1860s Maternity Dress

Hello Friends, Recently I decided to try to make a maternity-style dress, with the challenges of being able to accommodate different sizes and shapes that a body does during pregnancy. Since different people also carry differently (like high vs. low), the dress does end up being somewhat personalized (such as shoulder-to-waist length), but is much

1860s-Style Mourning Dress

Hi Friends, As some of you know, we recently experienced a loss in our family. This led me (of course!) to looking into historical customs of mourning, specifically for the American Civil War era (1861-65). Garment Data:– Type: Dress, specifically for mourning or half mourning, depending on the accessories– Date made: August 2016– Pattern: My

Blue Apron

Guess what?? I finally finished the apron I’ve been meaning to make for ages! Garment Data:– Type: 1860s-style apron– Date made: spring 2014– Pattern: Elizabeth Stewart Clark’s apron pattern– Fabric/Materials: blue plaid 100% cotton “homespun” from JoAnn’s – so, nothing fancy, and it has a “dishrag” soft texture– Trim: none– Time to finish: a few

Gettysburg: 150th anniversary, June 2013.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for bearing with me on the brief hiatus of posts…. Relaxing in camp on a hot day.      I’d mentioned in a few previous posts that exactly a year ago at the end of June of 2013 I went to Gettysburg. This was the first Civil War-era overnight camping event

Red Memorial Day Daydress

Dear Ladies and Gents,you may have noticed an item of wear recurring in mention multiple times: a basic red cotton daydress, which, when worn without hoops, can serve well enough as a camp or work dress. Garment Data:– Type: Civil War style daydress– Date made: Just before Memorial Day, 2013– Pattern: Simplicity 4551, plus alterations.

Ohio Regimental Military Ball – 2014

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, This weekend I enjoyed a most charming dance in Canton, Ohio! This was my second time attending, and once again had a fabulous time.The ball is held once a year in Canton, at the McKinley Grand hotel, usually some time right around Valentine’s Day.I went to the LINK: National First Ladies’

Winter Hats, Part III: Mathematical Shapes (Mobius and Klein bottle)

Part III of winter hats is here! And this time it’s math-based. Remember Part I? It featured a blue hat? Well, I had yarn left over, in prodigious amounts. So I decided to make something for myself. I had seen a Mobius scarf, which I had really liked the idea of. As you’ll see, mine

Winter Hats, part II — Jayne’s Hat

Ladies and Gents,As promised, part II of the Wooly-Hats Spectacular Spectacular!I’m trying the pictures in a larger size, let’s see how this looks!In this case, I made a Jayne-inspired hat, copying a hat that the character Jayne Cobb got from his mom on the TV sci-fi/western Firefly.The cool thing about his hat is that it