1930's "Ultra-Modern Magic Bias Slip"

Greeting dear friends;

As this sultry summer weather suffocates the midwest I have found renewed inspiration to continue making 1930's style dresses for summer wear. After I finished my most recent dress, I discovered I needed a slip or underdress to wear beneath it. Since a search through the local thrift shops for a full length slip was fruitless, I began researching 1930's underwear and came across these lovely instructions for a 1930's bias cut slip: http://dressmakingresearch.com/1930s_under_dress.htm

With nothing to loose, I set about making this slip for myself. It is my first ever bias cut garment so I was confounded at first by the odd cutting and sewing insructions. However, I followed them to almost a T, and it produced a very serviceable slip - plus I'll have the satisfaction of knowing it is period correct when I wear it with my dresses! :)

It is odd to wear a bias cut garment. It moves differently on the body and clings and drapes differently. I don't know if I exactly like it, but I will get used to it. The only thing I changed on the directions was the length and drafting of the skirt piece. I made my own piece (very similar however to the pattern instructions) since I didn't want to fool with making the pattern piece as the instructions said. I eyeballed and measured and it came out good enough. :P

The bodice is made of 4 squares of fabric and the instructions called for cutting them out as 15" square. I assumed that since I am probably larger than the average size woman of the 1930's I'd need to make the squares bigger. I originally cut them out at 20" square. Well, that was way too huge due to the way the bias fabric drapes so I ended up using 15" squares after all.

I don't have pictures yet of my new dress but here is a sneak peek: I think this one is my favorite so far. I decided I like the early-mid 30's a lot better than the later years, so tried to go for that look with this dress.

Have a lovely week!

Love,

Sarah

Blue 1930's Summer Gown

I whipped up the skirt to my new dress on Saturday afternoon, while David read and dozed and the boys tried for hours to climb a certain tree outdoors. I put the last few stitches in mid-afternoon, and wore the dress to church yesterday. David took some pictures of it after we got home from church and I must apologize for this first photo. I have such a disdainful, arrogant look. I have no idea why, but I know it is Davids fault. For those of you who know David personally, you will know well that he is quite a tease and he delights in taking candid shots when his subjects are unsuspecting and occupied, for example, with telling a wayward child to not go into the patch of itch-weed. But let us not see the picture of that one.

Since I was pretty much on my own as far as pattern goes with this dress, I did make this up a little different from the inspiration image (see two posts below). The original style looks to be a yoked bodice with minimal fullness above the bust and at the waist, with short fluttery gathered sleeves or a set in short sleeve with a narrow ruffle edging, a smooth set six-gore skirt with sewn in pockets on the front skirt, a just-below-knee-length hem and a tie belt with a bow in the front.

Since the pattern image was from the 1940's, and I prefer the lines of the 1930's, I made up my bodice pretty close to the original image but I lengthened the skirt and tried to get it slimmer at the hipline. I think I need to try this skirt pattern again and take even more fullness from the hip/thigh area and flare it into the hem instead, but, for my first try with a from-scratch drafted skirt pattern, I was pretty happy with the results. For a better line, I think I ought to also lengthen the skirt by 1-2". It is longer than my pink dress I posted about last week but not quite as long as the between calf and ankle length that Nancy Bradfield describes 30's skirt hems in Costume in Detail. Since my figure is not flattered -yet- with smoothly set skirts (durn post-baby belly bulge!), this one has a little fullness at the waist which is gathered to the waistband at the same vertical lines as the gatheres on the yoke and lower bodice. To get slightly off topic, I love gathers. Or pleats. They are so slimming if done very lightly and in strategic places. Gathers lightly skim any lumps or bumps and smooth everything out - and any bulge is visually seen as the effect of the gathers, not physical demerits. :P

Instead of using a tie belt I made a narrow waistband and made a seperate sewn bow (not tied) that is pinned to the waistline of the dress with a big safety pin. This gives the visual appearance of a tied belt, but is far more structured and secure. No worries about twisting or slipping or the bow coming untied!

