On Saturday we went for the day to the last reenactment of the season - no more til April! Saturday was also David's 3rd birthday so we packed the children up early in the morning and spent the day at Dollinger Farm. Due to the cold, we did not stay the whole weekend as we did not want to keep the boys out overnight.
It is a pretty place for an event and although in the past I haven't liked this particular event due to the commercial atmosphere, I enjoyed myself very much. It was such a pretty day, it warmed up a bit in the early afternoon, and it was nice to meet some new people, including a lovely lady who introduced herself to me as having been to my blog before! (It was a joy to meet you! I hope we and our little ones can visit again at future reenactments!)
Here are some pictures from the day.
One of the generals wives. She had a beautiful knitted bonnet that I'd love to copy and a gorgeous wool dress. I have seen her at other reenactments but did not really get to meet her until this one, due to my having to keep an eye on the children most of the time and having little opportunity for visiting.
Malachi eats a candy stick. Once we arrived we first browsed through the sutler area. There were some very nice ones, and at one we got the boys candy sticks in hopes of them settling down if they had something sweet to suck on. Malachi had a lemon flavored one and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, he was completely sticky before he was finished but a damp cloth cleaned him up just fine. 
We brought a cold lunch of smoked sausage, bread, cheese and grapes. Here Malachi pauses mid-chew to allow me to take his picture. In passing, I made this striped coat for him when he was four months old and prayed it would last him through the season. And. . .it did! Just barely, but he squeezed into it one final time. He seems to have had a growth spurt since our last event. He had to wear Judah's wool dress from last year and Judah's strapped petti that Judah wore this summer. I'm glad I had the bigger things to put him in, or else I don't know if we could have gone! But geez, why do kids grow so fast?? This is the last time the older boys will wear their clothes too. The bodices and hems on their shirts and trousers are a bit too short, already. And I just made these things five or six weeks ago!
After our picnic lunch the boys wanted to explore. Just beyond the camp was an open area, fringing off into woods and a deep ravine. The boys were fascinated by the ravine and tried several times to slither down into it. I did not blame them for their curiousity. When I was growing up, wooded ravines were some of my favorite places to play!
Here Malachi sits in the high grass and looks for tasty leaves to chew on. A fuzzy caterpillar offered a most tempting sample of snack but I rescued it just before it fell victim to a most untimely and unfortunate death.
David. The last time we were at this event we were newlyweds and he posed in almost the same exact spot for a picture. Then, he had a sutler made uniform. This time, it is one I got to make.
I wore my black wool dress since I didn't get to wear it much this year, just once in February to the Abraham Lincoln Birthday ball. Plus it helped against the chill. Hoorah for wool! It is the best, most versatile fiber ever.
Before the battle we decided to walk a bit and visit. I carried Malachi and the older boys walked with David. 
They even held hands. They just started doing that lately and I think it is so adorable!
David and I. I wanted a picture with my birthday boy but he wouldn't look at the camera! Oh well!
David and Judah on their way down the hill to the sutler area. My favorite sutler was called Mother of Purl and she had a wonderful assortment of wool yarns. I got some lovely blue-green heathered wool yarn to make the boys some mittens. It's a good thing we did not have a lot of extra money to spend or I would have spent it all there!
I used my wool shawl as a makeshift sling. It helped so much. Malachi does get very heavy, especially when he naps. David tied the shawl behind me and just behind my shoulder and we were able to adjust the tightness to support Malachi's little bum and his back. This is almost certainly the last event where Malachi will be small enough to carry around and to be considered a baby.:( Next year he will be walking and definitely a toddler. 
One great impression was the priest who went about on the field administering last rites. Oh wow, that was an awesome impression. Here he is after the battle talking to a confederate soldier. 
We got to meet some other people as well. These guys did a fabulous job with their impression as refugees. It was thrilling to see! Fabulous, fabulous job.
