How to Sew a Pre-Formed Cravat

For those who were interested in the cravats I showed in my last post, here is a little tutorial on how I make these.

Please note; I do NOT know if this is a historically correct way to make these kinds of pre-formed cravats. I have never had the opportunity to study an original cravat, so this is just guesswork based on period images and trying to think of how a woman at home may have made one of these for her husband/son/father, etc. This style is just one of probably countless variations you can make - just look at period images and let them by your guide! You can add tie ends to the basic bow, you can make it asymmetrical (popular in the 50's), you can make it bigger, smaller. Really there are lots of options. Many cravats of the period were actually squares or triangles that were folded and tied around the neck to suit the wearer. However, for those gentlemen in your life who do not desire or cannot learn to tie their own cravat, this hopefully will be helpful. A jaunty bow at the neck gives allure and charm to any impression. 


Here you can see two other kinds of cravats I have made; they don't have to be just for men! These are made to the same basic design as this tutorial, but with tie ends that are visible.

So, to begin. What you will need: 


~ scraps of fabric. Silk and cotton work well. A fabric that has a nice amount of body and will hold its shape works best. David has a dressy cravat made of dark blue silk taffeta that always looks crisp and fresh no matter how long he has worn it. If you use a limper fabric, it may be helpful to flatline it with a stiffer fabric. You will not need much for a cravat. Honestly, the smallest scraps will do. 
~ thread, pins, needle, etc. Normal sewing stuff. An iron is helpful. 
~ a tape measure to cut the pieces. 


1. From your fabric, cut three rectangles to the following dimensions (feel free to change the dimensions to suit the size/shape of the wearer - this are just the dimensions I use for a "basic" cravat): 1 rectangle 12" x 5", 1 rectangle 9" x 5" and 1 rectangle 5" x 2.5"

2. Fold the 12" long rectangle and the 9" long rectangle in half, right sides together and matching raw edges and press. Sew the long raw edge of each rectangle with a scant seam; I just use the edge of my presser foot along the edge of the fabric as a guide. 

3. Turn the rectangles right sides out and press flat, pressing the seam to the center of the rectangle, as shown:

4. Match the short raw edges of the rectangles, wrong sides together, and sew with a scant seam. This creates two circular pieces, as shown:

5. Press the short seams open, pressing seams to the center, as shown:

6. Wrong sides together, lay the shorter piece on top of the longer piece, as shown:

7. To create a little dimension, I like to pin a pleat in the center of my cravats. Here I have finger pressed the pleat and pinned it.

8. Sew the pleat into position.

9. Take the remaining rectangle, the 5" x 2.5" rectangle, and press the long raw edges in towards the center of the rectangle, like this:

10. Wrap this band around the bow, covering the stitches on the center of the bow. Fold under the raw edges of the band at the back and pin snugly. Secure with handstitching. Voila! The cravat part is done. :) 

11. To create the neckband, you can either use a narrow piece of ribbon or flat tape or you can make a matching neckband using the same fabric as you used for the cravat. For this one, I am making a matching neckband. I cut a long rectangle appx. 24" x 1.75". Adjust the length as needed to fit the neck of the wearer. Fold the long raw edges in towards the center of the band, then fold the band in half, encasing the seam allowance:

12. Stitch very close to the fold to secure: 

13. Position the cravat on the neckband, matching centers. Hand stitch in place. 

14. To finish the ends of the neckband, turn under a small hem on each short end and handstitch into place. To close the cravat, I add a hook and eye. A more period solution would be to add a buckle, but I have not been able to find a source for small buckles. 

The finished cravat!

Put the cravat on any conveniently located handsome gentleman of your choice and admire your handiwork. 

And, of course, admire the gentleman. Who, in this case, also happens to be my handiwork. ;) 

Love,
Sarah

Yes, I Am Yet Alive

I am alive. I do promise. I feel bad I have gone so long without a blog update but alas, nothing of interest has occurred on the sewing front since last I posted. Unless you consider cravat making interesting. In case you do, here, you can gaze upon the three cravats I crafted in the Dark Hours of Thursday evening, trying to kill time while David was gone to attend a Leon Redbone concert:

Other things of non-sewing related but potential interest that have occurred recently:

1. I pulled the carpet from the boys playroom last week. I was appalled at the condition of the carpet pad and the amount of dust and junk under that carpet. I have no idea how old the carpet is but it must be fairly old to have the pad in such a state of crumbling decay. It took a great deal of breathless draggings and yankings to get that heavy, heavy carpet down stairs but the object was at last achieved. Under the carpet and the pad is a nice, firm, smooth wood floor.  Unfortunately it is bespeckled with paint, encased in various layers of finish but a weekend rental of a drum sander from Lowe's and some new stain and sealer ought to take care of that.  I can't wait til the floor is done, the walls freshly painted with sunny yellow paint, the trim freshly done in white and new curtains hung! Bit by bit we are getting ready for Baby.

