David's Confederate Surgeons Uniform

Wow, it's done. At times I thought it would never be done. It was becoming the Never-Ending-Shell-Jacket-of-Doom. Not in a terrible way, but in a way that became more and more annoying. Actually, it only took a week from draping the pattern to having the coat finished so it isn't that bad, but still. It's the mental strain of it all. Especially when the event your husband needs to wear it to is less than a week away.

And so now it is done and I am sad because it was, after all, enjoyable to work on and to envision the end result while I was stitching away at the buttonholes or quilting the Never-Ending-Lining-of-Doom.

I have told David he is my creation and I have made and molded him into what he is in the reenacting world. Without me, he would be nothing. Of course, he is not as keen on that idea as I. And yeah, he has the historical knowledge and physical ability to take what I sew and make an honest-to-God impression out of it.  But still, his looks have certainly improved since I first met him and he was wearing a horribly fitted, blanket-weight wool sutler bought uniform with zig zag stitching and uneven seam allowances. He is honestly the most horrible person in the world to sew for since he is so picky and so critical but hey, he's really helped me develop my skills over the years, and that is worth a lot. 

I made the trousers a few weeks ago and the waistcoat was quickly made over the weekend so we could head out yesterday afternoon for some pictures at a lovely local wooded park.

The boys yelped with glee on the playground, the baby wailed when I set her down in the grass to take photos of her Papa and David looked stern and annoyed.

It seems whenever I do take pictures of him in a period outfit he assumes that angry look. I promise you, he does not typically look so upset. I told him to try to look happy.

Oh my gosh though he does look so adorable here. After almost 8 years of marriage it's awesome to be married to a guy who gets hotter as the years pass. 

He tried.

The completed outfit is composed of three main garments; the trousers, the waistcoat, and the jacket. The trousers are of dark blue wool kersey with a 1 1/4" black velvet stripe, edged in gold piping, sewn down the outside legs of the trousers. The waistcoat is a civilian notched collar style, made in Richmond grey wool broadcloth (made military-esque by the use of droop-wing Eagle Confederate buttons) and the coat is a shell jacket style made in the same Richmond grey broadcloth and faced with black broadcloth at the center front and with black cuffs and collar.

The trousers are made according to Confederate regulations. There were no regulations for waistcoats (as they were often a private purchase item; made to personal specifications) and the shell jacket is inspired by the many original examples of these kinds of coats that are still in existence, though the shell jacket was not a regulation style.

So what makes this uniform a surgeons uniform? I had no idea when I first began researching this project earlier this year. Now I know that there are 3 things that define this uniform as a surgeons.

The first is the black velvet and gold piped stripe on the trousers. That was a feature unique to the Confederate medical department. For our stripe we used cotton velveteen and metallic gold piping.

The second feature is the black cuffs, collar and facing on the jacket. Every branch of they army had their own defining color and the medical department was specified to be defined by black. According to regulations the jacket was to be a "tunic" (frock coat) faced and edged with black with collar and cuffs of black. Since this is not a frock coat we did not pipe the edges in black but David plans on having a future Confederate surgeons frock coat made with black piped edges.

The third feature is the green wool sash. This is copied from the United States Army. While a sash was not always worn, it does look nice for dressier occasions and green is a color more people can easily recognize as being a "medical color".

The belt buckle is Federal, but would not have been uncommon in the Confederate army. 

The stars on the collar marks the rank of officer.

In David's case, a full surgeon of the Confederate Army was ranked as a Major. The three rows of gold braid on his kepi also indicate his rank. The double breasted style of coat indicates that he is an officer although it does not indicate exactly what rank he is.

Braid on the sleeves was often worn and also indicated rank, but we chose not to add braid to this coat since David plans on using it for his heavy-duty field use coat. This will be his fatigue uniform; the frock coat we will make later we will make according to the regulations and it will have the sleeve braid.

The coat, combined with the waistcoat, can be worn in a variety ways. Confederate coats certainly had more  bling than Federal coats. For most of the pictures we took yesterday David had his coat worn with the facings turned back and buttoned so you can see his waistcoat underneath. The sash and belt are worn over the waistcoat and the jacket is put on over top.

But it can also be worn (and I prefer it this way, to be honest) buttoned snugly shut, with the sash and belt worn at the waist of the jacket.

And here it is, with no sash and belt at all. Here it looks very plain.