Here is David and Judah. Poor Judah. He did get quite cold. I tied my shawl around his head and he kept it on. Something he would not normally do. Note the man bending over by the tree on the left hand side. He had a beautiful repro guitar with gut strings and it had such a beautiful sound to it. I would love to get one someday!
One thing I definitely learned this weekend is that I need to get the Past Patterns overalls pattern for David. I saw two gentleman wearing overalls from the pattern and they looked fabulous. Heck, I saw so many gorgeous civilian clothing items I'd love to make for David. One man had a beautiful yellow and black plaid frock coat that I especially liked. For, you see, since I have decided to go old-fashioned in my wardrobe David has joined me in my endeavors and has decided he wants to dress that way as well. So waistcoats, trousers, shirts, frocks, sack coats and overalls are in my future! Whew. I'm thrilled though, truly! David looks so much more natural in his period clothing than in modern stuff and he says he finds it much more comfortable. He is such a hard size to fit (a 2X Tall with a very long torso) so making our own clothes at home will be much better and more economical in the long run. And it is always more fun to dress old fashioned when you have someone to do it with you. :)Love,
Sarah
The First Day (Tuesday) I cut them out and sewed all the main pieces together. The Second Day I attached the gussets together and sewed the boning channels and inserted the boning. The Third Day I bound all the edges with homemade bias made from the lining fabric and today I finally finished up all the hand made lacing holes. So they are done, laying out on the bed and waiting for laces. They are of two layers; the outer layer is cotton twill and the inner layer white striped cotton.
I haven't tried them on since the mock up stage so I hope they fit well and don't need any alterations. I decided to just bone them instead of doing cording since I need the extra support and it is so much quicker to sew a boning channel and slip a bone in than to laboriously sew rows and rows of cords which would, probably, have to be done by hand to look nice. For my historically-inspired clothing I have decided that if it can be seen from the outside I will sew it by hand but if not, I will do it with a straight stitch on the machine. Probably Historically Sinful, I know, but it works for me for these every day wear sort of clothes. (A living history event would be totally different). Stays are underwear and thusly will not be viewable by the majority of humankind. Exceptions are my own family, but they don't care or even notice hand stitched seams vs. machine stitched seams. (In passing, it is a very prideful thing when your 2 year old son correctly indentifies and names "eyelets" "bones" and "stays" and takes great interest in "helping" poke eyelet holes in fabric with a knitting needle.)
And an inside view:
Not much else is note worthy, except for the fact that today Malachi is nine months old, he is starting to wean (*weeps*) and as of yesterday he has begun to stand by himself for quite lengthy amounts of time. No steps yet, though! But he is *extremely* proud of himself for standing alone. And for drinking out of a "real" cup (he tried a sippy once and hated it but does well with a certain little tin cup that is just his size) from which he partakes of milk, juice and water with habit and regulation.
If I had not firmly decided on the 1820's as my very favorite fashion era before this time, this dress would definitely have decided for me! Can you imagine wearing such an exquisite piece?!
and one picture that shows two little boys wearing what appear to be similar styles of hat. 
At times I have wished the boys could go back in dresses and the accessories that go with them for this event. Warm quilted hoods are just so much warmer than a skimpy cap. 
The top portion is an oval cut to fit the head. The band is cut at the top to fit the circumference of the oval and is flared a little at the bottom to sit well on the head. The bias brim is just a strip of bias, doubled and sewn. The earflaps were attached to the bias band. Tape ties were sewn to the end of those. 
I used leftover Hainsworth wool broadcloth for the main portion of the caps. The insides are lined with plain dark green cotton and the earflaps are lined with matching blue velveteen. The plaid wool was cut from an old wool skirt I got from a thrift store last year. 
Hopefully these will keep their little ears warm enough! 
On a similar note of keeping warm, but a totally different topic, I am currently agonizing over what to do for my cold-weather wardrobe. I have almost nothing to wear for the fall/winter season (3 pregnancies in quick succession does take a toll on the condition of your wardrobe!) and am not sure what I should do about it. David gave me a sum of money and told me to get what I need and that he doesn't want to hear me complaining about my clothes until spring. Now, what should I do?
