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 - Emily's Dress

Emily has graciously permitted me to dress her up for this event. (I had to bribe her with an entire pack of gum!)

Her dress and drawers were made using the Elizabeth Stewart Clark pattern. I chose the open sleeves because I knew it would be a hot event and because I know Emily hates anything tight on her. The fabric was a 100% cotton homespun with ivory background and green, blue and burgundy woven plaid. Her apron is a pale green cotton calico with small "dot" print in ivory. It is a large chemise type apron gathered about the neck. It makes great coverage and could be used for a boy or a girl - but in the end I think it was a little wasteful to use so much fabric for this. The upside surely is that there are virtually no cuts in the fabric and it could be cut down in future for baby dresses.

About an hour into the event, the heat had totally overwhelmed Emily. She had already eaten two ice creams and stood under the water spritzer three times. We removed the apron and eventually the dress down to her chimie by the time we were on our way home. Good girl Emily!

Emily with wooden toy and bean bag

Good view of Emily's long, lace-edged drawers

Renton and Emily eating icecream (couldn't resist this picture)

Back view of dress (button closure)

Emily "Holding Down the Fort"

Disclaimer: (Emily's Hair) While many young girl's wore their hair chin length in the Victorian era, longer hair was also quite common and in the 1860s girls NEVER wore bangs. Hair was parted in the middle and often pulled back with a pretty ribbon, hairnet or other method. Often the middle part was the only way to tell little girls apart from their skirt wearing little brothers (whose hair was parted on the side). HOWEVER, it is like pulling teeth to put these clothes on my firely little Emily, who also detests anything being put in her hair let alone it being parted in the middle and pulled back. I did start with a pretty little black velvet ribbon, but I'm not sure it lasted beyond the parking lot. REALITY CHECK - not a battle I'm going to fight with a three year old in public, even in the name of authenticity.

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. :)