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A Weekend in the Millinery

If I was to give this event one word, it would be “relief”.

This time last year I was in horrible pain, with the worst sun reaction and migraine i can recall, to the point where I was literally hitting my head against the wall and packing my head in ice packs. I was quite certain I might have to be done with historical events. The thought was horribly depressing. I spent the whole year with the fear that I might have a repeat physical event.

As I stood at the mirror this morning, doing my hair, I almost cried. It was Sunday. I was good. I ended Saturday feeling great. I was good. I didnt even need to resort to my backup , can lace lighter dress. (Actually, I found I laced closed! Alterations coming.) I hoped into the sewing room and pulled out one of my favorite dresses, from a fabric a far away friend gave me. I was good.

So, here I am. Proof I made it to Sunday.

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This weekend, I set the millinery up in the Insurance Office. A big thank you to Deanna and Melanie for arranging this space for me. It was close to Ward Hovey, just in case, and a shorter walk to the gallery for my talk. It has a lovely breeze and nice shade. It also is right on the village square insuring lots of visitors. Saturday, I pretty much started talking at eleven and didn’t stop until six. (The morning was quite)

My little sister, Lily, helped out in the millinery the whole weekend. She talked with visitors while I was away at the gallery and while I was consulting on millinery questions. She did a very nice job. She also followed the small ice cream handed child around the room guarding the pieces.

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A myriad of thoughts:

Our most unique visitors were either the well loved plush bunny or the real live rooster.

All guests during the battle must be watered. Roosters included.

While I wasn’t sure which project to bring, I ended up being busy wirh sewing the whole of Saturday and I to Sunday .

I actually got to talk about the dynamics of women’s employment.

Sunday, two young men had an excellent vignette on my porch. They were gambling, for stamps. As they played, they pulled visitors in. I know some expected me to shoo them off. But, it was such and excellent interaction , I just listened from inside.

I never once got to do the story I developed behind my unfinished sign. But, I did determine i must have one.

I got quarantined for a couple hours. Weirdness was theme

I got to see the most amazing original fichu and a lovely net needlework.

I was gifted some wonderful surprises. I am grateful and blessed by each. Thank you.

Now, sleep. There may be more added tomorrow

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on July 17, 2016 at 7:22 pm Comments (2)

Milliner Shop

In a short hour or so, the Milliner Shop was set up, all ready for the Genesee Country Village’s Civil War event. A big thank you to Anneliese and Lily for their assistance.

Let’s start with a fun “What’s wrong with this picture?”

In all the preparation for transforming an Insurance Office into a Millinery – bonnet stands , band boxes, appropriate paint, appropriate papers, ribbons, bonnets, hats, veils – somehow I did not think about sitting down …. in a cage… in these three lovely, matching chairs.

Ooops. Slight problem, especially since each of my chairs were home awaiting their much needed tlc.

Luckily, I got the okay to borrow two chairs from Hosmer’s .

Much better.

This even gave us a chance to color check the paint colors. The hat stands are a shade lighter than the chair. Peter tells me Prussian blue had a range of shades, depending on how much white was added. So, mine just has more white.

Looking around the room:

Here are the three fashionable bonnets on display. Each is one one of the new stands. The one one the left is the batwing soft crown with the blue and plaid silk. The one on the right is my personal bonnet, a soft crown with sheer check organza. Below is a bonnet with a decorative brim using antique straw threads. In the basket below are my slippers and a box of fabric scraps that would make some cute doll clothes or such. I plan not to bring that box back home.

To the right, is a stack of my recovered band boxes, and my personal bonnet box. This one came from a local stationary shop. It is perfect for holding my bonnet. Atop the boxes is one of my yardsale find stands holding a wide brim hat. This hat is appropriate for a recreational scenario or a dress reform impression. Draped on the hat is an antique lace that may or may not be considered a veil. (Digging deeper into this.)

In the corner, is a little table filled with assorted bonnets and hats. As we were setting up, I started to think I should have brought my second table and more stands. The top most, on the boxes is a cottage bonnet draped in my newest veil, one I made with silk net and lace. (Coming soon, I will have a post comparing the light control of different veils.) In the center is a coarse straw bonnet that would be worn by a poorer or institutionalized woman. On the left is my example of a woven straw bonnet, by Vivian ! Murphy. The two hats on the stands are children size. The one resting on the table is a large crown fashion bonnet. The top box is the one I made, sewing a heavy pasteboard. The other two are recovered.

I am tickled that the ribbons filled this mantle. I think it looks pretty”in use” rather than just display. Lily did a nice job. Can you tell which rolls are real and which are fake?

