A Christmas Doll, Pt. 2 - Basic Victorian Underpinnings

This week all my children fell ill. We have been at home, in the house, (besides the hurried daily journey to the mailbox each day, which is usually Judah's especial activity) since last Saturday. I'm ready for the weekend. Simply because it means that yes, I will be able to get out of the house. Even if it is just grocery shopping. 

They are all recovering nicely from their respective ear infecitons and bronchitis. During this week, when they have napped more than usual, I have been able to get a few underpinnings made for Anne's doll. I am trying to hurry up to get as much as I can done this week since my mother's birthday and David's birthday are coming up in a week or two and I need to make each of them a birthday present. So, here I present to you the Basic Victorian Underpinnings that the doll now boasts. 

The first thing I made for the doll were these little boots. They are made of one layer of wool broadcloth. I attempted 3 other pair before I finally got these done and I found out that yes, wool broadcloth is ideal since you do not need to line it and it does not fray when cut! Wool felt would probably work just as well. I'd like to make another pair in red at some future point. 

Then the chemise. All these undies were cut down from part of a white cotton sheet so the material was free and it is nice quality. The chemise is a basic square-cut chemise with a gathered neckline. Sort of transitional between the earlier regency-era chemises and the later ones that could be cut with raglan-set sleeves. 

The drawers are basic split drawers of the period. I decorated the legs with tucks and a lace edging. In passing, I will say that I did not construct these in a period correct manner. Due to the size of them there is just no way I can sew tucks in the round on a finished leg! So I am doing mostly flat construction and then sewing the side seams last. I feel horribly non-PC for doing so but I can't really think of any other way that would allow me to make such small things without weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

I finished up the little corded stay today. I decided to go with this earlier style instead of the later non-strapped, front-opening style because 1: I had no idea what to use for a separating busk and 2: this style has straps, which allows the stays to stay ON the doll much better. Since the stays do not compress the doll, this is important. Without straps the stays would slip and slide around the torso which is not what we want, right?

I really kind of adore the stays. I love making corsets and even this small one was super fun to do. It's made almost exactly like my regency stays, with less cording and no boning. 

The back laces shut with a single lace. And yes, it is true, the lacing on the back is messed up. . .gotta go back and relace it properly sometime. . .didn't notice it til after I had taken pictures.

And here she is so far! Petticoats are up next.

And for those who have inquired about the pattern, here is a scan of the pattern I eyeballed for this doll. I hope it will print out okay; it is supposed to fit a standard size printer paper. I used about a 1/4" seam allowance and my finished dolly is about 17" tall.  

Love,

Sarah

A Christmas Doll, Pt. 1 - The Doll

I was up late last night finishing the body of a cloth dolly I am making Anne for Christmas. I have wanted to make one for her since before she was born but lacked the time and/or motivation to actually get to work. But now! Christmas is coming! Any other type of dolly would possibly be hazardous in the hands of an avid chewer so a cloth one seemed to be the ideal kind. 

It has been a few years since I have made any dolls and I am always surprised by the personalities they take on. This one turned out with a rather smug expression. Since Anne cannot currently name her, I will take on that responsibility for myself. Right now I am mulling over two possibilities. Agnes? Or Frances? (to be called "Frankie")

She is made in the same way I have made my past dollies, with separate arms and legs sewn to the body. I made the legs with shaped feet this time since an antique cloth doll I found pictures of had similar style feet. While this doll is meant to be historically-inspired-by, I don't know if the shape of the body and method of construction are really accurate to the 1860's period. I just went for the general look. I cut her out of an old embroidered linen pillowcase by great-aunt gave to me when she moved from her home to a retirement facility. I saved the embroidery for a different project and the rest of the case had plenty of fabric for this doll (and indeed even one or two more).

Instead of a painted face and hair I decided to stick with materials that can, theoretically, remain intact through persistent chewing. The hair took a surprising amount of brown wool yarn, which I stitched securely to the head. 

The back of the head was covered by a very long braid of wool yarn, coiled and stitched into place. 

Since I didn't have embroidery floss on hand I used regular cotton sewing thread to embroider the mouth and eyes. It was all freehand so that is why the two sides are not exactly symmetrical but hey, I don't think a 5 month old baby is going to notice or mind. ;)

I am really excited about making the little doll clothes. I want to make a whole wardrobe of 1860's garments for her and will be starting with, of course, the undergarments, including a little corset and a corded petticoat. I really hate sewing tiny things so I made the doll rather large, just so it won't be so frustrating making the little clothes!

