Katie Jacobs

Stays: the Cording Conundrum

2012-01-27T00:16:00.002-05:00

Indecision--the bane of a seamstress' existence.

Actually I'm pretty sure that would be fabric scissors touching paper, but that's not why I'm having issues with these %$#&@* stays. It's not the sewing that's the problem, or even the patterning. I'm pretty much ready to go as far as those things are concerned. All my pieces are even cut out and basted appropriately.

The issue is that I now have to make a design decision. You see, stays of the type I'm making were often corded, embroidered, trapunto-ed, and otherwise embellished--for both aesthetic and structural purposes. All of them serve to stiffen and stabilize the fabric, and in some cases that's all that's used, taking the place of boning completely. I happen to have more "topography" to maintain, so I'll be partially boning mine--but I now have to decide on a layout for the boning and cording that I want to do.

So, because I had no idea what I wanted, I turned to the World Wide Web for assistance. Except, I then had the opposite problem. Too many options! For those of you who haven't already followed me on Pinterest, you're welcome to. I have a 1812 inspiration board for stuff like this, and I've been obsessively pinning stays examples. It seems like varying levels of cording are acceptable, embroidery too, and there's everything from diamond grids to swirls and crop circles. I've narrowed it down, though, so here are a few of the images I'll be using for inspiration. And then I'll be spending some quality time with gridded paper and No. 2 pencil to plot my own layout!

1820s; Pemberley.com

A lot of these are dated in very general terms. You'll see things like "1800-1820" or "1810s" or even "Early 19th century." So, rather than try and reproduce a specific pair or design, I'm taking a sampling of various pairs of roughly the same style as I want. Normally I wouldn't really recommend decade-hopping, but I've looked at dozens of pairs and as far as I can tell, there was no right or wrong way to cord or embellish them. There are trends, certainly, but they're not specific to decade, and the main differences moving from 1800 to 1820 are in silhouette and shape, rather than in embellishment.

The pair above is pretty heavily corded, as far as the examples I saw. The underbust looks nice and sturdy, and there's cording in the bust gores. There's no boning visible in the front, though there's no telling what the back looks like. The horizontal lines of cording running 'round the stays at waist level are pretty common, as are the diagonal lines angling up from the bottom of the corset up towards the busk pocket over the lower abdomen.

1810; Live Auctioneers

Another example with corded bust gores; these would have been stiffer than the pair above them, with multiple rows of cording laid side by side like that. I love the embroidery on these! Here is a full view; you can see that the body isn't very heavily corded at all, and those over-the-belly diagonal lines are clearly in evidence.

1825; Victoria & Albert Museum

Thanks to the V&A, I have several super huge, high-resolution images of this pair, and they are gorgeous. There's light boning in the torso, and it's a great example of trapunto. The first couple examples are most likely cording, but all the latice-like diamonds in this one are made by stitching the pattern and then using a stiletto or other pointy object to separate the threads in the back of the piece and shove wee tiny bits of stuffing or fluff between the layers to make a raised pattern.

I'm still debating whether or not I'm crazy enough to do this. I'm leaning towards "not," because it sounds like a lot of work and I like one-way diagonal lines just fine!

Also, it's a little hard to tell in the smaller size picture here, but the parallel lines over the lower front of the stays aren't corded or anything; they're just stitched in. Embroidery can also add structure to a garment, just by virtue of cramming more threads into a small space. And, the stitching on these is so fine it looks like machine work. Like I said--they're gorgeous!

1815-1825; Manchester Galleries

These look fairly similar design-wise to the V&A pair, but they really are a different pair. The back is really interesting; it's not uncommon to see bone eyelets, or "pulleys" (like on this pair at the Met) for lacing. I also found an example of the bone eyelets here on Etsy, which I thought was really fascinating. Good luck finding them now, though. A Google search for "bone eyelets" gets you a lot of results for body jewelry.

I didn't include a lot of pictures of backs of stays because, to be honest, they're usually not very exciting. A lot of the examples I saw had light cording across the shoulders, and then nothing over the lower back. Some of them had cording and some of them had boning in the center back, but for the most part they weren't very exciting! There are a couple on my Pinterest, though, so by all means go take a look.

So, for me, the next step is to decide what I actually want and to plot a layout for my own stays. After that, we get to talk about busks! I'm so excited...either because of or in spite of the fact that Katie + woodworking tools usually = "Adventure." An by "adventure", I mean "bleeding."

At Long Last

2012-01-12T23:32:00.000-05:00

So, happy 2012, everyone. I'm a bit late to the party, but it's not because I haven't been working on things! For me, 2012 is shaping up to be all about the Bicentennial--of 1812, of course. I'm starting from the inside out with big plans for an 1812 wardrobe, one which I hope will carry me through the next few years as the 1812 Bicentennial really gets off the ground.

Over the years (six-ish), I've made and worn several types of stays in the style of the 1790s-1810s. After six years, you'd think I'd have this down to a science, but I have yet to find a perfect regency support garment. One of the first historical garments I ever made was a pair of regency long stays, based on a diagram from Jean Hunnisett's Period Costumes for Stage and Screen. I was an extreme novice, and let's just say the result wasn't ideal. I made two versions--one was too long, and it dug into my thighs when I sat down. One was too short and it gouged my hips. The short stays I've tried were better, but none of the three pairs I made had quite the support I was looking for. They've lasted me a good long time, but this year I want to find The Perfect Pair. What it boils down to is that my criteria for my newest stays effort is:

Ample bust support
Smooths out belly
No leg gouging
No digging in anywhere, if possible

As my friend Ginger pointed out, ladies back then had the same issues I do. Some of them had large busts. Others had solid thighs. Most likely, none of them wanted their underwear to make them look like a domestic abuse victim. So what did they do? Quickly, Robin: To the primary sources!!

German Copy of a James Gillray cartoon, c. 1810

This is the first one I found. The original Gillray image was a satire of the long corsets that women wore, showing a stay coming down past a woman's buttocks and obviously being quite restrictive. This one interested me though because of the line over the hip--and, tabs. This is the only example I've seen of a tabbed long corset in this period, and seeing as it's a reprint of a satirical cartoon, I think it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, as commented on my previous entry, there were women back then who had these same issues, and they had to figure out something that would work for them. This at least shows that in someone's head, the over-the-hip curve and tabs to spread over the hip fullness made sense, even in 1810 when long tabbed corsets had gone out of style.

La Fureur des Corsets, c. 1809

So this made me really excited, because here are four women wearing long stays, easily recognizable as your somewhat-typical style, and yet--check out the bottom edge. Every single one of them cuts up above the fullness of the hip and rear, while still coming down far enough in the front to smooth out the whole line of the torso.

Le Fureur des Corsets, c. 1809, closeup

In the closeup image, you can see the woman on the left a bit better; her stays don't even come down over her hips in the back. On the right, hers come down a bit farther, but they still have that intriguing front point, while clearly still showing the busk like you see on all those straight-across-the-bottom styles.

From Side Saddle

Credit for this find goes entirely to Samantha who first suggested the idea of a riding corset, and then turned up this extant example within 10 minutes of first mention. I don't know that I want to do a full-on riding corset, but it does show that there were definitely examples of stays that cut up over the hip, and still had a busk. Frankly, I wouldn't be caught dead riding sidesaddle, but the extra mobility would be great for doing other activities, too.

Costume Parisien, c. 1813

Courtesy of Nuranar's collection of fashion plates, which might be my favorite regency clothing reference ever, we have one more example of stays that are not straight across the bottom. These are cut a bit lower over the hips than the ones in Le Fureur des Corsets, and shaped with gores, but for sure higher in the back than in the front.

Still with me? Good! So with source material acquired, the next thing is patterning. Based on the images above, I'm going to try for a long stay with center front busk, bust gores, and a curved line across the bottom so that I get freedom of motion over the hip (aka, ability to sit, etc, without pokage) while still getting a smooth line down the front. That's for a new post, though!

Gratitude

2011-12-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday's post, be it here or elsewhere. When I posted it, I really was not sure at all what kind of response it would get, and obviously something like that is pretty personal. It was a little nerve-wracking! I've been really touched by the amazingly positive response, though, and I just wanted to express how deeply I appreciate it. I hope it brightened your day a bit, and thank you again. :)

Love the One You're With

2011-11-30T15:38:00.000-05:00

I'm bored of sewing. Let's talk about hot-button topics instead. Today? Bodies!

"Love the one you're with" usually refers to another person, but in this case, I'm saying it in terms of loving your own body. The idea is this: Everyone has a body, and you only get one of them. It's the one you've got, for better or for worse. And, the human body is nothing to be ashamed of. You've got one, I've got one, that person over there has one, and we're all limited to the body we were born with.

I suppose talking about something like this is like ripping off a band-aid. You can pick at it slowly, beating around the bush, or you can rip it off in one go. I'm a fan of the grab-and-yank method, so I'm going to start by saying some very honest things.

I weigh 240 lbs.
At 240 lbs and 5'2", I am medically classified as morbidly obese.
I am happier and healthier at 240 lbs. than I ever was at a lesser weight.
Thin does not equal happy, or healthy.
Happy and healthy trumps size, shape, or weight any day.

Let's back things up a little and take a look. I've always been a big girl (although not blessed with an abundance of verticality), so my self-image has never been tied up in being thin, or fitting into a certain size. I've always had thighs like a soccer player (solid muscle, thank you), and a rack to match (hel-lo, girls.) For the most part I made my peace very early with buying women's sizes when my classmates and peers were still shopping in the misses and juniors sections.

For most of my adult life, I've weighed about 200 lbs. My body is happy there--it doesn't fluctuate much, and I'm able to be quite active with no health issues. That's what's important to me, not the number on the scale. I weighed around 200 for my entire college career, during which I could walk for days, climb lighthouses, tote cast iron pots around, and at one point carry a grown man down a flight of steps. Long story. Anyway.

The six months after I got out of college and got a job were pretty toxic for my body image. I got a sedentary job, and put on 10 lbs. At the same time, I was living with a woman whose entire self-image was based on her perception of herself as pretty, thin, and desirable to men. She started dropping hints that I should join a gym, lose weight, get on e-Harmony, etc...and like a sucker, I listened. I went from being reasonably content with myself to being horribly insecure. At one point, I tried on some clothes I planned to wear the next morning and collapsed sobbing on the closed toilet in the bathroom because I just couldn't bear the way I looked. I think everyone will agree that's not a good place to be with yourself.

So, I joined a class at the YMCA, which is not a bad thing to do. If you do it for the right reasons. I learned a lot, and I actually had quite a lot of fun. And with exercising for an hour or more twice a week and logging every single bite that I took, I lost weight--20 lbs in total. So, six months later, I was 10 lbs lighter than I had ever been since eighth grade. I had to go buy new, smaller clothing. I was miserable. I mean, I got a little kick out of being able to buy a smaller size, but it didn't fix anything. I was still unhappy. The holy grail of "lose ten pounds" had been achieved, and it was a sham.

As a side note, one of the things I learned was that I wasn't eating enough food. Counter intuitive, right? Eat less, gain weight. Well, your body goes into starvation mode if it doesn't get the calories it needs--that's right, needs, and calories themselves aren't evil--and it'll hang onto everything you give it. The human body is built to survive, and if it thinks it's in jeopardy of not surviving, it will hoard resources and store them for use later. Incidentally, the way it stores these things is in, you guessed it, fat. But I was losing weight, and I was skinnier, so that's okay, right?

I did finally get a place of my own not long after the YMCA class ended, and that improved things for a little while. That's about the time I started to get sick, though. That spring, I attended my first Civil War reenactment as a dressed participant. I was still on the thin end of 190-200, and by the middle of the three-day event, I was lacing my corset totally shut with room to spare. I was also completely impossible to talk to, dangerously dehydrated, hadn't eaten a proper meal in two days, and having long blackouts. There are still hours-long chunks of that weekend that I simply do not remember. I wouldn't call that healthy.

Not too long ago I talked a little bit about the ten rounds I went with depression. What I didn't talk about was that during the worst of it, I pretty much just stopped eating. Food didn't sound good. Eating took too much effort. When I got home from work,I could barely muster the energy to make myself a cup of tea, much less a meal. I would literally fall up the stairs to my apartment, stagger to the couch, and doze fitfully until it was time to go to bed for real. Breakfast was 2-3 cups of strong coffee, and lunch was...whatever I could scrounge up at the office--granola bar, hot dog, the occasional taco. Dinner? Forget dinner. Too tired. Sleep instead. Wash, rinse, repeat. After a bit, it crossed the line from "starvation mode" and into the gray area between "eating light" and "eating disorder."

November 2009, 190 lbs and down to 1 meal a day.

That is not the face of a happy person. That girl was the thinnest she'd ever been, and also the sickest. Weighing less was not a goal. It was a symptom of a larger problem. She might have been relatively thin, but she was barely functioning. Around the time that was taken, I was also 100% convinced that I was just seconds away from losing all my friends and family because of the maelstrom in my brain. Insecurity was a way of life.

Then came the better life through chemistry, also known as citalopram and trazodone. Antidepressants are a wonderful thing, and I'm fortunate in that I suffer minimal side effects from mine. However, one of the side effects I do experience is weight gain. Fifty pounds later, ask me how upset I am about my weight. Answer? Who cares?! I feel awesome. I am confident and happy. And you can take that to the bank.

September 2011; my double chin and I have never been happier.

The idea behind loving your body is not to coax, work, cajole, force, or abuse your body into fitting a perfect ideal. It's not even about trying to redefine your definition of "perfect" or "acceptable" to make your body fit into it. It's about taking an objective look at the whole package. Your body doesn't define who you are. The "fat acceptance" movement is all well and good, but more important is the idea of "self acceptance." Your body is a beautiful thing. It is a magnificently engineered vessel for your mind and heart and soul. Learn it, love it, and live in it with joy.

How It's Made: Teal Ballgown

2011-11-25T21:35:00.002-05:00

Sometimes when I'm lacking in inspiration, I'll go to Samantha and say, "Sami. I have a job for you." She says, "Uh...okay?" no doubt fearing that I'm about to ask her to do something crazy. To be fair, sometimes I do. But in most cases, I'll then continue, saying, "Find me some ideas for my next sewing project." When I went to her and said, "I need a new ballgown but I don't have any ideas," she came through!

I loved the lines of the red ballgown, and I had eight yards of teal silk taffeta just lying around in my stash after a once-in-a-lifetime sale at Fabric.com. I figured the hardest part would be finding a suitable lace. While I wasn't able to find a fine black lace of the type pictured in the plate, I stumbled upon a gorgeous wide scalloped Alençon lace at Etsy shop Uncommmonstuff.

Because of the type of lace, the best treatment was to apply it flat and trim the extra fabric from under it, like you would do for a camisole or lingerie piece. In fact, the instructions from this Threads article, Create Couture Lingerie details pretty much exactly what I did.

