Looking back on 2014

This year has flown past! So many things have happened, but as most of them have concerned my personal and family life, not that much of it has been said on the blog. So what have happened….

We moved to a new town, a year ago Friday. Amongst other nice things (such as good friends only a one minute walk away) it also meant I got a sewing room – what a luxury! As we don’t have money to spend on storage at the moment, it’s a bit of a mess, with fabrics, notions, period clothing, etc. everywhere, but still - happy me!

 The mirror still on the floor, parts of my folk costume and some 

14th century hoods hanging on the door, lots of white linen and plain cotton in the shelf.

 Hats, some fabric (coarse linen for a gambeson, wool for period clothing, fabrics for contemporary projects), 

a loom for weaving tapes and ribbons, boxes with UFO:s, my seldom used sewing machine, 

this and that.... The cupboard is filled with striped, checked, and reproduction print fabrics.

I was pregnant and very tired for the first half of the year, and so didn’t get all rhat much sewing done, but I did manage to sew:

 an early19th century shortgown

 a sewing roll inspired by local folk costumes

 a babynest for the baby to sleep in

 a patchwork quilt for the baby

I also, thanks to a cousin and a sister who modelled them for me, got pictures of a couple of dresses (the Pre-Raphaelite Medieval, and the Elvish Maiden) I made years and years ago, but never had decent pictures of.

Then little baby H arrived, and pretty much everything had to adapt to his needs, and economy was still a factor. Being a student family with two young children, that is not surprising. We didn’t go to any events this summer, at least not any that we bothered to dress in historical clothes for. One can still take pictures though, and when the baby was a week old I swaddled him, dressed myself and B in our 14th century clothes and took some pictures.

I also got some sewing done:

 I finished my Hobbit outfit UFO

 got a lot done on an 1840’s outfit; a shift, bum pad, cap, collar and dress

 made some 1840’s baby clothes; a petticoat and a dress

 and a witches bonnet for Halloween – I don’t mind spending time in more than one fantasy world ;)

I’ve also hosted a sewing class with a friend (in the green silk dress), sponsored by the event Thomanders Jul i Lund: eight women with varying experience in historical sewing made 1840’s style shifts, stays, petticoats and dresses. It was an educational experience for me, who never taught a sewing class before. Some of the ladies (as well as little H and I) are in this picture. The styles of their dresses cover pretty much all of the 1840's - don’t they look wonderful? Unfortunately I don't have a picture with my friend/co-teacher Maja also in it, as she had a pet emergency that morning.

Picture (c) Lena Birgersson.

Not my most productive year, sewing wise, but not the least so either. Even when I wasn't sewing myself, I was kept busy being a co-moderator in the Historical Sew Fortnightly (HSF) Facebook group, and will continue being so next year, though of course, the challenges will be monthly now (HSM). Hopefully I'll be able to complete more challenges myself now :) 

 

For Christmas Tobias gave me this book that I’ve wanted for a few years. The title can roughly translate to “The Tailor, the Seamstress and the Fashion” and is all about how the making of women’s clothing in Sweden changed from being a men’s business to gradually becoming a women’s business. It also has diagrams of stitches, seams and patterns taken from period clothes.

This year have been very much 19^th century for me, as I’ve felt a bit burned out on the 14^th century – last year I sewed like mad to get ready for the season, and never got to attend a single event with my group, and that just made me sick of it all. Now though, I’m beginning to feel the pull again, so hopefully there will be more medieval things in the coming year.

Thank you for reading my blog this past year - I hope you are all well, and will have a Happy New Year!

An 1840's Baby Dress

As little H have only just begun to taste solids, and is thus still dependant on me for food, he naturally had to come with me to the event at the Tegnér Museum I mentioned in my last post. Of course he needed to be properly dressed as well. I looked through my stash, and found some old cotton curtains I’d bought for the fabric a few years ago. It was all bleached on one side, but the other side was in good condition. The fabric is similar to what is used in this extant dress. The dress was hand sewn using linen and cotton thread.

The bodice is high necked – it is winter after all – and bound with a self fabric bias strip. It closes in the back with mother of pearl buttons from my stash. It’s lined in plain white cotton, and then eased into the waistband. 

The skirt is tightly cartridge pleated to the waistband, and has numerous tucks – more than I had planned; the result from cutting the skirt too long. The tucks help a lot to prevent the skirts from clinging, they look pretty, and of course, can be let out if needed. 

When I came to the sleeves I was beginning to run out of fabric: I’d used some of it in my eldest boys patchwork quilt three years ago. I decided to make short sleeves cut on the bias – very 1840’s – and have longer ones under them.

