My Faire Garb

For Faire this year Peter and I volunteered to help. It was out first year to do so and I'm very glad we did. After a few years going to spectate, it is nice to get involved in the mechanisms of the event a bit. It gives you an entirely different perspective and makes you appreciate the sheer amount of work it takes to put an event on.

Our job was to stand near the park entrance and ask people how they heard about the faire to aid the event in advertisement for next year. This was a lot of fun and more often than not we found ourselves chatting with people for several minutes. We talked with hundreds of people and made some new friends.

This year I decided to just wear what I felt like wearing since the faire is not very authenticity minded. I wanted a chance to wear the 18th century stays I made last fall so this was a perfect opportunity!

I paired it with my linen medieval shift, a few petticoats with the top layers pinned up, a pouch, and a "pirate" style head scarf.

It was a cool and comfortable outfit to wear and I was surprised to receive so many compliments on it. I did feel very guilty about not portraying a specific era, but, it was all good. And a great delight to finally wear my stays!

The event seems to be getting bigger every year. I'm very glad, as I saw and heard first hand today just how special it is to so many people, young and old alike.

Peter did wear sunglasses, alas. But he kept them hidden beneath his hat most of the day.

Properly exhausted now. At the end if a day it is a priceless luxury to curl up in bed with a very fat sleeping baby. (He is over 12 pounds already!) Love my little man.

Happy summer to you all!

Love,
Sarah

Peter's Faire Garb

Once upon a time a boy named Peter met a girl named Sarah, and they became friends. That is the short story and there is no fairytale end to it, because they don't believe in fairy tales and Peter has a strong objection to being called a fairy.

The only ripple in this happy sea of friendship was Peter's appalling lack of appreciation for authentically reproduced historical clothing. He would often break Sarah's heart by failing to notice or appreciate hand made buttonholes and top stitching and would enrage her by pairing a 200 year old style garment with modern shorts, or sunglasses, or flip flops.

But any good friendship is about compromise and respect and acceptance so when Peter's house burned down and he lost his garb, Sarah made him new ones that were "piratey" and did not push her agenda of being historically attired. And thus peace was maintained.

So, dear readers, this post is *not* about reproducing a specific style or time period but about making a simple and inexpensive outfit that is great for "Faire Wear".

I started off with a simple square cut shirt that is semi 18th century (indeed this method of cutting shirts was around for a very long time prior to then, as well). Instead of a button or tie at the neck I hammered metal grommets into the slit opening for a lace up closure. This seemed to be more "piratey".

The shirt was made from a thrifted cotton sheet, rather heavy with a tight weave. It was completely machine constructed which made it a very fast project. All seams were felled for a neat and smooth interior and for boosting longevity of the garment.

The sash was made from a thrifted red tablecloth. It is simply a strip of fabric about 130" long and 12" wide that I hemmed on all sides. There are many methods to wrapping and tying a sash but here it is simply wrapped twice around the torso and folded and knotted at the right hip. Peter will supply his own belt and sword.

The last thing to make was a waistcoat, or vest. I originally wanted to make a jerkin styled garment but settled with Peter on a simpler, longer style (loosely) inspired by Jack Sparrows waistcoat in Pirates of the Caribbean. It is semi-18th century in feel and made from some small fabric lengths found at the thrift store.

The fronts are cut long and slightly cut away. The back is shorter. There are two pockets at hip length on the front.

The back is adjusted for fit with a lace up belt.

The back and lining was made from a thrifted cotton sheet in sage green. Altogether everything cost under $10!

Hopefully this won't be paired with sunglasses but if it is, it is no great travesty to history. Debut tomorrow - hopefully it all works well for Mr. Peter.

Love,
Sarah

Historical Sew Fortnightly: Challenge - Tops and Toes

I haven't been able to meet any of the HSF challenges yet this year, but was excited when a few current projects aligned with the category Tops and Toes. I've been playing with tweaking a new boys cap pattern and girls bonnet pattern and here are two of the results. Stay tuned for tutorials!









Challenge: Tops and Toes
What It Is: Early Victorian Boys Wheel Cap
Year: 1830s - 1860s
Fabric: Wool flannel for the outside and cotton lining
Pattern: My own, adapted from Workwoman's Guide
Notions: thread, needle
How historically accurate is it?: Fairly accurate. The shape and materials are correct and all visible stitching is hand done. The cap lacks interior structure that period caps might have had (stiffening such as whalebone, etc).
Hours to Complete: 1 hour project!
First Worn: Sold to a customer
Total Cost: all from stash!







Challenge: Tops and Toes
What it Is: Mid Victorian Quilted Sunbonnet
Year: 1850s-1870s
Fabric: Striped green cotton voile
Pattern: My own, based on an original
Notions: Cotton batting, needle, thread
How historically accurate is it? The cut and shape are period, though most of the stitching is machine done (not a big issue for 1860s onward)
Hours to complete: 1.5
First worn: sold to a customer
Total cost: everything was from my stash!

These were very fun to make and very "instant gratification" since they were so simple and quick. Gotta love that! A great use for smaller pieces if fabric, too.

Love,
Sarah

1930's St. Patrick's Day Dress!

The last thing to do was to sew on the ribbons, and they were the first things Anne managed to yank off. I'm glad they were just lightly tacked on.



This is the first 1930's style dress I have made for Anne. Though honestly the generic toddler/little girl silhouette remained quite similar from the 20's through the 70's; short, often waistless and easy fitting. Patterns for little girls frocks during these decades often included shorts or elasticized panties. Quite necessary beneath the short dress hem, especially for active little girls.



