What I’m Working On | If I Had My Own Blue Box:

“Don’t Hack Your Sleeve”

While I patiently wait for the photos of this weekend to come out of my sister’s camera, I’ll share with you the story of the sleeve. While this sleeve did not go well in the making process, I am okay with the end result.

I knew I didn’t want another open sleeve as that is what I used for both green sheer and semi-sheer dresses from last year. I wanted something with shape. Looking at this inspiration sleeve,

this is what I came up with:

After the sketch, I added a bias cut, double gathered ‘puff’ to the top. I liked the idea of the extra drop before the fullness.

In the drafting, I wanted to make sure I had a good length and a nice curve into the enlarged elbow. I thought this is what I had. It looked pretty good.

Well, not so much…

Full, yes. But, way too long. (do ignore the corset-less state.) So, I took off the bottom sleeve. Cut 2 inches off. Re-gathered. Re-attached. Oh, I also rotated the sleeve, moving the gathered fullness towards the back and added some trim.

Two inches should have worked. Right? …… Wrong. It was still too long:

Oddly, it actually looks longer. Doesn’t it?

To make matters worse…. there was this screaming blue horizontal stripe that was driving me crazy. (again, please ignore the corset-less, dress over the clothes state.)

So, what do I do? What any over-tired, over-hungry, cranky person would do…. I got out the scissors and hacked off the lower part of the sleeves. One big crescent shape. Yeap. And the moment I did, I knew I did bad.

I lack photos of the hacking and the hacked state. I decided it was time to put the dress down and go eat something.

After a few moments away, the sleeves told me they were going to be an open sleeve after all; they were even going to make use of the odd, dipping V in the opening created from the hacking. As such, I finished off the edges and trimmed away… down the outside of the sleeve and around the new opening. I added a second vertical piece trying to play with the curve and down play that blue line. In the end, I am okay with how it came out.

At one point, I thought I would use this sleeve for the show, then make a new one more like the sleeve on Lily’s dress, just longer (these are ‘matching’ adult vs teen dress comparisons). But, after wearing it on Sunday, finding it comfortable, I may just leave it as is. We’ll see what the other photos say.

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on May 11, 2014 at 8:00 pm Comments (1)

What I’m Up To

I have had a couple of inquiries of late as to what I am up to. I suppose I ought to share. Well, share what I can as some of these projects are secrets for now.

In the sewing realm, it is bonnets, bonnets, bonnets. I have had one particular special request I was excited to receive. This follows a few requests I was quite honored to make. In the next few months, you will see a few 1860s and 1850s bonnets from the French plait that I just love becoming available. For personal sewing, I really, and I do mean I really, need to get going on the new corsets and the matching fabric dresses. Those need to be ready for wear soon. (It is a good thing “spring break” is a week away. But, just how much can I really fit into one week while still taking care of a husband?)

In the research, writing, educating realm, I have a trio of secret projects. I am waiting for a “thumbs-up” on two of them. The other is in the information acquisition and planning stage, with the in-depth writing taking place this summer.

I have fallen way behind on the Commemorative and Memorial project. I feel quite bad about that. I have such a vision for it. Hopefully, I’ll get back to the details and the making of the objects soon. As these will each hopefully be relaxing projects, the spring and summer might be best suited for them.

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on April 4, 2014 at 3:48 pm Leave a Comment

Welcome 2014!

Happy New Year!!!!

This is the time of year a great many people make New Year’s Resolutions and those of us with historic sewing obsessions put in writing the projects we hope to accomplish in the coming year. While I don’t have the standard list of garments, I have some projects and a small wish list.

In hopes of starting off on the right foot, I have pre-arranged a new Tuesday Millinery Fashion series. I actually have posts for the whole year prepared already. This Tuesday there will be a brief introduction to the series. Then, each week I’ll share some millinery fashion information from 1864.