The bodice is mounted on a lining of cotton twill, with white silk organza over the bust and the teal taffeta for the faux swiss waist. The organza is wide strips cut on the bias and hand sewn around the neck, bust, and shoulders of the bodice. The waist was sewn separately, the top edge piped, and then mounted by hand over the organza. All the layers were then treated as one for piping the bottom and attaching sleeves. The sleeves are gathered silk organza over an organza undersleeve, to make sure they stay puffed high on the arm. The bodice itself has a deep v-neck, which is filled in with a cotton net tucker. The tucker is finished off with a tiny black silk ribbon, 2mm wide, from Silky-Way.

Photo by Samantha Bullat

What's left? Oh, the underskirt--it's just a simple white cotton underskirt with a layer of the silk organza mounted to it just above knee level. I'm not actually sure how correct that is, but it solved my two problems of, "How do I make an underskirt with minimal bulk at the waist and minimal use of expensive fabric," and "I don't have a petticoat long enough to wear under a skirt this length." Combine petticoat with underskirt, et voila! Problem(s) solved.

Gettysburg Remembrance Day 2011

2011-11-21T22:43:00.001-05:00

So, Gettysburg. There's so much to say about it, but nothing tops the experience of being there. It's noise and glow and history and people people people. It's earthy and otherworldly all at once and time seems to have no real place in the whole experience.

Now, I realize part of that is because we left home at midnight and got in to Gettysburg at 11 a.m. on Friday, so of course my internal clock is all weirded out, but still. Gettysburg is an amazing trip and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

As I said, my mom, Matt, and myself left Grand Rapids at midnight on Friday and we drove through the night to Gettysburg. Besides avoiding any major traffic, this meant we got to Gettysburg in plenty of time to sleep and dress for the Remembrance Day Military Ball on Friday night.

New ballgown!

Not new, but well-altered

With our gracious escort

I really enjoyed myself at the ball, and the calling was superb. They had floor managers to help teach the dances, and it really made everything run very smoothly, as did the fact that the caller would demonstrate the dance before having everyone line up, pair off, and try to muddle through. The music was also wonderful, with a gorgeous big brass band. Nothing beats live music!

Saturday is, of course, the main event. The parade started at 1:30, so thanks to my mother's foresight we were able to park near the end of the route, and eat lunch before going to the parade, which would later prove to be a lifesaving idea. As it turns out, the restaurant we were going to go to after the parade was closed, as was the second choice in eateries. Those who were in more pressing need of sustenance headed into the main area of town to find food, but Matt, my mom, and I split off to visit the Soldiers' National Cemetery and eat a late lunch of our own.

The Cemetery was beautiful. The Soldiers' National Monument towers at the center of concentric circles of curbstones, each marking the names of the fallen and each grave marked with a flag. There's a hush over the place, and even with knots of people wandering through the site, it's quiet enough to hear just the flutter of flags for acres and acres.

And of course, because half the fun is dressing up, we took some clothing pictures, too. I wore the pink silk, and it afforded the opportunity to carry that fabulous lace shawl I got on a steal earlier this year. Matt was kitted out in a new pair of trousers and a waistcoat & necktie courtesy of yours truly, and a shirt, collar, and coat from Mike's closet. Mom wore the plaid, as it is her favorite, and also a bonnet that I made back last year but never finished. She sewed the ties on last week and wore it with pride this weekend.

As always, there are many more photos at my Flickr!

Somewhat distractable, aka the Scarlet Macaw

2011-10-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that I've been sewing my own costumes and historical clothing for years now, it's very rare that I'll actually put effort into a proper costume for Halloween. I usually end up throwing on whatever comes to hand and saying "yes," when people ask me "Are you Laura Ingalls? Jane Eyre? Jane Austen? Lizzie Bennet? A princess? A pirate?" etc etc.

This year, got invited to a friend's party and didn't want to spend all evening in a corset, which turns out was a good idea because I'm pretty sure I ate like four cupcakes and half a tub of hummus on my own. Anyway, here's the look:

The wings are made from a bent wire coat hanger, covered with fun foam and newspaper. I had to dye the blue feathers with watered-down acrylic craft paint, but the red and yellow I bought as-is at Michaels. I used masking tape and a hot glue gun, and I only ended up with one blister from the crazy-hot glue, which means I did really well on the accidental injury front.

Anyway, The wings took one evening and a few hours in the morning before the party, and the makeup I just dug out of my theatrical stash the day before. The shirt is one that I already owned. Overall, it was really easy to wear, and it was fun to do something so different from my usual projects!

St. Crispin's Day

2011-10-25T11:34:00.000-04:00

I make no secret of my love of Shakespeare. I have a short list of my favorites, categorized by genre--Twelfth Night is my favorite comedy, for example, and Hamlet my favorite tragedy. My favorite historical piece is, without a doubt, Henry V. I ready it for the first time in high school, when my entire Rhetoric class was required to memorize and present the famous St. Crispin's Day speech that Henry delivers to his men before the Battle of Agincourt. He prefaces his speech by releasing any man who doesn't wish to fight, and then goes on to paint a picture of the future, where the men who stand beside him that day will look back and remember their bravery and brotherhood.

Years later, the rallying words still never fail to make my skin prickle and often there's a suspicious tightness in my throat. The cadence of the speech itself is so familiar as to have worn grooves in my mind, and I find myself mouthing the words as I read, or breathing them softly to myself whenever I hear them spoken. And since my own limited eloquence can never hope to convey all that these words make me feel, I'll bow to the Bard and let them speak for themselves:

This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

You, Me, We

2011-10-13T17:36:00.000-04:00

For the most part, this blog is about playing pretend. Which is all well and good, but real life is out there no matter how far and fast you run. So let's talk about something real for a minute. Hi, my name is Katie...and I struggle with depression.

Things started going downhill in May of 2009, but it wasn't until August of the same year that I realized I had a real problem. That was the first time impulsively I attempted suicide. Over the ensuing eight months, I kept a journal that, in hindsight, chronicles my deteriorating mental health in terrible clarity. I experienced everything from euphoria to panic attacks to cutting and at least one other suicidal episode before I finally got myself in to see a doctor.

My friends and family did everything right. They supported and cared for me, and encouraged me to get help. In the end, though, the decision had to be my own. You see, depression is a horrible, insidious, isolating monster. Not only does it tear you down from the inside, it also convinces you that it's all in your head. I don't feel bad all the time, so maybe it's not real, or What if I'm just doing it for attention?

It's not all in your head. It's not your fault. You are not alone. And, there is help.

Depression and anxiety are real disorders, and they are frighteningly common. It took my doctor about 30 seconds to tell me on no uncertain terms that I was depressed, and she put me on a low-dose antidepressant to pull me out of the danger zone. And you know what? It worked. Within three days, my coworkers were commenting on how happy I seemed. My parents could tell the difference almost immediately. It was wonderful.

Unfortunately, despite so many wonderful advances in modern medicine, there's still a secrecy and shame about mental health--in some cases, an actual stigma. I had a run-in with a coworker once, about a month after I first saw my doctor, where he decided it would be a good idea to lecture me about how he's "really anti-drug on things like that." I ended up telling him where to shove it, but if he had come at me like that prior to being put on medication? Dis. As. Ter. My friend Jackie put it best when she said:

Mental illness is not a stigma. Depression in particular is not a stigma. As I tell my patients with depression (especially those with Dysthymia) you have to think about it like you would diabetes. Diabetes is chronic. There are days when things will be really good and your blood sugar will be within the perfect range. And then there are days where it will be like riding a rollercoaster without a harness. Most diabetes is due to your body not processing a chemical correctly, in this case insulin. Most depression is caused by your body not processing a chemical correctly, in that case serotonin. Now diabetics aren't shunned away from like Quasimodo...why should people with depression be treated poorly? The answer is they shouldn't.

Having depression or anxiety does not make you less of a person, and asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of. Don't let your own mind or anyone else tell you otherwise. It's hard. The one thing you need to do--take responsibility for your own mental health--is the one thing you feel least equipped to do, and it can seem impossible at times. And unfortunately, it's not an instantaneous fix. There is no magic pill that will solve all your problems. I'm one of the lucky ones in that the first thing my doctor tried did work, and worked well, but I've had to change things over time to get back to where I was before I got sick. My doctor and I have worked together for over a year now to perfect a combination of things that works for me, so that I can manage my mental health and function as a whole, content person. There are still issues--I feel wonderful, but I'm struggling with weight gain as a side effect of my medication, for example. But every step is progress, and it's always worth it.

On the whole, I suppose I'm sharing this for several reasons. Me? I'm nothing special. But I made it, and if I can, so can you. And when it was worst for me, it really helped to know that I wasn't the only one. And because every time I say something about my own experience with depression, it seems like someone else comes out of the woodwork--either they struggle with it as well, or they know someone who does...and it helps to be able to talk about it. And so I talk about it, because we are not alone.

Things I Did At Mississinewa 1812 by Katie Jacobs

2011-10-12T14:35:00.000-04:00

1. Made 0 purchases.
2. Handed out 1 business card.
3. Took 2 naps.
4. Hung out with 3 super-awesome non-bloggers.
5. Tried 4 new kinds of period drinks.
6. Threw up 5 separate times.

So the moral of the story is, I had a great time. No more recipe sampling "for science" though!

An 1860s Hairdo...With a Little Help

2011-09-20T09:23:00.001-04:00

So. Hairpieces and reenacting. I promised to talk more about this, and here we are. I posted about this once before, but long story short: I wear a modern haircut in my 'real' life and use hairpieces to emulate period hair when doing historical events. Here's just one of the many ways I've used a hairpiece for 1860s hairstyles.

Step one: Cheesy smile.

Here's our starting point. I realize that my hair is considered long by some, but I've faked period hair with much shorter locks before, too. It's a little harder to integrate the hairpiece when you have less natural hair to work with, but it's by no means impossible. The major downfall of my modern haircut is the layers--it's nearly impossible to get a nice, full-looking period hairstyle with thinned or layered hair. Sure, I can make my hair into a bun, but compared to the full, lush styles of the 1860s, my little stub looks pretty pathetic. That's why you use fake hair to fill it out!

Tools of the trade: Mousse, bobby pins, waving iron, comb, and The Bun

Here they are--the secret ingredients. The very first thing you need is goop--some sort of styling product that will goop up your hair and make it workable. Trying to do period hair with clean, fresh-from-the-shower hair is a recipe for disaster. Or at least lots of cursing. I personally swear by mousse--it gives my hair a good amount of malleability without weighing it down. It also doesn't dry into a crisp like gel or hairspray, so it's nice for something that's going to take a little bit of working. Gel is fine, too, and hairspray should be used to shellac everything down at the end.

Mousse your hair up thoroughly, combing it through to make sure you've got it all over. Then--and this is specifically for 1860s--part your hair in the center and smooth it down on each side. Then part it again, going from one ear, up over the top of your head, and down to the other ear. I usually part it a little behind my ear so that I have plenty for doing rolls in the front, but you'll want to experiment with various part locations to perfect your own style.

I put all my parted sections into little ponytails to keep them separated.

Next, I chose to use my waving iron to give my front hair a bit of texture. There are a few reasons, not the least of which is that you do see this in period images. Also, I have some not-quite-bangs that need to be hidden. It's easier to disguise them if my hair has a little texture, so that works in my favor, too. Thirdly, waving or curling the front sections give my pin-straight hair more body, so when I roll it toward the back, the rolls have a bit of spring to them rather than just lying flat against my head. I have broad shoulders--I look less like a pinhead if I have broad hair, too. Before I had a waving iron, I used to just spiral curl my front sections with a regular curling iron to get the body I wanted, but the waving iron works better for the texture you see in period images.

Next up: the rolls

At this point I decided that the waving wasn't going to quite give me the body I needed, so I pulled out two old sponge rollers I had and took the plastic bits off. That way, I could use the cylindrical sponge sections as "rats," or padding under my hair.

I tried to get good pictures of me rolling the sponges into my hair--I really did. But I was doing this by myself with a camera on self-timer, on a tripod on my parents' bathroom counter, and it just was not working for me. So...I'm sorry, no pictures of a potentially-tricky part of the process. It's not really hard, but it may take a couple tries to roll the rat/sponge/whatever into your hair and get it situated the way you want. I pretty much just finger-combed the waved section forward, nestled the sponge about where I wanted it, and then simultaneously twisted the hair back and down, enclosing the sponge in the roll as I went. It's almost a folding motion--comb hair forward, hold sponge in place, fold hair back over sponge and twist as you pull the hair down and back to cover.

Yes? No? I can make a video of anyone wants to see; I'll just have to bribe/pay/coerce my sister/mother/Samantha/Mike/someone into helping me.

Anyway, at this point, I was starting to sweat and my mom was starting to get into "okay let's go now p.s. I need the bathroom and can you help me with my hair?" mode, so I was rushing a little.

I would love to be able to say that rushing explains this face, but...

It took a little finagling to get both rolls symetrically situated and similarly-sized, but with that done it was time to decide what to do with the back section of my hair. I decided on four braids--braids are great because they keep your natural hair under tension between your scalp and the braid, which gives you something to which you can anchor your hairpiece. Anyway, I braided my hair in four pieces, distributed as follows:

One braid behind each ear, using the waved sections leftover from the rolls and a narrow section of the back hair, divided from crown to nape vertically. These were situated to show below my ear from the front, to visually balance the width of the rolls above my ears.

Two braids in back, made by parting the remainder of the back section vertically down the center and starting the braids about level with my ears.

Starting to braid. Man...naptime yet?

I pulled the braids to their respective sides and fastened the hairpiece so that the bottom was just a teeny bit lower than my hairline at the back of my neck. Then, I took the two back braids and crossed them up and over the hairpiece, tucking the ends under and pinning them in place. The two braids behind my ears I looped back and tucked up under the bottom of the hairpiece, again pinning the ends under the bun so they wouldn't show.

Ear-braid looped back, back-braid goes up and over.

You can see how some of the back section comes forward to go into the braid behind the ear...right?

A view from the side.

This hopefully shows a bit of how the hair folds back from the roll and continues into a twist...which then continues into the braid behind the ear. More convoluted than a Michigan roadwork detour!

The overall look, complete with straw hat.

Holland Civil War Muster 2011

2011-09-18T08:00:00.005-04:00

Van Raalte Farm, Holland, Michigan
9/17/11

So, apparently, there's a Civil War event in Holland. Color me surprised. Now, I don't feel too badly about not knowing this, because it's only a three-year-old event, so I wasn't living in Holland anymore by the time it got off the ground. It's put on by the Holland Museum, and I think it's got a lot of potential.

Because Holland is so very close to home as far as reenactments go, my mom, Samantha, and I decided to make a day trip of it. We got there too late to see the battle or anything, but I will say that the venue, Van Raalte Farm Park, is really lovely. I have vague memories of hiking there from when I was 12 or so, but I'd forgotten what a lovely park it is. The original home built by Benjamin Van Raalte (son of Holland's founder) still stands on the site, and there are dozens of beautifully-maintained trails to wander in addition, of course, to the normal attractions of a modestly sized reenactment.

