Gwendolyn

The Siege at Old Ft. Erie was, like last year, a very good event, and unlike last year everyone had a good time and I did not get sick!  Like all 1812 reenactments, the clothes were a wide range of good and very, very bad, with an astonishing lack of foundation garments on many ladies and a fair amount of 'frontier-ish' impressions.  I got to meet several new people with whom I would love to become better acquainted, including renna_darling.  It was her first time at Ft. Erie, and I hope to run into her at future events! 

Katie/rvqavalon, Mike/dandytailor, Tyler/superiorcap and myself camped with our group, the 1st Reg. of Volunteers.  The guys spent most of their time drilling and being in battles, but Katie and I mostly sat on blankets in the shade with other ladies and talked the day away.

Gazing over the landscape a la Lizzie Bennet:


I finished my new dress and chemisette in the car on the way there (naturally), and am really happy with how they turned out.  I love the chemisette to bits, and don't think I can ever go back to a plain fichu for this period.  It's roughly based on the 1800-1825 chemisette in Janet Arnold, but I have a double ruffle at the neck instead of the triple mushroom pleated frills of the original.

Also, we have decided that the fabric of my dress is actually a dark violet and not a brown.  It's a tricky, shifty color that sometimes look brown or purple or blue... I suppose it's up to the viewer to decide what to call it, but I think I'm settling on violet.  Speaking of the fabric, I was talking to one of the ladies I met this weekend, who said that she has an original dress from this period which is made out of a fabric almost exactly like that of my dress!  She said the print of the original was perhaps a little smaller than mine, but that it was an uncanny resemblance.  Considering I purchased this fabric quite a few years ago (before I knew much of anything), I was really pleased to hear that it's "right".

 

I was utterly exhausted come Saturday night, and knew that if I took my stays off I'd never put them back on the next morning.  Accordingly, I slept that night in my clothes... dress, chemisette, and all!  Woke up Sunday morning with my hair a fright, bright pink sunburn across my nose and arms, but otherwise not too rumpled.

Mike wasn't in bad shape for being at the tail end of an entire week of camping/reenacting (he and Tyler had had their own extended adventure), but I am clearly not as well put together as the day before:


The boys looked pretty spiffy in their new y-front suspenders.  I think they're trying to start a new trend with these.


The rest of my pictures are on flickr here.

I don't have pictures of my brown print regency dress... mostly because I'm avoiding setting in the sleeves.  The bodice is done, and one sleeve is pinned in, and now I'm perfecting the art of ignoring less-than-pleasant sewing tasks.

This is what I did instead.


And this:


The second sketch is me trying to work out steampunk wings for a painting I'm planning.  I know, I know.  Reenactment this weekend, I need a new dress, I should be sewing, yadda yadda.  But it's been OVER A YEAR since I picked up a brush, and right now all I can think about is painting and I have so many ideas simmering in my head at the moment.

Besides, this summer was nothing but hardcore sewing.  I'll get the dress done, but I need this change of pace for my creative sanity.

And speaking of sewing, I have a phone interview set up for the tailor position at Williamsburg!  Wish me luck!

Am home again from a long weekend at Greenfield Village and have spent the day in a sort of weary daze.

The event was great though!  reine_de_coudre (Samantha) had came out from California to spend a week and a half here in Michigan, and camped with dandytailor (Mike), rvqavalon (Katie), and myself.  I'm too tired to go into depth right now, but in spite of very hot, humid weather we had loads of fun.  Did a lot of sitting in the shade, but also got to see and meet a lot of people, did a bunch of touristy Greenfield Village things (including riding the carousel twice), took part in the fashion show, and danced nearly every dance at the ball.

Due to the awful cold I had a week before the event, I barely got the windowpane dress done in time, and was in fact stitching the trim onto the neck during the drive there.  I didn't manage to sew the trim to the sleeves as well, but the dress was wearable and, I thought, rather cute anyway.

New dress!





Wore the windowpane dress on Sat, and the Not-Cold-Mountain dress on Sun.  The new apron came in very handy as I actually did a fair amount of the cooking.  The weather on Monday turned a bit nasty... hot and rainy with scorching sun and pouring rain by turns, and the hem of my dress (cotton Not-Cold-Mountain) got quite wet and muddy.

I was quite excited to find this picture of myself on flickr that someone must have taken at some point on Sunday.  I rarely like how my face looks in photos, but I feel as though this is what I see when I look in the mirror...


( I'll let some of my favorite pics from the event speak for themselves... )( I'll let some of my favorite pics from the event speak for themselves... )

There are a whole lot more of pictures on my flickr page here.

