Trip to Gettysburg, Pa

Hello all! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I finally got around to downloading some of my pictures from my trip to Gettysburg last month. This was my third trip to that fantastic little town but I think it's a site I will never get tired of visiting. There is always a new place to visit and something new to discover. I may have mentioned before but I do a lot of volunteer work at my local historical society. I'm also one of the intern coordinators for our student intern program. The interns help with research, cataloging, and when funds allow, we go on field trips to other museums and historic sites. Three of our seven student interns will be graduating from high school this spring so we wanted to our last big trip to be something special. Washington D.C. was just a bit too far and too expensive so we chose Gettysburg instead! Only four students were able to make the trip but we had a great time. 

This is the monument near the railroad cut (just to the right in the picture) where fighting on the first day of battle took place. I forget now which regiment that monument is dedicated to.

The interns and myself sitting inside the stump of one of the witness trees near Reynold's Woods where John Reynolds was killed on July 1, 1863. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Monument to the Vermont Sharpshooters.

Below is one of my favorite monuments, and not just because its for Vermont. It depicts Brig. Gen. William Wells and marks the area of the South Cavalry Field where the 1st Vermont attacked the Confederate right on July 3, 1863.













The bronze relief on the 1st Vt. Cav. monument has been stolen couple times. There is so much detail and movement in this relief.

It was so cold and windy on Little Round Top that we only stayed a short time. I didn't take many pictures there. We didn't make it to Devil's Den either but that's ok as I've been there before.

This next picture may not seem very exciting but it's a location that has special meaning to me. This is the area where the 16th Vermont engaged Perry's Brigade during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863. My great, great, great uncle fought with Co. H. of the 16th Vermont. He was one of the lucky. He survived the war and returned home. We have pictures of him later in life taking part in soldier's reunions and memorial day services in our home town. He was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) the veterans organization for Union veterans. We also have his GAR cane. He received an honorable discharge and to my knowledge was never wounded in battle.

Do any of you believe in ghosts? Ok, most likely those orbs are from the sun but hey, you never know. :)

Day two of our trip was to Antietam Battlefield. It should have only been a 45 minute drive from Gettysburg but after we missed our exit it turned out to be closer to an hour and 45 minutes! Ooops! We ended up traveling a winding, and very scenic, back road. Turns out this was the route the Confederates took on their forced march from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg. Along the way we saw the remains of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Antietam iron furnace.

We needed to get out and stretch our legs so we walked the loop around the cornfield were some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War took place. The area to the left in the picture is part of the East Woods. All those little white things you see are new trees protected by plastic tubes. I was very impressed at by the amount of work and dedication being done at both Gettysburg and Antietam to restore the battlefields to what they wold have looked like in the 1860s.

Even on a bright sunny spring day the Sunken Road, or Bloody Lane, was a bit eery.

Does this photo look familiar? It looks peaceful now but this is what it looked like shortly after the battle.

We ended our tour of Antietam with a visit to Burnside's Bridge.

 

I made a side trip to the Needle and Thread while I was in Gettysburg. I splurged purchased one of their crinoline cage kits. I've wanted one for a while now and have heard nothing but good things about them. I also couldn't resist leaving the store without some mustard yellow wool for a new 18th century gown. :)

Blog Awards and Give Away Thank Yous!

I'm feeling a bit behind on my blogging! I finally finished my projects for the Sew for Victory challenge, which ended on Sunday. I had put those projects on hold for a bit so I could work on the gown for my trip to Gettysburg. Now sure how exactly, but I managed to get it finished. Minus the buttons and trim of course. I used straight pins to close the bodice. Let's just say it was a good thing I had an 8 hour car ride to work on it! So, yeah that's two blog post. Well three actually because I'd like to post about the trip itself. I'm dreadfully slow at uploading pictures from my camera which is the main reason most posts get delayed. Sigh....

Anyway, today I have some overdue thanks. The Choll at Thread-Headed Snippet and Cait at Curse Words and Crinolines have both nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. That you ladies!


To accept the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, one must:
- Display the award and link back to the person who nominated you.
- State 7 facts about yourself.
- Nominate 15 bloggers for the award.
- Notify the winners.