On the porch of the Van Raalte house

Because we arrived later in the afternoon, we did miss some of the larger scheduled demonstrations, like the daily battle. We wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything, so we made our way through all the camps--there were separate areas for civilian and military for both Union and Confederate troops, as well as a special impressions area, several presentations on the porch of the house, as well as a handful of sutlers.

On the battlefield...

Even though there was no battle going on.

Now, I'm not here to review the event, per se, but I do want to mention that (typical of Holland), the whole place was immaculately maintained and everyone was very friendly. With a location like Van Raalte Farm, the event could easily accommodate much higher numbers of reenactors and public alike, and I'd really love to see this event grow in the future! We actually shared a shuttle bus with the chairman of the event, and Samantha and I mentioned that we thought it'd be fun to participate next year, perhaps with a special impression of some sort. He seemed really positive about new ideas, and encouraged us to contact the museum for next year. How exciting! :D

After we'd walked our way through a good portion of the park, we decided hey--why not take a trip out to the lake, since we're so close? So we piled back into the good ol' Focus wagon and headed out to Holland State Park.

Not pictured: "Big Red," the famous Holland Lighthouse
(Seriously--Google "big red lighthouse" and see what you get...

Enjoying the shade

All in all, quite a wonderful day of seeing the sights! There are tons more pictures at my Flickr set if you're interested, and I also have photos for a bit of a how-to for 1860s hair. I have a unit drill day across the state for my 1812 group tomorrow, but stay tuned for more of this madness soon!

Sourcing 102: Beyond Fabric

2011-09-16T12:27:00.001-04:00

Clothes may make the man*, but accessories make the outfit. Anything from hats to shoes to jewelry--they all help complete the "look" of a historical ensemble. Whether you need supplies to make your own, or you just want to buy something ready-made; if you can't find what you're looking for locally, here's a list of online sources that I've found helpful over the years.

Again, I'm trying to include vendors from which I've personally ordered, so this isn't a list of anyone who sells anything the discerning costumer/historian/reenactor might want. This is just a group of my personal favorites.

Fire Mountain Gems & Beads

This is where I ordered the coral beads I've used for various jewelry pieces. They have a great selection of gemstone beads (peridot, garnet, coral, agate...etc.) and an easy-to-navigate website. Reasonable shipping prices, and if I recall correctly my order arrived quickly.
Silky-Way

not

A-Z Needlepoint

Multiple varieties of needlework threads and flosses. You can search by brand, color family, or DMC color code. The website is a little confusing, but as a needlework newb, I found the search functions and thread descriptions helpful. Reasonable shipping and delivery time.
Wooded Hamlet/Needle & Thread

Anyone who has been to the brick-and-mortar location will tell you that the website doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of their stock. You also can't order online. However, I've ordered by phone several times, both for merchandise that's listed online, and for things I saw on the sales floor and foolishly didn't buy at the time. They sell black and brown polished cotton for $7.99/yd last I checked, though it's not listed online. I just called and asked, no problems. I've also done this for 54" hair canvas, $9.99/yd. Their narrow-wire hoop kits are wonderful (I own 2 in different widths), and they've got lots of fun notions available. I love the wooden thread winders I got from them, for example.
Mrs. Parker's Millinery and Mercantile

Angela Liguori

ribbon

Sock Dreams

I spent 2 years at Michilimackinac wearing one-size-doesn't-fit-anyone-quite-right "reenactor socks" before someone pointed me at Sock Dreams' website. I got my first order in the mail and immediately said, "I will never order reenactor socks again." My personal favorites are the O Chevrons, O Basics, and the Military Bootsocks. And, free shipping! Can't beat that.
Robert Land

Rober Land seems to be the go-to for ladies 1860s shoes, and now he's got a line of early 19th century styles as well. My pair of 1860s American Walking Shoes (actually boots) is nice, though not without issues (they dig into my Achilles tendon, but that's because my legs are not the same shape as the boots, not because the boots themselves are inherently defective). I always appreciate being able to order wide widths (see how much I love you, pinkie toe?), and there are lots of colors and styles to pick from.
Fugawee

I have a love/hate relationship with Fugawee's shoes. I spent two summers wearing size 10 Wide in their ladies' colonial "Anna" style with no problem. I normally wear a size 8 Wide. So when I ordered my own pair of "Connies" because I liked the shape, I got a 9 Wide. They were fine for a while, and then all of a sudden at a random event, they became torture devices of unspeakable pain. I believe the issue is that I ordered a straight lasted style, but your mileage may vary. On the upside, the customer service is very friendly, and the prices are about what you'd expect for specialized shoes.
The Dressmaker's Shop

I've never actually ordered from Kimberly Lynch of The Dressmaker's Shop, but I've bought plenty from her at events and her whole stock is online. In particular, I purchased a roll of her rice braid for bonnetmaking (did I finish the project? No. Is it lovely stuff? Yes.). She actually also has a fairly large stock of fabrics, but I haven't bought any yardage from her so I felt like I couldn't put this link on the fabric sourcing list!
Spencer's Mercantile

Oh Spencer's Mercantile, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. My first introduction to Spencer's was at the Seige of Old Fort Erie. I walked into their tent, turned to Gwendolyn, and said, "Do you think if I handed them my credit card and backed my car up to the tent, they'd just start loading stuff in?" I still feel that way about their stock, and I can't speak highly enough about their customer service. They sell everything from socks and shawls to flintlocks and writing desks.
Hats by Leko

Your one-stop shop for millinery supplies, patterns, etc. Straw hoods and capelines of all sorts, sizing, millinery wire, buckram forms...and the list goes on. The minimum order ($28) can be a little pesky, but if you stock up on staple items (like buckram and wire) to fill out your order, it's not a bad deal.
Corsetmaking.com

No matter which way you slice it, corsetmaking supplies are pricey. I've been really happy with my purchases from Corsetmaking.com, though. Their shipping seems a little expensive, but I've done a side-by-side cart comparison with a couple other vendors, and the prices usually come out within pennies of each other. Corsetmaking has the advantage of having a user-friendly site and giant selection, so two thumbs up!
*"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society" ~Mark Twain

Sourcing 101: "Where did you get that fabric?"

2011-09-13T16:45:00.003-04:00

When it comes to buying fabric, there are two schools of thought. One is that you must see the wares in person before buying. This is great if you have brick-and-mortar locations at which to shop, or are willing to travel. Me? I'm an introvert. If I had it my way, I'd never leave the house again and all my meals, fabric, and other needs would be delivered to me by a sprite who would leave things outside the door and knock, and then leave so I didn't have to talk to him/her/it when I picked up my delivery. That's why I do the bulk of my fabric shopping online. My packages are delivered by the UPS man, not a sprite, but he does knock and then leave so I'll allow it. (He also doesn't bring me my meals, but that's another issue altogether.)

Ordering online doesn't always work out perfectly. Sometimes you don't get what you wanted, but I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford to make mistakes like that. Frankly, I know enough people who sew that I can usually unload any unfortunate buys pretty quickly, whether it means listing things on etsy or randomly shoving 8 yards of wool at my unsuspecting friends. Because ordering fabric sight unseen is something of a craps shoot, your mileage may vary. My creative process involves me buying yardage and then assigning it to a project after I have the goods in hand. It's a bit harder if you pick a project and then have to hunt for The Perfect Fabric, but that's not to say it can't be done.

Anyway, the point is that when people ask me, "where did you get that fabric," probably 75% of the time the answer is "online." Which is not helpful for people who want to find something similar. So here's a list of my favorite online vendors, with notes on what I have ordered and liked from them.

Exclusive Silks

When I think "silk taffeta," this is the ideal I have in mind. The lengths I've ordered have all been a great midweight taffeta, with a good, crisp hand but not stiff. I've found the colors on their website tend to run a bit lighter than the actual fabric, but I've always been happy with the quality of the taffeta, if not the color. I also get all my cotton organdy here. Their "hard finish" is SUPER stiff--like, screen door stand-up-on-its-own stiff. I like the soft finish for caps, though; crisp enough to avoid droopiness, but not so rigid that it has a personality of its own.
Shobha Imports

The best price I've found on 100% cotton net, great for ballgown tuckers, bonnet bavolets, etc. I bought 10 yards of the stuff and am still working my way through it.
Shoreline Handwerks

Not sure about the "e" in "handwerks," but they regularly stock Southern Belle cotton, which is what I use for my 1860s petticoats, and anything that needs a crisp, midweight cotton. And which I cannot find locally to save my life.
Fashion Fabrics Club

Oh, FFC. I have a love/hate relationship with this place. On the one hand, their customer service is seriously sketchy. On the other, they do sometimes carry random obscure great finds. Like the figured silk taffeta with metallic pattern. Or tropical wool in colors other than "boring." Or wool gauze. Order if you can't find something comparable anywhere else and cross your fingers. Overall my luck has been good.
Fabric.com

This is the flipside from FFC. Great customer service. Sometimes their stuff ain't so great. On the other hand, their prices are pretty good, and they do swatches so you're less likely to get burned. Of course, the one time I got something I didn't like, I didn't bother to order a swatch because the sale I wanted to take advantage of was ending soon. But, if you do end up with a dud, again, great customer service, so you can return.
Heritage Trading

Beautiful block printed and ikat cottons. Some of their shawls have potential, too. If you see something you like, buy it now because it may disappear, and in the *cough* number of years I've been watching their store, I haven't often seen repeats of merchandise. Once they've sold out of something, it's gone.
Farmhouse Fabrics

I shop here when I have some extra pennies saved up. Heirloom quality fabrics...but with prices to match. I've gotten gorgeous swiss muslin here on sale, though, for about half the normal retail price, and they do fractional yardages, too, if you're doing a small project. Their cotton velveteen is beautiful, and this is also where I got the soutache braid for Mike's smoking cap and the trim on my asymmetrical wool 1860s dress. In short, they carry somewhat-obscure high-quality fabrics and supplies, but be ready to pay.Wm. Booth, Draper

By reenactors, for reenactors. He carries the NYC police uniform wool so coveted for great menswear and uniforms, and a rotating stock of other types and colors of wools, silks, hemps, linens, and cottons. For me, as a woman/civilian, the selection is somewhat hit or miss. Last season, they didn't have anything that caught my eye. This season, I want 8 yards of everything. Go figure! They also carry notions, tools, and patterns that are worth a look.Burnley and Trowbridge

Caters to the "historically discriminating" consumer (museums, reenactors, etc.) Rotating fabric selection, so again, if you find something you want, snap it up. I also have friends that swear by their shoes, and they carry various other reenacting and sewing essentials if you're so inclined.
Fabrics-store.com

99% of my linen purchases come from this site. They do free swatching, have several different weights, and tons of colors. All of my 18th and early 18th century underthings are made from 3.5oz softened white Fabrics-store linen, and all my linen 18th century petticoats are made of the 5.3oz in various colors. Relatively inexpensive as linens go, and with the free swatching you can't go wrong.
Fabric Guru

This place sells ends of rolls and odd lots of decorator fabrics. Most of their stuff is just that--home decor. However, they do have a section for silks, and I was lucky enough to find the printed silk for my "Fancy" dress here. Also, all the curtains in my house are made from various fun prints I found at Fabric Guru. Low shipping, good prices, and you never know what you're going to find.
Dharma Trading
Thank you, Maggie, for the reminder/recommendation!

Lots of natural fiber fabrics of various types and weights--specifically, Maggie and I have used their 56" combed cotton lawn with great success. It's a lovely fine semi-sheer with a soft hand and beautiful drape. They also sell a variety of dyes, if you're in the mood for something other than white.

Fair at New Boston: Sunday

2011-09-11T00:22:00.000-04:00

Sunday rumbled in with a bit of rain and some residual thunder. When I arrived on site, it looked like a canvas warzone. High winds the night before had taken down several tents, and there were some merchants who lost portions of their inventory to falling canvas, rain, or general craziness. Some of them packed up and left, while others righted their things and soldiered on.

Resetting after the rain.
Photo by Debbie Hoerauf

Because of the storm damage, the fair opened at noon instead of ten, but there were absolute scads of people waiting. I was very impressed; despite the weather, there was a massive inpouring of visitors as soon as the gates opened.

Because of the heat on Saturday I wore my lightest cotton dress to keep cool (ha!). The muddy conditions of Sunday called for a harder-wearing ensemble, so I was really glad I had thought to bring my striped linen crossover. Wool probably would have been the best choice, since it doesn't get quite as heavy when wet as linen does, but I was really very pleased with how well this outfit did in the inclement weather.

More shopping was accomplished, and I bought a mug that had escaped from the previous night's storm damage. It rained off and on for the rest of the day, and we almost made it out half-dry. Of course, it started pouring as soon as we began to take our tents down, so hard that there was actually water pooling in the canvas as we were folding it.

My "go figure, it's raining" face.
Photo by Samantha Bullat

Despite the surprise!downpour, packing out didn't take as long as it could have...considering that it wasn't safe to take my car onto the field and we had to pull everything out in a wooden handcart. I mean--there were other vehicles on the field, but that meant it was extremely muddy and rutted, and with my car's low clearance we agreed that getting in on the field wouldn't be the problem. It'd be getting it off the field without getting stuck that would be the issue! So we dragged our gear out with only a little trouble, lashed the wettest of the canvas to the top of the car, and made our escape from Ohio all in one piece.

All in all, I had a wonderful time. I always have fun with the 1st Regiment folks, and for me the crazy weather really brought about a feeling of "we're in this together." I was astonished by the huge turnout from the public, and I definitely am looking forward to this event again in a year's time!

Fair at New Boston: Saturday

2011-09-08T17:10:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning dawned bright and hot, although I slept through a good portion of the morning thanks to my ever-wonderful sleep medication and the coolness of our shady campsite. Eventually some of the women in my unit came and dragged me out to play, and it was fantastic!

Fair at New Boston is like no other event I've ever been to. It really felt like going to a state fair or similar event, only...200 years ago. I realize that's the whole point, but it's a different atmosphere than anywhere else I've gone. There was one long row of food vendors, with delicacies ranging from peaches and pound cake to bison and brunswick stew. The rest of the field was filled with artisans, merchants, and craftsmen plying their trades and selling their wares. I saw some familiar faces, like the lovely folks at Spencer's Mercantile and Regency Revisited. There were others there I'd never seen or met before, and it was great fun to make the rounds, shopping and chatting the whole time.

My one major purchase is something I've been wanting for a long time but had never nailed down where to get it. I met Andrea of Amey's Adornments when I noticed a beautiful queen-stitched pinball hanging from a silver ring and chain in her display. I asked if I could take a look, and she mentioned she was out of the rings but would be making more this fall if I was interested. And BOY was I interested! It's no secret that I have a thing for pinballs of all sorts, and while many of the examples I saw at Winterthur have silk ribbons or braided cord to hang them, I can see myself shredding through a nice, delicate ribbon in about 4.5 seconds. I've had my eye out for a metal ring and chain set for about a year now, but I just couldn't make up my mind and it seemed my only option was to fork over a few hundred to Colonial Williamsburg. Which is fine, but I would rather support an independent small business than ~~History Disney~~ a large corporation. So I happily shook Andrea's hand, gave her my money, and skipped out with my order confirmation.

