Sully Plantation - Micky

Micky Anderson Varga - 6 months old

I love this picture of Micky peaking around my shoulder. It is a great picture to show the detail of the lace on his bonnet (and actually a good detail of the vintage lace on my Spanish Jacket). At this point we'd already taken Micky's dress off, so he is just wearing his underbodice and bodiced petticoat. Heatstroke is another risk I'd never take in the name of authenticity (I would not very likely have brought a 6 month old out in public in the 1860s either for fear of exposure).

Mommy and Baby

All of Micky's underclothes were made of fine cotton lawn. The drawers, bonnet and underbodice were made of pre-pintucked lawn. They are very easy to wash and take starch wonderfully! Starch and heavy ironing not only gave body to children's clothing, but also helped keep stains from penetrating the fabric.

Back view of bodiced petticoat

Tiny Pantalets

Good view of Micky's lace trimmed pantalets as well as his back opening bodiced petticoat. He is also wearing a lawn undershirt. All peices were made with Elizabeth Stewart Clark patterns.

Victorian Pram

This pram was made in Chicago IL and still has the factory plate on the front. Queen Victoria made the use of wicker prams extrememly popular in upperclass familys during the 19th century. It is probably more likely that this pram is from the 1870s or 1880s (when they had really hit their popularity) than actually the 1860s. This was originally upholstered with a heavy brocade fabric and stuffed with straw! It was so disgusting by the time I got it, I just ripped it all out. I did not have time to reupholster before I needed to use it, so I cleaned the wicker/wood and placed a linen covered feather pillow in it for Micky to lie on.

Sully Plantation - Renton's Tunic

The tunic is made of varying shades of blue fine cotton cambric. I turned the fabric to the bias so the plaid would run on the diagonal (common for boys). It is lined in a simple blue cotton (scraps left from other projects). The short pants are made of dark royal blue cotton velvetten and are unlines. They feature two bands on the side of each leg of self fabric to match the tunic. The bands are pointed on each end and decorated with a button to match the tunic. I had velvet left over from the pants and made an extra bolero jacket for Renton, too. (Not pictured) Renton is wearing a separate white cotton shirt under the jacket. The jacket could also be worn without the shirt, with just an undershirt on which the short pants would be buttoned.

If you look closely, you can see the shadow of Renton's sleeveless, batteau cut undershirt. His underdrawers would have been buttoned to this, but because of the extreme heat we opted to go without. The undershirt still served to keep Renton's outer shirt free from the sweat. When we were getting ready to go home, I removed his outer shirt and buttoned his pants to the undershirt so he could be as cool as possible.

The pants were made following the Elizabeth Stewart Clark pattern. They are nice and roomy and made up very easily. I wanted short pants, so I chose the shortest option (did not add any additional "leggings" before cutting).

Full length view of plaid tunic and velvet short pants

Close-up of Shirt

Short pants buttoned to shirt

Disclaimer #1 (Renton's Hair) - While there is much exigent documentation to show very short hair on boys during the Victorian era, most wore their hair longer (often curly) and always parted on the side. In fact, the side part on very young boys still in skirts was often the only thing that distinguished them from their female counterparts of the same age.

Disclaimer #2 (Renton's Boots) - The zip laces on Renton's boots are not accurate for this period. HOWEVER, when you are outfitting (on a budget) quickly growing children with footwear that they will not wear anywhere or anytime else, you get what you can. :)

Progress on Renton's Tunic

Hooray! I fitted the tunic to Renton today (who kept pleading with me "Don't stick me with a pin Mommy! Don't stick me! Don't stick me!" I don't know why). I wasn't really thrilled with it at first. I tried pinning up the skirt to make it shorter, but then it felt too short. I tried pinning in the sides or the back to take up some of the fullness, but that didn't look quite right either.

Finally, since this tunic has short sleeves, I thought, let's try it on with his white shirt - Voila! It looked sooooo adorable! I am not posting any pictures yet because we have an event this weekend and Peter will take some good pics there (hopefully). But I am pleased.