And yes, both of my 1860s day dresses are made of fabrics with white backgrounds and blue patterns.  It's clear where my tastes lie, but I think I'm going to have to change things up a bit for the next dress... although the steel blue wool dress I'm planning still falls into the same color family....

Sometimes Grand Rapids surprises me by being super cool.

Last night was the annual Art.Downtown art hop, when all sorts of galleries and public spaces coordinate shows and openings.  

The best show was undoubtedly the one in the old GR Public Museum, and was entitled 'Michigan- The Land of Riches'.  The building itself was built in the 40s, but for the past fifteen or twenty years has only been used for storage.  Still, pieces of old exhibits and dioramas remain, and became the base for the current art show.  About 100 artists were involved with the project, and were given liscense to use any of the old displays or furniture or storage pieces in conjunction with their own work to creating installations.  The result was incredible... taxidermied animals everywhere and wonderful pieces relating to Michigan's past or simply nature and human beings in general.

My friend Nate did a great piece of performing art.  Nothing crazy (like the dancers who'd suddenly swoop in out of nowhere with odd, ritualistic choreography) just him, in a display case, sitting behind a desk in a ringmaster's jacket and hand-made yeti mask.  Occasionally he'd move slightly, but to have something living and breathing inside a case while surrounded by hundreds of displays of dead, stuffed animals was quite surreal.



I only took pictures of Nate, so here are a couple images from the exhibition guide which give a pretty good feel for the show overall.







As you can see... super cool.  ;)

The rest of the night was good too... rode around the city on the free trolley which they were running just for the event, discovered a new favorite place to eat downtown, walked all over and hung out on a porch with good friends.  Great company and conversation overall!

And, for pretty much the first time since my senior show a year ago, I want to paint again.  Lots of new ideas are simmering at the moment, but will have to wait until current obligations and projects are well in hand.

The sun is shining, a warm breeze is wafting through the open windows, and the banks and corners of the yard are filled with violets.

The air smells of life and possibility, and in spite of a rejection letter from Carnegie Mellon (not at all a surprise considering the interview) the world seems a wonderful place.

I wish it could always be spring... I am told that I would eventually grow tired of it and it would become ordinary and boring, but I do not believe that.  Springtime could last forever and never lose its charm and loveliness.

I do, however, need to settle down and finish at least one project in the next few days.  At the moment I have far too many things going, and flit from one to the other depending on my mood.  While this is fairly good for maintaining my interest in everything, it is not very good for getting things done.

Right now I am concurrently working on:

- Tyler's ever-lasting present (not quite half done... omg)
- an early-spoon Mildred Augusta bonnet (the frame is all put together and needs covering next)
- silk windowpane 1860's dress (the skirt is hemmed and the pleats are pinned... haven't started the bodice yet)
- crocheted sontag (pattern from 1866 Peterson's magazine)

Also, a couple days ago I made a mask for a demo we (Katie, Mike and myself) did at the Regency Exhibition Ball this past weekend.  Katie (rvqavalon) has a couple decent pictures of me wearing it at the ball, but I only just have this crappy web-cam shot.  Whatevs.


And a couple pictures from the ball for good measure... first one of sorchekyrkeby, myself, dandytailor, rvqavalon, and Julie (not on LJ).  Second picture is, well, either a classic or a running joke, take your pick!  ;)
 

And this weekend is scheduled as Underwear Weekend!  Katie and I both need decent/more 1860's undergarments, and as nothing is more tedious than making chemises and drawers, we are going to get together and make an event out of it.  Hopefully the glorious weather that is predicted for the weekend plus having each other to keep us on track will prove sufficient motivation. 

It's not a great secret that the library is one of my favorite places on the planet, and the only thing better than inter-library loan is a library book sale.

My mother and I got up early this morning to hit the local library book sale as soon as it opened.  As normal, there was long line of people queuing outside the door, and at 9:30 on the dot everyone poured into the one small-ish room filled with messily stacked tables of books.  It was a madhouse inside... people with armfuls and bagfuls of books shoving and pushing their way through the crowd and nudging along the sections they were interested in.

It felt like a battle where the person with the best finds in the least amount of time and who trampled the most toes in the process somehow won.

My mother and I nearly came to blows over an AMAZING book of popular 19th century songs... reprints of the original sheet music.  She picked it up first though, so technically it's hers.  I, however, am the one who likes/needs it the most.  ;)  It has nearly every popular Civil War song you can think of with lyrics and different vocal parts and piano accompaniment.  After getting home, I immediately sat down at the piano and starting playing through some songs.  So far, the most fun song to play is definitely When Johnny Comes Marching Home which has a great introduction/interlude.  It would be loads more fun as a group activity though... standing around the piano singing together.  So very Victorian! 