I have previously mentioned the Commemorative & Memorial project This year I want to see the research turn into a strong collaborative presentation display filled with recreated examples of what the wives, mothers, daughters and friends created in memory of those who fought in the Civil War.

In the land of millinery, I plan to get ahead on straw millinery this winter so there will be plenty available when people are looking come spring. I will be making a few fashionable 1864 forms for those who want to be on point fashionably this year as well as favorite late 50s and early 60s shapes. I also have some post-war hat shapes I will do because they are just fun. There will be more doll millinery available as well in both straw, buckram and soft styles.

Fanciful Utility fans have a new round of FanU Fabric Swaps to look forward to. Those will be announced soon. I would like to do at least one social or educational gathering this year such as a book signing or workshop. I still need to work on that.

With Lily’s increasing interest in interpreting history, this year must result in a whole new wardrobe from the skin out. For my sanity, I hope this will include some weekend sewing sessions where she will be learning the skills to make her own clothes as well. This to-do list includes:

2+ drawers

2+ chemises

2-3 petticoats

Corset

remaking her cage

Altering her current dress for summer cooking

New plaid dress *see below

New tbd dress

Coat

A fun project for both Lily and I is a set of matching dresses. Well, sort of matching. We have a blue and red plaid semi-sheer. The plan is do up the dresses to show how dresses of the same fabric can be made differently including age differences.

At the top of my short need and want list this year is a new cage. The cages I use are now well over 10 and 15 years old. It is really time for a new one. I also have a particular necklace I want to recreate. I would just buy the original, but it is too small. Beyond that, this will be a year of creating what I am in the mood for. I do have a stack of fabrics that are waiting to become the assigned garments including several dress lengths, my travel ensemble and a bolt of off cream wool/silk that could become coats for all three of us. I also have a length of carpet that is waiting to become carpet bags.

I have absolutely no idea what Dan needs for this year.

I have a few non-sewing projects I want to work on. First is the chair I started working on over the summer. This will come back out when the weather turns warm again. Working on the porch just doesn’t work in the cold and snow. I want to try some wood carving for a couple small items.

I am still in search of the right replacement trunk and a commode.

Oh, I almost forgot. We need to at the very least get a large fly that can be set up in multiple ways including a sleeping area. The A frame tent I have just isn’t large enough for two or three of us. (It also needs repairs.)

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Working on - Projects

on January 1, 2014 at 1:01 am Leave a Comment

Mini-Millinery Success!

This stems from yesterday’s post. Doll size straw plait bonnet take #2 fits Jo’s head and hair just right. I look forward to decorating her bonnet. I’ll be making Mae’s next. Working with her wide hair while getting a 50 shape will be an interesting challenge.

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on November 18, 2013 at 9:32 pm Comments (4)
Tags: Anna's Millinery

Button Keeps

I may be enjoying making these button keeps, or balloon bags, a little too much. Nah…

Here are a few I’ve been making. These two got the last of the pretty ivory soutach a goodie angel sent me. The one on the bottom right is made with three different color pieces. I keep changing my mind on whether I like this or not. I think I would like it more if it had three more lively fabrics.

I need to dig through my stash to see what other ribbons and cords I have that might work for these. Those that will be ornaments, may also visit Joann’s with me to see what decorative cording they have.

Here is the funny thing, after I cut a stack of cardstock for the “guts”, I proceeded to cut oodles and oodles of solid pieces. Then I remembered, duh!, I have a bunch of small pieces of prints that would look fabulous as keeps.

I cut a few pieces for these this weekend, and proceeded to sew. Lacking a tree to display them on, I strung them in a row. (Now, I’m picturing smaller ones all strung together as garland. How pretty. How time consuming.) They like to spin. So, trying to grab a clear photo was a challenge. These will also need ribbons.

I have more pieces cut and waiting to be assembled. I need some truly Christmasy fabrics to play with. The solid shot greens are the closest I have. I would love some red and green plaids, some candy-cane strips, some blue and silver stars…..

