If I Had My Own Blue Box:

Brooches have been popping up in conversation and other places lately, particularly those with portrait or scenic images in them. With this reoccuring surfacing, my thoughts have been meandering around these curious miniature bits of art.

Now, if I was to actually consider these for a research topic I would want to look at….

– The types of images – painted, etched, photographic…. Would micro-mosaic or carved count as well?  

– The types of settings including materials, style, shape, lockets, pin placement, convertablity…. ceramic, enamel, stone, shell…

– The durability of the images – curious about this….

– Who are the subjects?

– Who are the artists?

– Why? … including memorial pieces. The hair pieces on the reverse side?

– Typical verse unusual? Shape, materials, subjects?

– Later verses earlier…

– I’m going to have look at lots of these, lots and lots of these…. (two on the way home)

There have been lots of ponderings lately. Lots of ponderings and very little actual doing. I’ve pondered wrappers and clothes for Dan as well as Lily. Yet, I’ve not sewn a stitch other than a repair here & there since finishing up a last hood sometime back around New Years. Though I’ve told a certain incredibly patient editor and my lovely blog readers time & time again that I will have something for them, the words have simply not made it on to paper or screen. When I looked at my publication list yesterday in hopes of some inspiration for something else, I realized the date at the top was 2010, not even 2011 but 2010. Ouch. I just haven’t had the focus to make any sense of the research bits & pieces I have let alone actually read anything. I think in the past year or so I’ve only finished reading one book. Really. I know. Should just sit down with my laptop & focus. But, reality is, even now I’m typing on my phone (and inevitably producing a multitude of typos.)
Ah, but there is an upside and a point to this. Last night I made Dan a little birthday gift, a sewn birthday gift. I also started a 19th century garment for someone else. There was actual cutting & sewing. Progress.
I even have a project of my own in the planning works, one step beyond pondering. I was going to keep it a secret project with the idea of entering it into the fair in the fall. But…. I need to keep myself accountable & actually make progress. So, I’ll be posting the work here. For now, I’ll say it has to do with one of my pet topics & involves lots & lots of embroidery. Maybe while embroidering I’ll have a moment of inspiration or even discover the meaning of life. 😉

Theoretically with this day off I should be researching or writing something. Ya, I really should.
Let’s see…. I could be working on that comprehensive list of fashion plates with shawls. Or, that ‘work glove’ question. Or, those illustrations included in the fashion accessories book that I think are sewing accesories instead of fashion accessories. Or, I could ponder this ‘I don’t feel like sewing’ issue which only seems to be tempted out of by the idea of wrappers. Hmmmm…..

I find this Saturday morning I am utterly disheartened and dismayed to the point where I am seriously tempted to just pack up all the costuming, research etc and find a new hobby or interest. In light of being symbolicly told that something I consider to be of primary importance is unimportant, a complete change seems appealing. At the moment a mideaval tunics or a little craft club seem nice.
Besides, eliminating the extensive clothing, fabric, objects, etc. would make the need for a larger apt go away. (Having a gut instinct vs logical math inner conflict)
So, we shall see…….

Along with a series looking at how funds were raised on the home front, I’m thinking about featuring pieces of material culture from time to time. This could be something to fill a need, something hard to find or somthing of notable quality.
Would this be a series of interest this year? If so, what types of things would you be interested in being featured?

My updates won’t fit nicely on Facebook.

For those waiting for the quilted hood pattern – I was hoping to have it available for you by now. I am waiting on the printer who has filled me in that they are waiting on a part to fix their machine. As soon as I ‘okay’  proofs, I will open pre-orders. Pre-ordering the hood patterns will be available through Etsy with a special offer for those pre-ordering. I have a running list of those to send a message to about the pre-orders. Let me know if you want to be on that list.

I finished the muff that goes with my hood yesterday. It should keep my hands nice and warm this winter. Photo below. I am impatiently waiting for a green silk to arrive for a custom hood. It has been 21 days. So patience really has gone away.

I’ve done something new with my Etsy store. When you visit, you will see a new banner using the motifs from one of my paisley shawls. I’ll be using this paisley motif for for my store as well as my cards and thank you cards, which will be coming along soon.

This week I stumbled across two, make that three, fashion plates with dresses that are way too tempting.

Normally, one would think it was the wrapper in this plate that was tempting me. But, no. While I do love this wrapper and have ideas of how I would make it, the coat is what is calling me. I see this coat done in a black wool trimmed with quilted red silk or quilted red velvet. It just looks so cozy and warm to me. Plus, I’m back on a red kick as you will see further down.

After doing a travel program this fall, travel images catch my attention. When I saw this train interior my eyes went right to that great green bag. Then they went to the gold dress. Picture wearing that dress in a light weight to tropical weight wool. Wouldn’t that be great to wear? I may want to change the trim placement through the front of the bodice though. I do have this great green wool thanks to Bevin that I’ve been waiting on. If there is enough to do this cut, I might just do that.  

