We finally got snow! All season, I've been watching everyone else in the country enjoy snow on the Weather Channel and despairing that I'd see any this winter. We got just enough to cover everything in white and make everyone stay home who didn't *have* to get out. The house was extra-bright from the reflected light and I was able to watch it swirl around from inside my snug house.

I also had the furnace serviced today (routine, nothing wrong) and the news was good: 30+ years old and still going strong. Granted it's not as efficient as a new one, but we keep our heat set pretty low and it would take years to recoup the cost of replacing it.

No news on the costuming front. I finally gave up on the idea of having a dining room in favor of having a craft/sewing room located between my living room and kitchen. It's not normal perhaps, but it's my house. :P I have sewn some curtains for the living room (only needed to do it for the past 7 years) and some valances for the back bedroom (previously fabric storage/junk room). The clean sweep continues as it has for the past however many months, as I try to reverse my hoarding tendencies.

I need to get back into my costuming zone and finish something new for the Historical Ball at the end of the month, plus I need to branch out into 1812 for the upcoming bicentennial. Some of the guys from Rev War are getting a unit together, so I need to see about outfitting us for a different era. On top of the pending 18th cent. projects, of course.

Best. Christmas song. Evar.

It's been how long since I last posted? *smacks self*

We spent this past weekend at our friends' 1820s house at their second annual Christmas party. We had a great time, like last year, but this time we had the added fun of a dance caller! The first dance we did was sooo fast, I almost wiped out several times because of slick leather shoes on wood floor.

We made a twelfth night cake for the party using a recipe from this month's Early American Life. The cake called for raisins, currants, candied orange peel, citron and angelica. I couldn't locate any angelica, but the cake turned out well. We also made the icing, but it was horrible. The directions instructed to put it in a dry corner overnight or for several hours to harden the icing, but we didn't have the luxury of time. Even after several hours of driving, the icing was sliding off the cake. It was yellow and lumpy and wet, and I think it scared everyone away from the cake. We baked the pea and bean inside and Sean found the pea! He received a crown for the honor, which you can see in one of the pics.

Pics here

Also, many thanks Porridgebird, for the cookie! :D

Since my fashionable fully-boned stays aren't conducive to chopping wood and cooking over an open fire (or bending over, or reaching in any direction), I've been working on making a working pair of stays.

My intent as always was to just carelessly whip them out since they wouldn't be seen, but yet again I fail at speed. I've been working on these off and on for the past several months. There is light at the end of the tunnel, though! All they lack now is binding, so they are wearable. I hope to give them a try this weekend at the Market Fair at Locust Grove. I'll be actually trying some cooking (apple butter) so it will be a good test.

These stays gave me fits because I tried them on at one point and they seemed too big. I omitted two small sections and forged ahead, only to find later that those sections were indeed needed. So, after some annoyance we have this:

	inner fabric, some boning
	some fashion fabric (striped linen) applied
	All boning in and fashion fabric applied. Two small panels that had been dropped were re-added. Top binding going on and eyelets finished.

Now that they're wearable, I plan to start making my linen work gown.

Just thought I'd share that. :D

I've been enjoying Pearl Jam's latest album but as usual, it's going to take some settling in on me before I really decide how I feel about it. The only song I really love lyrically so far is "Force of Nature." Not sure this album will be at the top of the rotation.

Now for the issue that actually prompted this post: this article which I stumbled upon while searching for something else.

Wat. I find this theory hard to swallow. Seriously, just because no one recorded any facts about it, women stood around with blood running into their shoes? Does anyone else have any input on this subject?

I'm not dead! (I feel happyyy)

I can't believe how long it's been since I was last on lj. So much crap has happened, I'll probably never remember it all. We've gotten a new roof and some new windows, gotten the '67 Comet up and running, had DH's truck blow a radiator, done some reenacting events and bought a new television. All of which has been very "ouch" to the pocketbook.

I've done almost no sewing, but I have been working on my 18th C. doll. I hope to get some pics up of it soon.

For now, enjoy my new(ish) portrait of Henry Clay in his Halloween costume:

Today we stopped by the Lincoln Pioneer Village, which I hadn't visited since I was small. It's really quite inexcusable since it's so close to our home. I was delighted to see that their small museum had quite a textile collection for its size.