The next bit of fun will be filling these with little gifts.

An update on November 7th…. Decorations!

Okay, this one needs ribbon.

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on November 4, 2013 at 6:00 am Comments (1)

Geneseo Antique Show (pt3)

This segment turns out to be about some containers I saw.

There were several spice containers in beautiful condition. The patina on this one just glowed.

This tin spice box has a space for the nutmeg grater in the lid. I should have taken a photo of the nice painting on the front.

We’ve been picking up painted tin boxes (toleware) lately. So, of course this little box caught my eye. It was so small, not even 5″.

There were only a few band or pasteboard boxes. This pair was incredible. They were also huge. From memory, I would say they were each at least 15″ wide and 12″ tall. How can these not spur one to want to paint their own?

This box was much smaller, possibly 8″ across. The photo of the side didn’t come out. There are figures all around the sides.

This last image I took because I want to look this up. Too curious.

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Working on - Events/Activities

on October 30, 2013 at 6:00 am Comments (2)

Geneseo Antique Show (pt1)

The past couple weeks have been rather millinery light. My mind has wandered to Christmas ornaments and Christmas gifts. (You’ll get to see some posts on that soon.) Also, with the weather turning cold, I’ve been nesting, which means organizing. (How my poor husband hates my organizing because that also means cleaning and sorting.) In addition to this transition of focus, I’ve had this ridiculous coughing cold that makes focusing difficult at best. With nearly 4 solid weeks of feeling miserable, this weekend I had a little bit more energy to actually do things. Granted, the plans for the weekend didn’t really go as planned, starting with sleeping through the performance of Little Women at school.

After that extended nap and a decent night’s sleep, we went to the Geneseo Antique Show Saturday morning. This year, there was an abundance of crocks and wooden bowls. I took oodles of photos for mom and to share. (I’m going to split these up into a couple posts.)

This is a crock I hadn’t seen in person before. It is a cake crock. At first glance, my thoughts were “no? really?”. Then I remembered the price listings in the book I gave mom for Christmas last year. Those had cake crocks. This was very neat. I would say this is between 10″ and 12″ across.

I wish this photo hadn’t come out blurry. It was a difficult angle to shot with so many people around. It has a CW era date on it, which we can not see. 😦 When I saw this, I thought it would be good for the Commemorative & Memorial Project. (If anyone is particularly good at pen and ink, this is a good option. Maybe Lily?)

This next piece just fascinated me. It is a complete, or nearly complete salesman’s sample case. Or, atleast that is how the dealer explains it. I loved it both for what it was and the ideas for other displays that popped into my head. Each piece is numbered. I would have loved to read what each numbered item was in the words of the salesman. Number 1 is in the upper right corner, with numbers one through five being marked on a piece of wood or spool and a fiber. The numbers then proceed top to bottom, right to left. Okay, technically, I took the photo from the side. So, if shown from the front the numbers would proceed left to right, top to bottom.

The ideas this case sparks makes me want to find a similarly sized case. I am envisioning a millinery materials display with neatly rolled/coiled and numbered pieces inside. This could include structural materials and decorative materials. Hmmm, maybe two cases; one for structural and one for decorative. I would want to show the different types of ribbons as well as the silk. Those could take up a lot of space. It would bee so convenient to have such display cases together for talking with guests.

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Working on - Events/Activities

on October 28, 2013 at 4:20 pm Leave a Comment

Did You Know?

Did you know the techniques in Fanciful Utility: Victorian Sewing Cases and Needle-books can also be used for a variety of other 19th century projects?

They can!

The stitches and assemble techniques can be used for making many of the items found in Godey’s Lady’s Book, Peterson’s Magazine, Workwomen’s Guide, and A Girl’s Own Book just to name a few.

This leather, cotton and silk market wallet was made using the pasteboard and binding techniques outlined in the book.

You can make travel cases such as this one using the skill you learn from FanU.

