Battle of Blue Licks

We have not had many events this year so far and then all of a sudden last weekend there were 3 separate events all occurring at the same time. Hard to choose, right?! However, my decision was made over a month ago when a chance meeting with an acquaintance in the toy aisle at the local Wal-Mart (yes, really!) led to an invitation to come to the Battle of Blue Licks. I had never heard about the event before then but when I got home I read up about it and decided to try to finish my 1770's dress so I could both visit the event and go in proper dress. I had been languishing on this project and this was just the motivation I needed to actually get it done.

We day tripped it to the site, located in northern Kentucky and the weather could not have been more perfect for late summer. Not too hot, slightly overcast and the oppressive humidity that has been suffocating this area of the country for the past few weeks had graciously lifted.

The Battle of Blue Licks was one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War. It was a small encounter between Kentucky settlers and the British and Native Americans and ended in a lot of bloodshed and a decisive loss to the Kentuckians. It was, really, an avoidable slaughter. Tragic, heartbreaking and sad to remember. The famous pioneer, Daniel Boone, fought here and survived; his 23 year old son Israel was killed. Fought on August 19, 1782, we visited the site exactly 236 years later. It was a sobering thought.

I am so glad we had the opportunity to go and to learn more about the history of the early Americans in Kentucky. No matter what ones feelings are regarding colonization and the sad destruction of the Native cultures here in America, I think it is important to know about what happened and to learn what we can from all who were involved, so as to build better versions of ourselves and our communities in the future.

We barely squeaked by into this period of time as far as our dress goes; but we now have a foundation we can build upon! It sure took long enough to take the plunge but now that we have, I am so thrilled and so excited to see where this new path into history takes us. I am not leaving the 1860's period by any means. . .but it is fun to branch out and expand my interests and research and to meet a lot of wonderful new people!

Here are a few of the pictures I was able to take during the event. I am looking forward to going back next year! I was up the night before putting the last stitches in Benjamin's little gown. I will do a post about our clothes sometime soon!

Love,

Sarah

~ Battle of Blue Licks 2018 ~

A Maxi T-Shirt Dress!

I need to do a post about my finally-really-truly-finished 18th century gown soon, but it may take awhile to compile all the photos and write the post I want to. In the meantime, here is a quick project I did recently with some jersey I got at Wal Mart. Even though it was a simple and fast thing (one afternoon!) I was just as happy with the finished dress as I was with my finished 18th century one. 😃

I had a few yards of this very stretchy red and black printed jersey and wanted to make a garment that showed off the print rather than cutting into it. A simple kaftan style dress seemed to be the best way to do that, but I already have enough kaftans. I decided to use the pattern I made for my cropped t-shirts and add a gathered tube skirt to it, to keep the print mostly intact. The top took very little fabric and for the bottom, I used a full width of the 60" fabric, split in half and sewed to about knee length along the side seams. I gathered the skirt to the edge of the t shirt portion, sewing in a length of elastic with the seam to add stability. I hemmed the slits and the bottom and boom! A dress. 

I wore it to a friends birthday party and it was perfect for a casual occasion, chasing kids around and doing mom things. The fabric is drapey and cool and so comfortable - it's almost too comfortable to be a dress! 

I still have a lot of this fabric left but am not sure what to do with it. It's not quite right for little girls, so I will probably make something else for myself. Maybe some shorts and a t shirt for nightwear! 

Happy August month, y'all!

Love,

Sarah 

My 1930's House Dress!

So let's conclude these 1930's dress posts, shall we? 😄 This project seems to have gone on forever, though in reality it was only about a month.

For my dress I wanted a wrap front dress really bad, but as usual I did not have enough fabric to make one. I still wanted an easy-on, easy-off style that was relatively unfitted so when I came across the image of this pattern, I was inspired to make my own version of this pull-over dress.

The dress is lightly fitted through the torso and flares out into a gentle A-line shape at the hem. The sleeves are plain and fitted and there are darts on either side of the front neckline, from the shoulder to the upper chest. I decided to do a V neckline with a collar, as per the pattern image. It seemed easy enough to make, but I didn't feel like draping a pattern. I wanted a fitted-but-only-slightly pattern for a front and back bodice to use for a starting point. So, I used my copy of the Scroop Otari Hoodie and traced around the front and back bodice pieces, adding a little width to the torso and flaring out the side seams into a mid-calf length hem. I narrowed the width of the back shoulder and darted the front shoulders to fit. It worked perfectly and the fit is just right for a house dress. I also used the sleeve pattern from the Otari Hoodie, shortened, to make the sleeves.

I had just under 2 yards of a cream, pink and blue floral cotton for the dress. There was almost nothing left after cutting out very short sleeves and the front and back dress, so I pulled a length of pink striped cotton/linen off the shelf and used that for cuffs to extend the length of the sleeves and for a big pointy collar. I made a strip of it into a belt that closes with hooks and eyes. The dress can be worn without a belt, too - but I prefer the look with a belt. From my last scraps I cut two little patch pockets, edged with a fold down triangle of the pink.

This was nearly all machine sewn with the hem being done by hand. I also finished the facing around the inside of the collar by hand. The seams are french seamed for tidiness and the whole thing is quite sturdy now that it is done. It's definitely not a flattering garment,  by any stretch of the imagination, but it is comfortable and pretty and I  have received so many lovely compliments on it, mostly about how seeing it brings to mind moms and grandmas and great-grandmas and how they wore similar dresses around the house in years gone by. That makes this garment a successful one! 😄

With all the layers on I feel very proper and clothed. It is certainly different than what I normally wear and I'm so glad I made this outfit.

My hair was the hardest part to figure out. In the end I brushed my hair for the first time in about a year to make it mostly straight (I normally just finger comb or use a wide tooth comb in the shower), and twisted it and pinned it behind my head along with the hair braid I use for 1860's events to give the appearance of a bob from the front. It's a vastly different look than my usual but somehow suits the dress!

After making this, I decided I really want to make a more dressy 1930s gown. There is a late 20's dress in my book that could work for an early 30's "better" dress. I want dark blue rayon with yellow trim! But that is still a someday project.

Love,
Sarah