2. Speaking of Baby, David and I went to our first midwife appointment this past Saturday. I have never gone so long during a pregnancy without seeing a care provider. With all my boys I was visiting the doctor by 8 weeks. This time around, I went 14 weeks before seeing anyone. And you know what? Those 14 weeks were awesome. Really, there is no reason to see a doctor beforehand unless there is some reason to suspect a physical problem that would need sooner medical attention. I felt like I was carrying a happy secret inside; that while life went on normally inside my womb God could fashion His new miracle in the dark and in secret.

My midwife was not sure if she could hear the baby's heartbeat at 14 weeks. She said that next month, at 18 weeks, we will definitely be able to hear it but to not count on it this time. However, God is good and the baby was positioned so that she was able to quickly find the heartbeat. I started crying when I heard that precious sound and David was smiling and laughing and wiping away tears as well. We heard lots of little jolts and thumps that she said were sounds of the baby moving and kicking. It is truly amazing to think that in 14 weeks God has taken two tiny microscopic pieces from David and I and fashioned them into a whole, entire, completely perfect little human being with a beating heart - is that not incredible?!

3. For the first time in my life, I have a 'bum knee'. I fell down the stairs on Saturday due to Malachi considerately leaving a wooden hammer on one of the steps and my left leg went down while my right one went up and now I cannot move it without much pain. It is really very inconvenient. Especially when you live in a house that has the bathroom on the upstairs level, the kitchen on the floor level and the washing machine and dryer in the basement. I did not realize how many stairs I go up and down every day. Now I am painfully aware of my limitations and have to judiciously plan my activities so that when I go upstairs, I can do all the work I need to do upstairs. When I go downstairs, I do all the dish washing and sweeping and mopping and cooking for the children. When I go the basement I have to make sure to wash everything we will immediately need instead of randomly washing whatever happens to be down there. And while I am in the basement, it is also helpful to remember to check the temperature gauge on the water heater, since often the boys like to turn it completely off and I won't know that until I go to take a shower and all that comes out is an icy blast.

4. I have been researching cloth diapers and can't wait to start sewing some up as soon as the stuff for Shiloh is done, which will be at the latest towards the end of March. My current plan is to use prefold diapers with a fitted cover. My current dilemma is deciding on what materials to use. I don't want to use old t shirts or flannel sheets. My personal preference? I would love to make all linen prefolds to help wick the moisture away from Baby and the covers to be made of anything cute with a PUL fabric inside layer.

5. That is all. I can think of nothing else semi-interesting that is currently going on. Except, maybe, the fact that I discovered that I can wear the same size sock as Judah. His socks are much more comfortable than mine. He seems extremely large for a four year old child - I have truly no idea why since David and Malachi are both rather small and slender and when Big David was young he was also small and slender.

Have a lovely week and a happy St. Valentine's Day tomorrow! I am planning a menu that will have a touch of pink in every dish. . .it should be fun. ;)

Love,
Sarah

Refashioned Maternity Top

With February full upon us I must confess that I can foresee no interesting historic gowns in my near future. Oh there are plenty I want to make - a late 19-teens dress inspired by the film War Horse, a late 1830's style dress cut down from my blue 1860's dress, a new regency gown, my 18th century brown stripedy jacket (although I am despairing of getting that done before my bump gets too big). Stuff. But I have to focus on Blake's clothes for Shiloh 150 and so, no getting sidetracked!

But I did find time this afternoon to makeover one of David's shirts into a maternity top. I have a weakness for plaid button up shirts and this shirt was just too big for him. He is very tall and broad shouldered but he isn't really fat, so this 3XLT mans shirt was just sitting around, not getting used. Wow, there's a lotta fabric there. 

I recently came across the wonderful site diymaternity. It's an amazing resource. I wish I had known about this stuff when I was pregnant with my other three. I used their shirred tunic top tutorial to create this shirt and I am really pleased with how it came out! 

I pretty much followed the instructions given on the site, although I did change a few things. First, since the armholes on the shirt I was using were absolutely huge I narrowed the entire shirt, cut new armholes and then reattached the shortened, narrowed sleeves. I didn't have elastic thread to sew with so I used a flat piece of elastic instead and just stretched and sewed it to the area I was shirring. 

I also added a shirred area to the back of the shirt, since the back was totally unfitted and kind of unflattering.  

I also put in a triangular gore at each side seam from the hem to the underbust to give extra flare and room there. 

It is one of the most comfortable shirts I have and I think I will be able to get at least a few months out of this before I need to make a larger one. Yay for roomy shirts that don't look like tents!

There are lots and lots of other cute tutorials on the diymaternity site, as well as some super cute patterns. I think I will have lots to work on in odd afternoons here and there for the next few months!