I did not put pockets on the dress as in the original image. I thought about it and even made a pattern piece for the pockets but in the end decided to leave them off. For one thing, pockets just seem "aprony" to me. This is okay if I were only to wear this dress at home, but I wanted to be able to wear it to church or other places if I want to. I would never wear an apron in public, so I left off the pockets. Another reason is that any aprons I make (and I really do need to make at least one or two new ones) will have pockets, and if I am wearing this dress at home, I will most likely be wearing an apron over it. So pockets on the dress would not really be necessary.

I used a lightweight blue cotton for this dress, which is printed with a viney/feathery design in white. I have no idea if this print is period correct (and I doubt it) but I had 9 yards of this on hand and it has been sitting in my sewing stash for about a year and I needed to start using it up. I used 3 yards for this dress. 6 to go. I love blue though and even if the fabric is not totally right, I still like how it looks. The dress is totally unlined except for the yoke area which is bag lined with white cotton.

Speaking of the yoke. . .I have found I detest square necklines. The original image had a nice square neckline and I thought to myself, how hard can that be? It was very hard. The square kept wanting to stretch, and I had to redo the neckline about three times. The finished shape is not really square like I wanted it to be. V necks or scoop necks or even sweetheart necklines are so much easier to do.

Well that is all I can really say about this dress! It is a simple little style. I did try to do a 30's inspired hairstyle for church. I love the great images and tutorials on ReVampVintage.com so since I have naurally wavy/curly hair, I tried the brush curls. I wetted my hair and combed styling lotion into each section before rolling it up and pinning it. They hardened into steely little sausages and I stupidly did not realize I was supposed to brush them out once the curls were dry. I may try comb waving at some point. But it is not a style I will do every day.

Have a wonderful week!
Love,

Sarah

Because Sometimes I Want Something Completely Different. . .

. . .so this week I made myself a 1930's dress. Going for an O Brother Where Art Thou look.

Last Fall was the Season of Dressing 1820's. I must admit, I fell away from that after Christmas, and slowly, with clothing gained from hand-me-downs and thrift shop buys, began to dress more modernly. I realized (again) I really don't like dressing modernly every day and in the summer, don't really feel like wearing a chemise + corset + petticoats + gown every day. So this summer is the Season of Dressing Vintage. I have a few gowns already made, and now this one, with plans for a few more.

This time around, my attempt at a vintage style went much better. I have always had trouble fitting dresses like this. I have been reading my circa 1970's Vouge Sewing Manual lately and came to realize a few things about fit. #1, the book said to be careful to not overfit a garment. An overfitted garment looks just as unattractive as a baggy one. I think I had that problem since I'm used to fitting something over a corset.

Also, I think hem length is really important with dresses that are not full length. In the sewing book, it said to adjust a hem til it suits you. I realized that on myself, there are only a few places on my leg where a hem is flattering. Just below knee length is NOT, and just above ankle is NOT. So freeing myself to make the hem length suitable for me was really liberating!

I'm really happy with how this dress came out. I've been trying to loose some weight and have lost a little so far, so this dress was a nice reward for that. :) I think I could definitely get used to wearing styles like this on an everyday basis. It's not as frilly and femininely romantic as, say, the 1820's or 30's, but, very comfortable and liveable! And best of all, David loves this style. I don't think I've received so many compliments from him since before we were married. ;)

Next up is a dress based on this pattern image; I think it will be a perfect summer house dress!

Love,

Sarah

Independence Day, 1860's Style

It seems, now, for all festive occasions we have taken to wearing our 1860's clothing. This Independence Day was no different - it was a perfect excuse for dressing up. It was David's idea, actually.