The longer sleeves are pieced, with plain cotton sheeting where it won’t show under the shorter sleeves. They are only loosely sewn in, and can be removed in summer. They are pleated to cuffs, also closed with mother of pearl buttons. 

 

The dress was worn over the petticoat I’d made previously. A little shift should have been worn as well, but I didn’t have time to make one, and the medieval one I tried before turned out to be too bulky. It worked well anyway. He also wore tights, to keep warm and hide the very modern nappy. Little drawers would have looked nice, but lack of time…

I think H looked absolutely adorable in his little dress! Quite a few discussions on baby clothing in the past was the result of people assuming he was a girl. Several people recalled that they had pictures of their grandfathers in dresses when babies. And thus the boy in a dress issue was diffused.

The Challenge: #22 Menswear (Yes, I’m stretching this, as the dress could just as well have been worn by a girl.)

Fabric: Different cottons.

Pattern: Drafted my own from looking at pictures of extant baby and toddler dresses.

Year: Roughly 1840’s. 

Notions: Cotton and linen thread, mother of pearl buttons.

How historically accurate is it? As usual, as best as I could make it without looking at extant dresses in person. Period materials, constructions and stitching.

Hours to complete: Mmm… maybe 8-10?

First worn: For the pictures and a small event at the Tegnér Museum in Lund, Sweden, on the 29^th November.

Total cost:  Nothing at this time, as fabrics and notions came from my stash.

1840's Maternity Dress

The blog has moved and this post can now be found HERE.

A Witches Bonnet

I finally got some pictures of my witches bonnet for the Historical Sew Fortnightly. Tobias comes home from school so late every weekday that it’s already dusk, so I haven’t had the opportunity until today. The whole family went for a little walk, and then we stopped for pictures in a nice place. I got the odd look from passers by, wearing a bonnet like this in a perfectly normal neighbourhood :)

The bonnet was originally an ordinary woman’s felt hat from the charity shop, nothing special at all. I got it years ago, and had already cut away a piece at the back, stitched the brim back up, with millinery wire inside the fold, and steamed and slightly reshaped the crown to give it a slightly quirky look. 

Now, the only thing I had to do was line the brim and trim the thing. Simple enough. I didn’t want the lining to differ too much in colour from the bonnet, and I was lucky enough to have an old, worn out blouse in my stash. It was brown, with a woven in pattern. I just cut a straight piece from it and stitched it to the inside of the brim, with the width taken up in pleats where brim and crown met. 

For the trim, I cut a curved piece of organza, left over from a previous project, twisted it slightly, wound it round the crown, and tied a bow. I twisted and interlaced an old necklace made from organza ribbon and glass beads round the fabric and pinned some feathers under it. Done! Simple but effective. Now I only need some proper witches robes…

What the item is: A witches bonnet.

The Challenge: #20 Alternative Universe.

The Alternative Universe: The wizarding world that creates the backdrop for the Harry Potter books.

Fabric: Wool felt hat, cotton, synthetic fibre organza. 

Pattern: None.

Year: Somewhere between 1830-2014: the wizarding world doesn’t really follow Muggle fashions. 

Notions: Organza ribbon, glass beads, feathers, cotton thread, pins.

How historically accurate is it? Not a jot. It’s loosely inspired by 1830’s bonnets though.  

Hours to complete: Remaking the hat and lining the brim took a few, but adding the trim only took minutes.

First worn: For our Halloween party last week.

Total cost:  Nothing at this time, everything was in my stash.

A Harry Potter Halloween Party

Celebrating Halloween with parties and scary costumes is not tradition here in Sweden. We have a much more quiet remembering of our departed loved ones on (after several changes through history) the Saturday falling between 31 October and 6 November. We light candles on the graves, and that’s it, really. However, through popular media the awareness of how Halloween is celebrated in other countries has risen and a desire awoken, and now you can actually find the odd trick or treaters on your doorstep. I, who always loved dressing up, think this is great fun. Of course I would host a Halloween party!

My first idea of generic, not too scary Halloween decorations (we’d invited five families with kids between ages 3 months and three years) soon evolved into a Harry Potter wizarding world theme. It would have to be a low budget affair, but being the nerds we are, we have enough odd things to make a decent show of it, with some craftiness. Here are some pictures of my decorations and food. Once the guests arrived I pretty much forgot about my camera, so I never got pictures of their costumes or of the nice things they brought - everyone brought a dish or something to drink, and thus food was sorted.