1. I'm getting married next year! I've started looking for a dress (just online for right now, going to try and visit some shops soon) but so far nothing strikes my fancy. I'm beginning the dress debate - to make or not to make?
2. I'm starting a collection of vintage and antique tea cups and saucers to use as wedding favors. :)
3. I'm working on creating my very own shop on Etsy! More on that later. :)
4. The last time I had really short hair I was 6.
5. My least favorite color growing up was pink.
6. I'm a descendant of a Union soldier from the Civil War. I could technically claim to be a DAR (Daughter of the American Revolution) as well but I've never bothered to go through the hassle of applying for DAR membership.
7. The last time Cori and I were in Virginia we visited the Maritime Museum. The docent gave us an awesome tour of the Monitor exhibit, pointing out a number of cool things and telling us a few stories regular visitors don't usually get to hear. The ironic part of it all? She is a direct descendant of the captain of the CSS Virginia and I'm a (not quiet direct) descendant of Admiral Stringham, Commander of the Union blockade at Hampton Roads. A few good natured jokes were exchanged. :)

And now the 15 blogs, in no particular order, that I would like to nominate for the "Very Inspiring Blogger Award."
1. Tickety Boo Tupney
2. The Costumers Closet
3. Jessica of Chronically Vintage
4. Mary Nease of Young Broke and Fabulous
5. Marianne of Esme and the laneway
6. Sew 18th Century
7. Sarah Jane of Romantic History
8. Sarah at Rhinestones and Telephones
9. My Vintage Vogue
10. Anna Depew at A Few Threads Loose
11. Shona at In the Hey Day
12. Charlotte at Tuppence Ha'penny
13. Solanah at Vixen Vintage
14. Hallie at At the Sign of the Golden Scissors
15. Ginger at Scene in the Past

I would like to thank Ashely and Rebbecca from The Fashionable Frolick for awarding me the "One Lovely Blog Award."

The criteria for accepting the "One Lovely Blog Award" is:
     - thank the person who nominated you;
     - add the "One Lovely Blog Award" image to your post;
     - share seven things about yourself;
     - pass the award on to seven nominees;
     - include this set of rules; and
     - inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs.

And now the 7 blogs, again in no particular order, that I would like to nominate for the "One Lovely Blog Award."
1. 1940s Style for You
2. Jessica at Chronically Vintage
3. Porcelina at Pocelina's World
4. A Girl in Winter
5. Cait at Curse Words and Crinolines
6. Nessa at Nessa's Place
7. L. R. Stern at Plaid Petticoats

Last but not least. Much belated thanks to the following people for their Sew Grateful Giveaways.
Porcelina at Pocelina's World for the eyebrow palette and red nail polish. Chris at Cuada Design for her PDF clutch pattern. And finally, Laura at Chiral Craft for the sewing booklets. I never win giveaways so you can imagine how excited I was to win three!

Sew for Victory - Polka Dot Blouse and Slacks

Hello all. I've finally finished my projects for the Sew For Victory sew along. My inspiration for this project came from a photo I found on My Vintage Vogue. If you love vintage fashions you need to visit this site!

Source - My Vintage Vogue

Finished blouse using mail order pattern #2588

The pattern I used was a 1940s mail order pattern for a blouse and jumper combo. I didn't make the jumper. That will probably be a project in the future.

Finished blouse using mail order pattern #2588

I used some blue and white cotton from the stash to make the blouse. And a suit wight gray wool for the slacks. The blouse went together easily and quickly. However, I discovered that I didn't have enough fabric to make the blouse the correct length so it doesn't tuck into the top of the slacks very well. At some point I will need to piece together my remaining fabric, which isn't very much, and see if I can make the blouse just a bit longer.

I used button from the stash

The slacks were a little more difficult to put together but not too bad. I used Simplicity 3322. With the exceptions of beach pajamas and lounge wear, women in the 1940s didn't really wear pants. It wasn't until WWII that more women started wearing them, and then it was mainly for work in the factories and shipyards. Women's pants in the early 1940s were modeled after men's. The waistband was at the natural waist which seems very high compared to today's fashion. They legs were cut wide with large cuffs. The cuffs disappeared when fabric rationing began.

I don't have any construction pictures of the slacks, sorry about that. The only real difficult I had with this pattern was inserting the side zipper. Not because of the directions or anything, I'm just terrible at putting in zippers. I like them less then sewing button holes. :( I also found I needed to make the slacks slightly smaller in the waist and hip area then then my listed size. To do this I adjusted the width of my side seams and made slightly larger darts at the waist.

The Facts
Blouse-
Fabric: Dark blue cotton with white polka dots from stash
Pattern: Vintage mail order pattern
Year: late 1930s or early 1940s
Notions: Buttons from stash
Wear again: yes
Time to complete: couple hours
Total cost: $2.99 for the pattern, everything came from my sewing stash

Slacks-
Fabric: Gray suit weight wool, about $2.50 a yard
Pattern: Simplicity 3322 Reproduction pattern from Vintage Fashion Library, $19.50 (Also available from Eva Dress)
Year: early 1940s
Notions: Zipper, from stash
Wear again: maybe
Time to complete: not sure, I didn't really keep track
Total cost: $25.75 A little more than I would like to have spent but now I have a good pattern I can use again.