I enjoy making both 19th and 21st century Christmas decorations. You can make some of those seen here. Also, the templates for the shaped in FanU can also make great ornaments.

I used the same techniques when I made the soles for these quilted silk slippers.

Other items found in period publication you can make using the same skills and techniques can include:

Watch pockets
Pen wipes
Children’s toys
Small books
Work baskets
Pasteboard doll furniture
Card cases
and so many more……

If you don’t already have your copy of Fanciful Utility: Victorian Sewing Cases and Needle-books, purchase your copy directly from ESC Publishing.

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on October 18, 2013 at 6:15 am Leave a Comment

This Year’s Fair Favorites

This year’s Agricultural Society Fair had several entries that fall into my “Favorites” category.

The tiniest entry was actually smaller than the display tag that went with it. Look at this little doll. She is adorable! I was hoping to meet the person who made this doll, but I missed her. I’m pretty sure she is made entirely leather, with a painted face. I’ve been thinking about making a nice little doll for Mea. This would be perfect.

This is my tasty favorite of the event.

Of course, I always enjoy the hooked rugs. This one is so very pleasing to look at.

This piece of tineware is just nice. I would love to be able to request one for Dan.

I can’t help but wonder what this piece of crewel work is going to be. It is so pretty and well balanced.

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on October 8, 2013 at 4:29 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: GCV

How Lily & I did

I’ll start with how Lily did at the Ag Fair. Because… let’s be honest, this pig is just too cute:

This pig, one of three photographs she entered in the adult categories, won a blue ribbon. She also entered a really nifty fungus photo and a black and white architecture photo. For some reason, I just couldn’t get a clear shot of this photo. My apologies for this shot:

Lily also received a blue ribbon for her candied flowers. I can tell you they were tasty.

On to me. I can say this was my worst Ag Fair. I knew leading up to the fair that I didn’t have the entries I wanted to enter finished. Okay, in some cases even started. I also knew I was going to try some categories I hadn’t entered before. Then, the week before came this stupid cough that turned into a nasty cough accompanied by muscle exhaustion and a fever by the time of the fair. So, here I am at the fair on Sunday as the humidity crept up and the temperature crept up, utterly over heating. This makes for a cranky me.

As far as those new entries go… I tried pickles. They turned out to be strong enough to knock one on their bottom with just one bite. So, these did not get entered. This was much to my husband’s delight, as he started taking them for lunch as soon as I said they weren’t going. (I suppose I could have taken a photo of the half eaten crock.)

I also tried my hand at shrub. To me, a shrub needs to do its job of keeping someone hydrated and have a strong fruit flavor. I don’t like super sweet drinks in the summer heat. The sweetness just turns my off. So, my shrub is a cherry & peach done with red wine vinegar and honey. A tablespoon to a glass of water works nicely for me. It did not win a ribbon though. I was able to taste the blue ribbon shrub. It was light and sweet, almost like candy. I think it would make a nice winter, holiday time drink with more of a 1:1 ratio of syrup to water. She used the recipe on the museum’s blog. (btw – Mom called Sunday night saying I forgot my shrub in her canned goods box and hoped I didn’t mind that they were drinking most of it.)

The other category new to me was one of the non-clothing quilting projects. This piece is part of the memorial & commemorative project I’ll be coordinating over the next year or so. This memorial applique is taken from the center of a memorial quilt. Now that the fair is over, I’ll be adding the initials of family members in the open space. (I hadn’t thought about it until I was there on Sunday; but it is interesting that the first quilt project I enter is a memorial one while Grandma had been a quilter there.)

I entered a drawn bonnet in the “non-corded clothing” category. This is the “Peppermint” bonnet I was working on at the end of the summer. I guess the advantage of it winning a red ribbon instead of a blue is now I won’t feel bad about selling it. (btw – It is available on Etsy right now.)

I entered Dan’s wallet in the sewing “Domestic article” category. You should see the very awesome tiny piece that won in this category. (It will be in my favorites post.)