know, it's pretty ridiculous, but I'm only a poor college student. Hopefully my fellow reenactors will be understanding and not mock me for my (I'll admit) rather lame utensil-substitutes.

Here are pictures:

(Tin plate, wooden spoons, and bamboo tea strainer)

(Tin candle holder, three beeswax candles)

(Quart-sized tin mug, glass bottle)

(Showing how enormous the quart mug is!)

(Cotton muslin liner I made for the bamboo strainer, as my tea-leaves went through every tiny hole in the strainer!)

Here are some preview pictures of my quilt-lined winter hood. I'll try to get some pictures of the finished thing (I just need to sew up a couple raw edges and it will be done!) uploaded soon :)

(Stitching the quilted lining to the flannel outer.)

(You can sort of see the flower design I decided to do in the center of the lining.)

For now, I'm done. I have both a sun bonnet and a winter hood, and someday I'll get around to trimming my bonnet, at which point I will have quite a respectable collection of 1860s headwear. Now what I *need* is a second pair of drawers, as I only have one, and it's quite a nuisance for three-day weekends!

Elizabeth Stewart Clark Slat Bonnet

Today I finished the slat bonnet I've been meaning to get to for ages now! It is from the instructions on elizabethstewartclark.com, and was mad simple to do, once I got everything together. I never started till now because I needed to buy the appropriate cotton, but Sunday I got myself to walmart (the only place that sells fabric within a 10 mile radius of this school, and bought stuff for both the bonnet and the winter hood I have also been wanting to make. I'll get to work on said hood, a pattern from Peter's Magazine (inspiration for this hood can be found here, here, and here.). I'm not sure if I should expect more or less sewing on the hood, because I'm not sure if I'll be hemming the whole edge or not. I did the bonnet all by hand, mostly because I don't have access to a sewing machine here at college! But it was a good experience, and having something made entirely by hand is really pleasing.

Here are some production pictures I took:

(With some cardboard slats in place.)

(The oatmeal box I used for cardboard.)

(The hem along the edge.)

(Where facing and bonnet fabric meet.)

(Close up of patch I made on the facing.)

 (All slats in place, not yet trimmed.)

(Whip-stitching across top of slat pockets.)

(Bonnet tie.)

(Finished product.)

One thing I'd mention if you are planning on making this is that a 1/4 inch seam allowance is needed, but the instructions don't mention the fact until after telling you to cut the fabric. I realize that as good pattern-followers we all ought to read and memorize every step, but I tend to be sloppy with these things (despite my very best efforts to stay in control, I always seem to get ahead of myself!). I didn't put the seam allowance in and it turned out fine, but for a longer "cape" and brim, the 1/4 inch would probably be beneficial.

Plastic Corset Boning

I just made this video about alternative boning material (cable ties), which I used on my Regency short stays (from Sense And Sensibility Patterns).

Though at first skeptical, I am totally convinced of the place cable ties have in historic stays and corsets!

I took this quiz and got:

Agnes Wickfield is the serene heroine of Dickens' David Copperfield. David thinks that Agnes is exemplary, but he doesn't realize that Agnes loves him. Throughout the novel Agnes tries to be selfless, even making friends with David's wife. She is very loyal to her family, too. She detests Uriah Heep's abuse of her father, and heartily refuses to marry him and compromise her beliefs. In the end, Agnes' patience wins through, and she is able to marry David, the man she has loved quietly for many years.

...which seems to pretty much sum me up, not counting the pining away for a married man thing ;)

Under the Weather

I've been quite ill for the last week, with a sore throat and headache, so no new posts and no new clothes or anything. Actually, last weekend I made a travel bag modeled after on in Godey's. It's quite nice, made of red-striped cotton ticking, and I'm ever so excited to use it for my first reenactment in two weeks. I've had word from the ladies making my corset and my dress, which should arrive within the week, so I believe I'm all set to go! I'd really like to make another set of drawers and another chemise, but I fear that other responsibilities have got to come first. Perhaps I can whip out another set of drawers at least next weekend - it would be so nice to have clean underwear for both days of the weekend.


Today, the last day of my extended sick "holiday", I walked 'round our country property. The day has been as beautiful as can ever be offered, the perfect Texas day. It was about 50 degrees F, with a perfectly clear blue sky, a bright sun, and refreshing breeze. Of course, I was accompanied by our most loquacious cat, Puss-In-Boots:

I only get to visit home on the weekends, and next year I'll be much farther away, and will only visit on holidays, so I try to soak up as much of this beloved place as I can, whenever I'm here.