Now, I am a lover of most historic fashion. In fact, the 1860's era I really don't like, fashion-wise. The styles really are not all that flattering and really, compared to other eras, severely plain. Still, I find myself more and more being drawn into it. I feel completely comfortable in my 1860's garb and wearing it is second nature. I actually prefer it to my modern (or semi modern) clothing that I have gone back to wearing on a daily basis. This is not the case, with, say, a regency dress. I guess the feel of other eras is just foreign to me. 1860's fashion is "home". I guess it always will be. I am becoming reconciled. I did not choose the 1860's; rather, it chose me.

Anyway, for the occasion of the 4th we donned our petticoats, tunics, gowns, waistcoats and trousers. David requested I make patriotic cockades for us. Since this was suggested the day before we needed them, my versions are made from modern (poly) grosgrain ribbon. I looked at a few examples of originals in Echoes of Glory and based ours off the least ornate. David contributed two Federal Eagle buttons for the centers. I did not have time to make the boys their cockades but no matter, they would have pulled them off anyway and perhaps done Horrid Things with the straight pins we attached them with!

To make Malachi's gown festive was a simple matter of attaching two red bows at each shoulder.

The older boys wore their blue trousers, their new white-and-black print tunics and caps and a red taffeta necktie. The neckties did not last all day and they did not look extremely well because the tunics lack collars.

I was asked a while ago to do special music at our church for the 4th; and not a common patriotic song. Something a little different. I wracked my brains to think of something but every thought led to a dead end. I looked online, found some incredible very old (mid-to-late 18th century!) patriotic songs but they were chock full of the politics of the day. I tried to write a song of my own but struggled after I got the first verse and chorus down. It just wasn't working. I ended up recruiting David and we gave a rendition of The Battle Cry of Freedom, which was written in 1862 and was Abraham Lincoln's campaign song in 1864 when we he ran for the presidency with Andrew Johnson. David sang it; I accompanied him on my violin.

A very close second in our choice of song though was an old one from my copy of The Sacred Harp. Written in 1798 by Jezaniah Sumner, this song is filled with beautiful imagery and language.

The morning sun shines from the east

and spreads his glories to the west

All nations with his beams are blest

Where'ere the radiant light appears

So science spreads her lucid ray

O'er lands which long in darkness lay

She visits fair Columbia

And sets her sons among the stars

Fair freedom her attendant waits

To bless the portals of her gates

To crown the young and rising States

With laurels of immortal day

The British yoke, the Gallic chain,

Was urged upon our necks in vain

All haughty tyrants we disdain

And shout, Long Live America!

Love,

Sarah

Jacksonville, IL Civil War Reenactment 2010

The Civil War reenactment in Jacksonville, IL is hailed as one of “the” events in the local area to go to. This year, we did not get to go for the whole weekend since David had to work on Saturday. On Sunday, however, we got up early and we all packed into David’s mothers van to make the two hour drive. We arrived at the site just in time for church service.

Here is my mother in law just before church started.

Being Sunday, the day was far more relaxed than a Saturday. There were less people and less activities to go to. I enjoyed it very much; the laid back atmosphere was calm and peaceful. It was hot, but compared to the heat we experienced last week it was actually really very nice and comfortable, especially in the shade!

I have not been terribly fond of the Jacksonville event in the past. The first year we went (2 years ago) we stayed the whole weekend and were kept up at night by a riotous, drunken party in the camp next to us. Last year we went just for the day but it was terribly hot and I got very sick so we had to leave early. This year was by far nicer than our prior experiences!

It seems that this year I am meeting all kinds of wonderful and interesting people. There was another mother there with two little boys, ages three years and fourteen months and it was so nice to have some other little children present. They were adorable and Malachi enjoyed playing for a bit with the other wee lad.

We did experience a few mishaps. One was the behavior of our beloved first born son. He was very . . .active. Actually, he had a fascination with the stairs on the pavilion and wanted nothing more than to go up and down the stairs for the entire duration of our stay. This would have been fine, but the pavilion was located rather far from our units home base so I could not always be there, and David seemed to assume the pavilion was his personal property and he screamed, cried and even kicked and hit at people who came up “his” stairs. This was, of course, totally unacceptable. He was duly punished by both his father and I, but to no avail.