We have a soft toy badger from IKEA: with yellow and black ribbons added I had a Hufflepuff mascot, as a memory of former school days – I was sorted into Hufflepuff House on Pottermore.

Potions ingredients, in bottles and jars. I especially liked the “salamander blood” (water with red and green food colouring and cooking oil) which moved in a decidedly icky, half clotted, bloodlike way. 

There were also some quills, spellbooks (or was it really The Collected Works of Jane Austen, The Pilgrim’s Progress, a Bible from the 1870’s, and a book of male etiquette and skills from 1946?), and other odds and ends.

To keep our big marble mortar company we added a few small brass ones: clearly the material used in your mortar might affect your potions ingredients, and thus the potions. 

Our post owl (a stuffed toy hubby got when he graduated High School), is patiently waiting to deliver a letter (a real one I received from a friend some time ago), perched on top of a kitchen cupboard. In the foreground some plants, meant for potions, drying. 

The staircase was full of bats, made from egg cartons, and I cut out silhouettes of a cat and several mice, to give the children something fun to look at. 

 

I’d made some bread, and some Cauldron Cakes. Both were yummy, but as little H was really loosing his patience with me preparing for the party, I was stressed and messed up a bit, and the Cauldron Cakes didn't turn out as pretty as I'd have hoped.  Better luck next time

 

The Cauldron Cakes were inspired by these two (1, 2), but I filled mine with mashed raspberries gently folded down in whipped cream. They were even more delicious a day or two after I made them. 

All in all it turned out really well, considering the limitations I had as to time and economy. I hope in time to be able to turn our whole home into a wizarding house at Halloween, hiding from view everything that is decidedly Muggle. If I add to my stock of odd things and decorations a little at a time, I may get there in the end.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any good pictures of us. We were dressed as a wizarding family, of course. I’ll have a photo shoot when time and the weather allow, because I really love my witches’ bonnet, and it was a HSF challenge.

American Duchess Giveaway

This is not a period I currently do, but it's only a matter of time - I've been thinking of it for a while, admiring the work of others. Having the right shoes would certainly be a good start - or I might just go for the gift card and order a pair of Gettysburgs for the 1840's impression I'm currently working on.... tough choice.

Oh yeah, I would have to win first.... :)

Baby’s Mid 19th Century Petticoat

For the HSF challenge # 18 “Poetry in Motion” I didn’t have a poem suitable for the project I needed to work on. So I cheated.

When I thought of the baby dress (and the petticoat that will go under it) my littlest one need for the 1840’s event in November I couldn’t help thinking of Anne Shirley Blythe in Anne’s House of Dreams: the horrid day when her wee daughter died, and the happy one when her son was born. They both always make my cry. I also thought of her reaction to her sons shortening, thinking that he grows up too quickly. I imagine that, though the story is set 50 years later than what I’m aiming at, those feelings might have been shared by many a mother in the 19^th century – I feel the same when my children have outgrown a size and all the clothes are put away. One would think the sentimental Victorians would have written one teensy poem about the shortening of baby’s dresses, or mentioning baby dresses at all, but I came up with nothing….

The petticoat is worn over a medieval shift – the difference isn’t that great,

and as I don’t have time to make a baby shirt just for this one event….

This is not poetry, but the writing of L. M. Montgomery is often very poetic prose – she, hardly surprising, did write proper poetry as well – this one is appropriate for the theme.

So here are the passages I was thinking about in the book:

One morning, when a windy golden sunrise was billowing over the gulf in waves of light, a certain weary stork flew over the bar of Four Winds Harbor on his way from the Land of Evening Stars. Under his wing was tucked a sleepy, starry-eyed, little creature. The stork was tired, and he looked wistfully about him. He knew he was somewhere near his destination, but he could not yet see it. The big, white light-house on the red sandstone cliff had its good points; but no stork possessed of any gumption would leave a new, velvet baby there. An old gray house, surrounded by willows, in a blossomy brook valley, looked more promising, but did not seem quite the thing either. The staring green abode further on was manifestly out of the question. Then the stork brightened up. He had caught sight of the very place—a little white house nestled against a big, whispering firwood, with a spiral of blue smoke winding up from its kitchen chimney—a house which just looked as if it were meant for babies. The stork gave a sigh of satisfaction, and softly alighted on the ridge-pole.

………

“…wondering whether she should hemstitch or feather-stitch little Jem's "short" dresses. He was to be shortened the next week, and Anne felt ready to cry at the thought of it.”

……….

Anne and Leslie had another cry the next week when they shortened Little Jem. Anne felt the tragedy of it until evening when in his long nightie she found her own dear baby again.

