HB Revolutionary War Event 2017

I finally managed to kit out the whole family! 

My husbands clothing are made from two patterns

J.P. Ryan Breeches and Butterick 3072 Coat, Waistcoat and Shirt.

There were a lot of "wins" going on in this outfit for me. First: I did this all in a about 2 weeks..all of it. That's including the boys clothes. And I finally completed those damn breeches, yes they are definitely not for the faint of heart. They run incredibly small, which made me try scaling a pattern for the first time. It just barely worked.

 My eldest son is wearing:

Granny's Attic Toddler Boys Suit (Knickerbockers), Shirt is loosely  based off of a diagram, Waistcoat is based off of Butterick 3072.

Bis E's clothing were not hard at all to construct. I made up the knickerbockers from the GA pattern easily. His shirt is made from a diagram I found on Pinterest, which is just rectangles and squares. The same as most any other 18th c shirt. I used the directions from here, to create a basic body block from his measurements and then drew in the lines for the vest. Not as hard as you might think.

My younger son is wearing:
Kanniks Korner Infant Clothing c. 1850-1800 Shirt, Frock, Bedgown and Boys Cap.

Little E's clothes are really wonderful. These were sewn by hand. I always enjoy the historical sewing techniques included with these patterns. Easy to follow and fun to make. This is if you like to hand sew, which I do. The only drawback is that the general public don't understand that this is how boys were dressed then. Poor guy got called a girl a lot. 

Ren Faire Garb Rework

 Here is my new updated and reworked kirtle, partelet, and smock. I wore this recently to the Ren Faire in Irwindale, CA. My outfit did great. However we got rained out...again. I was soaking wet by the time we left.

 So I used the alter years pattern for the bodice again and heavily altered it. Raising the front, cutting down the back, fitting it, adding boning, extra layers to the bodice and a lot more eyelets than it calls for down the front. Also the skirt is made of just two rectangles. I also made the new kirtle, sleeves, smock and adjusted the partelet on the fly. All in three days. I made my first one in about that same time.

 I used the Grace Gamble smock pattern I found on a blog and it worked pretty darn well. Better than I expected really. As always it takes forever to get fabric pleated and I had to redo it about a million times. And after all that my sleeves were too long and covered my cuffs. I used a partelet pattern from my Elegant Ladies Closet to approximate the partelet previously. It came out too long and too big. So I hacked it and added ribbon ties to the sides and hemmed it up. Voila! 

18th Century Picnic

Finally I've had the chance trot out my 18th century clothes.  I wore my brown linen J.P. Ryan jacket. Hand sewn BTW and it wore really well. No split seams I don't think. The green petti I made the night before and finished the morning of. I should have only used two panels of fabric instead of three because it was very heavy, also made from linen.

I wore my American Duchess Kensingtons with the Cavendish buckles. I had some trouble getting my buckles on, they just didn't want to go through the holes I made. I had to fight to get them in and now my shoes look a little wrinkled. But I figure they will acquire a lived in look anyway. I also broke my awl and then grabbed my scissors and punched a giant hole in one side. Thankfully it can't be seen. I've had the shoes for forever now and I was terrified of doing exactly what I did. Maybe ill just continue to look at my other shoes and not touch them.

 

  I didn't actually know anyone at the picnic but everyone was friendly. My husband ran off to a puppet show with E so it was a sink or swim moment.

The picnic was put on by Heather, the lady in the gold gown, very friendly herself. Overall it was good fun!

18th Century Event: Finally?

I'm having the hardest time deciding on my next project. It will be for an 18th century event, a picnic specifically. The event itself isnt that big of a concern and so won't determine what I make but there are just so many ideas in my head. I'm really working hard to clear out my stash and not spend any more than necessary.

First would be a round gown that I found on Pinterest.

I'm not able to get to the original source on this image so I can't say 100% but I'd be willing to bet it's a round gown, just a later style. I have some jewel tone blue taffeta and I'd use the round gown pattern and levite sleeves from my Rocking Horse Farm pattern. For the sash i could buy what I need for very little.

My next choice would be to use my J.P. Ryan Jacket pattern.

View C is what I'd use, I have a plain brown linen jacket made already and like it's fit. I've got a white batiste petti mostly finished,it just needs hemming and of course I'd also like to make use of my waverly curtains. The length on these after the stitching is removed is something like two and a half yards if I remember correctly. I won't have enough to make a matching petti.

I've also gotten out my unfinished half boned stays and sewed them together. I had previously sewn all the boning channels so most of the hard work was done. However I've lost enough weight that will need to take out the front insert to get any compression. Once again I do have a finished pair but they are fully boned and not very comfortable. They just aren't sewn well. But they will work if I just don't have the time. Which I never do.

I did seriously consider wearing a costume that I made several years ago.

It's just a wee bit tight and would require that I continue to lose more weight in the next month and a half. If it comes down to it I'll be covered.

Items to complete:

• Dress/Jacket
• Buy fabric?
• Hem Petticoat
• Fichu
• Dress Hat
• Dress Day Cap?
• Shoe Closure

September: Pediatric Cancer Awarness

I wanted to share this here to spread the word, even if it is only to a limited audience, about Phoebe Fair and Photographers for Phoebe. There aren't many people who haven't heard of the ice bucket challenge for ALS but maybe not so many people have heard of AT/RT. Please visit the Facebook page. If you happen to live in east Texas get a mini session to help fund research for AT/RT. At the very least lets all Go Gold to show our support.