The second, less lengthy mishap occurred to Judah. His grandma had just bought him a candy stick and we passed by the embalmers on our way back to camp. Judah lagged behind a good deal and once we reached camp and I did not see him with us, I went looking for him. He was indeed on his way to us, but shuffling along at a very slow pace indeed. When I drew closer I saw that his trousers had fallen down around his ankles and he looked at me with a reproachful and pained expression as he shuffled sadly along, much like a prisoner in shackles. We pulled up the trousers and buttoned them anew.

The highlight of the event for me was, though, by far, being able to meet the beautiful Mrs. P from Humble Beginnings! I was thrilled to meet such a lovely kindred spirit.

Her husband graced the company with some fantastic banjo music after the battle. This talented couple added so very much to the whole atmosphere and delight of the event, not only for me but I know that everyone who saw and heard them will come away with a better understanding of history.

David came away in a very good mood. He was thrilled to have been able to fondle two original guns. One was, I think (excuse me if I get the term wrong, I’m working from memory and a limited understanding of firearms) a Burnside Carbine. The other was an Enfield. We ladies talk about fondling fabric. David and our reenacting guys talk with equal passion about fondling guns. :)

Well, this is the last event for us til August. It will be nice to have a two month break, especially during the hot months of summer. This week I need to finish up some outside sewing jobs and turn my attention once more to jobs that need to be done around the house. My bathroom floor needs to be torn up and the new linoleum laid. I have a good understanding of the theory but am concerned about cutting accurately around the sink and the toilet. Actually I think the toilet will have to be removed and a new wax seal put in. I hope once I remove the current sub floor, the original hardwood floor will be in good enough condition to just lay the linoleum over that. Who knows what lurks beneath? The current floor is ceramic tile but the grout has not held so the tiles are “floating” and some are broken and some completely missing.

Then the choice of paint color and trim for the bathroom. Back to work for me!

Love,
Sarah

1860's Crossover Dress - Finished!

After dragging the construction of this dress out for an insane amount of time, I can now say, it is done. I kept adding to this dress. I will not add to it anymore.

I enjoyed making the variation of the crossover style bodice, and the nice V-neck is cool for hot weather. I had the opportunity to wear this dress for the first time today and although I speculated that some stain or spillage catastrophe would befall it, I escaped with merely a few mud smears, banana mash, and strawberry milkshake sopped into my right sleeve. Oh, and a lot of sweat. It was hot today.

David took these be-mud-smeared, be-banana-mashed and be-strawberry-milkshake-sopped pictures when we got home. Thus the strained and wilted look of all of them. Did I mention it was hot today?

I also finally finished my bonnet so I could wear it with my dress. I actually ended up wearing the bonnet very little. I have decided that I am really not a fashion bonnet girl. I like how they look but I feel so very over done when wearing a fashion bonnet. I am much more comfortable in sunbonnets.

We had a lovely time at the reeanctment despite the heat. I hope to do a full post on it tomorrow! In the meantime, my dress is done! I keep telling myself no more 1860's dresses - this makes #7 for my current wardrobe - but sadly I fell away into temptation and bought 10 yards of a pink printed cotton fabric over the weekend. I couldn't help myself. It was only about $4 for all of it at the thrift shop. I also have a dress length of a lovely cotton in fall colors that I have been meaning to make up since last fall and another length of blue and white cotton for a wrapper. I think I need to start wearing 1860's styles for everyday to have excuse to make more dresses. :)

I have been out of the mood for reeancting for so long, my passion is coming back with a vengeance!

Stay cool dear ones!