All my photos are here, but there were a few items I was curious about.

This shawl (?) was hard to photograph, but I was fascinated by the way it seemed to be made. There looked to be thin strips of foil wound around black net, forming the pattern. Is there a name for this technique or type of item?



This dress's provenance is that it belonged to Abraham Lincoln's sister, Sarah Lincoln Grigsby (1807-1828). I'm not very familiar with the fashions of the 1820s, let alone fashions of the 1820s on the frontier, but it didn't meet my expectations of that era. My initial thought when glancing at it was that it was from a later period. The waist darts, sleeve shapes and tight collar don't seem very 1820s to me. What say ye?



A few more highlights:



Early sewing machine, a hearse, early 20th century clothing

... if we'd still had this car to take to the movies last night! I could have stood on the runningboard with the Tommy gun and totally gotten myself arrested. Because I assume they frown on that kind of thing. ;)

Enjoy a prom picture from *cough*1997*cough* and a couple other blasts from the past of DH. (teehee, hair!)

We had a good time tonight. I enjoyed the film and the crowd was almost quiet, except for someone who seemed to have their phone set to "bloop" every 20 minutes. It wasn't very crowded, being Wednesday, but it was a fairly good turnout. I thought the costumes and sets were well done, and DH complimented the gunshot sound effects.

If I had to make one negative statement to the director, it would be, "Shove the shaky cam up your ass." Someday, people are going to look back on the early 2000s and wonder what we* were thinking.

*"We" in the way that everyone alive in the 1970s shares some of the responsibility for avacado-colored appliances. ;)

I thought the acting and the pacing was good and I enjoyed a lot of the casting choices.

( Potential spoilers )

We got dressed up, but I ended up wearing the knit outfit instead of the dress I'd been altering. Our outfits were cobbled together from stuff we had around already. DH's pants aren't wide-legged enough and my black accessories kind of clash, but whatever. I imagine 99% of the population wouldn't notice the numerous issues with our appearance. Pics:

( Dangerous characters )

How much trouble do you think it would be to move a two-story log home 120 miles? :D

I found a house that's going to be auctioned with the requirement that it be removed. It's just what I want! The other cabin I was looking longingly at (which you may remember me posting about) finally sold. I can't afford this either, but it's fun to dream.

*****
Got my tickets for Public Enemies tonight. I still haven't made up my mind what I want to wear. Long flowery dress that I posted or 1970s knit sweater/skirt combo that reminds me of Bonnie (of Bonnie & Clyde) for some reason? I'd go with the knit combo just because I like it better if I had a hat that really matched it. I have a great hat for the dress, but the overall appearance is more frumpy than I'd like. DH voted for the knit, so that's influencing me too.

*****
A group here in town has gotten together an event to take place tomorrow called Patriot Day. I only learned of it recently, but I spoke with the organizer and she was excited to have DH and me attend in period clothes. She wants it to be a real reenacting-type event, but this initial excursion was put together with rather short notice. Hopefully I can work with her to improve it for next year. Anyway, I'm excited that something even vaguely history-related is happening in my town!

*****
Still working on my new, more practical stays. I came to a halt as 1930s stuff took precedence, but hopefully Thursday's event will reawaken my 18th century mojo. I also have some beautiful linen that is to be my working-class gown, someday.

*****
I have come to the conclusion that I'm just not going to be on LJ regularly for the foreseeable future. I keep missing a week, catching up on two or three days and then starting the process all over again. These events will give me something to post about over the next few days, but then I'll probably disappear again, sorry.

A lady I know just acquired the most unusual doll costume I have ever seen. We both thought that it must represent an ethnic/regional costume, but I have no idea what region that might be. We guessed everthing from India to Ukraine to Native American, but researching it has proven harder than I thought.

I pulled out Taschen's The Complete Costume History, confidently believing that I'd find the answer in its beautifully illustrated (if confoundingly captioned) pages. No such luck. Nothing matches all the elements of this strange costume.