I walked down to the pond, which is delightfully full and brimming with rainwater from our prolonged deluge these past few weeks. (By the pond is our traditional campfire round, with spare wood and log seats, in case you wondered.)

(This picture doesn't do the pond justice! It was really lovely, not so brown in the person.)

It was so lovely, I sat down right on the bridge and soaked in the glorious sunshine. Of course, Puss-In-Boots would not leave me alone, so I was forced to either be continually petting the large fellow, or deal with his loud and demanding vocals. He could wake a whole village from its slumber with a few choice meows!

When I started on my walk again, I felt decidedly the chill, and reconciled myself to go back inside.

(isn't that sky just glorious?)

There I commenced to making the four valentines I'm giving this year.

One for father, 

one for mother, 

one for my brother, (can't get it upright!) 

and one for my only living grandparent, Genie. (this one too! :( Picasa hates me )

To follow up on my last, and shamefully cryptic post, here are a couple pictures of my finished travel roll. When buying fabric for my case, Mom was buying fabric for a rolling case of her own to store her watercolor brushes in. She needed something sturdy, so she made hers of thick cotton ducking. I had selected the cotton ticking I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but it was a little flimsy, and Mom had the great idea of lining my travel case with the scrap ducking from hers. It worked brilliantly, as she had just enough left by for me, and my case is much the stronger for it. 

And here I am, back in the big city, anticipating an early morning of school, missed assignments, and late work due. I'm most certainly wishing it were already summer! And it's being so far away, at least if it were Spring Break... Ah well, this is my last year of high school, I did willingly choose to go to school (rather than homeschool), and I oughtn't act so put upon by it all. I promised myself that if I didn't like school I'd quit and come home, but I guess I was too stubborn to be "beat" by school. It's not as if I made any "bosom friends", as Anne would say. But for some reason I've stuck it out, and now that it's almost done I don't rightly know if I'm happy or sad about it. Perhaps the old phrase "bittersweet" fits it best.

p.s. I have some (4) pictures of our sheep and Mom's mostly neglected garden that didn't fit into my narrative, so I'm tagging them on at the end. 

Cadfael, our Black Welsh Mountain wether, who broke off his left horn last year :(

Devon, our Shetland wether (very skittish, to the point of neurotic)

Tanzy (short for Titania), our Shetland ewe, and the youngest by a couple years.

Finally, Mom's garden:

I'm trying to make this! We'll see if it works.

Valentines Day

This is what we had to type in my technology class today, and I thought it was kind of interesting. I wish it had talked a bit about Victorian practices, which produced the "Valentine's Day Culture" we now have. Oh well.

Valentines Day is a special day observed on February 14. On this day people send greeting cards called valentines to their sweethearts, friends, and members of their families. Many valentines have romantic verses, and others have humorous pictures and sayings. Many say "Be my Valentine"

History

Beginnings: Different authorities believe Valentine's Day began in various ways. Some trace it to an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. Other experts connect the event with one or more saints of the early Christian church. Still others link it with an old English belief that birds choose their mates on February 14. Valentine's Day probably came from a combination of all three of those sources – plus the belief that spring is a time for lovers.

The ancient Romans held the festival of Lupercalia on February 15 to ensure protection from wolves. During this celebration, young men struck people with stripes of animal hide. Women took the blows because they thought that the whipping make them more fertile. After the Romans began their conquest of Britain in AD 43, the British borrowed many Roman festivals. Many writers link the festival of Lupercalia with Valentine's Day because of the similar date and the connection with fertility.

The early Christian church had at least two saints named Valentine. According to one story, the Roman Emperor Claudius II in AD 200's forbade young men to marry. The emperor thought single men made better soldiers. A priest named Valentine disobeyed the emperor's order and secretly married young couples.

Another story says Valentine was an early Christian who make friends with many children. The Romans imprisoned him because he refused to worship their gods. The children missed Valentine and tossed loving notes between the bars of his cell window., This tale may explain why people exchange messages on Valentine's Day. According to still another story, Valentine restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter.

Many stories say that Valentine was executed on February 14, about AD 269. In AD 296, Saint Pope Gelasius I named February 14 as St. Valentine's Day.