I don't even know you guys. It was really hot.
Photo by Debbie Hoerauf

About then is when the heat started to get to people. Rumor in the street was that temperatures had soared to above 100F and despite near constant ingestion of water, it was almost impossible to stay hydrated. No one in our unit actually passed out, but we had a couple people who had to lay down, and we began applying handfuls of ice to foreheads and necks as the day wore on. Despite the brutal conditions, the fair was still packed. As the proverbial mercury rose, more and more of us sought shelter under our unit's fly, cradling mugs of water and commisserating about crazy weather at events past. I don't know about you, but I find that facing the elements can bring about cameraderie faster than almost anything else. Either way, we had weather and cameraderie in spades.

Finding refuge in a bit of shade. Fortunately the conversation was good!
Photo by Debbie Hoerauf

When the sun started to set and the air was still at blood heat, I finally caved to my inner wuss and called in to town to reserve a hotel room. Right about that same time we started to hear thunder, and shortly thereafter lightning forked across the gathering clouds. Any doubts I might have had about not roughing it that night were promptly banished. The gates closed at six, just in time for the hard, soaking rain that began to fall. Big, fat drops splattered down and the sky was the color of lead shot, lanced through with purple and blue lightning.

The last of the sun on Saturday. It was still hotter than Hades at this point.

I had decided at that point that discretion was definitely the better part of valor, and I left to go have dinner with some unit members at the nearest Cracker Barrel. We chitchatted and munched until well after 9, and left for our respective hotels during a lull in the rain. The storm kicked up again just as I got to my gloriously air-conditioned room, and I was definitely grateful not to be on-site as I watched the thrashing winds and pouring rain from my third-story window!

Fair at New Boston. In a word, INTENSE!

2011-09-07T20:41:00.000-04:00

When we last left our heroes (aka, Samantha and myself), we had just finished beating a strategic retreat from the battle of the bat in my apartment and were on our way to Lansing. Stern warnings had been issued to Mike, in mostly-genteel tones, to the tune of "Be ready to go or we will kill you." And lo and behold! We pulled in and Mike's gear was all waiting for us in the driveway. It took hardly any time at all to load, which then left time for a short nap to make up for the sleep lost to bat-hunting the night before.

The drive down was uneventful, other than the heat. I don't know if it's appropriate or possible to call heat "excruciating," but this really was. You know how they say don't put a fishbowl in direct sunlight, because it will overheat and kill the fish? Picture my car as the fishbowl, and Katie!fish, Mike!fish, and Sami!fish slowly dying of hotness inside.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Mina (the nickname I've given the Garmin GPS we use when going on long trips) got us to Springfield, Ohio, with no incident, and no heat-related deaths. Things cooled off a little as the sun started to set, and we found a beautifully wooded campsite that was several degrees cooler than the field upon which the main event was set. Setup went smoothly until it got dark and we discovered we had...no light. ...MIIIIKE. He produced three scented pillar candles and a random votive from somewhere in his gear, but nothing with which to light them. Fortunately, the group of longhunters next to us provided fire, and I sat up putting last minute finishing touches on my clothes until I accidentally capsized my candle and the sloshing wax put the flame out. After that I gave up and went to bed.

~*~

There is more to come, and there are also pictures! I promise.

2011-09-03T22:42:00.001-04:00

Fair at New Boston @ 12:45 p.m.: it is hot as balls out here y'all.

Fair at New Boston: the Saga

2011-09-02T09:22:00.000-04:00

Labor Day weekend--most "normal" Midwesterners will be grilling hot dogs and scarfing coleslaw with their family members. It's supposed to be inhumanly hot this weekend, so I'm sure many people saner than I will be hanging out in environmentally-controlled locales, enjoying that wonder of modern technology, air conditioning.

I, on the other hand, am going to be wearing 4-6 layers of clothing and camping in a tent all weekend. We're going to Fair at New Boston!

The plan is to leave here--Grand Rapids--at about 10:00 (fifty minutes from now), pick Mike up on the way, and all of us will head down to Springfield, Ohio, from there. To facilitate this, Samantha stayed at my house last night. Of course, nothing can ever be simple, so this week has been quite a saga in and of itself. I've not been able to get enough sleep, Samantha came down with a sinus infection, and to top it all off, well. At 4:39 a.m. today, I awoke to a little shake of my shoulder. "Katie," Samantha whispered. "There's a bat!"

"Where are we?" I mumbled. "What? No bat."

"Your house! There's a bat in your house!"

Stumbled out to living room. No bat, and all the windows have screens on them. Samantha wonders if maybe she dreamed it. Go back to bed. Fall asleep. Indeterminate amount of time later, Samantha's back. "I definitely did not hallucinate it this time; there is a bat!"

Stumble out to kitchen. No bat. Turn on all lights available. No bat. Look out onto back porch. "THERE HE IS!" cries Samantha. I don't see it, but I immediately shut the window that opens into the main part of the house, and she shuts the door. Then I look.

Holy crap, there's a bat!

Dilemma. It's somewhere between four and six a.m. What to do about the bat flying a grid pattern in my three-seasons porch. Decision? Go back to bed, deal with bat later.

Wake up this morning. Bat has escaped. Samantha checks main rooms while I shower. No bat. Leaving town in 40 minutes, still have to pack the last of the toiletries, etc. Decision? Leave bat, figuring he will either escape the way he came in, show up hungry and allow himself to be caught later, or die. Which might be slightly morbid, but any of those three options would mean there would no longer be a bat in my house with minimal effort on my part, and I find that I am all right with that!

So. Barring any more acts of bat, we're off to New Boston!

Genesee Country Village & Museum 1812 Weekend (2011)

2011-06-27T21:46:00.000-04:00

Erinn & Katie, June 26, 2011.

This past weekend was a weekend of firsts. It was my first time at the Genesee Country Village & Museum, the first time I've been to that particular event, the first time Erinn came with me, Erinn's first reenactment...like I said--lots of first-times! It could not have been a more perfect weekend. The site is amazing, the weather was lovely, the people were wonderful, and it was just...well, perfect!

Erinn learning archery from our new friend Victoria.

One of the best parts about the experience was that we got to make (careful, considerate) use of the buildings, so there was a very home-like feel to our activities. We went calling on our neighbors, sat on the porch and sewed, took a turn about town; it all felt very like living in a Jane Austen novel. (Or, if you're me, Patrick O'Brian.)

An afternoon on our fabulous porch.

Sewing-wise, the only new things I made for this event were Erinn's gown and cap. For myself, I brought my block print, and a green wool gown that I made back in January and never photographed, despite having worn it since then. Oops.

Green wool in front of the McKay house, our 'home base' for the weekend.

Recent Acquisition

2011-06-08T22:10:00.002-04:00

Happy day! I am now the proud (and abundantly delighted owner) of a beautiful antique lace shawl. It was an extremely lucky find on Ebay, and it arrived in the mail today. It's in wonderful shape--there's a small hole at one edge that I'll probably reinforce with some black tulle or net, and a handful of tiny little snags near the upper edge on the net ground, where a couple stitches will stabilize it quite nicely. And it's gorgeous.

I had been shopping around a bit ago, thinking maybe I'd get one for my mom for Mothers' Day. She's really into textiles in general, and she loves pretty, delicate, lacy things. The lowest I saw for a price--for something with noticeable damage--was around $200. Not awful, but definitely not cheap.

I paid fifty-five dollars for mine. $55. Cincuenta y cinco.

You may all feel free to hate me now. ;)

How To Be Seen

2011-06-05T22:47:00.001-04:00

No, this isn't an entry about how to publicize yourself, or become famous. I'm fairly rubbish at that, so I'm in no position to give advice. No, this is an entry about how the public perceives you. Me. Us.

Last weekend, my friend Erinn and her husband & daughter joined us for a day at Greenfield Village, as visitors. It was really interesting to get their perspectives as first time reenactment-attendees. The biggest thing Erinn commented on was the different attitudes between reenactors. She found some of them to be very forthcoming and welcoming, and some of them to be downright off-putting.

When I was little, I loved visiting historic sites. The moments that meant the most to me were when the living historians took a few minutes to talk to me. The tours, the exhibits, they didn't mean much. It was the personal connection that left a lasting impression with me. When I was working in the living history field, I would semi-routinely invite women and children to touch my body when they asked me about my corsetry. I vividly remember a family of three small children and their mother running their fingers over the ridges of my stay laces in back, eyes wide with wonder and exclaiming in delight. I showed more than one family my hoops last weekend, and I definitely had a discussion about fake hair a couple times, as well as inviting strangers to touch the fabric of my skirts more times than I can count. For me, convention, dignity, and personal space go straight out the window as soon as I put on the trappings of yesteryear. If I can help someone make a connection with the past, even if it means stepping out of my own comfort zones, then so be it.

Maybe that says more about my comfort zones than anything, but there you have it.

Conversely, Erinn found that several reenactors with whom she came into contact barely managed a civil "hello," much less giving her a chance to ask any questions, or open any dialog. Some of them, unfortunately, were even people that she'd met before. Fortunately, that wasn't her sole impression of the event--being ignored--and she had several positive things to say, too, but it got me thinking. What's the difference between how one person comes across to the public vs. the next guy (or gal, if you prefer)?

For myself, I've put a lot of time and thought into cultivating an approachable persona both in person and online. I fervently hope that people aren't afraid to say hi to me, or to ask me questions. Reenacting is something I do partly for myself, but also because I like to share cool stuff with interested people. Personally, I'd be crushed to think that someone went home from a reenactment and told a friend, "She was really unfriendly. I didn't feel like she wanted to talk to me at all. Didn't even say hi."

Now, to be fair, there are two sides to every argument, and I've had plenty of rude questions and semi-arguments from inappropriate people, too. Not everyone is polite or interested, and some of the visitors I've talked to honestly shouldn't have been allowed out in public. However, is that really an excuse to cold-shoulder anyone before they've had a chance to ask a question? I try to think not, although I'd admit if pressed that I have fairly strong misanthropic tendencies. That doesn't mean I shouldn't put my best foot forward, especially in a situation where I'm in a position to share something I love.

So, I guess the question is, for all my historically-inclined friends--how do you want the rest of the world to see you when you've stepped back in time? What kind of persona are you putting out there?

Greenfield Village Civil War Remembrance 2011

2011-05-31T15:13:00.000-04:00

Oh, Greenfield Village...where do I even start? I just got back from a fantastic weekend in the 1860s. The weather was intermittently gorgeous and heinous, but even the bad bits couldn't put a damper on our fun. Saturday was absolutely perfect, in the low-to-mid seventies and partly sunny. I got to wear my new silk day dress, without being too hot, and it was marvelous.

There will be more on the dress later, since for now this is just an event recap, but I was really pleased with how all my clothes (and my mom's!) turned out this year. Everything was done, fasteners and all, before we left for the event. This is an unprecedented amount of peparation on my part!

The hat was another triumph. It's the one I made over the insulation-foam block, and trimmed with a few various bits I had left over from other floral projects, velvet leaves from Hats by Leko, as well as three coffee filter roses. I made them the night before and wound up blow-drying them in the bathroom at my parents' house so the watercolor wouldn't stain the straw of the hat. It worked out, though!

My lady mother joined us for the weekend, and above you can see her in a cotton day dress of her own creation. I actually bought the fabric for a song and then sold it to her, since I don't need another cotton day dress. She also re-trimmed my straw-braid hat to coordinate with both this dress, and the plaid silk day dress that has now become officially hers.

Sunday was a bit warmer, and although my mother decided to tough it out in her silk dress (she's hardcore), I made a sheer for just that purpose--staying cool!

Again...more about the dress later. Sunday night was full of adventure, beginning with Mike's party--which I took to calling the DFE. DFE stands for "Duck Fat Extravaganza," and the name comes from the fact that he published his tentative menu on facebook, and the main attraction was Duck Confit with pommes de terre à la sarladaise. For those of us who don't speak French, essentially that's "Duck cooked in duck fat, with potatoes...cooked in duck fat." Hence, Duck Fat Extravaganza. I did try some of the duck, sans fat, and it was really good. So was the bread, green beans, cheese, ham, angel food cake, and berries.

Shortly after the DFE began, we were told by several people that severe weather was headed our direction. Tornado watch, 70 mph winds, the works. Being Michiganders, we just moved under a borrowed tent fly and the party continued. As it turned out, the weather system passed by us and we survived completely unscathed. There was a little rain, good company, and a nice breeze. And then...the ball!

I didn't even feel like packing my ballgown this year, and my mom didn't feel like switching bodices out on the plaid dress, so we both wore our day dresses--I wore the sheer and she wore the plaid. I think it was a good choice for both of us, and by the time we got to that point in the weekend I was so tired I could have fallen asleep standing up.

Sunday night was definitely the high point of the weekend...Monday turned beastly hot, and we didn't do too much. I may or may not have fallen asleep in the air conditioning of the Henry Ford Museum, and then crashed out in the tent afterwards. I didn't feel too poorly, but I got very tired, and so taking a nap made it much better when we were packing up and driving home. Gross weather notwithstanding, it was a lovely weekend, and there are plans already being made for next year!

And now for something completely different...

2011-05-07T23:08:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot of sewing lately, pretty much exclusively on 1860s stuff in preparation for Memorial Day Weekend at Greenfield Village. Today, I took a little vacation.

Holland, Michigan's internationally-renowned Tulip Time is in full swing as of today. It's a week-long festival that sees visitors from around the world, with parades, klompendancing, carnival food, rides, and just all-over Dutchness. Part of the weekend is the Historic Dutch Trade Fair, which consists of a 17th and 18th century encampment (civilian, military, and tradesmen). My mom and I went last year in street clothes, but this year we decided to dress for our visit.

Among the tulips on Windmill Island

I wore the maroon wool open robe and petticoat that I made for Under the Redcoat last year, and found it to be just as comfortable as ever. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We were really the only people wandering around the site--everyone else was tied to their camp--and so we got asked for pictures. A lot of pictures. There will be photo albums all over the world with pictures of Mrs. and Miss Jacobs a la 18th century.

Anyone remember this dress?

I put my mom in the print dress that I made for my senior project back in 2007, and it fit her near-perfectly with just a little tweaking on the length. She reports feeling very pretty in it, so I'm going to count that as a total success.

Hello, sunshine!

We saw some old friends and met new ones, including my friend Bill's grandson. Holy cuteness! Starting him young--I approve!

How very coordinated!

I'm afraid I didn't take a ton of pictures, and I didn't manage to get any of me with my mom, but you can see the rest in my Tulip Time 2011 set on Flickr.

How to make a hat in mumbledy easy steps:

2011-04-28T22:19:00.000-04:00

Everybody remembers this dress, right? Okay, good. Now take a look at that delightful little hat. Roses, pale straw...wonderful. Of course, there was nothing on the market like what I wanted for a hat base. I already had a straw hat in the shape I wanted...it just wasn't available in as light or fine a straw as I'd like. So I said, "Self, how hard could it be to make your own straw hat base?"