The blue velvet trousers came out perfectly. I made them below the knee style, and I have about 4" of turn up in the hem so I can let it out as he grows. Also there is plenty of room in the waist (as suggested by Elizabeth Stewart Clark in her pattern).

Laying on the floor . . .

FINAL COMMENTS: The tunic body probably could have been shorter (the way I attached the waist band, I couldn't take it apart and re-do it), the body could have been narrower (but Renton is a very thin boy) and I think I would make the pagoda style sleeves if I were doing it again. But this is a really easy pattern and fun to try different styles with.

Detail of inside (flat-lining) of tunic.

"NEGATIVE" ON PATTERN: Not sure why, but part of the directions are talking about girl's dresses and skirts. I think this is a little misleading, especially if a novice sewer were taking a stab at it. No suggestions are made for the length of the tunic skirt and the length on the attachment for the trousers has no suggestions either, just added inches. A ball-park figure for both would have been nice.

The Evolution of Renton's Tunic

I decided to make a new blue plaid tunic for Renton because I loved his first one so much. I had just enough of the fabric left over to squeeze out a tunic if I laid things out just right. Well, I made my own pattern, then came across the patterns by Elizabeth Stewart Clark and decided to give it a try. I put her pattern down ontop of the fabric I'd already cut out - and it was close - but mine had quite a bit more length to it. Well, taking it on faith that the commercial pattern might be better than one of my own making, I cut some of the length off (I did keep a couple of extra inches just to be on the safe side).

So last night I flat lined the bodice of the tunic and piped and put in the short capped sleeves. I trimmed the waist band, but didn't put it in yet. I tried it on Renton this morning and as I suspected it is nearly too short! :( How disappointing, but a lesson to rely on myself sometimes rather than just blind faith of a commercial pattern.

So, I think it will be okay once I put it all together, but I will never have enough length to ever increase it if I needed to as Renton grows. Good thing he is a slow grower.

I have decided to make blue cotton velveteen pants to go with the tunic - though I think they will probably be hot for summer. (I am trying to use up fabric I already have before buying new) Would be REALLY cute with white linen and eyelet drawers but, sadly, I think Renton is too old for that.

Renton at New Market, 2008

Renton's old tunic at New Market, 2008 (3-1/2 years old)

Little boy in tunic with white drawers and striped socks! I LOVE IT!

Cram Sewing - Infant Linens

Micky Anderson Varga

6 months old

Well, I got the "spirit" to sew last night after the kids went to bed. Even though I swore I would go to bed at 10pm, I ended up staying up til 1am! But . . . I got a set of infant underthings (patterns by Elizabeth Stewart Clark) completed for Micky.

* diapers
* drawers
* open shirt
* cap
* night dress

MATERIALS:

I used birdseye diaper cloth for the diapers, pre pin-tucked 100% cotton lawn for the rest and 100% cotton open worked lace for trim on the bonnet.

CONSTRUCTION:

Since this was being done between 10pm and 1am, I used the machine for everything. Though these would be very easy and very fun to do by hand!

DIAPER

back view of diaper
I was very skeptical about the diaper (triangle) because it seems soooo huge! But when I tried it on Micky (over a real diaper) this morning, it did seem to fit. I had to wrap the side ends across the front and tie them in a little knot at the back. That's not how the directions explained it - they said all three corners should basically come together in the front and tie with cotton tapes - I don't know who that would fit other than an ADULT, so I just stuck with my method - worked fine.

OPEN SHIRT

open shirt

The open shirt also seemed a bit big in the neck area, but I guess if he had a light stay on or a bodiced petticoat that was more fitted then the neck and back flaps would fall over that to protect it. Also, the shirt and drawers alone would be comfortable on a hot day.

DRAWERSdrawers
Loved the drawers! They are probably a bit long, but will do if I don't have a chance to add a few more tucks.

CAP

And look at this little cap - it is ADORABLE and so easy to make! I plan to make a few more - serviceable and fancy. This would be a great project to hand sew during an event. Though if I have the kids, I never have my hands free to do any sewing.

The whole set: Drawers, Open Shirt, Cap