I assume the costume is late 19th/early 20th century from the textiles. Also, my acquaintance was told the costume was found on a wax doll, which should put it firmly in the 19th century. The petticoat is made from red velvet/velveteen; the bodice from a purple fabric which is either flocked or burnout velvet; and the cape from the flocked fabric and black wool. The cape, neckpiece, apron, sleeves and pocket are all decorated with micro beads. There are also some convex gold-colored spangles and some *tiny* spangles that are either partially translucent or badly tarnished. The workmanship is amazing, especially in the binding of the edges of the cut-outs.

We were just guessing that the long piece fringed with gold bullion tied around the neck. I don't actually know where it goes, but it is the only place it seems to fit.

( Pictures of this fascinating costume, plus a couple of Taschen's illustrations )

Does anything about this unsual costume ring a bell with anyone? Or do you know of a community or website or book that could possibly shed some light on this? I consider myself a good internet searcher, but I've just hit a wall unless I can come up with some better keywords.

In trying to find more primary accounts of 18th c. clothing, I searched Google Books. I found Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, which was written in 1830 (if I'm understanding the title page correctly) and contains some retrospective articles. These were recorded from aged local's reminisces and contain some editorial elements so they should probably be taken with a grain of salt, but there are still some interesting references.

Does anyone have any idea what "hollow-breasted stays" are?


My grandmother wore a black velvet mask in winter with a silver mouth-piece to keep it on, by retaining it in the mouth. I have been told that green ones have been used in summer for some few ladies, for riding in the sun on horseback.

Ancient ladies remembered a time in their early life, when the ladies wore blue stockings and party-coloured clocks of very striking appearance.

In the year 1749, I met with the incidental mention of a singular overcoat, worn by captain James as a storm coat, made entirely of beaver fur, wrought together in the manner of felting hats.

Such was the general passion for the longest possible whip of hair, that sailors and boat men, to make it grow, used to tie theirs in eel skins to aid its growth. ??

their [sailors'] "small clothes," as we would say now, were immense wide petticoat-breeches, wide open at the knees, and no longer. About 70 years ago our working men in the country wore the same, having no falling flaps but slits in front; they were so full and free in girth, that they ordinarily changed the rear to the front when the seat became prematurely worn out.

The ladies once wore 'hollow breasted stays,' which were exploded as injurious to the health. Then came the use of straight stays. Even little girls wore such stays. At one time the gowns worn had no fronts; the design wss to display a finely quilted Marseilles, silk or satin petticoat, and a worked stomacher on the waist.— In other dresses a white apron was the mode; all wore large pockets under (I would like to stress the "under" here) their gowns. Among the caps was the 'queen's night cap,'—the same always worn by Lady Washington. The 'cushion head dress' was of gauze stiffened out in cylindrical form with white spiral wire. The border of the cap was called the balcony.

At same time [1765] a stay maker advertises cork stays, whale bone stays, jumps, and easy causkets, thin boned misses' and ladies' stays, and pack thread stays!

From one advertisement of the year 1745, I take the following no unintelligible articles of dress—-all of them presented for sale too, even for the ladies, on Fishburne's wharf, "back of Mrs. Fishbourne's dwelling," to wit: "Tandems, isinghams, nuns, bag and gulix, (these all mean shirting) huckabacks, a figured worsted for women's gowns) quilted humhums, turkettees, grassetts, single allopeens, children's stays, jumps and bodice, whalebone and iron busks, men's new market caps, silk and worsted wove patterns for breechers, allibanies, dickmansoy, cushloes, chuckloes, cuttanees, crimson dannador, chain'd soosees, lemonees, byrampauts, moree, naffermamy, saxlingham, prunelloe, barragons, druggets, florettas," &c, &c.

This was a fun quote:

It having been the object of these pages to notice the change of fashions in the habiliments of men and women from the olden to the modern time, it may be necessary to say that no attempt has been made to note the quick succession of modern changes,—precisely because they are too rapid and evanescent for any useful record.

This past weekend, we visited Blackacre in Louisville for a small event. It's a state nature preserve with a house dating to the 1840s and a barn whose interior dates to the 1790s. There are 171 acres, including several acres of community gardens.

They also have animals including... baby goats!

If you're wondering how my garden is growing, here are some before and after pics.