In Norman France, a language spoken in Normandy during the Middle Ages, the word galatine sounds like Valentine and means gallant or lover. This resemblance may have caused people to think of Saint Valentine as the special saint of lovers.

The earliest records of Valentine's Day in English tell that birds chose their mates on that day. People used a different calendar before 1582, and February 14 came out on what is now February 24. Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet of the 1300s, wrote in The Parliament of Fowls, "For this was on St Valentine's Day, / When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate." Shakespeare also mentioned this belief in A Midsummer Night's Dream. A character in the play discovers two lovers in the woods and asks, "St Valentine is past;/ Begin these woodbirds but to couple now?"


 

 
________________

Source:

Carol Bain, MA, Former Archivist, Folklore Archives, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Whew! I've had word from Kay Gnagey about my dress, and from Kay Demlow about my corset, and both will be done and shipped in plenty of time! I do look forward to the day I can make my own dress, and perchance, even my own corset, but for now I think I've got the second best coming my way :-)
I've been reading Persuasion recently, and am thoroughly enjoying it. The only other Jane Austen I've read in full is Pride and Prejudice, which I also loved, but already knew quite well from watching the BBC's miniseries. With Persuasion, I only know that Capt. Wentworth and Anne will get together in the end (how could they not?). Otherwise, all plot twists are new to me - what fun!
I vowed to practice long and hard on my Bach today, but in piano class we had a guest performance. Which was lovely, really it was. Still, I feel that Mr. M has subjected us to so many guest performances this year we never have time to practice! I ought to practice now, but I am so tired I don't know that I will. I'll eat dinner and then will probably have a "second wind" to tickle the ivories.
Yesterday I ventured into the local Sally's Beauty to find pomade (Beyond Zone: Wax it Up Texture and Definition Pomade) and a comb. The pomade I got is halfway acceptable, being clear and having a sturdy, but not crisp, hold, but it has an awfully strong (in my opinion) scent. You know the one: fruity, flowery, and decidedly 20th/21st century. If anyone knows a good brand, I'd love to hear of it!

February Objective: Music and Little Women

This week marks eleven weeks between me and my upcoming senior piano recital, the culmination of four year's work at my performing arts high school. I am terrified! I still have three pieces to learn (our of an eight piece line up), which shouldn't be so daunting, but somehow I always forget exactly how to learn music between pieces. This is also the first time I've had to maintain a repertoire; in the past, I would prepare one piece for each concert, and then move on after the show. Now I'm trying to keep up with five pieces, and learn new ones as well! I am feeling the squeeze, let me tell you!


I have decided to drop all sewing endeavors for the next two weeks, to focus on my senior recital rep. However, in two week's time I'll be back at it, hopefully making another set of drawers and another chemise for Henkel Square. I'm also hoping to participate in the Little Women of 2010 challenge put on by Rebecca at www.sewinginthepast.com. Here's the banner I liked best:

I'm hoping to do a photo shoot, and perhaps a post dedicated to Jo or Meg. 

Item list: inventory for Henkel Square 2010

Hard ware:


pitcher and basin
period-appropriate soap
two plain towels and a washrag (hand-knit)
oil lamp or
paraffin candles w/ appropriate holders
ink, paper, pen, wax
bandage
pocket knife
needle and thread (repairs)
snacks (ginger snaps, fresh veggies)
drinking water
period-approp. reading material


Toilet:


comb
hair pomade
sunscreen (well disguised) or
slat bonnet (if made in time)
lip balm
hair pins
lavender oil
tooth brush (find really plain one at dollar store?)
tooth paste (also well disguised)
all held in a "lady's toilet sachet"(Godey’s, May, 1859)


Accessories:


hair ribbons (?)
fashion bonnet
slat bonnet (see above note)
small golden hoop earrings
small golden necklace
fan (?)
shawl
warm hood (really want to make one!)


Can I get it all together? I certainly hope so!

Music on a Blog

I have never felt that forcing music upon one's readers is very polite, something of an earlier internet page trend. Yet here I am, hypocrite extraordinaire, enforcing my musical choices upon you, my readers. I apologize most fervently, and point you to the "pause" button on the iPod on your left.

This is a rather random assortment of music I am fond of, including many tracks from the Pride and Prejudice movie and The Young Victoria movie, alongside a couple Victorian-American folk tunes.

