Underpinnings for a Lady

     This week I have finished my pretty petticoat! I decided to cheat a little and go with a drawstring instead of a waistband. (It saved so much time!) This was not, by the way, uncommon of any undergarments.  Undergarments had drawstrings on them most of the time, I'm sure especially for growing children, and the outer layers would have a waist band to create a more fitted look.  This will also help since I am ordering a new corset (to which I am beyond thrilled about!) and I'm not quite sure how fitted I need things to be.

~The finished product~

     I am ordering a corset from Originals by Kay. She has wonderful products on her website that I would love to have for myself, however, having almost everything done I just need a corset.... for the time being.

     My list of things to do has shortened just a tad:

1. Ball Gown (I picked out my fabric this last week!)

2. Chemise

3. Pantaloons 

4. Dance Slippers

5. A mourning veil

6. A new sheer shirt (made from the leftovers of my Merida sleeves).

7. Corset Cover

8. A belt/waist cincher (I haven't completely decided on this yet but thought it would be better then my current sashes which do not stay in place)

9. Mitts

10. Corset

     Sometimes I feel like this list keeps growing instead of checking things off! Hopefully I'll have more done after this week. (All my friends are graduating on top of all my running around this week).

   That's all for now!

Yours Truly,

Shayla P.

Boots, Petticoat, Bonnet and Mitts

I must say, I can not believe the 1861 Girls School is right around the corner! I have been working full time which makes it harder to gather all of my things, especially the projects I am sewing! Slowly but surely, I have managed to get most of my belongings ready to go. (I'll have to do a 1860's closet review soon!) I have also found a new friend in Goodwill! No more paying for yards of plain cotton, I am buying sheets from now on!
    This leads me to share with you one of my many projects, a new petticoat! I found two drapes that had beautiful lace detail at the bottom, which I am turning into a lovely petticoat.  This will be much simpler than a skirt but same process. Sew the sides together, cartridge pleat the top, sew the waist band. I don't have to hem since the lace is sewn to the bottom! Huzzah for less sewing!

     This week I've been planing a trip to Blockade Runner, which is a civil war shop full of camp things, ladies garments, gentleman's clothing, hats, shoes, books, basically everything one would need to get involved in reenacting.  It's a dream come true. I went over there in search of ladies shoes and a new hat. (Let me mention something about period correct ladies shoes, they are extremely hard to come by and if you do manage to find them, be prepared to crack open the piggy bank and loose a limb.)  Luckily, I managed to search around online to find that Blockade runner had the perfect shoes starting out at, get this, $89!!! Naturally, I wanted to make sure I had a good fit so I decided to go and try them on. Here is my beautiful period correct shoes:

I must say, they are very slick on the bottom of the boot though.
     I also found a very pretty grey felt bonnet and I may get their longhorn hat in cream later if I have some extra funds.

I must say that the people who work there make good quality products and are very friendly! The last thing I have been working on are my hand crochet mitts.  I have never crocheted gloves of any kind before which makes this very interesting, especially with no pattern!  I am currently working on the second hand but here is a look at the first one I've made:

With all of that said, I am slightly closer to having everything ready... Ok, maybe not, but I am getting there. The last of the list consists of a ball gown, a corset, a pair of black gloves, a chemise and drawers, tortoise shell hair combs, a mourning veil, dance shoes, and corset cover. Oh and I'm still debating about one more dress, a sheer plaid cotton dress. So very tempting...
Yours Truly,
Shayla P.

Merida Inspired 1860's Dress

I am beyond thrilled to share with you my finished product of my Merida inspired 1860's dress. I went through a phase of procrastination but when I finally realized how soon I would need all of my finished garments, I surprised myself by getting it finished quicker than I thought. (It's amazing what a little motivation will do!)
     Let me start off by showing some of the patterns I used.  I used two patterns for the shirt and did the skirt by basic knowledge( Basically I cut three panels of the material and sewed them together, gathered it, put it on a waistband, and hemmed it).  I used Simplicity 8735 a Renaissance pattern that had the gauntlets,

                     

Simplicity Renaissance 8735

  and Period Impressions basic shirt pattern.

    I used the one on the right minus the trimmings.  I had the hardest time setting the sleeves with the choice of material I used though. I do believe it was a chiffon of sorts, but it is sooooo soft I had to buy it! I chose to use a different material for the sleeves since I used gauntlets to go over over a lighter material(which is perfect for Tennessee summer heat).

   Alrighty, enough of my ramblings, here is the dress in all her glory:

                                              

My Grandma's old buttons

I had a blast making this and I can't wait to wear it for the Girls School this summer! Now I just need to make my ball gown, corset cover, dance slippers, new under garments, get a new corset, bonnet, and set of boots... No biggie. 

Yours truly,

Shayla P.

Ball Gowns, Broadway and, Beauties, oh my!

I know It's been awhile since I've posted but I thought I would post a few things that been going on lately.
So for starters, my procrastination has been undoubtedly strong in my Merida inspired dress but I've finally got the skirt in the home stretch.  Just the waistband and hem and I'll be done....and then on to the shirt. (I'm still trying to figure out how that's going to go together.)
Second, I took my sister to our first showing of Wicked! Oh my that was simply amazing.  Reminds me how much I miss theater but also how much I love sewing.
Thirdly, I've introduced my sister to civil war reenacting this passed year and we've been obsessing over ball gowns ever since.  We have come up with multiple ideas but the one she loves best is a Cinderella type skirt and lots of purple (her favorite color of course). In honor of ball gowns I thought I would post a picture and small description of my first ball gown for last years Christmas Ball in Columbia, Tennessee.