I also picked up Walnut Pickles and Watermelon Cake- A Century of Michigan Cooking which has a lot of great recipes mostly from 1880-1920.  It even has a recipe for croquettes which I had been very curious about ever since reading Jane of Lantern Hill long ago.  And, like a dork, I'm quite thrilled at the idea of having a cookbook of the sorts of things that Anne would have made (I imagine that Michigan cooking would be very similar to Canadian cooking).

And while we're on the subject of books, I recently checked out The American Frugal Housewife, originally published in 1833.  It's full of fascinating tidbits and helpful hints for practical cookery and housekeeping and health.  Lots of advice on getting stains out of different types of fabric, cleaning various metals, getting rid of insects,  preserving food, etc.  Some of the advice sounds hugely useful, although some sounds equally horrifying.

I'd like to make raspberry shrub this summer though, and I do want to try this:

"Glass vessels in cylindrical form, may be cut in two, by tying around them a worsted thread, thoroughly wet with spirits of turpentine, and then setting fire to the thread."

I made a fairly last-minute decision to attend the annual Mid-Winter Civil War ball in Lansing with dandytailor  and rvqavalon  this past Saturday, and it was probably the best decision I've made in a looong time.

I always enjoy a ball, but this one was just plain fun.  It was pretty long, with nearly five solid hours of dancing, there was a great mix of dances and the caller was really good.  It was also really nice to feel like we're starting to become a little familiar with the regular crowd there... and everyone seems more friendly than at the regency balls.  Not to mention, the Spanish Waltz is pretty much my favorite dance ever, and we had a particularly good one that night which was the last dance of the evening. 

This ball also marked the first time I wore contacts ever outside of the optician's office!  My dad had some medical funds stashed away that needed using before a certain date, so he offered to get me contacts.  I happily accepted this offer, and got myself to Lenscrafters.  I had a wretched time getting the contacts in though, and taking them out was ten times worse!  Fortunately, Katie showed me her very clever method of getting them in which does NOT involve poking yourself in the cornea.  And I no longer have to farb it up in my very modern eyewear.

I stole a couple pictures from Katie to post since my camera didn't make it out of my purse.

The galop was too quick for the camera, but this picture is fairly atmospheric and kinda pretty anyway. 


Call me narcissistic if you like, but I love how my dress looks in this picture.


And after the ball... yes, Katie frequently thinks I have lost my mind... ;)

It seems like I've done nothing but application stuff recently... for grad schools and summer stock work; and when I DO sew, it's on a veeerrry late gift for somebody which is taking an age to finish.

I haven't put a stitch in a new dress for myself since last June!  This, however, is about change.



Quite a few of you are probably familiar with this dress of rvqavalon's which she made for the annual regency ball last spring.  The other night, however, Katie surprised dandytailor and I with a declaration of her dislike for the dress and her plans for getting rid of it.  Preferring not to sell in on ebay, Katie was wonderful enough to give it to me along with the extra yard and a half of left-over fabric so that I could make a new dress for Greenfield out of it.

I am, to put it bluntly, thrilled.

Silk taffeta in white and blue windowpane check?!  Nothing less than awesome!

The skirt of the original dress is made from three panels of 54" wide fabric, and as such, is a great width for going over my hoop.  I'll have to let the hem out a little, but aside from that, making the new skirt'll be really straightforward.  I figure the extra yard and a half will be plenty for a bodice and sleeves, and I can use the fabric from the original bodice for trimmings.

I'm planning on making something similar to these:
   

I love the v-neck style, pagoda sleeves, and ruched trimming, but I haven't quite decided yet whether I want a straight waistline or a pointed bodice... would one be more fashionable than the other?

Also, Katie bought me an early birthday present... a bonnet kit from Timely Tresses!  I'll be making the Mildred Augusta bonnet in the early spoon style.  So.  Excited.  I adore all manner of hats, bonnets, and headdresses, and as of yet, I don't even have a single 1860s bonnet!  But, thanks to Katie, this calamitous state of affairs will shortly draw to close... I'm quietly gleeful.  :D

Also.

Yo no soy marinero.

Bonus points for guessing which song is stuck in my head... ;)

All right.  Wow.  A new year already.  Doesn't feel any different from the old one yet, but perhaps lots of exciting and wonderful things will happen... one never can tell how a year will turn out.  At least it'll be different from 2009.  I hope.

There's not much point in summarizing what I did throughout the year (besides graduating... finally), so I'd better just stick to the annual costume review.