The two movies are some of my favorites (though the new P&P is nothing to the BBC version of the '80s), with wonderfully romantic stories and exquisite clothing. The Young Victoria, especially, is a figurative feast for the eyes, and I recommend it with no reservations whatsoever to anyone interested in history, historic clothing, architecture, romance, royalty, bittersweet endings, or beautiful music.

I just purchased the e-patterns for a Regency Lady's Closet and Underpinnings from Sense and Sensibility. I know, I know, not exactly the time period I can anticipate reenacting much in Texas (or anywhere in the US for that matter!), but I couldn't help myself. I am simply drawn to the simple lines of the Regency period, the subtle elegance and poised grace recorded in Austen's literature and brought to life in its clothing. I hope to make the interlining of the short stays soon, (convenient built-in mockup!), goodness knows if I'll have time, however!

I finished my drawers on Tuesday night (stayed up way too late to do so!) and was feeling that everything was on schedule. Then I emailed Kay Gnagey, the very nice, and rather well known seamstress who is making my dress, and got an automatic reply "I am not at my computer right now", and I realized that she is probably at an event. Which means she is probably not working on my dress, which I need in about three weeks. Oh my gosh, what am I to do? I'm really worried about this, and have been looking at bodice and skirt patterns online, because I can't go to a reenactment without a dress.

New Clothes, Old Clothes

This weekend I started three new pieces for my slowly growing 1861 wardrobe, finishing two by last night.

On Saturday I made an apron out of some creme and navy plaid cotton. In preparation for the twelve total tucks on my drawers, I made three horizontal tucks on the hem of the apron, giving it a subtle decoration and me practice at making tucks (deceptively simple, just a lot of ironing!)

Here are the first three tucks on the drawers (I was so proud).

Below is the finished hem, with six tucks, pinned and ready to sew into a leg casing!

A video of me getting dressed in all the pieces of wardrobe I have so far is on youtube at this address.  It's a little embarrassing, but I'm hoping to get some constructive, instructive comments. Or none at all, considering that it will probably never be viewed!

This is a doll-sized prototype of the bonnet I made. It's out of card stock, affixed with tape! But I got the idea of how to piece a bonnet to fit the head and lie (mostly) flat.

 This is the final product, made of a stiff plasticky-felt interfacing I got on the cheap at Jo-Ann's, and sewn with dental floss. No, it's not exactly authentic, but once it's covered no one will know! After searching in vain for a pattern or instructions or anything on how to make a early 1860s bonnet, I finally gave up. No way was I prepared to spend upwards of $40 on a bonnet frame. So I drafted this one on my own, and I think it's turned out all right.

If anyone wants instructions or a basic pattern to follow, please leave a comment and I will try to help you! It's not perfect, but it cost me $1.20 and 45 minutes, so it just might be worth it to you ;)

More pictures to come later, after I've finished the drawers.

I'm getting a custom corset and dress. I am surprised at myself, having expected to make them both myself, especially the corset which is one of the most custom-made-necessary items one can put on one's body. However, I now have one month to get ready for Henkel Square, the civilian C.W. reenactment held in Round Top, Texas, and I am simply not a good enough seamstress to make a corset right now, or a dress. The corset is putting me back $100, which I didn't think was too bad, and the dress is going to be $185 (really good for the quality it is). I bought a ready-made dress from "Originals by Kay", but the bodice was not long enough for my extra-long torso, so I had to return it. Kay told me she had more of the fabric, and would make a custom dress for the same price as the ready made. I recommend her to anyone looking for a seamstress. She's really nice, and generous to make this dress for so little. It's a reproduction red calico, which I fell in love with instantly. Will post pictures when I have them!

Bye for now,

Victoria Rose

To my dear reader.

