Combined Panel 1+2 and Worked Eyelet

When I work on my stays, I always start out with the panels on the right side. My boning channel map is of that same side, and if I copy it (almost) directly, then the opposite side tends to be much easier.

I say "almost" because a few of my panels have been modified--this panel is no exception. If you look closely, you'll see that the left side of the panel has a channel, an odd gap, and two more channels. That was me goofing up; I didn't make sure my map was the same size as my actual panel and the diagonal channels should have been longer. Oops! Since I have a limited amount of steel and an even shorter window of time to get these done, I am not redoing them. Instead, I will just mirror that mistake onto the left panel. Then it's on purpose. :)

My stays will have shoulder straps so I did an eyelet up top. It got a bit small with the threads but overall I'm happy with it. Our modern eyelets look incredibly neat next to an extant pair, some of those are so sloppy! I rather like working the eyelets, but next time I'm cutting more thread and/or using a shorter needle. Trying to bury the knot was not fun with the needle I'm using (long, for the thick, coarse linen), and coupled with very little excess made for a difficult time.

Three panels, a bunch of eyelets, shoulder straps, boning, and binding left!

Twelfth Night Wrap-up, and More Projects

Every time I log into Blogger and see that I have more followers, even after not blogging for several works, it gives me the urge to write. So, thank you to the many new followers for joining, and I will certainly do my best to continue posting!

This past Friday evening was the Sudbury Twelfth Night colonial ball; it was held at the Wayside Inn, in Sudbury, MA, and it was my first ball! I have yet to see any photos that include me, but when I get them I will be sure to post them. I wore my printed cotton gown (since it's the only gown I own!), with a hip roll and I added silk ribbons and brass buttons to polonaise it in the back. The wig looked amazing, my dear friend Miss Liz did such an amazing job with it and I am eternally grateful to her for taking the time to simultaneously style it and explain how she was styling it (not to mention purchasing it and the accessories to help make it big, as well as to decorate it). It was a huge compliment when a local, well-known wig maker told me that he loved my hair, it certainly gave me a bit more bounce in my step!

The best part of the whole evening was just enjoying the company of my friends; I really felt like I've become a reenactor, and am not some 21st century gal just playing dress up in reproductions of old clothes. That feeling was validated when Miss Hallie told me how beautiful I looked, and how I was really carrying myself correctly, and actually wearing the clothes. We both agreed that I had come a very long way from the first time I tried her gowns on, posing like someone was taking my photos for Facebook or Myspace! I am just in awe of my friends, they are amazing people and I truly adore them and appreciate all of their help with my newbie questions. You guys know who you are!

In addition to Twelfth Night, that weekend was also the kick-off of the new Hive season! Prior to the Sunday Hive, I enrolled in a shirt workshop for that Saturday, and had a great time learning some very helpful new tricks. Eventually, my rectangles and squares of fabric will become a riding habit shirt; it is similar to a man's shirt but shorter. It is also giving me the skills and know-how to finally make a shift (I was positively delighted when my $20 cotton muslin shift that I purchased a few days before an event over the summer started ripping at the center back of the neck on Sunday morning!); I'm using a teeny needle and trying to make incredibly small backstitches: every thread of the linen is a backstitch. So yes, very teeny! And loads of stitches per inch. I will be photographing some of the seams eventually, I just hope they appear as it's white-on-white! One helpful trick I learned was pulling threads to create a cutting guide; I have a terrible time trying to cut straight and now that I know how to pull a linen thread across the warp and weft, I will no longer have crooked cuts!

Sunday's Hive was a great first session, and I was asked to speak in one of the sessions. That is totally a Really Big Deal and I was honored to speak in the session called Using Props as Interpretive Tools. I gave a newbie's perspective on how you can use your clothing as your prop, and the research that has gone into the garment as well. I spoke after one of the NPS Park Rangers, who is an award-winning interpreter and does this daily (he is also the hubby of my good friend 'Mrs. Derby,' aka Miss Em). Those were some big shoes to fill, and I could certainly see why he's won awards! When Minute Man opens back up again to reenactors volunteering at the various houses, I will be volunteering with 'Mr. Derby' and soaking up all of his knowledge.

I'm still working on my stays (albeit incredibly slowly; did I mention I have a tight deadline to finish them, too?), and need to blog about the Mercy Bradford Cloak Mystery. Miss Hallie examined the cloak with me and answered all of the questions I had about the cloak as a garment; I still have to do the genealogical research to see if we have a Bradford or Brewster descendant. How I wish I could ask the donor!