Our surgeon recently got this small scale "pup tent" for his dog and our unit mascot. Little David was very interested in it since it was also the perfect size for him!
Judah distastefully surveys a Plastic Rat that inhabited the pile of amputated arms and legs. 
Here am I and this is how I appeared most of the weekend. I started fringing this morning but unfortunately the fringe is coming out black. It appears the lengthwise threads are black and the crosswise threads are red so my fringe will not match the trim already on the mantle. I don't know if I should go with this for fringe or look for a ready made fringe that is a similar color? I really do not want black fringe! What about a pleated ruching that is attached to the inside hem, peeking out at the bottom? Hmm. . .
After lunch on Saturday it grew quite warm, almost hot. I took Malachi's outer clothes off so here he is, happy to be free and cool, in his undies! Judah, Malachi and I were in the fashion show Saturday afternoon and this is what Malachi wore for it!
Trying out tooth #2 while eating a pear.
Judah had an apple.
Muching down! Another bad thing about the weekend was the presence of many bees. They kept buzzing around, trying to get in for a portion of that pear.
Here is David on Saturday evening with Malachi. As you can see it got quite cold again so Malachi is wearing a heavy coat.
This one is a little blurry but I love the background. A lovely little pond and fountain is behind this tall grass. . . such a beautiful spot!
My handsome husband. I was immensely proud of him. He does this impression so well!
Lavender in the farmhouse flower bed. 
David, Malachi and I. 
Malachi and I. I have no idea what is going on with that look on Malachi's face. . .he was tired!
The herb garden where we camped last year. 
David and the boys on the way to church service on Sunday morning.
Judah, Malachi and I.
David and Judah sitting in a pew, carefully contemplating the easiest and stealthiest way to slither beneath the pew in front of them to escape.
Caught!
Poor Malachi. He fell asleep during the service and napped for quite a while afterwards.
The Works. The trenches that were dug on the battlefield were incredible! On Sunday the Confederates had posession of them. We heard that on Saturday night some Confederate soldiers camped out in the trenches and I thought that was wonderful! It was freezing cold that night but oh, what a way to experience a bit of history!
On Sunday David set up an aid station close to the spectator line for the battle. It was so amazing to see what he actually does on the battlefield. Injured soldiers made their way to him and the yellow hospital flag and Major Conover, the surgeon, and David treated what they could. One gentleman with a head injury stumbled in and after checking him over David sent him back out on the field again. It was nice to see this up close and hear their dialouge instead of looking on from a-far. It made it so much more real.
Stays and Petticoat: 
Outer Gown: (don't you love his expression here? 8 months old and already working on "the look" :) ) 
Soft Shoes: These were made by tracing around his foot to get the right size for the sole and then squaring off the shape a bit. The top is just one piece with the straps cut out from the top portion. I tried to felt some leftover wool broadcloth to use although it came out a bit fuzzy. The embroidery is a motif taken from an original pattern for baby shoes and is done in pale lilac. 
Pinafore and Cap: Here Malachi wonders if a leaf tastes good.
In the mouth! Ymmm. Crunchy.
I am in love with this cap! Mrs. G. kindly sent me a copy of the pattern she used for her own baby caps and I sized it up a tad to fit Malachi. I love how warm and cozy it is.
This one is made from white cotton. I whipped some lace around the face edge for a bit of prettiness. 
And on the Hay-Rack:
And with Daddy. David made a silly face. Sometimes it is harder to get him to seriously smile than it is to get the children to smile!
And finally, here is David in his totally finished field frock. Yeah! I'm so glad I'm done with this coat! I won't bore you with lots of pictures since it is basically the same as his dress frock but with shoulder boards instead of epaulettes on the shoulders. He is wearing it here with his rejected vest, which I fixed for the time being with a patch over the vent. I love all the buttons. . .I must confess, I do like a man in many buttons. 