"But it will be rompers next—and then trousers—and in no time he will be grown-up," she sighed.

"Well, you would not want him to stay a baby always, Mrs. Doctor, dear, would you?" said Susan. "Bless his innocent heart, he looks too sweet for anything in his little short dresses, with his dear feet sticking out. And think of the save in the ironing, Mrs. Doctor, dear." 

When planning this petticoat I tried to find pictures of extant baby petticoats. I found two that would work well; one dated 1800-20, and the other dated 1860. They were very similar in construction, so I felt ok using the same design for the one I was making. 

The petticoat has a simple bodice, with drawstrings at neck and waist. They tie in the back, where a thread button helps in keeping the bodice closed. The skirt is gauged to the bodice, with tiny pleats.

 The bottom of the skirt has a deep hem and two tucks. 

What the item is: Baby petticoat.

The Challenge: #18 Poetry in Motion

The poem: Passages from Anne’s house of dreams.

Fabric: Cut down from an old shift and petticoat of mine, originally made from sturdy old cotton sheets.

Pattern: None; I improvised from picures of period petticoats.

Year: Aiming for the 1840’s, but could pass for several more decades.

Notions: Cotton thread, cotton tape, thread button made by me.

How historically accurate is it? As good as I could make it without looking at an extant example in person. The materials are ok, as is the hand stitching.

Hours to complete: Difficult to say, as I’ve only had a few minutes here and there… 8-10?

First worn: For the picture.

Total cost: None at this time as everything came from the stash. The materials might have cost 50 SEK ($6,94; £4,31; €5,49) if bought at the charity shop today, and would have plenty left for other projects.

Poetry - When Stretch'd on Ones Bed

I promise - there will be a sewing post soon! I just run into all these poems when trying to find one that may suit the mid 19th century baby petticoat I'm working on.... (Btw, if any of you have just the thing, please share!) This one struck a note, as I've had head aches on a regular basis since I was a young teenager, and knows how tough it can be. 

 

"Idleness", 1810. British Museum nr. 1871,1209.5709

When Stretch'd on One's Bed 

By Jane Austen

 When stretch'd on one's bed
With a fierce-throbbing head,
Which preculdes alike thought or repose,
How little one cares
For the grandest affairs
That may busy the world as it goes!

How little one feels
For the waltzes and reels
Of our Dance-loving friends at a Ball!
How slight one's concern
To conjecture or learn
What their flounces or hearts may befall.

How little one minds
If a company dines
On the best that the Season affords!
How short is one's muse
O'er the Sauces and Stews,
Or the Guests, be they Beggars or Lords.

How little the Bells,
Ring they Peels, toll they Knells,
Can attract our attention or Ears!
The Bride may be married,
The Corse may be carried
And touch nor our hopes nor our fears.

Our own bodily pains
Ev'ry faculty chains;
We can feel on no subject besides.
Tis in health and in ease
We the power must seize
For our friends and our souls to provide.

Poetry: Somebody's Mother

Browsing the internet for something else I stumbled on this lovely piece of poetry. I’m not a great reader of poetry, but I suspect that might be because I have so many other things to read…. This one sounded very familiar to me though – I wonder if I’ve heard it before? The LDS General Conference? Anyway, when I do read poetry I enjoy it. 

I hope my sons will be as nice, compassionate young boys and men as the boy in this poem. Their Dad is certainly s good example and role model for them – and for me. Not wanting to loose these beautiful words, I thought I’d better post them here. Hopefully someone else might enjoy them as well.

"Old Woman Reading", by Cowan Dobson.

Somebody’s Mother

By Mary Dow Brine (1816-1913)

The woman was old and ragged and grey

And bent with the chill of the Winter’s day.

The street was wet with a recent snow

And the woman’s feet were aged and slow.

She stood at the crossing and waited long,

Alone, uncared for, amid the throng

Of human beings who passed her by

Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eyes.

Down the street, with laughter and shout,

Glad in the freedom of “school let out,”

Came the boys like a flock of sheep,

Hailing the snow piled white and deep.

Past the woman so old and grey

Hastened the children on their way

Nor offered a helping hand to her -

So meek, so timid, afraid to stir

Lest the carriage wheels or the horses’ feet

Should crowd her down in the slippery street.

At last came one of the merry troop,

The gayest laddie of all the group;

He paused beside her and whispered low,

“I’ll help you cross if you wish to go.”

Her aged hand on his strong young arm

She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,

He guided the trembling feet along,

Proud that his own were firm and strong.

Then back again to his friends he went,

His young heart happy and well content.