Crunch time and some resources

Hello all,
It's crunch time for this little seamstress. I have to admit, I don't know if this dress is going to get finished in time. I have a sneaky suspicion I'll be doing some sewing in the car. Still need to cut out my sleeves, cuffs, and collar. Also need to hem the skirt. I finally found my corset, which by the way was in the last place I looked go figure, so I was able to finish fitting the bodice last night.

I thought today I would share a couple resources for those of you interested in women's fashions of the 1860s. In particular American women during the Civil War, 1861 to 1865. I have an album on Pinterest with lots of photos and links to original garments.

First up, Who Wore What?: Women's Wear, 1861-1865 by Juanita Leisch. Since its publication in 1995, the book has become very popular with re-enactors and is a great resource who those just started out in the hobby or for those who want to gain a general knowledge of the time period. It also includes descriptions of accessories and construction tips for those interested in making there own clothing. No patterns, just wonderful photos.

 Juanita Leisch's book is the result of her study of 1860s fashions depicted in cartes de visite, or CDVs. Her book is organized into sections by clothing types - coats, day dresses, ball gowns, underpinnings, etc., and emphasizes the difference in fashion between young women, middle-aged women, and older women. The photographs, there are over 300 of them, show what real women actually wore to the photographer - not the fantasy dresses of Godey's Lady's Book. What I like is that the author tries to dispel some of the miss truths about women's clothing and shows what styles were most common for women in different age groups. There are exceptions to every rule, but as a re-eanctor myself, I like to represent someone from the main stream population. :)

Who Wore What? is available on Amazon but I was rather surprised at the price. Over $50 for a used copy and over $100 for a new one! Ouch! I received my copy as a graduation present about 10 years ago, pretty sure it was under $50 then. I'm not sure I would pay that much for it now. Inter-library loan would be a good option for this book. Don't pay too much attention to the not so nice reviews of this book - some people claim the book is too general, others say the author say no idea what she's talking about. I really can't say anything negative about this book, aside from the current sale price of course. Do keep in mind though, that this book is meant as a general overview of women's fashion and is not an in depth study. It's a good starting point but if you really want to get in depth combine it with other resources. Such as ...

The Way They Were Dressed in 1860-1865 by Donna Abraham. Available on Amazon and at Abraham's Lady. Don't let its small size fool you. This is an outstanding collection of CDVs, nearly 600 of them and all American. Like Who Wore What? its broken into sections. Unlike the previous book, it includes fashions of infants, young boys and girls, and men. It's nice to see the guys getting some attention. All too often the men are left out of clothing books and that's a shame. There are also some interesting group photos in this book.

Last but not least ...
The Way They Were Dressed in 1860-1865 Volume 2 by Donna Abraham. This is a new release. If it's as good as volume one then I will be adding a copy to my library. I plan on stopping at Abraham's Lady this weekend to take a look!

That's all for now. I'm leaving for Gettysburg tomorrow so I wont be posting anything for a few days. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Where do these crazy ideas come from?

As I mentioned in Friday's post, I'm planning a trip to Gettysburg, PA later this week. (Thank you to Cassidy at A Most Beguiling Accomplishment for sharing her 1864 hair images  Also, to Isabella of All The Pretty Dresses who has some lovely 1860s gowns posted on her site.) Over the weekend I got this crazy notion that not only did I need a new 1860s dress to wear, I could some how finish one before I left. Ha! Where do these crazy ideas come from? I don't really know but I started working on a new dress all the same.

First off, I'm being good and using fabric from the stash. The fabric is a light weight plaid cotton that I bought several years ago for the purpose of make a Civil War era gown. I don't have any pictures to share just yet, will take some tonight. The plaid is a nice combo of a brownish orange, blue, green, and white. Plaids were very popular in the 1860s and at $2.50 a yard it was hard to say no.

The inspiration for my new dress. Source- Possibly Ebay, I can't remember

So far I have the bodice fabric and lining cut and sewn together, minus the sleeves which I still need to cut. I cut three panels of my 45" wide fabric for the skirt. I stitched them together last night and started gauging them. Gauging is a form of controlled pleating which is commonly found in mid 19th century gowns, particularly washable everyday cottons. A gauged skirt is whip stitched to a waistband making it less bulky then a pleated skirt. Need to dig out my hoop and corset tonight so I can make sure everything fits. It's been quiet awhile since my last Civil War gown but I'm using an almost fail prove pattern drafted from one of my originals.

 Update 3/19/2013 - Just found this image which is a pretty good match for my plaid fabric. :)

Source

On another sewing note ... I finished my blouse for the Sew for Victory sew along using a 1940s mail order pattern. I used a dark blue cotton with white polka dots. Pictures soon!