Answer: not hard, just tedious. But totally worth it! Here's what I did.

Step 1: Google "creating a hat block".

That turned up this video, which may be slightly goofy and not exactly what I wanted, but it did give me the idea to use expanding insulation foam to create a block from an existing hat.

Step 2: Figure out a way to not destroy the existing hat in the process of making a mold.

The video said to use cooking spray to grease the inside of the mold hat so the foam wouldn't stick to it. I'd like to still be able to wear that hat after this, so I experimented with a number of different materials available at your local grocery store. I eventually settled on using parchment paper to line the hat crown with, since my hat had a square crown and no fancy curves to it.

Parchment paper mold.

Inside the mold form.

Step 3: Apply expanding foam.

Hey, guys? When they say the foam will expand, they mean IT. WILL. EXPAND. In case you were wondering.

Follow directions better than I did...

Step 4: Poke holes in too-big expanding foam so the inside will cure.

Obviously, you don't have to do this if you didn't overdo the foam in the first place.

Yeah. Overkill, much?

Step 5: Pry giant lump of foam out of hat mold.

While I don't recommend over-filling the mold to the extent that I did, I would recommend giving yourself a little bit of extra so you can trim the bottom off level, like you would with a cake you're going to decorate. This is less tasty. I ended up trimming mine off to size, rather than scoring a groove in the bottom like the video recommends. I used a giant bread knife, which worked well, and I didn't even cut myself, which was even better.

Step 6: Procure unsized, unblocked hat blank of your choosing.

I ordered from Hats by Leko, and was extremely pleased. The $28 minimum order is a little troublesome, but when you factor in other supplies (I got millinery wire, velvet leaves, hat sizing, and two hat blanks), it's not so bad. Their shipping is what I would consider steep, but USPS Priority ain't free, and it got to me quite quickly.

Soft, unblocked straw capelines.

Step 7: Block hat.

This will be messy. Wet the straw, start stretching, pulling, poking, prodding, etc. Your straw hat blank will probably shed little bits all over the place.

With your block being foam, you can stick pins into it wherever you need to.

At this point I realized that my hat blank wasn't going to play nice in the transition from crown to brim, so I ended up taking a tuck in the straw to get rid of some excess material. It worked, and the seam will be covered with a band and flowers, so no harm done. I then turned the raw outer edge of the brim, pinned, and stitched it. For all the stitching, I just used my machine, and kept the straw just a bit damp so it wouldn't be brittle.

Lovely, pliable damp straw. Clammy.

Step 8: Size hat.

"Sizing" in this case refers to adding a stiffening agent to your hat. This keeps it from drooping out of shape in a light rainstorm...although I'd try to avoid rainstorms (light or otherwise) either way. I used the Hydrolac B-5 powder from Hats by Leko, and while I was very dubious about it initially, I was pleasantly surprised. It starts out looking like cake batter and transforms into a clear, amber-colored liquid over the course of about an hour.

Starts out goopy...

...Turns clear. Weird. But effective!

I did not use a spray bottle, which is what the directions said to do. I was doing this in my living room with silk and organdy laid out all over the place and that seemed like asking for trouble. I used a junky paint brush instead, and it worked just fine.

Step 9: Try hat on, realize it's too small.

My theory is that the foam shrank a little after I had un-molded it and it had cured a little farther. This is no doubt due to my ineptitude with the foam in the first place. Either way, I fixed this by wrapping a strip of fun foam--you know, that spongy craft stuff you cut little shapes out of--around the block and re-wetting the hat, re-stretching, and re-sizing it. It took me maybe half an hour. It was still irritating.

Incidentally, you could save yourself the trouble my measuring first, and I do highly recommend fun foam for padding if you end up needing to do so.

Step 10: With the hat now fitting properly, stitch millinery wire to inside of brim.

What it says on the tin--a single round of millinery wire will help the brim keep it's shape once you've steamed it in place.

Step 11: ~~Scald fingers~~ Steam hat.

I used a conventional iron and liberal application of the "steam" button for this, and just prodded the straw into its final shape while it was still slightly pliable. The Hydrolac B-5 directions say that steaming will set the sizing, too. This is also when I added the curves to the brim, steaming them in place as I went.

Et voila!

Next, we'll talk about how to finish the hat...but that's for later, since I still have 3 dresses for me and a dress for my mom to finish. Need to get a move on!

Public Service Announcement

2011-04-21T18:48:00.001-04:00

I found this comb on Etsy, and it's exactly like the one I bought at Abraham's Lady in Gettysburg...except I paid more than that. ;) It's a Beth Miller-Hall reproduction 1860s comb, perfect to finish off your Civil War kit. I love mine to pieces, and I hope someone here can snap this up for such a good price!

Period Incorrect...But Do It Anyway

2011-04-18T16:17:00.000-04:00

You wouldn't know it to look out the window today but spring is here and summer is swiftly approaching, and with it, our time spent outside increases dramatically. For some of us, it means whole weekends (or weeks, if you're my parents) spent camping, which means increased exposure to the elements. Skin care is a subject upon which I stand firm, regardless of my current activity. Reenacting is no different. Whatever clothes I may be wearing, if I'm going to be outside, I wear sunscreen. Because:

You see, people, THIS is what happens if you decide that sunscreen is not an important part of your kit. That was the second worst sunburn of my life, and after the first*, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson. See, I can't stand the feel of sunscreen on my skin. It feels like bugs crawling on me, and it's gross. The same goes for bug spray, but that's another story. Anyway, because I don't learn from my mistakes, the above pictured burn, while not as bad, was gotten in some of the colder weather I've experienced while in historical clothing. It was May in Northern Michigan, which still regularly sees temperatures in the forties and fifties, and with a brisk wind blowing, it made sense to sit in the sun to keep warm. Lesson: even when the temperature belies it, the sun's rays are still hazardous.

The damage from that particular burn was deep and lasting, too. It took almost a whole year for the last traces of the tan from it to disappear, and I could see a noticeable deepening in the nasolabial folds--smile lines--between my mouth and nose. My skin lost some of its elasticity and was more prone to irritation, too. This was four years ago now, and the damage is mostly healed, but it took time and I've been extra-careful of my skin ever since.

Since then, I've done much better. (Honest.) I'm blessed with fairly olive skin, which, while it means I'll never have the ideal porcelain complexion of yesteryear, also means that I can use a fairly mild sunscreen to prevent disasters like that train wreck above. My daily facial lotion of choice is SPF 15, though it's also available in SPF 30 for those of you with lovely fair skin. I actually usually buy the generic version, but the principle is the same. I like this stuff for not-just-facial use because it's lightweight and doesn't leave that nasty feeling behind.

So long story short: Reenacting is fun. Being outside is fun. Don't be stupid and make it not fun by getting an awful sunburn. Use protection! (What, like you haven't heard that before?) There is no shame in using SPF 50 or 60. Someday, your skin will thank you.

*The absolute worst burn I ever got was during a canoe trip where I spent all day out on open water in an aluminum canoe with no sunscreen on at all. I spent the next two weeks peeling, with the highlight being my arms--the flakes were the size of post-it notes. Disgusting. After that, you'd think I would have learned!

Pink Progress

2011-04-17T22:41:00.000-04:00

I've finished the trim on the pink bodice, minus sleeves (still waiting for lining material to get here), and have moved on to the skirt. Proof:

As I told my mom, "my stitching isn't perfectly even, but the good news is that it's on velvet so even if my stitch lines looked like a drunken monkey did them, you wouldn't be able to tell because the nap hides a multitude of sins." Thank. Goodness.

My next 1860s project is NOT going to involve stripes going 'round the skirt. Ugh. That being said, I'm really happy with how this is turning out!

Having a Ball...

2011-04-14T13:58:00.005-04:00

Very early in my garment-sewing career, Gwendolyn of Idlewild Ilustré brought to my attention that I used more than the average amount of pins on any given project. In comparison, she used almost none. Over the years our pin usages have equalized, with me using less and her using slightly more, but one thing we've had in common the whole time has been our pin-keeping equipment--a magnet. Anyone who is acquainted with the use of sewing pins knows how diabolical they can be, sliding off tabletops and embedding themselves in feet at the least opportune moment. And heaven help you if you have an open container of pins lying around--if I get within ten feet of them, you can bet those suckers will be all over the floor faster than you can say (in a tone of consternation) "Ka-tieeee!"

Being accident prone in the extreme, my pin-keeper of choice is a Grabbit pin magnet, color fuchsia. That way, when I drop pins on the floor, I can swoop them back up with a pass of the magnet. My nephews (ages four and six) think it's a pretty nifty gadget, too.

But before magnets, what did people do? I can walk into Hobby Lobby and buy 120 pearl-headed pins for less than $5 now, but that wasn't always the case. Pins were valuable, laborious to make, and used for much more than sewing. Holding your clothes on your body, for example. You know, slightly vital things like that. So, if you don't have a handy-dandy magnet and you need to have your ever-important and probably-expensive pins on you at any given moment, in case of sewing emergency or wardrobe malfunction, what's a lady to do?

Carry a pinball, of course! I mean, everyone probably thought "pincushion, duh...what a stupid question," as soon as they read the last sentence in the paragraph above. Maybe it's because I've never used or carried a pincushion, but I'm absolutely fascinated by pinballs. With a little searching, I found a proliferation of them online, dating mostly from the 18th century. I've seen them dated as late as 1861, though, and is it any wonder? They're adorable. I want ~~ten~~ one.

Queen stitch pinball, Winterthur Collections

There are several examples online on various auction and museum sites, so I've linked a few of my favorite examples below:

Knitted silk from the V&A collections, 18th century
Knitted silk from Colonial Williamsburg, 1759
Cross Stitch in silk on linen, tentatively dated 1808
Quaker Pinball, no picture, but description dated 1829
Knitted silk, lined in linen, tentatively dated 1760s

Several of the examples out there have metal rings around their middles, often with a chain and a clip for a belt or a chatelaine. A number of the examples I've seen in person have a ribbon or tape serving the same purpose, though, so pinballs can be made without the expense of a fancy little collar, which I'm told can be quite pricey.

While many pinballs seem to have been knitted, or worked in a counted stitch over a linen ground, there are some embroidered examples as well. The ones I've seen have been done on a silk ground, and some have even had their little belly-bands embroidered. The photos below were all taken by yours truly, and are from the Winterthur Collections.

Pink on top...

Purple on the bottom, and embellished in-between!
This one reminds me of an easter egg...

Hello, flame stitch! Hell-LO, picot edged ribbon! Aren't you cute?

This one is unembellished, but you can see a couple cool details,
like the linen lining, and the wee sliver of tape, stitches visible, under the ring.

I'm by far not the first person do take a serious look at pinballs, either. I mean, I might have a slightly disproportionate fascination with them, but there are a number of resources and beautiful reproductions out there, too. Erica Uten penned the lovely book Tokens of Love: Quaker Pinballs which contains charted patterns to knit, but it looks as though it wouldn't be too awfully hard to use the templates for other forms of counted work, too. These beautiful knitted examples appear to have come from Uten's book, as is this one. Katherine (Koshka-the-Cat) knitted herself one, seen here, and then sent another as a gift, based on the knitted pinball from the Williamsburg collections.

As always, this has been just a little slice of the facts, and an excuse for me to look at (and share!) pretty pictures. If you're as interested in pinballs as I am, Uten's book is available on Amazon here, and the Needleprint society has another book of templates available, too.

On Fire: Examining the Flame Stitch

2011-04-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

A drawer full of pocketbooks...can you spot the flame stitch?
The Winterthur Collections, March 2011

According to the World Wide Web, the needlework commonly known as the flame stitch is part of a larger category called Bargello, originating from some chairs in the Bargello Palace in Florence. Bargello is typically worked in wool thread on canvas, which makes it quite durable for use in home decor. Or, as you may have seen, accessories of the 18th century.

In theory, the flame stitch isn't hard to master. It's composed exclusively of vertical stitches worked in a staggered pattern across the canvas. The variety in patterns is astounding, to say the least. Here is a flame stitched pocket dating from 1761 in the Winterthur collection, and here is another example of a pocketbook, also seen at Winterthur.

It's quite common to see subtle shading of colors in the use of the flame stitch, and the color choices know no bounds, and you'll also often see a repeating pattern in the motif. That's not always true; the pocketbook (laid flat) below looks to be a combination of flame stitch and possibly a cross stitch (?), combined in a vining floral design. Other forms of Bargello work can incorporate undulating curved lines, and sometimes even circular motifs or stylized fruit. From what I've seen of flame stitch work, though, designs are typically more geometric despite the occasional outlier.

Yet another Winterthur find.

Recently, Nicole of Diary of a Mantua Maker did a post about her 18th century accessories, including a flame stitch wallet that she made. She includes a brief description of how she constructed the pocketbook, and a handy photo of the inside. Beautiful! Winterthur's engrossing textile room again provides an extant example of the inside of a wallet circa 1774 (the outside is queen stitched, and dated by the maker). Another blogger here has some in-progress photos of several flame stitched projects. And, if wallets aren't your style, why not consider a pinball?

Not to sound like a broken record, but Winterthur is awesome...

I could (and may very well) do another post just about pinballs, since I've developed quite the fascination with the little nuggets of needlework recently. The one above is a lovely example, and here's another. You can get quite a good view of the diagonal stair-step pattern of the vertical stitches. Rather than working them side by side, row by row, they're staggered diagonally. Worked in bands of color, you get the characteristic "flame" shapes from which the stitch gets its name. As you can see from the above examples, there's plenty of room for creativity with in the framework of the basic stitch!

Painting the Roses...Pink?

2011-04-10T13:05:00.000-04:00

The Giant Rose Post actually did have a purpose. I've decided I'm tired of trawling craft stores for silk flowers that aren't actually silk, or paying through the nose for unsatisfactory paper flowers that aren't exactly what I want. Actually, I thought about ordering paper roses online, since there apparently aren't any nice ones available for retail in the greater Grand Rapids area. And then I stumbled upon this Martha Stuart tutorial.

I've got to say, this is a lot of fun. I picked up a package of No. 4 cone coffee filters at the grocery store, and some 18 gauge floral wire and floral tape from Hobby Lobby. All told, I must have spent, oh, $6? Not too bad! It took a little practice to get a good shape while wrapping the petals around the wire, but each one got a little better, and a little faster.

The hard part for me is the painting. I'm far from artistic, but during one of my "I wish I were more creative" fits while working at Hobby Lobby, I picked up a number of Daler-Rowney Artists' Water Colour paints. They're pretty pricey if you buy them retail, but they were on clearance so I paid about a dollar a tube. I have to say, I can't imagine trying to do this project with cake watercolors. It's much easier to mix different colors and concentrations with the tube colors.

