New cap

After a year with a cap that was plain and much too small, I followed that directions in Fitting and Proper and apparently my head is much bigger than the ladies of the 18th century, I finally made a new hat.
I went with the pleated one, the construction was pretty simple. I have pleated so much at this point that I no longer mark off the 1 inch marks.

To cheat or not to cheat, that is the question

Having my first season under my waistband tapes I feel the urge to expand my wardrobe. I feel that I really must have a silk quilted petticoat, although completely inaccurate for the rugged western Virginia frontier I think the public would enjoy seeing a bit of variety. I began to research the different patterns and discovered that I'm really not a quilter, plus with being a single mom working full time while going to grad school I just do not have the time. So what's a girl to do? I think this girl will cheat and buy a quilted blanket or throw from target and make it a petticoat. I mean who will know the difference? I really do want to tackle the project but I feel the need for instant gratification, so off to target I go in search of my quilted petticoat.
The more research I do on quilted petticoats the more I want one for my closet. Looking at the different patterns used makes me want to start quilted stay, which may be a better idea since it would not take as long to complete. If I only had another one of me to do all this sewing.

New Stay

I completed my new stay and sadly it did not turn out good. I enlisted my mom to help sew the channels for the boning and she made the channels a bit too big, this may have contributed to the problem. I used the stripe linen that I got in the silly sister's stay kit which was meant to be lining, but it was so cute that I had decided to use it for the outer layer on this stay. Once I got everything completed I realized that the stay was about 2 sizes too big. I'm thinking the stripe linen was too light weight and stretched on me; I also have a feeling that the channels were so big that they did not give me enough support. I ended up getting frustrated and cutting the front two panels apart and cutting off 3 inches from each and sewing them back together, this of course totally jacked the shape of the stay and I am now left with a disaster. I am thinking the solution would be to make two new front panels, and just making them smaller and maybe taking the back two panels and taking them in a couple of inches. Normally I would just chuck the whole project but I do love the stripe linen and I took the time to make the lacing holes in back perfect, with red embroidery thread around them and everything.

Little B's first day out

I have been out a couple of times now and I have to admit it is addicting. I have discovered a couple of things 1. My shoes did break in after the first day, and are quite comfortable now. 2. If you are wearing stays it's easier to put your shoes on before you put your stays on. 3. I need more petticoats and gowns. and 4. A gal's best friend is her pockets.
I brought my daughter out with me this weekend and she did wonderful. She is normally a well behaved child but we had an event this weekend and I was nervous of how she would react to the public coming in and out. She did wonderfully!! She spent the day posing for pictures and help me pick and card wool. She can not stop talking about the fort. I do need to make her another gown. I just threw one together because I didn't know if it was something she would want to do more than once.

Inspiration

Shoes

I recently received my shoes from fugawee. I was not to pleased to drop 80 bucks on shoes that have no lining in them. I ordered my regular size and they feel a size too small. I am wearing them around my house to "break" them in, I even make my mom wear them. So far it's working they have started to feel almost comfortable. It was a problem to get a decent picture of me in the shoes, who knew it was so hard to get decent self pics.
Our seasons starts in about 4 weeks and I am getting very excited!!! I have gotten a second wind on my sewing projects and am finally putting on the finishing details to everything.

stays, stays, stays

OK, making the stays was not that difficult at all, I did get lots of advice. Before I started I made up a stay made from cardboard, so that I could get the right fit. I used the stay pattern from J.P. Ryan and adjusted it as needed. The pattern called for me to put the stay pieces together and then sew the boning chambers onto the fabric, but I sewed the boning chambers on the fabric first just because I thought it would be much easier to handle that way. I used plastic for the two chambers by the eyelet lace ups in the back of the stay and bamboo for the rest.
I just need to put the lining in and the binding and I have a stay. I saved the stripe lining that came with the kit to make another stay.
The bamboo I used was in a roll and its made it hard to get a good picture of the stay. The bamboo is causing it to be bowed under around the edges, I'm sure wearing it will fix this.

Silly Sister Stay Kit

My stay kit arrived!! I ordered the stay kit from the Silly Sisters. I am very impressed with the quality of the linen. The packaging it came was nice. I can't wait to get started

My role

I learned today that my role at the fort will be the apprentice to the resident weaver. I gotta admit I feel a bit intimidated. I am not someone who is crafty, but the weaving interests me and my other choice was hearth cooking. I didn't think that poisoning my fellow reenactors would be a good way to start out the season.

Getting Started

Here's my to do list.

• buy period correct shoes
• make a decision between straw hat and felt hat
  
• finish petticoat
• finish short jacket
• make another shift
• decide what color stockings to get ( I really want stripes because I'm obsessed with stripes but not sure that would look OK)
• make stays

I know it doesn't look like much but that's at least 4 months of work for me.