Love,
Sarah

Because Plaid Begs for Bias

I decided my plaid crossover dress was a little plain as it was. So I added a bias ruffle around the neckline and around the sleeve caps. It isn't much, but I think it definitely finishes off the look very nicely. Plaid is so lovely since you can do so many interesting things with it.On a different note, I heartily apologize to anyone who has recently visited my Historical Clothing Blog - I have been receiving so many spam comments lately with links to terrible sites therein. I will be working on cleaning up and updating that blog over the next week or so and even though I hate to do it, I will be putting all future comments through moderation so hopefully we can keep everything cheerful and pleasant over there. :) I think I will take the whole site offline while I work on it. I have a lot of updating to do and things will probably be crazy and unorganized over there for a little while!

A question for those of you who are interested; do you prefer actual patterns on the site, or would you prefer simple tutorials? I am really afraid that my scanned patterns are not printing out the same for everyone and that the sizing is off.

Finally, check out the new website, Historical Help, by Atlanta Shannon from Bonny Blue! I am so very excited about this site. It looks like it will be a great resource for new female Civil War reenactors.

Love,

Sarah

Billie Creek Village Civil War Days 2010

We headed out to Billie Creek Village in Rockville, IN, Friday afternoon. The forecast called for thunderstorms all weekend but we were blessed to arrive after the rain had passed and we had quite good weather to set up in. It was very warm, but nothing too terrible. Our camp was situated in front of the livery barn, where the medical camp was last year. David and one other gentleman, a very pleasant fellow from Indianapolis, portraying a full surgeon, were the only federal medical people present.

Above: Our little "home away from home" :)

I think this event will go down in infamy as the Event That Was Hot.

Above: David eats cold fried chicken on Friday night after set-up.

After having reenacted for many years, I think that heat is a relative thing. If one puts oneself in the mindset that you will be comfortable in 90 degree weather, wearing multiple layers and long sleeves and a bonnet, it really is actually more comfortable than looking forward to the heat with dread. Thinking of heat as an expected, natural part of things helps tremendously.

Above: Judah and Malachi make acquaintance with the adorable donkeys in the back barnyard on Friday night. They were literally our neighbors for the whole event and Malachi especially fell in love with them. Oh, and Malachi is wearing a tunic because we all wore old clothes for set-up and Malachi has no dresses from last year that still fit, so he wore David's tunic from last year. And yes, they have no shoes on. The boys and I wore no shoes for about 75% of the time we were here.

Still. It wasn't 90 degrees on Saturday. I got up to 96 degrees and to top it off it was humid to the point of excessive dampness in the clothing. There was also no breeze. We were down in a hot little valley and our tent bravely faced the blazing sun all of the morning with no trees to offer shade.

Above: Little David eats cold fried chicken, Friday night.

We listlessly walked about on Saturday morning, while the heat was still bearable. For a while we sat in the shade of a high roofed pavilion and listened to a brass band. From time to time we would take refuge in the general store, which had the wonderful modern conveniences of air conditioning, ice cold drinks in a cooler in the back room, jars of candy sticks, peppermints and gum on the front counter and plenty of chairs to sit in. A gentleman who made hand-crafted mountain dulcimers sat in the center of the room and regaled the assembled company with song and music and stories.

Above: Malachi, David and I. Our little camp area is just to behind us, to the left.

The camps were still and quiet til after lunch when the men began to form for battle. Throngs of spectators came through and made their way to the battlefield at the far end of the village. David went off with the surgeon to attend the wounded and the boys and I scurried down the hot roads as fast as we could in the opposite direction, dodging the Confederate army which marched away singing "Get Out the Way, Old Dan Tucker". I have learned - stay away from crowds when you have small, darting children!

Above: Malachi on the porch of the Governors House.

While the guns roared and the smoke curled up in the hot blue sky we explored the dark, cool buildings in the village. The boys took a liking to the little Governors House and seemed quite at home in it. We went into the church and then we walked down by the creek and put our feet into the water.

Above: Judah stares at a statue in the Catholic church building. He was quite fascinated with this little figure of a man.