There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.
Henri Matisse

The rose in the photo is painted with nothing but lots of water and a little alizarin crimson. As with most watercolor work, it pays to be delicate. I was a bit heavy-handed on my prototype and the color, while lovely and vibrant, wasn't as delicate as I want for my purposes. I have another try drying right now, painted with Naples yellow tipped with more alizarin crimson. Painting stiffens the almost fabric-like coffee filter paper, and once it dries the petals become quite pliable. Rolling them over a bamboo skewer gives each petal lovely dimension and fluffs the blossom up quite nicely.

Looking at the illustrations from Les Roses, I think I might get another package of coffee filters and play around with the petal shapes a bit. Other than that, though, I find that I'm really loving this little foray into paper craft!

Okay, okay.

2011-04-08T22:02:00.000-04:00

After having composed a ridiculously long post, with a bad pun for a name, about the use of roses as accessories between 1761 and 1876, I feel the need to apologize to the public. So here it is--just one picture, a detail of my current project.

Rose from the dead...

2011-04-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

I'm so sorry about the title. It was just so much more entertaining than "A Brief History of Roses Through the Study of Period Paintings." I couldn't help myself.

Anyway...as with most things, I didn't start out to write about roses from the past. And yes, I mean roses--the iconic flower of love, friendship, and anything else you might care to mention, depending on the color. To be honest, roses aren't even my favorite flower. I prefer peonies, gladiolas, and irises. However, my latest project is the pink dress pictured below, smartly accessorized by a straw hat trimmed with--you guessed it--roses.

Spot the roses? Seems pretty and appropriate to go with a pink dress.

That got me thinking, though. That's where I got a little carried away. My friends tell me that I overthink things...and this is totally proving them right. Anyway, I started wondering about roses throughout history. If nothing else, I got to look at a bunch of pretty paintings, and it helped me kill some time of a morning, so I figured, why not share? So here we go.

Obviously roses have been around for a heck of a long time. In Romeo and Juliet, which is thought to have been written between 1590 and 1595, Juliet monologues, "That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet." My interest in their existence dates significantly later, however. Namely, how were they seen, used, and worn in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Pastoral by Bouchard, 1761

This charming couple (and their goat) presides over a basket of flora. A couple roses nestle among the blossoms, and the young lady has affixed a full-blown rose to her bodice. Hopefully she was mindful of the thorns, first.

By Rosalba Carriera, date unknown

A little more formal, this painting (Mme. de Pompadour?) shows another take on roses in the 18th century. The subject wears a garland about her neck, with a lovely pale pink rose blossom taking center stage.

Marie Antoinette by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun

I love Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun's work. She painted radiant ladies with a soft, glowing touch that makes every painting just delicious to look at. This portrait of Marie Antoinette looks to me like it was done in the 1780s, going by the clothes. The roses are obvious, both in the hand, and on the table.

A fashion plate c. 1812

When it came to the early 19th century, I was hard-pressed to find examples of roses in illustrations. Certainly they seemed less prolific than in earlier paintings, both as background decor and fashion statements. This plate from 1812 shows a woman in full evening dress, with a coronet of roses in her hair.

A fashion plate c. 1812

While I saw numerous examples of roses and other flowers on ladies' dresses in the works of 18th century artists, no such trend appeared in the early 19th century works I looked at. However, the bonnet on the top left looks to have a cluster of roses at the crown, proof that somewhere, someone thought roses were pretty to use on clothing in some way.

Madame Vincent by Louis-Léopold Boilly, c. 1820

Look, look! Roses, and there's a yellow one. The beginning of the 1800s was a good time for roses. Empress Josephine purchased the Chateau de Malmaison in 1799, and hired a number of horticulturists to help her landscape it in the English style. And when I say "help her," I don't imagine she was out laying turf herself, but you get the idea. One of those horticulturists, Andre Dupont, had a great love of roses which Josephine came to share. Her goal was to collect all known roses from around the world (no doubt facilitated by her husband's global escapades). Between 1817 and 1824, Pierre-Joseph Redoute published Les Roses in three volumes, containing his paintings of Josephine's roses. A Picture of Roses has nearly 200 of these illustrations available online, and it's absolutely fascinating to see the different varieties so precisely depicted.

Mrs. János Matta by Miklós Barabás, 1860

One of my favorite uses of roses--in the hair! I'm a little biased, but I think there's little as lovely as a softly-colored rose in a coiffure of smooth, dark hair. One thing I can say from experience, though, is that it's not easy to pin big fat blooms like that in one's hair.

Adelina Patti, by Frans Xavier Winterhalter, 1863

See, like I said--dark hair and roses. It's a thing with me. In any case, the acclaimed operatic soprano above wears not just a rose in bloom, but a cluster of buds as well.

Roses were also pinned on dresses for special occasions. In Little Women, Louisa May Alcott writes about Meg having "A cluster of tea-rose buds at the bosom..." of a borrowed dress, and all three younger sisters wore, "blush roses in hair and bosom," to Meg's wedding.

Godey's 1876

And, because if something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing--check out the pink and white confection. Forget just pinning flowers to our bosoms, ladies. We're going to festoon our entire bodies with them. And, if you scoff, take a look at this recreation of that particular gown. If that's not an inspiration to start sticking roses to everything you own, I don't know what is!

Hair Peace: Learning to Love False Hair

2011-04-07T09:16:00.002-04:00

When people ask me at reenactments, "Is that all your hair?" I usually answer, "Yes, I bought and paid for it fair and square." Because the truth is, especially when I do 1860s events, very rarely is all the hair on my head actually growing from my head. This may seem a little like cheating, but fortunately, it's period cheating! Even if it weren't, though, I would still say that you can pry my hairpieces out of my cold, dead fingers. Realistically, it's the only way I'll be able to approximate a good, full 1860s hairstyle, regardless of how women in that decade acheived their coiffures. Certainly, some of them had luxuriously long hair to style, but some of them didn't. And they, like I, used hairpieces.

Hairpieces in ladies' magazines, c. 1862-3

For the greater part of my youth, I wore my hair long. At its longest, it was down below the small of my back...and it was a big giant pain. Literally--I couldn't wear it up because it would give me pounding headaches from the weight. I cut it during my first year of college and it hasn't been quite that long since. When it comes to hair in the Victorian era, though, my long locks would have been considered quite short by some. Laura Ingalls Wilder quotes her mother as saying "I had lovely long hair when your Pa and I were married...I could sit on the braids." Charles Ingalls married Caroline Quiner on February 1, 1860, which places the date just before the start of the Civil War. As long as my hair was in high school, I came nowhere near being able to sit on my braids. I could wrap them around my head, but sitting was out of the question.

For me, shorter (and thinned!) hair is a health and sanity-related life choice. I like having long hair, but I my lifestyle (and attention span) doesn't lend itself to the care and work that truly long hair requires in order to keep it happy and healthy. It's also a personal statement. As a self-empowered woman, I reserve the right to choose my haircut, and I consider it to be my prerogative regardless of anyone else's opinion. So for everyday wear, I have longish hair with layers. As such, I'm a huge advocate of hairpieces when it comes to Civil War reenacting! When I first started doing Civil War events, my hair was this long. Check out that wee little stub of a ponytail! I had shorn it all off that winter, and it was getting just barely long enough to put the back into a ponytail. Not exactly 1860s chic. But, I figured, if I could style the front and disguise the back, I should be all set! That's exactly what I did, and you can get an idea of the end result below.

Greenfield Village, 2009
Photo by Gwendolyn Basala

My 'fancy' hairpiece was purchased at Abraham's Lady in Gettysburg, but it's not hard to make your own from inexpensive lengths of fake hair. Pictured above is the first one I made, back in 2008. It's a simple round braided chignon, mounted on buckram that I shaped over a cereal bowl and anchored with a medium-sized plastic comb (and a dozen or so bobby pins).

The fancy hairpiece in use...note the color match.

I'm fortunate in that my natural hair color is a dead match for fake hair color number 4 (aka brown-just-shy-of-black). I buy bags of fake hair at Sally Beauty Supply for about $2.99/bag. If your hair is a less perfect match, or you want a better color variety, I recommend finding an ethnic hair shop near you. There are a couple in Grand Rapids that I've been to, and both of them had walls just plastered with bags of fake hair in all types, textures, and colors. If your budget is a little bigger, you can go with human hair. The advantage there is that it can be dyed more easily if you're unable to buy a good match off the rack. Me, I stick to my cheap plastic hair, since it's near enough in color and texture to my own.

If you're a glutton for punishment, here are instructions for wefting your own hair (or, I suppose, someone else's) to make your own hairpieces. Rest assured that this is not something I ever hope to do. I do, however, know someone crazy enough to do something similar. My dear Julie, my first-ever roommate, saved the clippings one summer when she got her hair cut. She then proceeded to section it into small bits and seal one end of each section with glue. I then curled and sprayed each section into a little ringlet for her, since in our relationship, I am the wielder of the curling iron, and she fashioned the resulting curls into a hairpiece by sewing them to buckram that she painted to match her hair color.

Can you guess which hairpiece is Julie's? Hint: it's curly.
Photo courtesy of Jenny Esch

If you guessed the one that looks like this, you would be correct!
That's all her hair...it's just not attached to a follicle anymore.

I started this post with the idea that I might do a hairpiece tutorial, or something like. I still will, if there's interest. Hopefully, though, this has piqued your interest in the use of hairpieces in general. If you haven't tried, or haven't thought of trying hairpieces to supplement your historical hairdos, I'd have to say you're missing out. Sure, you can spend a lot of money on fancy pieces, but you can easily put together a lovely, versatile hairpiece yourself, for a fraction of the cost. All told, it's a great way to get a truly impressive look with minimal muss and fuss!

Quite the Stitch-up

2011-04-03T00:58:00.000-04:00

Close-up of a queen-stitch pinball
in the Winterthur Collections

During my visit to Winterthur last weekend, I spent a lot of time with some absolutely gorgeous needlework pieces. Actually, I spent so much time with them that I joked to Tyler that he should have brought a book to read while I photographed everything in sight. He didn't contradict me.

There's a wonderful variety of work in those sequestered rooms, but one type of needlework that I found to be very prevalent can be seen above in the photograph of an extant pinball. At the time, I may have said, "Look, Tyler, it's more of that funny eyelet-y stitch!" Upon further investigation, I found that it's something called a Queen Stitch. I've also seen it called the Rococo Stitch and the Renaissance Stitch, but most commonly "queen stitch."

In all the examples I saw at Winterthur, the stitch in question was worked as "ground cover," so to speak, with any blank spaces (such as on this pinball) being part of the design, rather than dead space.

Queen stitch sampler
Winterthur Collections

Keeping in mind that I am abysmal at needlework, I decided to give it a try. I like the look of it, and I have a thing for pinballs. However, since I'm not sure I've got the fortitude to actually undertake a whole project, I asked my mom for some materials. She does Hardanger embroidery, so I borrowed some 22-count fabric and sz 8 Perle cotton to try my hand.

I used the directions found here, and the diagram for the queen stitch heart linked at the bottom. It took me about half a heart to find a method that was most comfortable for me, and I actually found it easier to work the stitch sideways than upright. All in all, though, I don't think it turned out too badly.

A bit chunky, but not bad!

If I were to take on a project, say, doing a repro pinball or pocketbook, I would use an even-weave linen with a slightly larger gauge, and a finer thread. However, for an experiment that took half an hour at most and cost nothing, I'd call it a success!

Tour d'Ivoire

2011-03-31T11:24:00.000-04:00

Little known fact about Katie Jacobs: does not like museums.

Yep.

My love-hate relationship with museums began while working in the living history field during college. There were a few very nice exhibits at my particular historical site, and I dutifully familiarized myself with them. And then I made friends with an archaeologist, and it was all over. All of a sudden, these artifacts of long ago were real, not encased behind glass with neat little placards telling me what to believe about them. One afternoon, we had a discussion about the manufacture of pins in the 18th century, and he explained how they were different than the commonly-used pins available to us at the fort. The next day, he brought in a couple of pins that had actually been excavated on-site, specifically for me to look at. I got to touch them. All of a sudden everything he had said about the way they were made and how they ought to look made sense. He held them in the palm of his hand, inches from my nose. That's when I made the connection between "living" and "history."

I guess it all comes down to accessibility. The thing I love best about living history and reenacting is how real it can all be. How it can be such a visceral connection with the past--you're living it, doing it, and it's part of you. In contrast, stepping into a museum feels very...sterile. Rows and hallways of little (or big) cases with special glass to cut down on glare. Scads of little signs, full of dates and factoids. A pall, a hush, and docents all-too-ready to accost you or tell you not to touch the one or two items that aren't behind glass. For each of those little signs, someone decided what he or she thought was important about the object in question, and that's all you get to know--so there. There's no connection, no identifying with the objects. They're important, they're behind glass, and that's as much as you get. Now don't leave nose prints on the glass, there's a good girl.

No, thank you.

But then, the ivory tower has never been for me. I've always looked askance at academia, and the elitism that goes along with it in so many cases. I'm also extremely stubborn, and if someone tells me I can't do something, you'd better believe I'm going to try my hardest to do just that. I'm THAT visitor--the one who all but crawls around on the floor (actually, I may have done that before) trying to see each thing from every angle. Anything not covered by glass will get breathed on as my face hovers inches from its surface, picking out details as closely as possible. And you'd better believe that if there's a hands-on section, I will be all over that.

All this is not, however, to complain about museums. It's to give you a little background so that you'll understand when I say that I am madly in love with the Winterthur collections, you'll understand how big a deal that really is. Because I am--in love, I mean. The Winterthur collections are the standard by which I measure all other museum experiences, which leaves other museums sadly lacking. True, I visited twice not as a conventional tourist, but as the guest of a Fellow there. That means I got to go places that normal people don't get to see, and see things that others don't. I'm all right with that. Because how can you not love 180 rooms crammed full of top-of-the-line American antiques, with next to no locked cases, fancy glass, or velvet ropes?

You can't not love it. Period. And traveling with Tyler, the student in question, opened up so many proverbial doors even in places where things were roped off. At one point, he shed his shoes in the middle of an exhibit, stepped onto the raised platform, and lifted a decorative dome on a lady's writing desk just so I could see what it looked like inside. He opened and closed a folding commode for me in the same exhibit, and opened pocketbooks for inspection of the stitching in the textile storage area. It was the epitome of all museum visits, wherein nothing was off limits and I had a fount of ready information at my side, willing to open, close, poke, prod, and explain things as needed. Magical. Simply magical.

In such a place, it's no only easy, but a joy to connect with the collections. It's almost as if the absence of glass or restraints mean you don't have to touch or hold anything, because it's just right there. Tea sets displayed naturally on beautiful cabinets, dishes laid out on a table. Architect's tools lying on a writing desk, as if the draftsman himself had only stepped out of the room but might return at any moment. You don't need to touch anything because you're in it, and it's one of the more amazing feelings I've ever experienced.

So there it is. That's the draw of living history for me. The mental, physical, and emotional connection with things, and by extension, people of the past. The challenge--get as close as you can to how it was, to feel as your ancestors felt and think as they thought. Train your eye to see as they did, and see what worlds unfold for you.