I forgot to get a photo of the sign. As the lettering was a fail, and despite sanding off the black paint, the tracing depressions show through the new ground coats, it looks very much like the “work in progress” it is. I’ve decided to say the young man who was painting it for me took off to enlist as the trips came near. But, as we expect this fighting to be over by the end of the summer, he can finish it soon enough.

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on July 15, 2016 at 9:19 pm Leave a Comment

Today’s Millinery – Fancy Edge Hat

Today, I offer a millinery piece I have looked forward to making and I am having a hard time letting go of. It will be available in my Etsy shop as soon as I pick the price and hit the button.

This hat is trimmed in a fancy vintage plait. I have all of the plait that was offered, but there wasn’t much of it. It combined a scroll of twisted straw threads and arrangements of flat straw.

This stylish fashion hat is made with a beautiful natural straw with speckling in the plait and a vintage fancy straw edge.

The crown is flat on the top. It is sized to fit an average size head. The brim is fashionably shaped, dipping in the front and back.

**Full disclosure – The fancy straw plait is backed with a faux horsehair that did not exist in the 19th century. I have stiffened the fancy plait to hold the shape of the hat. I highly suggest not wearing it in the rain or holding the hat by the edge.**

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on March 15, 2016 at 5:20 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Anna's Millinery

Paisley, Plaid, and Purled: Shawls of the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Now Available!!!

Exclusively as an Ebook in my Etsy Shop!!!

At long last, I offer you Paisley, Plaid, and Purled: Mid-Nineteenth Century Shawls. I am very excited to finally share my extensive research on mid-century shawls began over a decade ago.

PP&P is 120+ pages long looking at each of the shawls worn during the mid-nineteenth century, including the Civil War era. Learn about the types of shawls, where they came from and how they were worn along with much, much more.

PP&P includes over two dozen CDVs displaying period shawls, photos and illustrations. It also includes over 30 original directions for shawls including sewn and knit shawls.

Contents:
1. Introduction & Methodology
2. Shawl Culture
3. The Shawls
4. Domestically Made Shawls
5. Shawls for Living History
Bibliography & End Notes
Appendix Including a Glossary of Terms, Manufacturing, Production, and Tariff Statistics, and Exhibition Examples.

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on January 1, 2016 at 1:00 am Comments (5)
Tags: Anna's Books

Paisley, Plaid, and Purled…..Coming New Year’s Day

PPandP book cover

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on December 28, 2015 at 4:16 pm Comments (3)
Tags: Anna's Books

Announcement: Paisley, Plaid & Purled Going Digital!!!

I have decided to release Paisley, Plaid, & Purled: Mid-Nineteenth Century Shawls as a digital publication.

I will be locking myself away during my Thanksgiving recess (and possibly Christmas recess) to reformat for the digital release.

Paisley, Plaid, & Purled will be exclusively available through my Etsy store come the new year.

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on November 18, 2015 at 6:00 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Anna's Books

Agricultural Society Fair – Part 1 – Entries

This year, I decided to give myself an extra little challenge – Make my entries in doll scale. I set this goal for myself at the beginning of the year. While I didn’t manage to find the time to make as many pieces as I wanted, I was able to make few. There are also a couple human size pieces as well.

Since I spent so much time this summer making straw hats and bonnets, of course, I needed to make a pair of straw hats, one doll scale and one human scale. The full size straw hat was a favorite of this summer with its bias plaid silk lining and calla lilies. The doll hat is in the same style, simply trimmed with ribbon. If I ever find lilies small enough, I will be happy.

It was fun scaling down the winter bonnet patterns to doll size. I did one in a quilted style using a double twist pattern and one in the corded and wadded style that I find to be nicely warm. These are for dolls with 9.5″ to 10″ heads.

I had lots of fun with this little doll quilt. Triangular piecing was both easy and relaxing. But, as I was almost finished, I realized I needed to bind that curved edge I created. Thankfully, it was a lot easier than I thought. I am tempted to do a full size one in this design. Sometime.

When Mandy found these steel rings, I knew I wanted to do an embroidered pin ball. I did a trial run with simple embroidery on wool. Then jumped into the needlework for this one. Needlework like this is not something I have done much if any of. Some parts were enjoyable. Other parts, well, they made me think “aren’t I done yet?” After finishing the full size one, I wanted to see if I could do the doll size one. One challenge was deciding on what to use for the ring. I pondered an actual ring, but didn’t find one in the right size as I was working. The next challenge was turning the embroidered linen right side out at that small of a scale. I think it came out pretty cute.

I had every intention of doing my household quilted item in both doll and human scale. Then, as I made the full size one, I decided this was the one and only I was making… ever. This quilted tool case was inspired by an 1872 illustration in Peterson’s Magazine. It could hold sewing tools or toilet tools nicely.

