Remembering Gettysburg - November 2009



Micky (1-1/2), Me, Renton (6), Emily (4-1/2)

 I will always remember this day fondly. The weather was perfect, the kids were agreeable.  We even managed to get an authentic tin-type done of us.   It looks real because it was an authentic camera and authentic processing. We all had to sit absolutely still for 16 seconds.  That's one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand . . . I am still in awe today that they all cooperated. Was a miracle! Small movement at the end by Micky made him a little blurry, but all in all, it was a success.

Of course, there are little things I don't like about the picture.  Emily's hair, for example.  She refused to let me pull her bangs back and looks more like a late-Victorian boy than a mid-Victorian girl.  But I just LOVE her expression!  She was having a great time and was not upset, but it's such a classic little Victorian girl expression, it makes me laugh whenever I look at it.  I also don't like my arm pulled back on the arm rest - wish they would have let me just keep it in my lap.  And Micky's shaved head.  But again, ah well.  It was good overall.  =)

Things I LOVE are:
1.  Renton's jaunty expression
2.  Emily's striped stockings
3.  Micky's little dress

If you are ever in Gettysburg, you have to stop by and check this place out.  Reservations are best because the process can take quite a while.  But it is well worth the wait!

IN THE STUDIO:

Renton waiting patiently for our turn behind the lens

Another great shot of Emily's striped stockings

Cute shot of Micky's dress



OUTSIDE THE STUDIO:

It was blustery that day - wish I'd taken pictures of them wrapped up, too.

Yes, I know this is an Edwardian pram (not Civil War era).
Whatever I could get Micky to sit still in worked for me.

Micky's bonnet and dolly

Cedar Creek 2010

Just some miscellaneous pictures I never got around to uploading.  This was my Emily's first camping experience and she LOVED it!  Other than the late night and the sugar "crack" high that hit her around 8pm, we had a very successful weekend.  We are working on getting little Emily a bit more authentic and she is starting to love her new things!  (Although we did revert to a boy's frock and trousers on the last day of the event.)

Yay!  Bangs pulled back and hidden within the bonnet. 

(Which lasted about 15 minutes)

Emily's skirt is made of the left over dress fabric from my dress (being worn at this event by my friend Caitlin).  It features two very deep growth tucks which can easily be let out as Emily grows taller (any fading where the stitches were would be covered with some pretty black velvet ribbon or rouching).  She also wears a full sleeved white cotton bodice (back hook and eye closure) covered by a large black cummerbund rounded at the top and pointed at the waist, topped by a black velvet jacket adorned with frog closures.  Emily is wearing a crinoline petticoat, not a hoop.

My friend Caitlin and the Red/Black Boots

Camp life - Jacket and Bonnet are nowhere to be found . . .

You can see the wide black cummerbund worn over the white cotton bodice.

Food is always a big hit with the little ones.

Here we've at least covered up Emily's bodice and skirt with a simple cotton pinafore.

Back view of Caitlin's Dress - I LOVE this silhouette  

Resting in the tent.  (Have not abandonned the bangs entirely yet.)  What I love about this picture is the the black and grey striped stocking peeking out from under her skirt.  You can see the detail of Emily's white cotton bodice (back closure) and a few of her wooden toys.

Mommy and Emily playing games in camp.

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.

Hooks and Eyes on kid's Clothing

I decided to put hooks and eyes on Renton's tunic. It has confirmed my hatred for this type of closure. Takes me just as long to sew these on as it would have to sew button holes. But I wanted to try something different. I am also afraid that the way Renton yanks off his clothes, they may not last very long. We'll see . . .


I used the larger hooks and eyes and tried the "continuous" stiching that I've seen on many originals. Again, I am a little concerned that the extra thread is going to end up getting caught and pulled and the fastenings are just going to come off. I'll update this later if that happens (and will stick to button holes in the future).

Hooks with continuous stiching.

Front side of eyes

Back side of "eyes" with continuous stiching

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.

Victorian Suit

Emily (1yr old) and Peter at Cedar Creek (or was it Anteitam?) , 2007

Don't you love the plastic bottle and the cars in the background? Very authentic, no?

This was the first outfit I made for Peter in the hopes that he would dress out with me for an event (This was the only one he's dressed up for - 2 years ago!). I use the Buckaroo Bobbins coat, trousers and vest pattern. The shirt (I think) was a Past Patterns, but may also have been the Buckaroo Bobbins (I had it in my collection for a while).

From my memory, the patterns all worked up very nicely. I definitely suggest using all the interfacing and padding as the pattern suggests (or did I get this from another book?). It really helps with the shaping. I find that the coat patterns can often run narrow in the shoulders and across the chest - this is a great place to use a muslin mock up first.

The shirt was collarless and I didn't have time to make a collar, so Peter is wearing a black silk cravat loosely tied. That and his big "gambler's" hat make him look more Wild West than Civil War, but the look is still accurate according to my research.

I have just made him a collar (again from Buckaroo Bobbins). The collar was very easy to make. It called for interfacing, but since I didn't have any available at 2am when I was sewing, I just put an extra layer of white cotton muslin in -worked perfectly.

Front of collar with black cotton "tie"

This is a fold-down style collar I see a lot in pictures. I'd like to add a wing tip or stand up collar as well for a different look.

Back center with button hole. The small pearl button is attached to the shirt and the collar buttons on here so it does not "ride" up.

Now it's all ready for the next time he'll dress up and come out with us. . . .

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!

Summer of Sewing List

Okay . . . here's my list of projects so far - these are in no particular order

New tunic for Renton
Velvet tunic for Renton
Drawers for Renton (I'm not 100% sure bout this)
New dress for Emily
Fancy dress for Emilly
Hoop for Emily

New corset
Corded petticoat
Cage Crinoline
Silk dress of some kind
New petticoats
Pockets on apron
Pockets on work dress
Re-do armholes in burnt orange work dress
Pinafore style apron
Mourning dress (???)
Sheer dress
Winter paletot