“She’s somebody’s mother, boys, you know,

For all she’s aged and poor and slow,

“And I hope some fellow will lend a hand

To help my mother, you understand,

“If ever she’s poor and old and grey,

When her own dear boy is far away.”

And “somebody’s mother” bowed her head

In her home that night, and the prayer she said

Was “God be kind to the noble boy,

Who is somebody’s son, and pride and joy!”

The Manuscript Challenge

My friend Maria has started a project called the Manuscript Challenge on Facebook. In short it’s about choosing a medieval picture, statue, effigy or similar in colour, and try to recreate an outfit as closely as possible.

As I don’t have too much of neither time nor money, I decided to do something simple, and something that needed doing. I chose this stained glass window of Adam and Eve working. It was made in the late 14^th century, and was originally from Marienkirche, Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, but after WWII it was taken by the Soviet Union and is now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

This picture is great (though not very pretty) for four reasons: 1) it is from my period and 2) also from my geographic area (Sweden had lots of influences from Germany through both trade and politics), 3) it portrays things I want to make for both myself and Tobias, and 4) I only have to do a little sewing to have all the clothes in the picture. I have planned to replace the short sleeves in my red dress with long ones for quite some time, and that wouldn’t be too much work. Of course I have veils already, and Tobias has green hose and shoes. The only thing I need to make from scratch is the greyish-blue tunic, and I have wanted to make him a longer, fuller, more old fashioned tunic for a while, so this is perfect.

Not that I have time to start sewing on it just yet; I have more pressing projects first.

1840's(ish) Crocheted Collar

The blog has moved and this post can now be found HERE.

A Simple 1840's Shift

Edit: I discovered I could use this as an HSF entry, so the challenge info was added 22 August 2014.)

Recently I made a mid 19th century shift, that I mainly intend for 1840’s. It is very simple, as the evidence I was able to find of Swedish shifts from that time indicates that they were still constructed in a very basic way, while many shifts in other countries had become more advanced. 

This evidence is mostly doll’s shifts from the 1850's and -60's, as there are hardly any extant ones for real people. As the rest of the wardrobes from which these doll’s shifts come are very true to the fashion of the time, I suppose that the shifts must have been as well. 

Nordiska Museet, nr. NM.0331307

The rest of the wardrobe here. 

Upplandsmuseet, nr. UM 15700
The rest of the wardrobe here.

 These doll's shifts are from the 1820's,
and show a similar construction, but without the slit in front.

I would have preferred a linen shift, as that would have been most common, but I didn’t want to use any I had in my stash, as I have other projects in mind for some, and others are not in appropriate weights. Instead I used an old cotton sheet I once got in a charity shop.

While this bothered me slightly I now got the chance to use it for the terminology challenge in the HSF. Calico, in the UK, New Zeeland and Australia meaning a plain tabby woven, white or cream cotton fabric, is what I’ve used for this. In Swedish during the 19^th century this kind of fabric would have been called lärft (originally – at least as far back as medieval times - lärft was used for plain, densely woven linen fabrics, but were later used for the same quality cottons as well). A printed cotton fabric were in the 18^th century and into the 19^th called kattun in Swedish.

The shift is constructed from rectangles, squares and triangles, the same way shifts and shirts had been made since before the Middle Ages. There is no shoulder seam, and one of the side gores are pieced from two halves. 

I used back stitches for joining the pieces, slip stitches for felling seams and hemming the neckline and sleeves. The bottom hem is sewn with running stitches and a back stitch every now and then.

For closing the slit in front I made a thread button. It has a base of waxed, thick cotton (linen could also be used) thread, as many originals do. It should hold up well in the wash. Wavy braid is used as trim. You see it used in many Swedish mid century petticoats, and I’ve seen it on doll’s shifts from both Sweden and other countries, and at least one extant woman’s chemise from the States. I think it’s more than plausible here as well. It should survive laundry better than most kinds of lace, while still adding a bit of elegance.

 

The shift reaches to just below my knees – I’d have liked it a bit longer, but this is what the fabric allowed me to do without adding shoulder seams. And can I say again how much I like that button? :)

The Challenge: #16 Terminology (calico)

Fabric: Cotton.

Pattern: My own.

Year: 1840’s. 

Notions: Cotton thread, cotton wavy braid.

How historically accurate is it? As good as it gets without studying originals in person. Material, construction and stitches are all period.  

Hours to complete: Not sure…

First worn: For the picture.

Total cost: 30SEK ($4,35; £2,61; €3,27) for the wavy braid; everything else was in my stash. It would probably have cost about 80SEK ($11,59; £6,97; €8,72) if I bought all the materials now.