Remember how I said I’m back on a red kick? Well, check out this red and white dress. Incredible!!!  I just love it. I love the lushness of the red either in silk or velvet trimmed out with the white feathers or fur. I don’t know if I could get away with the bodice the way it is with my age and bust. That would get redrafted though. Now of course this much deep red taffeta and trim could be a bit pricey. So, I think it may have to stay on my dreamy wish list for a while.

While this isn’t a fashion plate, I just had to share it.

What makes me squeak at an antique show?

It wasn’t the gorgeous Hepplewhite table or the stunning tiger-maple cabinet. It wasn’t the incredible display of cut glass that just glowed. It was this tiny seashell pincushion. The velvet cushion didn’t show any sign of being sewn in. Instead, it may have been glued. The front of the velvet had the pin-hole remains of a small, maybe half to three-quarters of an inch, embroidered floral design. Just inside the edge of the shell’s scallops was what looked like a painted strip of gilding.

One of my other favorite things, one I really wish I could have come home with was this paisley shawl. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the center of the shawl. The colors were a different color set than we normally see of shawls coming out of Kashmir in the 1850s. It was also rather thick compared to most mid-century shawls. What was great was the border, then hand embroidered, hand pieced border. The border was made of individual wool pieces each embroidered and attached to the shawl.

There were only a few other paisley type shawls there, several of which were used as tablecloths. One was made into a mid-20th century 2 piece outfit. The presentation also displayed a purse made of another shawl. I think some of my readers with vintage interests will find this interesting:

There were two pieces the seller had labeled as Confederate sympathizer parade flags.

Just below this flag, was this chatelaine….

Of course I was looking for sewing items. One seller had an assortment of Shaker boxes made into sewing boxes. Each was lined with silk. Some had pockets. Some still had their accessories tied in.  There was this one needle-book with each panel in a different silk fabric.

There was one more piece that caught my attention. It was this simple little piece with a very modest little tag compared to the rest of the room.

It is three pieces of pasteboard covered with silk. The edges bound on all sides except one half of one side where there is an opening. It is decorated in the yellow ribbon….. I knew just what it was and where the directions for making it came from…. Any Guesses?

A couple weeks back a good friend asked me why it is so important to me that other people are accurate in their living history portrayals. At the time, I had no profound answer. The best I could come up with is that it could possibly be a teaching thing. After all, whether in a formal or informal setting, your students, what they learn and how they demonstrate their knowledge is a reflection of you and your abilities.

I still don’t have any better answer.

But, that question certainly came back to me as I was reading through Jeff Spevak’s article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, “Caught in Time”. I read through the sections enjoying his use of words as he describes this admittedly unique hobby. Then I reached the section entitled “Supply Depots” at which point I came to a screeching halt as I read the words “____’s costume shop.” Those who know me well can likely picture the facial expression I had as my head titled to the side in irritation. This creak in my neck continued as I read further about historical items from another era being used. Of course this creaked neck and irritated facial expression was not the author’s fault. How was he to know the buttons things like this can push in certain reenactors?

Now, before I continue in the direction I am headed, I want to say Mr. Spevak’s piece is one of if not the best I have read regarding the nature of Civil War reenacting. He spent a good deal of time trying to get to know some of us peculiar creatures. He asked very good questions, pulling them together into a thorough article. (There is a supporting article as well.)

Let us get back to why this section made the question of why it is so important to me that other people are accurate pop back to mind

It boils right down to – One or two people can end up representing a whole group of people whether that is in a newspaper article or a student’s field trip or a family’s weekend vacation experience. So, that person or person needs to be as good as they can possibly be.

Yes, the individual mentioned has put a good amount of effort into his attire. He has thought out what he wears, why he wears it, and how he can best put his attire together.

But, there are those of us who spend hours and hours, often each day, some to the equivalent of a full time job or more, studying every aspect of our attire, our accessories, our pieces of material culture, our behavior and so on to make sure they can truly represent the Civil War era to the very best of our ability. In our research, we develop a deepening understanding of the era and respect for the extant pieces of material culture. We put a great deal of effort into acquiring or planning and constructing each garment we wear and every other item we choose.

 I’m going to be completely honest here in saying, we don’t like it when the methods some people choose to develop their impression diminishes the way in which we develop ours. We don’t want spectators, whether a family, a group of students or journalists, to walk away from an event with a skewed or worse yet inaccurate understanding of the era or living history.

To some this makes us “thread-counters”, “stitch-nazis” or “mavens”. I’ll admit, I am finding this type of accusation harder and harder to contradict. Yes, I am picky. I am incredibly picky. I want to do my best. I want you to do your best. I believe research and accuracy are extremely important. Does this make me one of those things? Maybe. But, I assure you – I am more than happy to help you achieve your goals. I am more than happy to share my research (when it isn’t committed elsewhere.) I am also comfortable in admitting when I am wrong or there are holes in my research. I am human. I just want to see the best possible representation of our given time period because we are educating children and families.

Mr.  Spevak’s  article definitally helped point out one, no two reasons why other people’s accuracy is important to me. Each one of us has chosen to take on the responsibility to educate people, young and adult, about this era in American History. They deserve accurate information.