Good afternoon! Since my last post I have applied to eight colleges. Now all that's left to do is send in the mid-year high school report and financial aid forms. Well, at least there're no more essays to write.
I'm writing this in my living room, listening to country music on the radio. I have pretty diverse taste in music, ranging from Jay Z to C.P.E. Bach, Imogen Heap to Taylor Swift, The Beatles to Brahms. There's a very specific mood I have to be in for country. I listen to it most when I'm feeling a need for simple human desires, such as land, love, families, and life. I listen when I'm sad about being single, when I'm wistful for home (the farm), and when I'm thinking about having a family in the future. Of course, I think about these things when listening to other styles of music as well, but Country always hits those points most directly.
Over the next few weeks, I will continuing work on my outfit for Henkel Square. What, you may ask, is Henkel Square? It is a collection of historically refurbished historic buildings that is the location of a civilian Civil War reenactment this February. I am trying my best to be historically accurate with clothing and accessories, but it's becoming difficult as the time dwindles away. I have a month, and I still need a dress! I have faith that all will fall into place, however, so I'm trying not to worry.
I made an apron today out of navy and cream plaid. It took quite a few hours, so I need to work on my efficiency I think. Tomorrow I am hoping to tackle the drawers, having now had experience making ornamental tucks.
Now it is much too late to be awake. Adieu, mes amis, adieu!

Good evening, my dear reader:

I realize that this is crass and ill-bred, double posting to my blog on one day, however I am willing to sacrifice my good standing for a little let-loose.

Chemise is now fully gathered and edged, but just pinned in place. I still have to adjust the gathering around the neckline, as it is making a weird squarish line on the right side. I also have to hem the thing and add lace to the sleeve edges. Then it'll be DONE! My very first sewing project, drafted and completed by hand. Next I'm due to make some drawers, then a corset. I'm deathly afraid of the corset, and might not go through with it till sometime this summer. We'll have to see. The problem is that my summer is seeming to shrink before my very eyes. First week of June is Firebird production week. Second week is either Victorian ball with some friends at school or senior trip with Sue-Sue and Morgan and Nicki. Third week is family reunion (Dad's side) in California. Fourth week is (ostensibly) the beginning of my volunteer work at the Elissa in Galveston. Unless something else comes up. This is highly irritating to me, as I really wanted to spend at least a month at the Elissa, an 1877 iron-hulled barque, tall sailing ship. But it's not looking like I'll get that much time. I mean, I'm delighted to go to Europe, if Mom actually gets us there. Thrilled, excited, ecstatic. However, I've wanted to volunteer at the ship for many years, and this summer is the first time I'd actually be able to.

My piano lesson today was good, though the weekly embarrassment of not having practiced nearly enough is getting quite old. As in eight months old. But I oughtn't complain; it is, after all, completely and altogether my own fault. If I would just practice... but c'est la vie. C'est la mon vie.

Now I am finishing my college applications. YUCK. Good night, and good luck [to me].

Good morning, my dear reader.

I hope this post finds you well. Though we are in a most unfortunate financial squeeze, we are all greatful, I am sure, of the little things in life, such as life itself, that are more important than our funds. To give an example, I point you toward the recent headlines of the "Almost" Christmas day terrorist attack. For lack of a better phrase, I say we "got lucky." We might, today, be still in mourning for the loss of so many people upon that plane, if it was not for our good fortune and God's grace. To make another example of a current catastrophe, examine, if you will, the overwhelming headline of yesterday's news. The nation of Haiti's recent suffering and extreme conditions due to the late earthquake that struck this impoverished people is a most blunt reminder of the perishable nature of the human body. I do not suggest rejoicing that it wasn't America that suffered this blow, as any day we might face a similar fate in California. However, to be thankful for one's avoidance of misfortune is no sin, and as we mourn for those unfortunate souls in Haiti, we can and should at the same instance recognize our luck at having all our family and friends known to be alive and well.

But I have preached too long! They oughtn't let me near a soapbox, as I might never get down off it.

I am in the process of sewing my own chemise, by hand. It has introduced me to the world of clothing creation, and I hope to follow up with a pair of drawers, and corset, crinoline, two petticoats, a bodice, and a skirt. These all being from the mid-Victorian era, my favorite of all the eras of dressing, and part of the reason for this "blog" I have set up. I intend to finish this chemise by hand, to have one garment done in such a way as to make me aware of the extant to which women worked to create their garb, and then do the rest of this ensemble on the "machine", to save time and sanity.

On this chemise I am dreading above all the hemming. 60 inches of hem, double cuffed and ironed into place. I shudder now at just the thought. Still, I do find the exercise of stitching to be calming, especially on the long runs where you needn't think too much and can let your mind wander. I drafted the chemise pattern based on instructions found online. But I messed up the back and will have to take out a long flat felled seam to right my error. Ah well, I am learning from this endeavor, more than I ever would have imagined!