Speaking of the museum, I'm busy working on their next big exhibit that is opening February 1st and will be up until December 31st, called Written, Printed, & Drawn: Rarities from Plymouth's Past. It's all maps, rare documents, and rare books, and promises to be a great show. There will even be a small section dedicated to the War of 1812! I've already created the 6'x6.5' vinyl banner and sent that off to the printer and we're working on the text panels. I was given loads of creative freedom and we are having a fabulous time working on them. I'm so excited for the show to open up!

Life and fabric samples and broadcloth.

I'm on Day 2 of my New and Awesome Job (please don't let the honeymoon end!), so reality has unfortunately taken its toll on my frequent blogging and research.  That being said, I'm currently juggling a few things at once in my 18thc. life, most of it revolving around textiles and free fabric swatches and deciding what to tackle next.

Currently, I have 5 swatches of linen from Fabrics-store.com laying on the table next to me. They are in 5 different weights: 3.5 oz, 5.3 oz, 6 oz, 7.1 oz, and 8 oz. All are bleached white. I am looking into linen lining for my yellow silk gown that needs to be made, and instead of going, "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo!" and picking a weight without feeling it or knowing what I'm doing, I decided to order the free samples from this online store and feel them alongside the lining currently in my printed cotton gown. I think with the silk I can go a bit lighter in terms of weight, and probably needed something a bit more substantial in the cotton--for the next cotton gown (chintz, please!), I'll do that. The 3.8 is definitely too light; it has a looser weave with thin threads, probably not the best linen. However, it is soft and feels nice between my fingers. I could see using this for a shift if I couldn't/didn't want to shell out the money for really good linen. Right now, I'm leaning towards the 5.3 or 6 oz, though the 6 is rather slubby, and not as soft. The 7.1 and 8 oz are not even on my radar, they're really heavy and almost canvas-like.

With the help of my more experienced friends, I'm getting closer to making a choice about wool broadcloth for a short cloak. I don't want to do a light or scarlet red; I'm looking toward other colors that aren't as frequently seen on reenactors, though I do have my eye on a claret! The colors I'm looking at are black, light purple, 2 dark greens, and the claret. The black is an 80/20 wool/cashmere, so I'm asking around about that mixture. I need something more on the heavy side as it gets cold up here and I'm planning on doing 2 events during the beginning of winter!

One of the ordered samples, gold-purple.

Third, I have silk samples on the way from Renaissance Fabrics. You can get 4 free samples from them, and I'd like to make a decision on silk sooner rather than later for my dress gown for the ball in January. The taffetas are both shot and not shot, so I'm looking forward to seeing those soon. Renaissance has very affordable prices (taffeta is $17/yard), and some of the colors look really pretty. Including the gold-purple, I ordered samples of copper, peacock blue, and ice blue.

A (better) stomacher.

My printed cotton is positively lovely, but it is very lightweight and tends to get a bit mushy and stretchy (especially when I'm warm). This is very apparent over my front-lacing stays, as seen in this photo from the first time I wore it:

Very wrinkly and buckling.

This could also have been because the stomacher above isn't finished; I'd only attached the fashion fabric to the linen on the top and bottom and not the sides (ran out of time at 2 am). Plus, the linen I was using was just crappy stuff from Joann's that I'd bought to make a practice workbag. But, I decided it would be best to do two layers for strength, and I needed to be in the gown for a photo shoot on Friday anyway, so Thursday I ripped out the stitches and cut a second piece of linen.

The fashion fabric pinned to the layers of linen.

I cut the second piece of linen smaller all around, so when I folded the fashion fabric and outer layer of linen inward to sew together, it would be nestled between them. The fashion fabric already felt like it couldn't stretch and warp as much just when it was pinned, and as I sewed it together I found this to be true.

The three layers together, before cutting the second piece smaller.

I used the same stitch on the stomacher as I did when hemming my sleeves; I believe it's the overhand stitch (could also be the underhand, ha!). It was rather easy, I just had to be careful and ease any bubbles in.

The back stitches and the front.

It came out really well, and when I pinned the stomacher to my stays on Friday, I was very happy with how it laid very nicely over the lacing! Now if only I could get my gown on correctly every single time ...

An Ode (of sorts) to Irish Linen.

Gorgeous pumpkin Irish linen! How you charmed me so.

Your color and texture, so smooth and soft. No wonder they clothed the passed in you!

But you wrinkle, on the slightest touch. And you slip and slink all over my table, how can I cut you?!

My newbieness shows, and oh no, my slice is uneven! Slowly, your length shortens.

But wait! I bought enough! And it measures just right. Oh, thank goodness, a wave of relief.

Ah, pumpkin Irish linen, you're worth the pain. A lovely petticoat you'll make, to be worn so soon!