While the kepi looks nice with the uniform, David also plans to wear his black wool felt civilian hat with a twisted hat cord. For very hot events he has a plain straw hat he can wear with a hat cord that will also look nice with the uniform and give it a completely different look.

So my big huge sewing project of the year is done! It's a relief and a satisfaction yet I'm a bit sad that I don't have anything so exciting to work on anymore. We will be going to our first event this weekend so now I must turn my attention to finishing my new corset (it just needs the grommets set; but I cannot find two piece grommets ANYWHERE! Wal Mart, Jo Anns, Hancocks and Hobby Lobby all used to sell them and now they only sell the one piece eyelets. I'm going to Tandy today in hopes I can find some there. If not, I'll have to work the eyelets by hand) and finishing Judah's new button suit. I have materials for a cage, too, but I don't know if I'll have time to get it done before Saturday. We'll see! Maybe!

Love,
Sarah

A Red Hospital Flag

I have been busy working on David's uniform and, with characteristic procrastination once again attempting to thwart me, have been busy as well trying to get all of us decently attired for a reenactment next weekend. I   am in dire need of a new corset and cage and Judah needs a new outfit. There are several small projects I need to accomplish as well - a bit of mending, retrimming and refitting as clothes from the larger children get passed down to the smaller ones. 

I sewed this flag for David quite a while ago but only recently put in the eyelets to attach the ties. Although it was rainy this morning I was able to take it outside to finally see how it looks. It is hard to get a good picture of a flag when it is lying in all its flat largeness on a table or folded up and put away. I am really happy with how it looks and am excited to see David use it for his impression this year. 

It is made of several long strips of red wool bunting, which is a lightweight, thick-threaded, tightly woven material. I had never worked with it before but it was, as most wools are, very easy to work with. The construction was extremely simple - sew the strips together, fell the seams and hem all around the edge of finished 4' x 6' flag. A header of cotton canvas was attached to one end and three eyelets worked with hemp thread for ties. 

Plain red flags (among several other kinds) were used by the Confederate army to designate field hospitals or aid stations. David prefers to portray an aid station, which was an area wounded men could come to for treatment before being sent on to the larger field hospital and then, if needed, to an even larger general hospital. 

The Manual of Military Surgery for the Confederate States Army, published in 1863, spoke of the use of the red flag: 

"When the troops deploy or form for action, the 

surgeons, with their assistants and pack-horses, move 

a short distance to the rear, out of the range of the 

shot, and they establish there the field infirmary. It 

would be convenient if some house could be used for 

this temporary hospital. 

Where this can not be had, the shade of trees or the 

shelter of a hill-side will answer the temporary 

wants of the surgeon. If the body of troops about 

entering into battle is a large one, with an extended 

line, several of these points should be selected and 

marked by a suitable red flag, which designates the 

spot where those slightly wounded can seek surgical 

aid. "

Red flags had also been used prior to the War to designate hospitals in both the U.S. Regular Army and some European armies. In Echoes of Glory, Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, an original red hospital flag can be seen on p. 276. Like the one I made for David, it appears to be pieced of several long strips of material. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the flag in action this year. It attaches to the pole with leather ties. The leather "grips" the wood so the flag does not slip down. I think it will set off David's field hospital/aid station quite nicely. 

Back to intense sewing! 

Love,

Sarah

A Greenish-Blue Dress for the Wedding

I hope you all had a good weekend. It was warm and lovely and we spent much time outside revelling in the sun and the wind and walking barefooted upon the greening grass. Well, Anne did not much care for the greening grass, at least touching it with her feet.

In fact, she did not really care to have any physical contact with the natural world but consented to gloomily tolerate it from the safety of my arms.

I hope we can remedy that over the summer. A child of mine who does not like to be outside?

I was also able to work on the dress for the wedding and although I didn't quite finish it I do not have much more work to do to it before it is wearable. So, here is the fabric; a lightweight knit. Probably something nasty like polyester. But it was cheap.

I printed out the Tanit-Isis pattern, carefully taped the pieces together and then tried to determine which size to cut. Based my measurements, I should have cut a size M or L. But since the elastic shirring does not take up *that* much fabric I decided to cut a size XS for the width of the dress, but a size M for the shoulders and the kimono sleeves. It seemed to work out perfectly.