In the meantime she sits in unashamed nudity atop the sewing room shelf. I need to get those clothes made rather quickly. 

Love,

Sarah

Victorian Sunbonnet Tutorial ~ Pt. 4

Now that your brim and crown are complete, it is time to attach the curtain! This large piece shades the back of your neck and also helps protect the upper back of your dress from excessive fading when in the sun. First, press under and stitch a narrow hem all around the curved short edges and one long edge of the curtain. 

The next step is to run gathering stitches along the top, straight edge of the curtain. Pull up the threads to fit the neckline and stitch, right sides together, with bottom brim/crown:

I centered the gathering stitches on the curtain to fit the neck edge of the crown. You can do the same or gather the curtain to the bonnet brim/crown evenly all the way across. Either way is fine!

To finish off the inside seam between the curtain and the rest of the bonnet, I like to sew a strip of fabric over the seam.

 I stitch the strip to the bottom of the seam allowance, flip it up to encase the seam allowance and then turn under a tiny edge along the top of the strip. I stitch that to the brim/crown and that finishes the seam nicely. You can finish the seam between the brim and crown by binding it or overcasting, if needed. Since my fabric is not very ravelly I chose to not finish the seam at this time. Later if I find threads are coming loose I will go back and overcast the seam by hand.

The bonnet is very close to being done! The only thing left to do is to add ties.

Love,

Sarah

Victorian Sunbonnet Tutorial ~ Part 3

Time to sew the brim to the crown!

Run gathering stitches along the curved edge of the crown piece and draw them up to fit the long edge of the brim:

Pin to brim, right sides together and stitch.

Run gathering stitches along the straight bottom edge of the crown piece. Draw them up to fit your neckline. (this is best done by putting the bonnet-so-far on and drawing the neckline edge of the crown up to fit your neck - be sure to take into account the hairstyle you will be utilizing while wearing the bonnet!) For me, this measurement is approximately 7 inches.

If desired, pipe the lower edge of the crown/brim.

The bonnet is now half-complete!

Love,
Sarah

Victorian Sunbonnet Tutorial ~ Part Two

Once all your sunbonnet pieces are cut out, it is time to stiffen the brim!

As I mentioned in my last post, you can stiffen your brim with cording, slats or quilting.

Cording is very visually attractive and makes a nicely stiffened brim, once starched. The corded bonnets I have made in the past do, however, have a tendency to collapse in the rain.

One of my early attempts at a fancy corded bonnet. This worked well until the first humid day, then it wilted. The brim could have benefited from double or even triple the amount of cording. (the more cord you use, the more starch it can absorb!)

Slat bonnets hold up well in all weather but they cannot be folded back so you are left feeling like you are wearing a mailbox on your head (which is nice when you are doing, say, garden work and only have to look at what is directly in front of you).

Slat bonnets do not work well when one has only two eyes and three small boys upon which to keep those eyes.  Wearing a slat bonnet while being a mother of little ones requires extreme neck exercises during which one must jerk the head back and forth with increasing rapidity in order to know in which (usually three different) directions said small boys are currently running. I will wear a slat bonnet again when I am old and feeble and must walk with a cane. Until then, the slat bonnet has gone to the land of banishment. 

Right now quilting is my personal favorite method of stiffening since it can look as attractive as cording, leaves you with a very stiff brim that does not require starch and can be folded back when you don't need the super-powerful sun protection a large shady brim can give.

I am quilting my brim, so here is the next step once the pieces are cut out.

Unfold your brim piece and insert the rectangle of cotton batting in between the layers of fabric, placing one long edge of the batting along the fold line. Fold the other half of the brim over the batting to cover it, like so:

Now it is time to quilt! There is no right or wrong way to do this. You can quilt by hand or by machine. You can quilt in simple straight lines or do a fancy pattern with zig zags and such. For mine, I chose to quilt in diagonal lines using my presser foot as a spacing guide.

Once the brim was quilted diagonally one way, I went back and quilted it diagonally in the other direction, creating a diamond pattern. For quilted brims, it seems the closer the quilting the stiffer the brim will be.