Midwinter Ball 2011

2011-02-27T20:49:00.002-05:00

The 8th Arkansas' Midwinter Ball is without a question one of my favorite dances of the entire year. It's five hours long, with an excellent caller and excellent company, and lovely refreshments. To me, a long event like that with several breaks and a great variety of dances feels very authentic. People used to do this for fun, right? After an event like this one, I can definitely see why!

Our dear Michael was in attendance again this year, looking dashing as always. There was actually a quite good ratio of men to women, and the mingling was quite pleasant. Some familiar faces, some new ones, but everyone did a good job of dancing his or her duty.

My lady mother* attended with me, and the plaid evening bodice got another outing. Since it was made for me, it's a bit large on her narrower shoulders. However, having bought eleven yards at the time of purchase, there should be more than enough to make yet another bodice (or two...), this time specifically for a smaller frame.

*Romeo and Juliet, anyone?

The Civil War is Everywhere

2011-02-13T23:58:00.002-05:00

In lieu of actual content (just until I take photos!), I'd like to share a link to one of my favorite ~~distractions~~ web comics. It's about a charming group of young adults who work at a historic site in Arkansas. It is called Dovecote Crest, and definitely deserves a look (and another, and another...)

A Sewist's Poem

2011-02-06T00:06:00.000-05:00

Frustration by Katie Jacobs
Stupid whitework lace,
I basted you in four times.
Why won't you behave?

The Real Regency

2011-02-04T23:17:00.001-05:00

One of the hardest things I faced when getting into 1812 reenacting was to divorce myself from the Hollywood idea of regency fashion and adjust my aesthetic to a more faithfully historical style. In the past several years, there have been many wonderful (and not so wonderful) movie and television features set in the early 19th century, with costumes ranging in accuracy from "why God, why?" to "hey, that's not bad." However, upon continuing my research, I've found that few of them offer a satisfyingly immersive idea of regency fashion.

For a lot of people, Jane Austen films and BBC miniseries are their first introduction to regency fashion. I could go into design choices and appealing to a modern audience, but really, it's probably all been said before. The real point is--where do you go for a more historical approach to early 19th century clothing? How do you go one step beyond the stage and screen?

This past year, my dear friend Nuranar provided the world with a wonderful resource. She laid hands upon hundreds of fashion plates for the 1800-1813 and created a set for each year on Flickr! Her photostream is here, where you can access all the 13 years of fashion-y goodness. Here are a few of my favorites, too!

To a Good Home

2011-02-04T01:04:00.001-05:00

Why no, this is not a new project. Actually, it's quite an old one...and now it's for sale on my Etsy. There's absolutely nothing wrong with these stays...except that they don't fit me. I made them, and they were beautiful...and they weren't what I wanted, so I made another pair. As such, however, they're basically brand new. I put them on literally long enough to decide I didn't really love them, and then took them off again, and they've been staring at me mournfully ever since. It is time for them to go to a good home.

At One Fell Stitch

2011-02-02T21:30:00.000-05:00

I make no secret of the fact that I was trained as a theatrical costumer. True, my current creative outlet is historical reenacting, a field in which historical accuracy is highly prized--including the methods by which one constructs one's garments. However, I also make no secret of the fact that I don't really enjoy sewing. As such, you'll be able to pry my sewing machine out of my cold, dead fingers about the time Santa relocates his workshop to the frozen plains of Hell. Machine sewing is sturdier than (my) hand stitching when it comes to long seams, and is invariably neater and quicker. I have immense respect for people who construct garments entirely by hand...but I'll probably never be one of them. There are a few things, though, that I insist upon doing by hand. One of those things is lining installation.

A popular method I've seen for lining garments is bag lining, which involves making your lining and outer layer separately, sewing them together with right sides facing, and then turning the garment right side out. This method, while quick and machine-able, has never really worked for me. I've used it before, and it can be done to look well on a historical garment, but I find that the lining tends to want to roll to the outside, and be visible around the edges. Instead, I prefer to install my linings by hand, wrong sides together, with a fell stitch.

In this method, I construct my lining and outer layers separately, and then press the seam allowances around the edges to the inside. I try to make the lining fractionally smaller than the fashion fabric, so that the lining won't roll to the outside. After that, line up the main seam lines, and stitch away! Threads magazine has a great tutorial here.

Another stitch to be used in the same method for period garments is mentioned on page 8 of Linda Baumgarten's Costume Close-Up. It's called le point a rabattre sous la main, give or take a few accent marks. (Sorry...not a French-speaker). On principle, it works similarly to a fell stitch, but it's not as invisible. On the wrong side of the garment, the stitch is angled to look like a whip-stitch. On the right side, a tiny stitch is taken through the front of the fashion fabric, like a wee little running stitch. The needle comes back up through on the wrong side, catching a few threads of the lining on the way. Wash, rinse, repeat. A larger version of the photo above can be seen here, which illustrates the look of the right and wrong sides of a garment lined in this method.

I hope you find this interesting, if not helpful. As always, any questions, feel free to contact!

The Grand Stash Cleanup

2011-02-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

Well, friends, I have entered the future. I set up an Etsy store.

At the moment, I'm clearing out my fabric stash. There are some hidden gems in there, and I've owned most of it for years. Time to admit to myself that I won't be using it...and to pass it onto someone who will! Keep an eye out, though. I'm hoping to offer more in the future, fabric and clothing-wise!

Event bloggin'!

2010-11-21T10:31:00.000-05:00

Katie, Mom. Recognize the plaid dress, anyone?

Short blog--still in Gettysburg, with my mama, Gwendolyn, Matt, and Tyler. Up next: battlefield tour, and then visiting the amazingness that is Needle & Thread's brick-and-mortar store.

More soon!

It lives!

2010-09-08T11:22:00.000-04:00

...And I don't mean the dust bunnies under my sewing desk...those are still not quite at the point of staging a hostile takeover. (Note to self: sweep soon.) No, I'm actually talking about this:

New Home Rotary Treadle Machine

I bought this machine just over two years ago. I had just gotten my "big kid" job, and a paycheck to match. There was one lone antique store on the route I took to work then, and I stopped by one afternoon to look around. I spotted this machine almost immediately, but it took me another month or so, visiting every so often, to decide to buy it.

Condition: Not too shabby!

The cabinet and hardware were all in pretty good shape, and a little fiddling in the store established that all the parts still moved. My mom helped me get it home and let me store it in her garage until I found a place for it upon moving into a new apartment. I got a new belt for it from Lehman's at Tyler's recommendation, and Mike helped me install it. Brave man; he sliced his hand in the process, but the task was accomplished!

And...then the machine sat there. For a long time. I put photos on it, took pictures with it, and got frustrated when I couldn't make it work. So it sat there. And then yesterday, right before I was supposed to go meet a friend for dinner, I decided I was going to make it work.

As it turns out, all I had to do was tighten the belt. I took several inches out of it, re-attached it, and finally figured out (thanks to a little internet research) that you have to use both feet on the treadle. Or at least...I do, since my foot doesn't cover enough area to move both the front and the back of the treadle from one position. Your mileage may vary. Anyway, it works! I didn't get a chance to thread it up, since I had to change and dash out the door for my lady-date, but I'm beyond thrilled at finally getting it running!

Since I have two 1860s dresses in the very beginning stages (as in, I just finished cutting skirt panels and am ready to begin skirt assembly), I've got romantical ideas of sewing them on an antique machine, just for kicks and because, seriously, how awesome would that be? So I think tonight will be fiddling with threading, tension, etc, and then some actual sewing!

Facelift!

2010-09-07T00:42:00.000-04:00

All right, so I just started sewing again after giving myself the summer off. And by "sewing," right now, I mean that I ironed ten yards of organdy and cut panels for the skirt of another 1860s dress. However, because the world does not stand still for creativity, I also had to do some laundry tonight so that I could be decently dressed at work tomorrow. Since I had no sewing projects in appropriate shape to bring with me to my parents' house (where I am very, VERY fortunate to be graced with free laundry!), I brought my computer instead.

And then I said, "Self, wouldn't it be great if you re-designed your website? That maroon and tan color scheme is soooo 2008." So I sat down with Photoshop, Notepad, and a full clip of crazy and re-coded my entire site. It looks so much simpler now! You wouldn't think it would have taken me...oh...four hours?

Anyway, I'd take it very kindly if you could go peruse for a few minutes...and let me know if there are any broken links or funky bits of text or anything. Sometimes monkeying with code for so long means my vision starts to swim and I get careless. ;)

Oh! And the blog has a new look, too, but I can't claim credit for that, really. They had a nifty new "design" feature that let me just putz around with it...way more simple than building code from the ground up!

Back on the Horse

2010-09-03T10:20:00.001-04:00

Well hey there. I hope everybody (all like...three people who see this, anyway!) had a great summer. I know I did--I gave myself the summer off of sewing and crazy week-after-week events, and I found it quite relaxing. I spent quite a bit of time with my family, and especially with my sister. She's lived away from home for the past few summers, so it was really nice to be able to just go hang out with her whenver we felt like it, instead of having to plan a whole trip just to spend a few hours together.

I did go to a great reenactment at the beginning of August, however--the Siege of Old Fort Erie, in Ontario. I made myself a new chemise to wear, but that was it. Samantha gifted me a bonnet when she visited in May, and she made me this beautiful apron, too.

Silk bonnet, linen apron.

I do believe that both pieces are entirely handsewn, and the only thing I did on either of them was to sew on a button to the apron, and put in a buttonhole. It was magical. I wore clothes that I didn't have to make! I could get used to that...

Another of the bonnet, because it is wonderful and I don't do millinery.

Gwendolyn made herself a new dress for the event, which you should go read about on her website. Tyler also produced two of the niftiest pairs suspenders I have ever seen in my life.

Y-front suspenders on display.

I'm unsure of exactly the documentation, but they are documented. I absolutely love them. Tyler purchased the tape for his at Needle & Thread, and he made Mike's out of woven-patterned, sewed into strips, from his not-unimpressive stash. The button tabs are leather, and both gentlemen report that the Y configuration of the front allows for greater freedom of movement than conventional straight up-and-down suspenders.

Updates!

2010-07-11T13:39:00.000-04:00

It's been far too long since I touched my actual website, so I took the weekend to mess around with it a bit. I've decided I'll be using the journal as an update page, as well as posting event recaps & photos here. So the main page has been simplified, and I changed a few things on the "about," page. Also, three new costume pages!

	A dress of indienne block printed cotton, c. 1810-12.
	Gentleman's small clothes (breeches & waistcoat) of linen and linen/cotton.
	An open robe and petticoat of tropical-weight wool, c. 1770-1780.

Under the Redcoat 2010

2010-07-10T16:54:00.000-04:00

A pleasant afternoon in Williamsburg

I should probably mention right at the beginning here that I'm a cold-weather girl. In my world, it should never get above 57 degrees to be ideal. I can deal with up to 70, but for me, that's hot. Eighties is TOO hot, and above ninety, I'm in hell. That being said...despite the fact that it was over a hundred degrees in Williamsburg while I was there, I had an absolutely amazing, fantastic time! Keep going to read more. With pictures, of course!

Under the Redcoat is a scenario reenactment. I have no idea if that's an official term; what I mean, though, is that there's an actual story being told throughout the course of the event. Many reenactments are really just "enacting." They aren't recreating anything, there's no story to be told, no task or event to accomplish. They're essentially people camping in funny clothes, usually demonstrating aspects of historical life to the public.

This event, however, is actually taking place to recreate a miniature version of a real event, in the same location of the original event. In 1781, Gen. Cornwallis' troops took over Williamsburg for a week or two and the town was under martial law. This is the setting in which Under the Redcoat takes place.

As such, anyone in historical outfit is also under martial law. We could be searched at various barricades throughout the town, and had to present proper credentials in order to be allowed passage. My friends and I were in possession of such papers, since we were registered as followers of the Von Donop regiment, and Mike was serving as valet to their captains for the weekend.

Meeting friends!

Of course, regardless of scenarios and soldiers, reenactments are also very much social events. I was really privileged to meet several people who I've only known online until that weekend. Above is a photo of the first time I met my friend Kelly, snapped by her husband, Blake. I had so far only known Kelly via Facebook, so getting a chance to meet face-to-face was awesome!

Tyler, earning his keep.

In addition to our own clothing, Mike and I also put some not-insignificant work into making sure Tyler would be fully (and appropriately!) clothed for the event. Above, Tyler models his linen breeches and waistcoat, by yours truly, along with a lovely orange wool coat by Mike McCarty. And actually, I think he's borrowing one of Mike's shirts, too. I wish my life were like that...show up to a reenactment and have my friends just hand me clothing they'd made for me...must be nice.

How scenic!

Gwendolyn joined us when she was able, as she is currently living & working in Williamsburg. Because she was working, though, she wasn't able to spend all day running around ~~sweating herself to death~~ playing history with us.

At the Palace.

In such hot weather, Tyler & Mike got some real use of their banyans. I was absolutely thrilled to see them in action, and apparently they were stopped by visitors several times to answer questions about their apparel while wearing them.

Dinner by candlelight.

We finished off the event with a beautiful dinner at the King's Arms tavern on Duke of Gloucester street. Everyone wore their best finery (the Fancy dress, in my case, along with a gorgeous pearl and crystal necklace that Mike made for me, last Christmas) and had a lovely time of it.

Such a lovely evening!

Greenfield Village Civil War Remembrance 2010

2010-06-08T10:37:00.000-04:00

Lovett Hall, Greenfield Village
May 30, 2010

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my friends and I headed to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, to attend their annual Civil War Remembrance event. Despite unseasonably warm weather and high humidity, good times were had by all. This same event in 2009 marked the beginning of my involvement in Civil War reenacting, so it was really fun to go again and see how far I--and my friends--have come in just one short year.

Welcome to our camp!

Our camp consisted of Mike's 6x9 wedge or "A" tent and Tyler's 9x12 wall tent & floor cloth (on loan to me while he is at grad school), populated by a flock of my antique furniture and the folding chairs that Tyler recovered for us to use last year. Above, you can see how Mike set up the wall tent to use as a living area during the day.

Loving the shade...

Our camp was four--Mike, Samantha, Gwendolyn, and myself. Gwendolyn's mother visited us frequently, not garbed a la 1860, but it was wonderful to have her with us and she took good care of us all weekend, bringing us ice and popsicles when it was unbearably hot and inviting us to cool off with her where she was staying for the weekend.

Gwendolyn's new outfit!

I didn't make much for this event, but Gwendolyn put together a whole new dress of windowpane-checked silk. I gave her my old silk regency dress, and she turned it into some really fantastic 1860s daywear. The hat is also mine, retrimmed from last year, and on semi-permanent loan to her for the weekend because it looked SO perfect with her outfit!

After the fashion show.

The only new thing I made for this event to trim a bonnet--the form was a gift from a good friend, so all I had to do was decorate it. The ribbon I ordered for ties didn't arrive in time (I received it upon returning home from the event!), so I took the ties off my winter hood for a quick fix. We kept busy, participating in the fashion show, seeing the sites, talking to friends old and new, and riding the rides.