Once we tired of that we went back to camp and I filled a bucket with cold water from the pump and the boys played and splashed in that. At last I just liberally doused them with cold water from the pump and removed as much of their clothing as possible. By the end of the day, David and Judah were both in tunics and Malachi in an old tunic of Davids from last year. When it is this hot, health comes before proper authenticity! At least they were in period styles, and the tunics light, short, loose and cool.

Above: David says this is a "spooky" picture of me, in the Governors House.

David, soaked with sweat, dragged himself back to camp after the battle was over. He was shaky so I immediately had us go to the refuge of the air conditioned general store where we sat and had cold drinks and visited.

The heat increased and the humidity only became more pressing. Once the majority of the spectators left, the soldiers in the camps stripped down to their drawers and some put on modern clothing. I was exhausted so laid down on the bed in our tent and must have slept a little while. David was wonderful. He watched the boys for me and sat in that hot fenced in barnyard watching them play so I could rest! When I woke up I saw David walking by the door of the tent and he knocked over a chair, and Malachi, who was just behind him, got hit full in the face with the chair. His nose immediately started spurting blood and stayed bloody for quite a few minutes. I rose from the bed, liberally soaked in sweat and with a blinding head-ache. When David carried Malachi in to me and I saw his poor little tear and blood stained face I burst into tears. David was very concerned since I wouldn't stop crying so he wanted us to go to the general store again, but when we got there we discovered it had been closed. I held Malachi in my arms and noticed my new sheer dress was spattered with blood. With the heat and thick air more suffocating than ever, and heat-rash appearing on the boys legs, we decided to strike camp and come home.

It was early evening. It took us about forty minutes to get everything packed and into the car. As we worked quickly, clouds rolled in from the west and the smell of rain rushed into that hot valley. As I pulled stakes from the tent loops, the first drops began to fall. I hurried as fast as I could to get the canvas folded up - oh my, I think I had an unnatural obsession with that canvas at the time! It was all I thought of. The canvas must not get wet. Even though I normally cannot lift the folded wall tent easily, I picked it up as if it were a feather and ran with it to the car, where David put it inside. Just as he did so, cracks of thunder split the sky and it began to rain and a swift cold wind blew. "Where are my children?" I cried in terror. The three little wet figures ran to us through the wall of rain, their hair plastered against their skin and rain running down their faces.

Just as the storm broke in full earnest, we pulled out. Soon we were on the highway headed towards home. It rained and rained and rained. David and I were too tired to talk much but he relaxed as the air cooled down. We felt oh, so bad, to leave the event early but it was probably the best thing we could have done. When we reached home the boys had a quick bath and were put into bed with fans blowing upon them, and we all slept soundly til late the next morning.

It wasn't really a disappointing event. We did have fun, though it was so hot. Our disappointment lay in our having to leave, but we really did not have another good option. Malachi's little pink dress is hung away, never having had the opportunity to be worn (it was to be saved for Sunday church service) so he did not fall into a mud puddle while wearing it. On the other hand, David did fall flat on his face in a mud puddle literally fifteen minutes after I dressed him, early in the morning, in his brand new tunic! I had to rub the mud stains with homemade soap and rinse it well in the water pump. While it dried (which took a long while, due to the humidity) he had to wear his long sleeve dark blue tunic with the sleeves rolled up. I got to wear my pink plaid sheer for the first time, but honestly, it was just so hot I really did not feel more comfortable in it than I did the previous evening in my heavier weight, fully lined cotton bodice.

I met some wonderful people and visited anew with old friends, in a place dearer to me than almost any spot on earth - for it was here that I first was exposed to a grand thing called Civil War Reenacting. It was here that, year by year, I saved my money and bought patterns, a hoop skirt and then debuted my first Civil War outfit as a young teen, thrilling to all the sights and sounds and smells around me in this beautiful little spot.

Here's to next year! :P

Love,

Sarah