The finished quilting:

If desired, you can pipe the long raw edge of the brim, which will be sewn to the crown in the next step. This is optional, but I personally like the finished look a piped seam gives. For mid-19th century, go with self fabric piping for the best look.

Love,
Sarah

Victorian Sunbonnet Tutorial ~ Part One

So, at last, I have gotten round to that sunbonnet tutorial I promised, oh, 3 months ago or so. The arrival of a certain little lady soon thereafter caused me to fail on that promise but she was oh, so worth it.

Anne shows off her new reproduction quilt, made by the wonderful Janice. Almost four years ago Janice made a similar quilt for Malachi. He still sleeps with it every night!

Now with her 12-pound chubby little self settled into a somewhat predictable routine of sleeping, eating, bathing and playing (i.e. staring, blinking piously and at times gurgling, chortling, snorting or saying "geeewww!" and batting her dimply little hands at various faces that peer over her, or cheeky little toys that dangle by their necks from the activity gym) I have predictable time to work on getting this tutorial out there once and for all.

And here she is showing off her eyelet baby gown, made from a thrift shop curtain.  It  finally fits, just as the weather turns too cool to wear it.

I have divided this tutorial into 5 sections, although the whole bonnet is easily made in a day.

This is the sunbonnet we will be making! The brim on this one is simply quilted with parallel lines of machine stitching that the length of the brim. 

So, for Day 1, here we are!


Day 1: Cutting Out the Sunbonnet

Materials: Approximately 1 yard of fabric, matching or coordinating thread, stiffening agent*.

Janice included a length of this pretty fabric with the baby quilt. It was the perfect choice for a sunbonnet!

Note on materials: There is quite a bit of variation in the materials you can use for a sunbonnet. For a dressier bonnet consider using sheer or semi-sheer fabric in a period style print, or with a woven check, plaid or striped design. For a sturdy "everyday" style sunbonnet, medium weight cotton in a period print, check, plaid or stripe works very well as it can be laundered as needed. But be aware; cottons fade fast with routine wear, especially when worn in the sun. Lightweight wool is another option and has many benefits; it holds its color longer than cottons, it "breathes", it is cool in hot weather and warm in cool weather and does not show wear and tear as soon as cotton may. For a hood suitable for winter wear, choose wool or silk and line the bonnet with silk or polished cotton, extending the width of the brim so you can have a turnback, showing off the lining or facing.

*These instructions are for a quilted bonnet, which uses cotton batting for the stiffening agenst inside the brim. You can, however, easily make a corded bonnet by sewing in multiple rows of narrow cotton cord into the brim (sandwich between the layers of the brim and sew close to the cord) or you can make a slat bonnet by sewing channels into the brim and then inserting thin cardboard slats to stiffen the brim.

Cutting:

Wash, dry and press your fabric.

The first piece to cut is the brim piece. For this, cut a rectangle 20" long x 15" wide. Fold the rectangle in half, wrong sides together and press, so that the rectangle now measures 20" long x 7.5" wide.

Here you can see the brim piece, folded and pressed. The cotton batting is the piece on the bottom.

Cut a piece of cotton batting 20" long x 7.5" wide. Set aside.

Now cut out the crown of the bonnet. Cut a rectangle 12" x 18". Press in half so the rectangle measures 12" long x 9" wide. Round off one corner of the rectangle so that you end up with an upside down "U" shaped piece.

For the bavolet (curtain), cut a strip of fabric measuring 40" long x 12" wide.
Press the bavolet in half so the rectangle measures 20" long x 12" wide. Round off one corner of the rectangle so you have a very wide U shaped piece.

There should be enough scrap left over to cut and make ties once the bonnet is complete. So save those scraps!

To be continued.

Love,

Sarah

A Feather Pillow

We are coming to the end of the long stretch of 1860's sewing for David and Blake. In less than a week they will be encamped upon the green hills of Tennessee, savoring the smell of campfire-smoke and gunpowder, enjoying the pure spring air and rejoicing, I am sure, in getting away from real life for a little bit to play with other guys. I finished up the last of David's items today. Blake is coming over tonight to get his frock sleeves fitted and then all will be over! I can't wait to get some pics of Blake in his whole outfit. He really looks terribly wonderful, if I do say so myself. ;)

The last project for David was this feather pillow that I cut down from a fluffy feather tick that we have had sitting in the closet the past few years. David has been using a modern pillow up til now but wanted something more authentic for his first national reenactment. I figured I may as well use the feather tick for something. 

