And before I go further, I want to say that the images I have here I pulled from saved files and I honestly have no clue where they originated. I want to give credit where credit is due and don't want to violate any copyright issues, so, if you recognize a photo and have info about whose it is, please let me know!!
So anyway I am revisiting the 1860's boy's button suit. I tried this style three years ago with David and Judah. They were 2 and 3 years old at the time. They looked adorable but there was so much about the button suit to not like. The number of buttonholes! (although I have become more fond of making buttonholes since then). The lack of flexible sizing! (there's only so much bagginess you can put into a suit like this before it looks, well, bad.) The biggest problem was going potty.
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| This little boy's suit is quite large for him and is probably the Extreme Edge of Bagginess I would attempt at making a suit larger than needed. Any baggier and it would look way too much out of proportion! |
In a button suit, the blouse has a fixed waistband. This waistband is buttoned to the waistband of the trousers all around the waist. This creates problems and frustration for little boys who need to use the bathroom and do not like mommy or daddy help when doing so. So, I ditched the button suit. I embraced the Flexible Tunic, which could be created quite large to leave plenty of growing room and could also hide an elastic waistband on the trousers so the boys could easily go potty by themselves.
But after 3 years of making tunics I have become bored with them. And I don't want to feel like I just gave up on the button suit without making it work somehow. So I'm revisiting them and am in the middle of making David and Judah each a new button suit for the always-cold and October-y Civil War reenactment we will be going to next Saturday.
The most helpful piece of information I have discovered during the last 3 years, concerning button-suits, is that some trousers in suits like these had a convenience slit in the front. I am not sure how that slit was created (is is *just* a slit in the center front crotch seam?) but I will be adding them to the trousers I'm making for my boys. For these, I will go with a normal fly opening that is sewn to the waistband at the top. I don't think I will make the fly button shut but it at least will have the nice overlapping bit that a normal fly has to avoid accidental exposure of things best left unseen. So that will take care of most of our potty issues. They will still need help, I think, if they have to completely remove their trousers but the need for that should be relatively rare compared to the need for the nice convenience slit.
To finish off the button suit I will be making waistcoats and jackets to go over the blouse. The waistcoat will be just like a man's waistcoat and will help add warmth (definitely go with more lightweight layers when it gets cold instead of one bulky, heavy garment!) and the jacket will go over all. I first planned to make a notched collar for the jackets but the more I look at images the more I see the type of jacket that buttons all the way up to the neck. It appears that this type of jacket has no collar or perhaps a very small standing band collar, and then the collar of the shirt beneath is folded out over the top of the coat neckline. I really like this look and it seems it would be warmer than a notched collar style since the entire neck and chest area will be covered.
Then, if it's *really* cold, they can wear their wool sack-style coats from last year over everything as a sort of overcoat. But hopefully it won't be that cold. I don't like cold events.
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| This is the look I'm going for. |
It's going to be inconvenient to bring a nursing infant out anyway. I keep imagining the awkwardness of trying to unbutton my coat and push it out of the way, unfastening a dress bodice, undoing the neckline of a chemise and fiddling around to get the nursing apparatus out, all while, probably, trying to "cover up" beneath a lightweight shawl or blanket, with the baby, heavily bundled herself in a wool coat and hood and wrapped in a woolen shawl, squirms and complains about being covered up (she hates having anything over her head). . . just thinking of all that almost makes me want to stay home instead of going to the event!
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| This woman looks strong, confident and not ashamed of breastfeeding WITHOUT covering up! Woo-ha! She's SO. Awesome. I love her. |
But if they did it in the 1860's, we can do it too. I just keep having to tell myself that to motivate me to try. Like I said, I hate giving up on something without making it work somehow! Photo below from Breastfeeding Art.
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Lots of sewing to do!
Love,
Sarah