Love,

Sarah

Festival of Maidens ~ Feast and Dance

For your enlightenment, David looks far, far more happy here than he really was about having to don his "fake reenacting" clothes to go to the festival. Once he was there he did end up having a good time, though. 

The Festival of Maidens, held on campus at the University of Illinois, has been one I have wanted to attend for a while. Last year we were unfortunately unable to attend due to David's work schedule but this year the weekend of the festival happened to fall on a weekend had had off work. Since Christmas, this has been the event I have been looking forward to the most!

Me and Peter. We have been calling each other brother and sister for a while, but here we really *do* look uncannily alike. Which is weird since our parents look NOTHING alike!

The weekend was planned to be filled with tournaments, classes, talks and Saturday evening would culminate in a middle-eastern inspired feast and a dance. Of course, we did not arrive until almost 5 o clock in the evening on Saturday. It seems the more people you have to get ready to go somewhere and the more stops you have to make along the way, the later you will be. 

Here is Petey-Boy in his new doublet. His refusal of hose and his claim that the brown leather boots we found him have the "arch in a weird place" resulted in a semi-historic-inspired look. But, that is who he is. 

We had to: 1. Pick up Peter (David did this). 2. Get take out pizza for lunch (which David picked up on his way back from picking up Peter 3. Get pulled over by a police officer (unplanned, but fortunate no ticket was involved) 4. Get the two oldest packed and ready to go visit their grand-mama. 5. Pack everyone into the van and go 6. Stop at Grand-mama's to drop off children 7. Stop at the accountants to drop off our tax documents 8. Stop at Dollar General to get chap stick 9. Drive to our destination 10. Spend a half hour looking for a parking place and consequently walk several blocks to arrive at the hall. But, at last, we arrived. 

Peter and another gentleman from our barony converse in front of the hall

We made it just in time for court and were able to witness the engagement of a beautiful lady to a dashingly handsome gentleman. I didn't get any photos during court since I was focusing on holding Malachi in my lap and watching all that went on. It was a beautiful ceremony and in such a gorgeous room - this place is really a wonderfully mood-setting location for anything and everything medieval!

After court, by the stairs, with Malachi. And yes. It is a very lame picture of both of us but it is the only one I have of the inside of the hall.

After court we walked to the church where the feast and dance were to be held. It was likewise a very appropriate and beautiful setting. My dear friend Jackie met us there and we spent the remainder of the evening in the pleasant company of her and her lovely mother, Joanne.

Malachi and his beloved Aunt Jackie!

David and Peter

Peter, Jackie, and I. Best buds forever!

Peter in a contemplative mood.

The light fixture above our table

A hungry, tired child who was prejudiced against the prospect of a middle eastern dinner. (i.e. if it ain't chicken or beef, it ain't food)

Yogurt cheese and hummus - which were, by the way, extremely good - 

David spreads hummus on a piece of herbed flat bread

Malachi tentatively surveys the food on his plate.

Two of the lovely dancers who graced us with their performance 

We were also graced with several sung tales from this highly skilled and  inspiring gentleman. Photo courtesy of Jackie!

The musicians gear up for an evening of dance! It was such a blessing to have live, period style music! Photo courtesy of Jackie.

Malachi gave way to sleep half way through dinner. We folded up a woolen blanket and made him a small bed beneath a table and there he slept in peace and comfort for the remainder of the night. 

Dancers! Photo courtesy of Jackie

And more dancers! Photo courtesy of Jackie

And yet more dancers. This dance was not even comparable to the last one we went to (the ill fated Civil War dance after Thanksgiving). It was a marvelous time.

Medieval Pink Linen Gown - It Is Finished

It snowed in the night and although it was quite cold, David took some photos of my dress and yes. He let me use his sword. :) Alas. Is it right a married mother of soon-to-be four children can still feel happily silly and giddy when donning a new frock and playing with pretty things? I have photos to share later of the festival (we had a marvelous time and I felt like Cinderella going down the steps at midnight!) and for now, here are some of the dress. (I think the next thing I make from this period definitely will have to be shoes). 

And what is this we see? Is that a baby bump? A very small one, perhaps?
 People, I think we can safely say that this is no longer just a belly pooch.
 There is a very small human creature in there! 12 weeks down, 28 to go. :)

Tippets! They don't go *quite* all the way to the ground but I am happy with how they came out.

The wool facing does a great job keeping the hem clean

Here you can (kinda) see how the tippets are a separate piece attached at the back of the arm. 

Okay. David said I could show the photos with the sword ONLY IF I EXPLICITLY stated that this is NOT a medieval style sword but an 1850's medical officers dress sword and is used for "real" (i.e. non-SCA) reenacting. So. Here I state this.

Love,

Sarah