So far, we've got beans, one tiny green tomato, and the cucumbers are blooming. I noticed today though, that one of my corn plants is tasselling, which I guess is completely wrong since it's only a couple feet tall and has no silks. :(

We've also got (unripe) blackberries!

( Pics )

I don't know what the deal is, but for the past couple of nights, I've had some messed up dreams that have included badminton (I blame that pain reliever commercial I keep seeing), losing my purse/costumes, driving our '67 Comet (which IRL doesn't quite run and has no brakes), picking wild flowers, zombies/ghosts, and staying in a hotel.

Oh, and I had a dream about dancing in a huge hall that was in the back of a Target and filled with emo kids and bobby-soxers. I was feeling bad that I was dressed so crappy in jeans and a t-shirt when suddenly, I was wearing my salmon 1780s gown. I thought to myself, "This can't be possible. I'll ask DH if I'm really wearing this or just imagining it when he comes back from the bathroom."

LOL, I love the little bits of logic that infiltrate the crazy dreams.

***

I have been sewing. Sewing, going to events, gardening: that is my life. I need to post some gardening pics, but I want really impressive "after" pics and some stuff's still looking sparse.

The latest event pics can be seen on my Photostream, but I've only uploaded two from Vincennes because I'm nearly out of room without paying for an account. The two I uploaded are great though! Here's the backstory:

We were standing behind the men during morning colors while they went through weapon checks and blah, blah, blah. I pointed out to one of the girls (E) where there was an ice cream shop not far away. S perks up and says, "Ice cream? Let's go!" We all look nervously around because we're facing the public and colors isn't over yet. I turn around, and S is already sailing away. After a moment more of indecision and watching others trickle away after her, I decide I'm not going to miss out on the fun (or ice cream). I run and catch up and we walk the half a block to find that they aren't open for another half hour! So disappointing. S isn't having any of it, so she presses herself to the plate glass window with a desperate cry, which of course brings the waitress to the door. I'm sure the waitress was suprised by the group of strangely-dressed women and it might be why we were able to convince her to let us in.

Tomorrow is May 29, Restoration Day or Oak Apple Day. Wear your oak leaves to celebrate Charles II's Restoration!

In anticipation of dressing up for "Public Enemies," I've been trying to come up with something suitably late-20s/early-30s. I'd bought fabric and dresses I thought I could work with, but nothing seemed quite right.

I found this dress today and thought it might work for early 30s. I'm making some changes, and I'm really pleased at the way it's coming together. I don't know if I'll end up wearing it or not, but it's a fun project.

	Original front Early 1990s dress from thrift store. I think I already removed the shoulder pads in these pictures.
	Original back
	Making changes I took in the seam under the arm, removed the neckline facing and took up the top shoulder seam (to make up for the shoulder pads). I also shortened the back ties and will fasten them with hooks and eyes. The fabric I removed was repositioned as "ties" at the neckline and the neckline facing was turned backwards to make a collar. The edges will be bound with bias tape.

As mentioned here, I shortened the bodice by an inch at the sides and more than an inch at the center front because it was always riding up. I'm much more short-waisted than the pattern. I also modified the petticoat which had been pleated to accomodate the panniers.

Here is is before:



And here it is after:

I decided I needed a black straw hat, so I dyed a hat blank with some Rit. I also found a placemat with funky straw trim that I also dyed and added to my hat. I was skeptical of the dying process because it took quite a while for the dye to really take, but I got a very good black I think. I want to shellac the hat before wearing it to prevent dye transfer onto my cap, though.

	Hat blank, pre-dying and placemat with trim
	Hat dyed and placemat trim removed, dyed, and added to hat

I had thought about selling my yellow gown and petticoat because they didn't fit quite like I'd like, plus I'd since figured out that the polonaise didn't go with the panniers. I decided to alter it instead. I'm changing the petticoat to fit to my bumroll instead of the panniers and I'm shortening the bodice (it was too long-waisted) as well as fixing the mess I had going on near the center back. This was the first real gown I'd made and I didn't exactly know what I was doing.

	Fixing pleating at CB and shortening bodice (left adjusted)
	shortening bodice (right side adjusted)