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on October 3, 2015 at 4:50 pm Comments (2)

Workshop – Pocket of Pockets

I am very excited that I will be facilitating two Fanciful Utility workshops at the upcoming Domestic Skill Workshop hosted by the Genesee Country Village and Museum during the first weekend of November.

The Sunday afternoon workshop will be a “Pocket of Pocket” Work pocket. Attendees will make one of the most versatile and useful work pockets. Each can choose among a wide assortment of period cotton prints to make their rolled pocket. The workshop directions will be easy to follow for beginner sewers and open enough for those who are more experienced.

Original work pockets, made of a row of pockets which roll up, can be found spanning from the 18th century through the 19th century. Their pockets held numerous sewing needs, nicely organized. Some pockets were made with various prints of a single color or shade such as this Turkey red example or this blue example. Other pockets used an assortment of prints, stripes and plaids. This example used a plaid, print and check for the pockets. The size of the pockets varied through time as well. On the left hand side of this photo, you can see many different sizes.

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Workshops

on October 2, 2015 at 6:01 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Workshops/Conferences/Symposiums

Workshop: Pin Cushion Sampler

The morning workshop will be A Pin Cushion Sampler. Attendees will be able to make two or three pincushions of their choice during the workshop. Don’t worry, all attendees will take home the directions for each of the cushions. I have put together an assortment of pin cushions that will meet a range of sewing abilities, beginner to experienced alike, as well as meet a variety of sewing case needs.

The easiest pin cushion is the heart shaped cushion from Eliza Leslie’s American Girl’s Book. This simple, silk cushion is both easy to make and quite pretty. It can be made small (as our cushion will be) or rather large to suit the needs of the sewing box.

The most challenging cushion is this multi-media ring pin cushion, made with a silver tone ring and silk. In making this cushion, you will practice covering pasteboard, manipulate the batting and finish it off with a pretty silk. Multi-media pin cushions such as this one were popular throughout the century.

For those looking for a small, whimsical pin cushion, this pyramid cushion will suit. This cushion will be worked in firmer fabrics, including wools and velvets. This cushion is inspired by this adorable original. (I’ll have some pretty ribbons you can add as well.)

If you love ribbon, this ribbon pin cushion may be the one for you. This cushion uses Fanciful Utility techniques in a unique way to create this pretty cushion. It is inspired by originals such as this one.

For those with a playful eye, this ball pin cushion is a fun choice. We will be making ours with silk pieces. Originals can be found in an assortment of materials.

Variations of a gored pin cushion are found in both published books and originals. This cushion is easy to make, while being very versatile. As these are similar to the ‘tomato’ pin cushions, I am going to bring along some simple circles too in case those are the preference.

Oh, I almost forgot…. Here are some of the fabrics we will get to play with….

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Workshops

on October 2, 2015 at 6:00 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Workshops/Conferences/Symposiums

Domestic Skills Symposium at the Genesee Country Village & Museum

The Genesee Country Village has announced their Domestic Skills Symposium for this fall. Please read the invitation below and download this Registration Form:

Genesee Country Village & Museum is pleased to announce registration is now open for our 2015 Domestic Skills Symposium!

The Symposium will be held November 7, 2015 at Genesee Country Village in Mumford, NY. We have planned a full schedule of presentations for Saturday, and optional pre- and post-symposium workshops and tours of interest to women and men. Like last year, the Symposium also features a full luncheon composed entirely of delectable 18th and 19th-century period receipts!

Complete details for optional workshops and the Symposium are available on our web site at

Please plan to join us!

Sincerely,
Deanna Berkemeier

I will be teaching two Fanciful Utility workshops on Sunday:

A Sampler of Pincushions (Limit 15)

Anna Worden Bauersmith, author of Fanciful Utility, will instruct attendees in making their choice of two or three small period styles of pincushions. All materials for your chosen designs will be provided and instructions for all designs will be given to each attendee. Participants should bring: a sewing basket with scissors, thimble, pins, needle, seam ripper, marking pencil/pen and a notepad.

Make a “Pocket of Pockets” (Limit 15)

Using the techniques from Fanciful Utility, make one of the most useful and versatile rolled work pockets. Also known as a sewing case or housewife, this work pocket is made of period correct fabrics in a row of pockets, bound with ribbon. Use it to hold your thread winders, flat tools, small scissors, buttons, a cloth measure and still have plenty of room for more. The pocket-of-pockets is rolled or folded up and tied closed with a ribbon. Participants should bring: a sewing basket with scissors, thimble, pins, needle, seam ripper, marking pencil/pen and a notepad.