Of course, sewing the dress did not work out quite perfectly. I tried to fully line the dress with lightweight white fabric but it made the whole thing heavy and bulky so I had to rip the dress apart and take out the lining. I then resewed it but the machine kept skipping stitches if the seams were even slighly bulky - like the shoulder seams. So I had to do those by hand and then bound the seams by hand. I sewed the flat seams with a zig zag stitch and since the fabric wanted to stretch as I sewed it I have to go back and resew a seam for a few inches near the bottom of the skirt on one side as it looks puckery at the moment.

The part that *did* go smoothly was the elastic shirring. It was *so* easy and shirred up the dress to exactly the right size. I deviated from the original pattern in 2 ways. 1: I flared the skirt so it took up the whole width of the 60" wide fabric instead of cutting more narrowly as per the pattern. 2: I added tabs at the shoulder to pull the neckline into a sweetheart shape in the front. This is much more flattering for me since my bust size made the draped shoulders look rather ridiculous and out of proportion. I didn't add tabs to the back neckline, but I may.

I also added a long self fabric sash. It helps extend the look of the waist.

I really like how it looks although I have to admit it sort of reminds me of vintage night-wear. It has passed the approval of both my sisters though, one who is very modern in her sense of fashion and the other who is very conservative and painfully embarrassed by anything that is "revealing". Come to think about it, this dress is actually very 1980's. I have pictures of my mom and her friends at her wedding back in 1985 and pictures of my mom from her highschool years and many of the dresses had a similar feel. I also have a pattern from the 1980's that has a very similar style. So, who knows? It is what it is. But it's me.

I do wish my waist was smaller as this style makes it look huge but maybe I can make a girdle or something this week to wear underneath it and to help smooth things out.

I still need to find shoes to wear with it. And jewelry. I think I'll wear the green dress for the rehearsal dinner Friday night. So it wasn't a waste of money to get it.

A few more days! I'm so excited. I hope I don't cry at the wedding but I think I will. It's hard to believe my little brother is all grown up!

Love,
Sarah

I Sewed With Elastic Thread!

First, thank you all so much for your really in depth advice about makeup. Based on your responses, I went out and got an eyeliner pencil, mascara and light colored eye shadow and some neutral lip gloss in a shade called "nude". I found some tutorials online about how to apply eyeshadow and basic makeup. So, I tried it all out. I got some ivory concealer and already had some clear powder.

I don't think I will use the 3 colors of eyeshadow the tutorial I found said to use. I got a package that had 2 colorways, each with 3 shades. I tried the lighter of the 2 colors using the various colors for browbone, eyelid and crease as per the tutorial but it was waaaaaayy too much. The very light violet by itself looks okay, and the eyeliner looks sort of okay (almost too much though) and the mascara looks okay. The lipgloss is a huge improvement over the lipstick - thanks for suggesting that! It's enough to make me look like I am dressed up, but hopefully not enough to make people stop and think "oh my gosh she looks so weird she doesn't normally look like that does she??"

Anyway, I also got some new fabric to make a different dress for the wedding. I had wanted to make my own dress anyway, but couldn't find fabric I liked/could afford and so in desperation I went out and got that bright green dress. It *is* a cute dress but guess what? I found some fabric I liked! And it was only $1.50 a yard in the Wal Mart bargain bin. It's a really pretty pale silvery-blue-green. It is super lightweight so I'm lining it and am making the Grecian Sundress from the free Tanit-Isis pattern.

It's so cute when she pulls up to a standing position because she looks impossibly tiny to be standing on her own two little legs. 

It calls for shirring with elastic thread - something I had never done before. I got the thread and was scared to try to use it. I like the shirred look but usually obtain that through other ways, like casings and elastic, or stretching-elastic-as-you-sew-it or something like that. I had a little bit of yellow calico left from a project I did this week for a friend from church and so I decided to try out the shirring technique on a small garment since it wouldn't be as big of a waste if it didn't come out right.

But it *did* come out!

I was excited and thrilled. I am still nervous about using it on my dress but I hope it comes out like I plan. If not, well, I always have the bright green dress I can wear instead.

For the dress I cut a narrow rectangle approximately double her waist measure in width and from her armpit to just below her knee in length. I hemmed the top normally and then shirred for about 4". I attached a ruffle at the bottom of the skirt (double the width of the skirt) and then made little ruffled shoulder straps to attach at the top. It seriously took an hour, maybe. So easy! But such cute results.

