My Hobbit Children!

It was such a gorgeous, warm, sunny day yesterday! I thought it would be a good opportunity to take pictures of the three littlest in the hobbit costumes I made for them last fall. Well, they aren't costumes anymore, really, just play clothes. I am sure they won't fit for Faire this fall so they may as well get use out of them while they can. 

And yes, I know I ought to be hunkered down madly sewing in my spare minutes for our upcoming demo but it was too nice yesterday to be cooped up indoors. And I have been making progress. I have Judah's new, bigger shirt done and finished hemming his new trousers yesterday. Weekend goals: pattern and sew his waistcoat and at least start his coat. 

It's nice that the back yard is mostly fenced in so that I can let the babies out back and let them run around as they please. I just followed them around and let them do their thing. Which was mostly plucking moss, picking up sticks that blew down in a recent storm and moving said sticks to either the wood pile or the fire pit and screaming joyfully while rummaging through the winter pile up of dead leaves. 

I really like how these styles are so practical for normal wear. I foresee more outfits for the girls in the same styles for summer dresses. Loose, breezy, comfortable clothes are best! Both for hobbits and for little ones. 

Corded Sunbonnet in Grey

Over the weekend I did a lot of work and as a consequence have been extremely tired this week. We graduated the baby out of her crib to a toddler bed and graduated Benjamin to a big boy bed. I had the brilliant idea of giving the boys the (finished) basement so they all would have more space and their own bathroom so we set to work early Saturday, hauling beds and dressers up and down the stairs. Then we all decided we liked it better the way it had been before, so back up and down everything came. Then we went to IKEA and bought bunk beds for the boys and a few other things to make their room more organized and space-saving. Then we had to put all that together. And then I arranged the girls room, and so, I am tired. And I am not in the mood to sew anything. I just want to plant my little raised beds and putter around outside. It's that late-winter-restlessnessy feeling. I just want to be outside, dammit.

Spring comes early. We do not mind. 

This sucks because in less than two weeks I will be giving a talk at an elementary school for a Civil War day they are having. The children who are going with me need their things finished. At the very least, I need to refit a dress so I have something to wear. I had planned to refit my pink dress last month for the HSM "Refit/Reuse/Remake" challenge but. . . yeah, didn't happen. I ordered some yellow gingham lawn that I would love to make into a sheer gown with a half-high lining before the school day and use my new repro belt buckle from Jeremy Richardson and my sorta-new mourning brooch but WHO HAS THE TIME?!?! Ahhhhh. I just really dooooooon't want to sew. 

Anyway. I made this sunbonnet a few weeks ago, working on it here and there in between other projects. It's based on the original below, which was listed on eBay. I liked the drawn effect of the brim and wanted to try it out for myself. 

Here's what I came up with:

I LOVE it! I used a thicker cord for this bonnet since my complaints with previous ones have mostly dealt with brim floppiness. I hate starching things although I know it's a completely common and period correct way to get things stiff. I just don't like how starched things wilt in damp conditions. I want a brim to withstand a deluge. And I don't like slat bonnets. 

This cord is thin cotton clothesline and works really well. The brim can still be turned back, if needed, and holds it shape nicely without the aid of starch. I added a full gathered, long curtain. I mean this curtain is long. Maybe a bit more so than I really need but I like how it covers everything. 

I made it up in a semi-sheer, striped grey fabric I bought a few summers ago. Works well, and the color will go with everything. At least I will have a pretty cool sunbonnet to wear for the school demo even if nothing else gets done. Must. Get. Motivation. Back. 

A Yoked 1860's Girls Dress

Anne's dress for this year is done! She may get a few more wears out of last years pink frock, and she may get another new dress later this year for fancier occasions, but I am really liking this plain, sturdy little dress that we made in a blue-grey print that exactly matches her eyes.

Like she was last year, Anne was very involved in every detail of this dress. She looked at original images and at last settled on a yoked style with short puffy sleeves and a wide, shallow neckline. She kept me company while I sewed, sewed pins into my skirt, cut up scraps of ribbon and argued with me about putting polyester ribbon on her dress ("Mommy, they DID have ribbon back then!") and watched Beatrix Potter movies on YouTube while I stitched away.