This is what I had predicted (and hoped) last year that I'd accomplish in 2009.

~ 1810 'little white dress' and spencer  [check!]
~1830 blue stripey dress and hat  [check! but no hat]
~ mid 19th cen. corset  [check!]
~ 1840 navy voile dress and bonnet  [check! but no bonnet]
~ Mary Beale 17th cen. dress  [ah, no]
~ Victorian bathing suit  [nope]
~ Star Wars Imperial Officers (for myself and my sister)  [not this either]
~ 1860's sheer dress  [sort of... it wasn't sheer, but I made a summery day dress]

( As for what I actually accomplished )

As for next year, well, my recent resolve to not spend any money on fabric kind of kills half of my ideas, but I do have fabric and plans for a couple things.  Nearly everything I'll probably make is 1812, including a cotton print work dress, long-sleeved voile dress, and blue silk evening dress... I also had grand plans for a steampunk outfit, but since I can't get new fabric for it I'll have to improvise with what I've got on hand.  I am also resolved to make myself more "real clothes", as I have a bunch of fashion fabric that's completely inappropriate for historical stuff anyway.

It's been nearly a week now since I got back from Remembrance Day at Gettysburg, and it's high time I posted something.

First things first! The paletot was done in time... well, sort of. I didn't bother putting on the red velvet ribbon trimming that I had planned, although I'll probably add it on later. I got the paletot to this wearable state several days before the trip, but kind of enjoyed wearing it out and about too much to "finish" it entirely. It's made of brown wool obtained from rvqavalon 's impressive stash, and lined with tan silk taffeta also from said stash. Mike and I joke frequently about "shopping" at Katie's house only because it's true. ;)



And a back view.


We arrived at Gettysburg on Friday evening, and as we drove into town we went over a hill and I suddenly saw the Lutheran Seminary silhouetted against the twilight sky. My heart nearly stopped as I thought "Gen. Buford was actually IN that cupola. Wow, it's just like Gettysburg... OMG, I'm IN GETTYSBURG!!!"

And it all kind of went up from there. The town of Gettysburg is such a wonderful mix of cool history and frightful kitsch that I fell in love with it immediately. Of course, it probably helped that the streets were nearly constantly filled with a steady stream of colorful figures which made for some prime people-watching. Touring the battlefield was amazing in a totally different way. On one hand, it was really educational to see it first hand, as simply reading about the battle and watching the film doesn't really give one a remote idea of what the actual scale and scope of events was. Nonetheless, it was impossible to forget that this was a battlefield, and that thousands upon thousands of people died on that very ground. It was rather sobering and awe-inspiring and something that I'm not likely to forget.

Anyway, Mike, Katie, and I all drove out together and met Tyler (who was coming from Delaware) there in Gettysburg. I was already acquainted with some of the guys in Tyler's unit, the 116th Pennsylvania, and it was great to get to see them again and chat a bit. Mike and Tyler went off with the unit on Saturday and did military-ish things and marched in the parade while Katie and I moseyed about town shopping and taking in the sights. The parade was rather impressive and rather noisy, and nearly every other group was followed by a drum corp or a drum and fife corp or brass band. Most of them were so close that you could hear the music from the next group coming before the first was out of earshot. Still, it wasn't too cacophonous, and it was fun to watch the troops march by. We didn't watch the whole parade though... after about half an hour spent watching row after row after row of the Union guys there didn't seem to be much point in sticking around to see the Confederates.

Saturday night we all got dressed up and went to a soiree at a private home in town. It was a lovely little place, all lit by candles and lamps, and the hor d'oeurves and champagne were delightful. Sadly, we didn't stay very long as Katie was rather tired, but it was quite fun nonetheless.


Once we got back to the hotel after the soiree Katie crashed out, but it was only about 10:30, and I did not want to stay cooped up in a generic little room. After half changing into 'normal' clothes, Mike, Tyler, and I went back out... popping into a tiny little bar called the Mineshaft for a few minutes before walking out of town. We sort of followed the fence along the road through the dark battlefield, most likely scaring the occasional moterist the few times that we dashing across the street and over the fence. It was a clear night, all the stars were incredibly bright, and in spite of the soggy ground it was rather magical. It seemed like such a shame to turn back and head for town and the hotel, but reality always manages to intrude sooner or later.

And then on Sunday we toured the battlefield and headed home. The end. Sadness.

I didn't take very many pictures over the weekend, but what I did take (plus one or two that aren't mine) are here on Flickr, and Katie has a pretty good write-up with a bunch of the photos that she took.