Love,
Sarah

1920's Easter Dresses - Finished!

I finished our Easter Dresses in time to post them in the Facebook group for the Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #6. There are still a few things I think I will modify before Easter but the dresses are, in essence, done.

It is an odd sensation to dress up a daughter for Easter. It is quite different from dressing up little boys, though I am not quite sure why. While Anne has several lovely (and as of yet unworn) modern dresses that would have worked quite well for Easter I felt that I really wanted to make her a historical dress for her first Easter. 

I haven't made an Easter dress for myself for quite a while. It was fun to put some thought into making my own dress "special". I do not often wear white as it is not a practical color to mother 4 children in but for Easter one can bypass some practicalities and enjoy the frivolity of an impractical dress!  

I made Anne's baby cap to be non-matching, as, in the end, I felt a matching cap would be too costumey. A white cap is much more appropriate for "real" costuming, I think.

I used a white cotton handkerchief that was trimmed with narrow cotton lace for the cap. I cut a full width of it for the brim and put in a few teeny tucks.

The rest of the handkerchief was sufficient to cut a U shaped crown (the lace at the bottom edge). I put two pleats at the back neck for some shaping and added some ties and a little ribbon flower for decoration. Ta da! Very easy since all the edges were already finished for me!

She tried on her dress with a little white ruffled slip, tights, shoes and a modern onesie. I think I'd like to make her some drawers/pantaloons before next Sunday; something to keep her legs a bit warmer and for a bit of prettiness if her dress skirt gets pushed up (as it often does when she is carried around) and so one does not see just tight-clad fat baby legs. 

I am pretty happy with how my dress came out but still want to work on the sash a bit. It is not a tied sash, but rather a belt with separate hanging end "ties". I need to tighten up the belt just a tad and probably sew the ties to the belt somehow so they stay where they are supposed to instead of slipping around. 

I really like the early 20's silhouette. It is easy and comfortable to wear. The skirts are still quite long during this time and the waistline just slightly dropped - the waistline for these years varies quite a bit to almost-normal to the top of the hip. Mine is just about to the top of the hip, but not on the hip. I used my basic 1920's bodice for the bodice, modified for a center front panel and shawl collar, and the skirt is a rectangle pleated at the side fronts and side backs. The sleeves are close fitted short sleeves with a pleated flounce, open at the front arm.

I stayed away from the 20's for so long because I thought I did not have the right figure to wear these styles. I am very hour-glassy in shape which is completely different from the slim, boyish figure so popular during this era. But women of all shapes and sizes existed in the 20's. From looking at family pictures, even, one sees that the motherly, rounded figure was the *norm* among, well, mothers and they still looked graceful and fashionable in attire from the 20's, even though they did not have the flat, bust-and-hip-less figure in vogue at the time. I'm so glad I did end up trying out the 20's. It's fabulous! I think every woman can find a way to make any style work for her, because there is no "one right way". There is lots of variety in every era and I think anyone can find *some* version of their era that will look right and look pretty.

I ought to wear a corset (one similar to my 1910's corset) but I didn't fit the dress to be worn over that, just modern undergarments. I made the bodice to be slightly blousy as was popular then but it is not as flattering to me as a smooth line. So, perhaps someday I will take in the bodice an inch or so on each side so I don't have excess width to blouse up when the belt is worn. For now though, I am not too worried about it.

So below are the summaries for my dress and Anne's dress for the challenge:

Love,
Sarah


The Challenge: Stripes

Fabric: 100% cotton voile with a woven-in stripe

Pattern: I used the Sense and Sensibility Girl's Regency Dress pattern as a base for the bodice. I modified it by redrawing the seams (eliminated curved back seam and eliminated the drop shoulder seam and positioned the seam right on top of the shoulder instead). The skirt was a rectangle and the sleeve ruffles and all other ruffles rectangles. Easy. 

Year: 1922-1924 (early 20's) 

Notions: Thread, snaps.

How historically accurate is it? 

Well, I don't know. It is copied as directly as possible from an original dress that I had only one photo of and could not see details on. So the construction of the dress was guesswork - dresses like this are pretty straightforward, but I do not know if my construction is accurate to the early 20's. The fabric is certainly accurate, the overall shape is accurate and the finished dress looks much like what I envisioned when I started out. The original dress was made for a little girl of a few years old. This dress was made for an 8 month old baby so obviously, that is a difference right there. 