Some of the images that inspired Anne

In passing, those movies rather horrified me. While I loved them as a child, as an adult they seem absolutely morbid. Most of the plots involve some sinister, conniving character plotting to eat the silly, naive, innocent character! But Anne seemed to love them as much as I once did. 

The construction of the dress is quite simple with the yoke being an easy variation of the smooth fitted bodice. I drafted a new basic bodice pattern according to Anne's measurements, made a mock up, and drew on a line where I thought the yoke should be. The mock up was then cut apart to create the pattern for the yoke, while the lower bodice was slashed and spread to create a wider lower bodice piece to be gathered to the yoke. 

It went together pretty smoothly. I found that I was completely out of the cotton cord I usually  use for piping so I had to substitute with slightly thicker butchers string. The piping came out clunky and awkward but I guess it is better than no piping. Or maybe not. Childrens clothing does not strictly need to piped in this period. Oh well, it's done! And I have a new ball of cotton cord now so next time I won't be unprepared!

It's made a little large so as to fit all this year. The back has a big overlap and the buttons can be moved if Anne eventually needs extra room. The skirt has three 1" tucks than can be let out, but as we made the skirt pretty long I don't think we will need to let the tucks out.

I love how these came out in black and white!

No lining, except in the yoke and the waistband and hem is faced. The dress took about 3 yards of 45" fabric.

Anne's shoes are modern WalMart finds, and the straps aren't in a correct position for the 1860's, but I may be able to move the straps before the season starts and they will look a little better. 

Civil War Wear for 8 Year Old Boy

I've been pushing myself to get the kids clothes ready for the reenacting season sooner rather than later. Last year we managed to get by but we were pretty bare-bones with our impressions. A benefit to having so many children is that garments can be passed down. This year no one needs all new everything, so it will be nice to have more time to work on accessories and to put more time into creating a few good, useful things that will round out the look. It's been really fun so far! I hope this weird burst of productiveness lasts!

So this month I wanted to focus on getting Malachi in proper attire. After a try-on of last years clothing I figured that he could use Judah's waistcoat and jacket from last year with a new base outfit made in his size. He is 8 now, and in a modern size 8/10.

In the period he could still wear styles geared towards younger boys but he has been wanting real menswear for a while now. So this year was it. I was actually pretty sad as I sewed up his new things! My last little boy from what I think of as my "original set" ;) I'm so, so glad that I have my Benjamin and will have a little boy to dress for events for a while, yet!

I sewed him up a new shirt, trousers, braces, cravat and cap. His cap from last year would have worked just fine but he specifically requested a grey hat. This one is made from an old wool suit jacket that would have otherwise been donated. It made a fantastic little cap! The inside is lined with white cotton and the band is lined with silk.

He had trouble with his necktie last year. He plays very hard and is extremely active so it kept coming loose. This year I made him a pre formed tie with a narrow band that hooks closed behind the bow.

I had material left over from making the waistcoat last year so that is what we used for the trousers. I tried a full lining with these. I don't usually line trousers but this material is fairly light and, like I said, this kid is active. Lining will (I hope) extend the life of the trousers and it adds some body so that the legs hang nicely. The braces are "poor boy" suspenders made of cotton twill.

The shirt was drafted based on measurements from one of his modern button ups and drawn using the Laughing Moon Men's Victorian Shirt pattern as a guide for shapes. It came out quite cute! I used a nice quality red and white dotted cotton and china buttons. Next time I will make the collar and band just a bit narrower and drop the shoulders a little more. Otherwise I'm really happy with how it came out!

His shoes are pull on black leather riding boots with elastic gussets from eBay. Not 100% period correct but they give a good look and are sturdy shoes that will wear well. Not bad for less than $20!

He will be wearing this to a school demonstration in a few weeks. It's a great feeling to have him all ready to go well in advance. I'm proud of my little guy! He's grown so much. It's been fun seeing him grow up in the hobby!

Finished Civil War Cold Weather Things

I figured I better blog these before I have lost all interest in them. I finished both my mantle and winter bonnet last month and had optimistically hoped for at least a little bit of snow on a day I was available to take pictures. The snow never materialized, winter seems to have departed hastily and now we are enjoying summer-like temperatures (wut?) so these, taken during an outing a few weeks ago will have to suffice.