I think this is my favorite picture from the weekend.

Setting up for a party.

Since most of us have spring/summer birthdays, we had a little party to celebrate and exchanged some small gifts. For a special touch of whimsy, Gwendolyn and I put together some wreathes of flowers for us ladies to wear in our hair.

Does this count as a tablescape?

For our party, we had several lovely cheeses and good bread, plus a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting at strawberries. We couldn't finish the whole cake, so later in the evening we trekked with it down to the other end of the Village and gifted it to our unit--the 26th Michigan--where it was much appreciated first as a dessert, and then later as breakfast!

Gwendolyn being my hero.

Gwendolyn took over most of the cooking and food prep for the entire event, which was no small feat. She made us a menu, prepared everything, and did almost all the cooking at the actual event. Even when it was beastly hot. What a trouper! And yes, the food was delicious.

Gwendolyn having a "moment" with the leftover oatmeal blueberries.

She did get some time to relax, though, and she had the foresight to make herself a lovely little apron, too!

Camp Chase.

Sunday night there was a ball for the participants, the highlight of which (for me, anyway!) was the intermission. Camp Chase Fifes & Drums...well, they're fantastic. One of their members happens to be a good friend of mine, and as a lover of fife & drum music, I count myself fortunate to have been able to meet personally several members of the group and to have spent time with them at events in a non-official capacity. This particular evening, though, they turned out in full force to play at the intermission in the Lovett Hall ballroom. It was...amazing. I don't know that I could describe it adequately if you've never experienced something like it.

That pretty much hits the high points...but if you want to see more pictures, my album on Facebook has dozens more. Gwendolyn also has a set on Flickr. Enjoy!

Uninspired

2010-04-11T12:39:00.000-04:00

Some days, all I can think about is what I'm going to make next, or how I'm going to proceed on a current project.

And then some days, all I can do is think about sewing. As in, I think about it a lot and somehow never actually get anything done. Oops!

Part of the problem is, as I've shared before, that I do not enjoy sewing as such. I like thinking about sewing, imagining what I'll make, planning, picking fabrics, problem-solving, occasionally even fitting initial patterns, and wearing the finished product. There's a significant gap between most of that and the final item--the entire construction process is not something I do for the joy of it.

So on days like today where I just finished a project (new chemise--photos to come) and haven't yet decided what to do next, it's soooo much easier to curl up in one corner of the couch with coffee and the celtic music station that Gwendolyn created for me on Pandora and...not sew.

Yep. Not sewing. Just thinking about it. That counts, right?

Regency Exhibition Ball 2010

2010-04-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

Saturday March 27, 2010
Lansing, Michigan

Last Saturday saw my friends and I once again at the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Lansing for yet another ball. This time, though, there was a distinct lack of hoopskirts--it was the fourth annual Regency Exhibition Ball, sponsored by The Dressmaker's Shop.

From left to right above: Krista, Gwendolyn, Mike, me, and Julie. Mike and Gwendolyn and I traveled together, as is our custom, to Mike's parents' house, where we spent the day getting ready for the ball. This included Mike finishing his ultimate pair of Regency pants, emergency washing of Gwendolyn's dress when it was discovered that her aging cat had appropriated it unbeknowst to her, and lots of time with the curling iron for anyone of the female persuasion.

Pretty much an obligatory shot at trio events these days...

The ball was fun, as always, though I did find myself quoting Mrs. Jennings a la Sense & Sensibility (1995), "I do wish Lady Charteris would limit her invitation list...I do not know when I have been so warm!" But, it would seem that good times were had by all despite the lack of elbow room.

And, just because I love you guys, and I know you'll all appreciate this.

Still alive!

2010-03-25T11:02:00.000-04:00

It always happens. You have all these great ideas for sewing, blogging, etc...and then you get sick. Spend a couple weeks coughing, sleeping, and high on DayQuil, and all of a sudden you realize you've gotten nothing done. Oops. Ah, well. At least it wasn't the swine flu (which I had last October), and my ears are no longer plugged up so's I can't hear...so I think I'm better!

So a few things to share, now that I've rejoined the land of the living:

My dear friend Tyler is a fellow at Winterthur, studying material culture for the next couple years, and getting to see and do all sorts of cool things while he's out there. He's got a new blog, All Dressed Up With No Place To Go: Run(a)way Fashion in Early America, and if you're the least bit interested in historical clothing, good writing, or just history in general, you should go give it a look. While completing his undergraduate degree, Tyler wrote a number of articles on Confederate prisoners of war at Johnson's Island, Ohio, nearly all of which presented these far-off historical figures in such a vivid, poignant, human way as to bring me to tears. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what comes out of this new blog!

On my end of things, there have been a few events of note. Last weekend, Mike and Gwendolyn and I went to the Kalamazoo Living History Show, which is essentially two days of reenactor shopping heaven. I bought quite a few essentials that I think will make our lives as reenactors much more pleasant...and of course, we went in costume. Mike kitted out in his First Regiment getup, Gwendolyn wore her 1810 outfit, and I actually had a new dress, which I love.

This is definitely my favorite "regency" dress I've ever made, and I will be wearing it again this weekend at the Regency Exhibition Ball in Lansing. I decided against trying to finish the embroidered dress in a hurry, since I worked very little on it when I got sick, and I'd really like to take my time and do it right. This new dress turned out really nicely, though, and I'm looking forward to wearing it again! There will definitely be more pictures after Saturday.

Also on Saturday, we've been asked to do a demonstration to promote a masquerade that the Exhibition Ball committee is planning in South Bend, Indiana. We'll be doing a dance walkthrough while wearing masks...which of course means, we need masks. Here's a a sneak preview of mine...so stay tuned for more!

Midwinter Ball

2010-02-28T23:39:00.002-05:00

Surprise! Event this weekend. Good thing it was an 1860s ball, and I already have a ballgown.

Gwendolyn, Katie, and Mike
February 27, 2010

More after the jump!

Look how happy they are!

This particular ball was held in a familiar venue--the Methodist church in Lansing, but put on by a different unit. This one is the longest I've attended, and I think consensus was it was the most fun, too. Less formal, but more like I feel it might have been--just a lot of friends (or people who are passingly familiar) getting together to eat fun food and have a good time. The caller was someone different, and I really liked her.

Gwendolyn worked her magic on my hair!

I've been sick (coughing slime, high on DayQuil) for about a week, and was pretty worn out just as a matter of course, so I was ever so grateful when, pre-event, Gwendolyn took over making my hair behave. It's finally long enough to start doing some fun stuff, so I had curls to play with this time around...so, thanks Gwendolyn! :)

With five hours of dancing, we actually had some time to sit without feeling like we were missing out.

Gwendolyn and I were talking the other day and it's been just about two years since we started doing this sort of thing--historic dancing. Back then, we never had thought of reenacting as a possibility. And now look at us...

The facial hair met with universal approval.

Late at night and still goofing off!

We wanted to keep our silk skirts from getting wet. Mike said we looked like refugees.

I say, if we looked like refugees, then he looked like the Mad Hatter.

Looking forward...

2010-02-25T01:03:00.003-05:00

Ideas late at night are hard to photograph...

So, I'm a winter person. I like cold weather, I don't mind snow. Downhill skiing is really the only sport I really, truly enjoy. Even so, these last few weeks of winter--before spring starts to hint at us here in the great white north*--are tough ones. I find myself planning ahead for warmer days in order to cheer myself up.

This is just one thing I've been mulling over; far-off party plans are a fun way to daydream, though, and who doesn't like white china and sparkling glassware? 'Til you have to wash it, anyway.

*Michigan--aka Canada, Jr.

Embroidery, Day 7

2010-02-21T23:44:00.002-05:00

One sleeve down, one to go.

A gentle press, and then onto the next one!

Looking Sharp: The Art of Directional Knife Pleating

2010-02-16T22:38:00.008-05:00

Please forgive me re: title. I couldn't help myself.

Directional knife pleating creates a lovely cascaded effect with a large geometric pattern.

There are several ways to compress a skirt width to a waistband, but for 1860s, my personal favorite is directional knife pleating. Here's a short how-to on the technique I use.

I started by seaming the skirt together. I use three panels if my skirt fabric is 54" or more, and four if it's 45". I'm using my plaid day dress skirt as an example, so there are three panels, since the silk was a decorator width. To make things easy on myself, I placed one seam at the center back, and used roughly one panel for my front width, so the bulk of the fullness fell toward the back of the skirt.

To prep the skirt for pleating, I hemmed it on the straight grain, so that the bottom is level all the way around. The skirt is then balanced from the waist, much like the technique that Katherine outlines here, though her example is for an 18th century petticoat. For the plaid skirt, I used pinking shears to finish the top edge of the skirt, just so it wouldn't fray too badly.

In the front, I always pleat my skirts the same way. That makes it easy to start there. I mark the center front with a pin and measure half an inch out from either side; that's where the first pleat will fall. This gives you a 1" flat space at the very center front of your skirt. The first pleat from the center is a 1/2" pleat. The "directional" part of directional pleating means that pleats in the skirt front point toward the CF, while back pleats point toward CB.

Half an inch to each side, followed by a half-inch deep pleat.

The rest of the pleats are 1" pleats, side by side. That is, they aren't stacked--each pleat lies next to the preceding one, with no overlap.

One-inch pleats--number will depend on distance between measurement and the side of the skirt.

The side of the skirt is the secret to directional knife pleating. See, the pleats point toward the center front and center back, respectively. The side is where they change direction.

Because of the way the pleats point, you'll end up with a box pleat at the side point of your skirt waist.

The process of pleating the back is significantly more organic. I don't really measure anything, but rather figure out how much space I have to cover and then pleat my remaining width down to fit it. With the large plaid, it was pretty easy to gauge, since the fabric itself acted like a guideline.

When you're done, the back and front will each have an inverted box pleat at the center point. Below, you can see what the inside looks like:

Lastly, don't forget a method of actually getting in and out of the skirt. It's common to see skirts closed at the side front, which isn't always intuitively obvious, especially if you don't have a seam there you can leave open for a faux-placket. For this one, I simply slit the inside of one pleat down several inches and bound it with some bias silk. When the skirt is closed, the back pleat laps over the front one and conceals the split.

Detail of the skirt closure.

Embroidery, Day 4

2010-02-16T13:16:00.003-05:00

Right sleeve

Eventually, this will become an 1810 ballgown based on an example from Nancy Bradfield's Costume in Detail. I've only ever really embroidered one other project, so I'm as interested as the next person to see how this turns out!

Embroidery officially began on February 13, where I worked on it for most of the day at SewFest. I did a little more the next morning, and then brought it to work on Monday, since we had an in-service day. A little more last night, and here's the current state of it. I did not bring it with me to work today, since I'll be going to class and then swing dance after and didn't want to drag it around with me all day. But swing is over at 10, so I'll have an hour or two to spend on it tonight.

My goal is simple: Spend every free moment possible working on embroidery, and see how far I get.

First Regiment Volunteers

2010-02-12T02:11:00.005-05:00

Okay, so, I'm really excited about this. I was just telling Mike the other night, "I adore all the people I've met through 1812 reenacting." My friends and I have attended events with the First Regiment Volunteers in the past, and I'm really looking forward to seeing these people again. I've also been working on a couple projects recently for upcoming 1812 events, and I just got some news that's made me even more excited...if that's possible.

The First Regiment Volunteers' website has just gone live--I just got word an hour ago! It's still growing, according to our Capt. Fisher, and I'm eager to see what more is coming. In the meantime, take a look around. From what I've seen and experienced, I can't recommend these folks highly enough if you're at all interested in 1812 reenacting!

Sutler Showcase: Spencer's Mercantile.

2010-02-07T21:09:00.003-05:00

I first discovered Spencer's Mercantile at the Siege at Old Fort Erie in August 2009. Walking into their tent was pretty much magical...one of the most shop-able establishments I've ever been in at any reenactment, and their merchandise!

I turned to Gwendolyn and asked, "If I just hand them my credit card, do you think they'd just let me back my car up to the tent and start loading it up?" They had seemingly everything a reenactor could want, from shako plates to swords and shawls. I managed to contain myself, and picked out only a few things.

Parchment crocuses; one of my purchases from Spencer's Mercantile.

Their customer service was flawless, too. The weather that weekend was hot and muggy, with a smattering of rain every so often. I know I wasn't in the best mood all the time! But they were helpful and friendly, and to my surprise, recognized me when I went back in street clothes the next day, even. That's right, I went back. Parchment crocuses weren't enough! I just had to have that wooden comb, and the turtle charm...

Since then, some of my other friends have discovered them, too. Most recently, I believe they were among the first to stock the new Robert Land 19th century/1812 shoe styles for men and women. I'll be ordering my pair from them shortly!

Anyway, you can bet that if I ever get the chance to visit their brick-and-mortar store, I'll be there in a heartbeat. Until then, or the next occasion I have the pleasure of encountering them at an event, I'll have to content myself with their website!

"I am not playing. I'm accessorizing."

2010-02-03T22:07:00.005-05:00

As my dear friend Gwendolyn often tells me, "accessories make an outfit." Above is pictured one of my favorites.

Inspired by this portrait, I wore my coral set to the River Raisin Battlefield Commemoration back in January. The necklace I've had and worn for years; the beads were a gift from my friend Marie. She sent me enough (from Canada--New France, if you will, which makes me geekily excited) for a necklace and then some, but until recently I hadn't done much with the rest of the beads. Most of them became another necklace (for a gift), but I still had a few left over. Add in a couple smaller beads and some silver findings, et voila! A set of matching earrings.

Gwendolyn, wearing the coral necklace and choosing sash colors.

Experimentation

2010-01-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

So, we here at Theatrical~Historical (meaning...uh, me) are experimenting with using the blog page. Ideally, this will be much easier than opening cPanel every time I want to put something on the main page, which will hopefully in turn inspire me to update more often than just when I go to events and put up new costume pages. I'm also hoping that this will make things a little more interactive--up until now, there's been really no way for people visiting my site to leave feedback. This way, comments are enabled (and welcome!)

Avoidance Mode

2010-01-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, when I was working at Hobby Lobby in college, one of my coworkers saw my mom at the store and asked her, "does Katie work well under pressure?"

My mother, bless her heart, considered for a minute and finally told her, "Well, if there's pressure, she'll actually work..."

This statement is very true, in that I work best with a set goal. Give me a deadline and I can whip out whatever it is you need in no time. Without a date by which I have to accomplish a task, however, I tend to not work on it. I've gotten better, and haven't had a last minute sewing panic in several months, but I still do better with a deadline.

And if it's a task that I REALLY don't want to do (like, say, cutting out chemises or cutting out a dress bodice, or...cutting out anything, really), I tend to find other things I could work on. Like creating a blog and attempting to embed it in my website. I figure it's just a matter of time before I decide to completely redesign Theatrical~Historical, anyway. After all, it's almost two years old! As of February 16, I will have had katiejacobs.com for two full years. How the time flies!