We obtained it when we lived at our last house. Behind the home was an old garage and the landlord mentioned to David he had found a feather mattress in a plastic bag in the top of the garage. He didn't want it so he gave it to David. We used it on top of our bed for a while but eventually took it off when Malachi was born. He slept in our bed with us for the first six months of his life and I was afraid of the fluffiness smothering his tiny body. Since then the feather tick has been in various closets. I was afraid mice may have made houses in it but when we took it out and I opened it up it was still whole and sound. Inside it was stuffed with millions of these tiny, soft feathers:

I used part of the ticking to make a pillow and then began stuffing it with the feathers. I learned two things. One, this is the messiest job I have ever performed. I was liberally covered with little white feathers when I was done, the whole room was covered and there were yet more feathers floating in the air. Two, it takes way more feathers to stuff a pillow than you may think. I used about 3/4 of the feathers in the tick and made just one normal sized pillow! David wanted it stuffed firmly, so I made sure to pack the feathers rather firmly.

Today I made a simple cotton pillow slip for it and Judah graciously allowed me to use his bed to see what the pillow will look like with the wool quilt I have been working on for the past few months. (Which more accurately means I have worked on it for an afternoon or so with long stretches of weeks in between where I did nothing to it). The quilt is just made from  many squares of scrap wool sewn together. I am trying hard to get every other square quilted before David has to leave. It is taking much longer than I thought.

One other recycled project was this kepi cover. The event David is going to is famous for rain so he asked if I may be able to make him a cover with an old oilcloth poncho he was replacing. The oilcloth side had started to crack in several places so I draped a pattern for the cover on David's kepi and cut the shapes out around the cracks. I sewed it together yesterday and I think it will work quite nicely to keep his head dry in the event it rains. (of course, the forecast is for a beautiful stretch of days next week with a very slight chance of rain).

After all this manly sewing I really won't know what to do with myself next week while David is away! I have picnics, fishing trips and hikes planned for me and the boys and so many sewing projects I want to do I don't know where to start! I suppose firstly I will whip up a few new maternity dresses since the weather has been unseasonably warm and I am at the point where I am starting to need things that are looser around the waist. (is it really possible this pregnancy is halfway over already?!) I have sketched a few designs and can't wait to make them a reality with some comfy knit fabrics and some light airy cottons. And I have diapers to make and Easter clothes for the boys to dive into and oh, just so many fun things to look forward to!

Love,
Sarah

David's Dress Shirt

David is a bit of a shirt-a-holic. No matter how many nice mid-19th century shirts he has, he always has plans for at least two or three more. And when those materialize, he needs more. I suppose it is like me and fabric. I can't complain too much about a husband who collects shirts. At least it is not an expensive obsession and is not morally questionable. And many shirts is consistent with the needs of a man in the 19th century - they are, after all, technically underwear. A fresh one is nice every day. 

His latest shirt is this pleated front dress shirt that he declared he must have for Shiloh. We bought the fabric last month and last week I finished it up. This was my first pleated front shirt and I was happy with how it came out, although there are a few things about it that bug me (the corners of the pleated insert are not perfectly smooth, etc.) 

I finished it late one night, sewing the last buttonholes as we were curled up on the couch downstairs watching the Fess Parker version of Davey Crockett. The children were all asleep by the time the last stitch was sewn and despite the late hour I made David try it on. I told him I deserved that, at least. To see him in it once the labor of making it was over. I was pleased at the transformation the shirt produced in David. He just looks so good in it. It suits him. 

I used the Laughing Moon shirt pattern for this shirt. I started using the pattern a few years ago and I love it. The sizing is great and the instructions are clear. There are a few things I have to change about the pattern to make it appropriate (following the instructions to a T results in a shirt that is definitely post-war) but all in all I would not be without this pattern. I also used the neck stock and cravat pattern to make the black silk cravat. Here David traipses up the driveway with James Longstreet, his faithful companion. 

My only disappointment is that when David wears this shirt under his uniform no one will be able to see it. Alas. 

Love,

Sarah