Sugar Plums and Gold

     My first ball gown is made of rose and gold silk. Black lace is trimmed around the scallops and jacket which is detachable from the bodice. I had such fun making this dress! I used previous patterns that I owned so I saved some money on that and I already had the lace. The material is what really cost me, I think it was around $60 or so.  

This was my inspiration for the dress.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

(Pictures of the Merida skirt will be up within the week!)

Yours Truly,

Shayla P.

1861 Girls School 

Good Morning!
I hope you are all having a lovely day! We had a big storm hit Tennessee last night but it's been made up for in a bright sunny morning!
     I realized I have yet to talk about the reason why I've become so involved in historical sewing and how I got involved in reenacting.  Well it started out when I was eight.  My family and I moved out to Tennessee from Oregon. (yes, I am by blood a northerner but by the grace of God I'm more than half southern ;)) I didn't know much about the civil war since my history mostly consisted of the gold rush and world history at the time.  I remember I went to a few plantations with a school group when I was eleven and immediately fell in love.
     A year or so went by and we took another field trip out to the Rippavilla plantation near Columbia.  My what a beautiful house! After our tour, the guide and I started talking all about civil war history and my interest in reenacting.  He mentioned a week long girls school nearby in Columbia where girls from all over the world would stay with host families. During the week they would dress up each day in dresses of perfect bell-ness and participate in classes throughout the week with a grand ball on that Friday.  He had me at week long dress up.  I went online and sure enough there was a girls "school" which was held one week each year in July.  I wanted so badly to go, however my parents told me it would be to short of a notice to participate in that summer.  Then began my year long process of preparing to go the next summer.
     I gathered all of my belongings with not much as to what to expect for the week.  My was I in for a treat! The days consisted of waking up and putting on a hoop and dress, heading to breakfast, a class or two then off to the church for morning prayers.  The day would go on with classes such as needlework, social graces, equestrian lessons(side saddle), tea etiquette, period hair and clothing, music and singing, and to top it off a group of gentlemen called the Jackson cadets would escort us to dance practice in the evening! On Thursday we had a tea where parents, friends, and siblings where invited to show off what we had been learning.  At the end of the week we had a test to see how much we recalled then we were sent off to prepare for graduation and the ball!
     Some twenty odd girls lined up to cross the road in row of beautiful white ball gowns with a gentlemen in tails at our sides! It was something I could have only dreamed about!  Even though I have only been involved with the girls school for three years now, it seems like it has been forever.  The teachers there are like second families and the girls I've met are more like sisters.  I am happy to say I will be attending this year's class of 1861 X.  The original teachers have moved to a beautiful 300 acre "campus" just outside of Columbia, Tennessee.  The girls will be staying on the campus instead of staying with host families which will make it feel more authentic.
     This is the link to the new "campus":1861girlsschool.com
     All of the information regarding this years 1861 X class and future classes is on the site.  If you have anymore questions about my experience or what goes on I will be more then happy to share and answer questions! This is a once and a lifetime experience and I ask that you share this wonderful opportunity with any young ladies you know!

The 1861 Girls School Campus and Staff

The Class of 1861 W

Yours Truly,
Shayla P.

Little Trinkets

     I've been hunting the web for a few weeks to add to my small but growing collection of civil war fashion.  This includes things like a decent bonnet, a sun hat for the summer, any jewelry that isn't to expensive, possibly a new corset, oh and shoes! One can never have to many pairs of shoes! (Maybe that's just a girl thing but I only have two pairs of shoes which include a pair of granny boots with a 1" heel that can be difficult to walk in at times, and a pair of well worn white ballet slippers which desperately need replacing!)
     As I continually went through the endless lists of websites and eBay products I finally found a perfect little trinket!

I found it on sale for under $14! I plan on putting a picture of someone in it soon, although I'm not sure who. Maybe my sister, mom, or grandmother. I found it from a wonderful eBay seller I've followed oldmillmercant.

Happy trinket shopping!

P. S. More pictures are coming soon of the Merida inspired dress! It's currently in progress!

1860's Merida Inspired Day Dress

I'm incredibly excited about my latest project.  Two of my favorite things: Disney and ball gowns! Recently I've been thinking of ways to incorporate the styles of the Disney princesses into dresses that I wear to reenactments.  The one that's really been stuck in my head is Merida from the movie Brave.

Not only is her red hair incredible but I love the meaning behind the movie too. I played around with a few sketches but I'll probably end up doing a walking/tea dress with a puff of sheer fabric, similar to what she wears near her elbows.

       So naturally, I decided to start with fabric since I believe that once you have the color the rest just falls into place. I went to my local fabric store with high hopes of finding a navy in either a sheer, silk, or light cotton. I was extremely disappointed! They had nothing! Needless to say, it was a very sad trip home.
      The next day I was running a few errands and decided to pop into my local interior fabric shop, known that they had the best prices(always under $8 a yard!) and it wouldn't be to far off from what the ladies of the victorian era would have used(minus a few blends of course).
After an hour of shopping and trying to figure out what the best option was, I chose this beautiful light and silky fabric:

Now in interior design there is apparently no need for stating what type of fabric it is as long as it looks good. In this case it was good enough for me. Now I know what you're thinking.
"Why, Shayla! That looks nothing like the picture or what you where going for!" And yes it is different from the picture, however, it is almost a sweet mixture of her ceremony dress.

Now I just need to start sewing! Yay for my days off!
Happy costuming!