I am very happy with how both the bonnet and mantle came out. The colors are not ones I would have chosen if I had been able to get all new materials. But considering these were basically free projects that made use of some leftover scraps, I could not be more pleased. The mantle is very warm and it is moderately heavy. It was almost too warm on the day these pictures were taken. Although I was down by the water and there was a nice breeze it was still not quite cold enough!

The bonnet is quite light and since it is not made of wool it is not as toasty warm as the mantle. This works out well, though, at least for this year! I like this style quite a bit since it is close fitted and very snug. The shape is nice, too, and doesn't make the face appear so narrow as other styles of the period. I ended up edging it with cream silk ruching which softens the lines and helps tone down the olive green of the main fabric.

I wore leather gloves and a took a muff - both completely unnecessary. I will have opportunity to wear these again next month if it gets cold again. Otherwise they will wait to be worn until fall.

One nice thing about clothing from this period is that it does not need to match or even coordinate. I wasn't sure how this would all come together but I think is, in the end, pleasing.

Altering a Basic Regency Gown Pattern for Drawstrings

The Sense and Sensibility pattern for a girls regency dress is one I have used a lot. Its basic form is classically regency with a high waisted, fitted bodice and a moderately full skirt. There are short puff sleeves or long sleeves to choose from. The gown is back fastening with buttons.

While I do like the original style of the pattern, it's always fun to change things up a bit and see what other styles you can create. I have found that the girls regency dress pattern makes a terrific "pattern block" from which you can create a ton of different styles. One of my current projects is creating a regency era dress for the daughter of a friend and I thought I'd document how to alter this basic pattern to make a dress that is fitted with drawstrings. (The original pattern includes fabulous directions on how to make a drawstring-look dress using elastics. This dress uses ribbon and twill tape to get the gathered look.) Gathered dresses are perfect for garments that are meant to be used by rapidly growing kids and since the sizing is so adjustable its great if you plan to eventually hand the garment down to a different child. It's not quite one size fits all, but it's close! 

Cutting the dress is only a little different. The back bodice has the center back line placed on the fold. This makes a one-piece center back. The side backs are cut as usual. The front bodice is cut placing the center front line about 2"-4" from the fold (depending on how full you want the gathers to be). The sleeves are cut as usual. For the skirt, I cut two rectangles as long as my desired waist-to-hem measurement + 2" for seam allowance and a narrow hem and as wide as the fabric, usually. The back skirt remains a rectangle and the front skirt is slightly shaped into an A-line, with the top edge of the skirt equaling the bottom edge of the front bodice. 

The bodice is sewn together. For this dress I cut a lining of white cotton and treated it as one with the outer layer. To finish the seams I turned under the seam allowance and slip stitched it down. This creates a nice firm finish to give a little structure to the dress. 

You can see the extra width in the front bodice. The neckline is narrowly hemmed by hand. The sleeves are set in as usual.

For these sleeves, I narrowly hemmed the bottom edge and ran a tape through the hem so that they are adjustable. It also makes ironing a lot easier!

The skirt is seamed together at the sides. I used french seams for this skirt. I don't think that French seams are very common on original gowns but it makes a good strong finish and is quicker than finishing the seams by hand. The back skirt is pleated to fit the back bodice:

Matching side seams, the skirt is pinned and sewn to the bodice, right sides together.

Two tiny buttonholes are worked just above the waist seam and right next to the side seam on the front bodice. 

And an eyelet worked in the hem of the neckline at center front.

To make the casing for the waist drawstring, the seam allowance is turned up towards the bodice, the raw edge folded over and slip stitched down. 

The seam allowance between the skirt and back bodice can be finished in a variety of ways. For this dress I just turned under the seam allowance and slip stitched it down. For a heavier fabric this may be too bulky. If that's the case I will usually just bind the seam. 

After the skirt hem is done, all that is left is to put in the drawstrings! I used cotton twill tape in the neckline and a ribbon in the waist. The waistline drawstring goes into the casing via the buttonholes, so that the ribbons come out at the sides and tie at the back.

Draw up the strings to fit and that is it!