Hours to complete: This took most of 2 days to sew. It was mostly machine sewn so that sped up the construction. Perhaps 8 hours or so?

First worn: Today, to try on. Meant for Easter!

Total cost: The fabric was about $10 for a little over a yard (55" wide). I did not use all the fabric for this dress. I also bought a box of dye since the fabric I bought was bright yellow. The dye was about $1.50. The snaps came from the stash. I did have to buy some thread - another $2. So about $13.50 altogether? The cap was made from a lace trimmed cotton handkerchief that someone gave us ages ago.

The Challenge: Stripes

Fabric: Linen blend with a woven stripe. Off-white in color. Sash, collar and hem are of cream organza. The lace is a heavy cream color (unknown fiber; the lace and organza came from a curtain.) 

Pattern: My own, based on 1920's pattern shapes. The bodice was draped, the skirt is a rectangle pleated to fit and the sleeves are based on similar styles seen in early 20's dress advertisements.

Year: Early 1920's 

Notions: Thread. No fasteners. This is a slip-on style.

How historically accurate is it? 

The materials are dubious, fiber-wise. I pattern shapes are in line with patterns shown in Women's Wear of the 1920's which depict patterns taken from original dresses. Machine stitching. Construction was a guess.

Hours to Complete: Maybe 6. 

First Worn: For pictures. Meant for Easter.

Total Cost: All stash materials! I'm glad to have found a use for the striped linen blend. I've had it for several years and got it second hand; 5 yards of it cost me $1.30. The curtain was free.

Stripey Ruffly Baby Dress ~ Sneak Peek

Anne's dress is coming along. I did not end up getting a roll hem foot because I was too impatient to wait to get one, so this dress is coming out looking a lot clunkier than the original dress, which you can see here (didn't link to it in the last post; bad me.) 1922-1924 White Ruffled Cotton Lawn Dress.

The color and ruffles reminds me of baby lettuce leaves!

Mine is not an exact copy. It is made of striped voile instead of plain white lawn which was originally a sickly hue of greenish-lemon-yellow that I dyed with a box of teal RIT dye. Because this dress is being made for a baby instead of a child who is several years old (the owner of the original dress was born in 1919) I could not without extreme difficulty shrink the proportions of the dress properly. It was soooo hard to make 1" wide ruffles! I just could not go any narrower without having the hems look larger than the center portion of the ruffle! So I have just 5 ruffles on the skirt, set 1" apart, instead of the 7 ruffles the original dress has. And my treatment of the sleeve ruffles (single instead of double) and the neckline ruffles (which I may, very possibly may, take off and redo) are different.

But I am actually really happy with how it is coming out. True, tiny things bother me. Like a few of the skirt ruffles are not exactly the same width as the other ruffles. But really who is going to notice? So I try to reassure myself.

The baby tried it on last night and it looks so adorable on her. Of course, she looks adorable in anything (at least I think so) but the color is great for her and the style is feminine without being uncomfortable. I remember being so miserable in scratchy lace and net-underskirted-dresses when I was little! I loved the frilly dresses but always thought the price for beauty was uncomfortable-ness. ;) The size is a little big, on purpose. The waist is not fitted and the skirt goes all the way down to the tops of her teeny pink toes. She should be able to wear it for a while.

For some reason the neckline ruffles bug me. I think it is the header on the lower ruffle  - it just kind of jars me. Not sure how to go about fixing this. Unless I just bind take off the top ruffle, bind the neckline and add a ruffle with a header above the lower one. That may look better. 

I still need to probably redo the neckline ruffle and then finish a few seams, add a few snaps to the back opening and then the dress will be done. I have plenty of fabric left over so I want to make a matching baby bonnet to go with the dress. And maybe a sash?

Speaking of my little lady, she turned 8 months old yesterday. I can't believe she is already this old. She is a true joy and I can't imagine our family without her now that she is here!

I'm still kind of in awe I even was pregnant and had a baby - it all still seems surreal to me. We all love her so much. She's bubbly and funny and happy and looks so much like her daddy. He's pleased at least one child looks like him. The boys really do not. 

I think she rounds our family out rather nicely! I need to buckle down and finish our dresses today or tomorrow. I still need to finish the sash for my own dress and decide on a style for Anne's bonnet.

Love,
Sarah