I didn't have a pattern for this dress so I drafted my own using an original dress as a guide for style and seam placement and a basic sleeveless bodice from a commercial pattern as a starting point for size. I ended up with an A-line dress and a sleeve and collar, as seen below. I drew the desired seam lines on this master pattern, then it was just a matter of cutting the pieces apart, adding seam allowance, and some width to the skirt gores for a more twirly skirt. (For an everyday "play" dress, I would not have needed to add much width...dresses of the 30's could still be quite narrow compared to later full skirted styles).





I made it up unlined in green linen. Most of the interior seams were French seamed and then topstitched from the outside. The side center gore pieces were finished with a bias cut white cotton welt (since I couldn't find my piping foot for piping) and topstitched to the yoke.



The hem was finished with a wide self fabric bias facing. It weights the skirt nicely.



The little puff sleeves were finished with a band of white cotton and the neckline with an itty bitty white collar. Three white buttons are sewn to the front for decoration. The actual closure is in the back, with two little hook and eyes.



I made it a bit big, since I'm hoping it will still fit Anne for the Erin Feis later this year. She loved running around in it, though its nearly impossible to get her to hold still for pictures. Out of the fifty or so I took, here are the only tolerable ones:



I thought I'd have better luck taking her outside. All she wanted to do was run!





Happy baby though! Its good to be out after a very cold and long winter!



Love,
Sarah

A Hobbit Christmas Dress for Anne

For Christmas Sunday Anne wore her new Christmas dress to church and some what unwilling allowed me to take a few photos to share. She is now 17 months old and standing still for pictures is utterly distasteful to her. Still, we managed a few decent ones.

After planning a fluffy princess style dress, I changed my plans last minute to a Hobbit style dress in wools and linens. The reason? Pure practicality. Before these pictures were taken the dress had already endured a full frontal dousing with milk, smeared oatmeal and smashed banana. Also a cookie or two which left chocolate streaks on both dress and baby. (You can still see tenants of cookie on her face...but the dress hides it all!) Wool is a go to fabric for garments that see hard use...and a 17 month old baby us definitely hard on clothes! 

All the fabrics came from my stash so the dress cost me nothing to make. The bodice is of heavy green wool coating with a faux inset of red wool bunting. The sleeves are yellow linen. The underskirt is black linen with a woven stripe and the overskirt s silvery grey wool suiting. I wasn't sure at first how all the colors would work together but now I really like the whimsical effect. 

I used the Sense and Sensibility Girls Regency Gown Pattern for the bodice. A size 2 now! Anne is growing. The skirts are rectangular panels and the sleeves loose elbow length puffs.

The bodice is decorated with rows of antique lace and green silk ribbon. It looked rather plain so I worked a bit of simple free hand embroidery along the edges of the faux inset. My embroidery is crude at best (let's call it folky, shall we?) But it definitely helped dress up the bodice just enough to make it festive.

The little cap (Anne calls it a bunnit) was a last minute addition. It is made of black cotton velvet and lined in black linen with grosgrain ties. I embroidered it differently than I did the dress as I did not want the two items to appear as though they were intentionally made to go together.

I am not sure if Hobbits celebrate Christmas but if they do, I think Anne would fit in quite well. Hobbits are fond of bright colors (chiefly green and yellow) and Anne's dress has both.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Sarah

Sneak Peek!

I can't believe Christmas is almost here! My sewing has pretty much been at a standstill for the last month but I have been working on a special Christmas dress for my Anne-girl. I am nearly finished with it and hope to get some photos of her in it quite soon. In the meantime here is a little preview. I hope you all are having a wonderful and happy Christmas season.

Love,

Sarah

Green Plaid 1860's Dress for Winter Quarters

Last week we had the opportunity to attend an event at a local park and I was quite excited about going! However, I was sorely disappointed when I tried on my dresses and found that they no longer fit very well - I have lost some weight with this pregnancy so far (due to extreme morning sickness) and decided I needed to make a new gown!

The problem was the time - I had about three days in which to get one made! (Lesson: Never wait til a few days before an event to try on your outfit!) I made a complete mess of my sewing room in my chaos and stress to churn this dress out but I did get it done the morning of the event and was so glad to have a nicely fitting, warm wool dress to wear to the living history.

It is a very simple dress. I had much grander plans for this fabric when I first bought it but one must adjust their priorities when time is short. I draped a new bodice pattern and the only extra effort I put into the bodice was the design of the sleeves.

I took a basic coat sleeve and slashed and spread one side of it to gather into the piped seam between the front and back sleeve. It is a subtle style but does seem fancier, somehow, than a plain sleeve.

Tucks to create faux curved back "seams" on the bodice back, and a full pleated skirt. The waistband is topstitched to the bodice on the top and piped at the bottom edge and the skirt top edge whip stitched to the bodice just inside the piping.

I put a hem facing of scrap cotton on the skirt - which I was very glad of! It was quite muddy and my hem was filthy by the end of the event. Thankfully a gentle wash got out the dirt on the fashion fabric and the hem facing took the majority of wear and staining! I was so glad I did take the extra time to put it in.

Darted bodice. It was fun to match the plaid. I made a quick white collar to baste in at the neck and wore my mourning brooch. Grampie has been gone now for just over six months, so my period of mourning is over. . .though I do not think I will ever *not* be in some degree of mourning for him. I wore my necklace of black glass beads for these photos though I did not wear the necklace to the event last week.

It was nice to get back into historic sewing. I've taken an (unplanned!) break from sewing for a while now and it was good to get the creative juices flowing again, even if I *did* have a very short deadline!

Love,
Sarah