The Fabric of Time

Back in the winter, I made this18th century coat. I think I finished it in February or March. A friend of mine had started the coat years ago in a workshop. It was draped specifically for him. He had cut it out and started sewing it, then set it aside for a while. He needed it for a recent event and asked me if I could finish sewing it for him. It is completely hand sewn--a first for me! I used linen and silk sewing thread and silk buttonhole twist. I don't remember how long it took me to make it; maybe around 20 hours. I actually enjoyed the hand sewing, though I certainly need to get faster at it. I had some really great pictures of this coat being modeled by my dress form, but then my USB quit working and I lost years of photos D': (sobbing emoticon). It's time to quit being a Luddite and embrace online photo storage. Deciding where to place the pocket flaps The cats were jealous that I was spending excessive time petting an inanimate hunk ...

Hello all! I've had great sewing plans for this summer and have actually accomplished some of them, but I was in China teaching English and internet access is restricted there. The greatest issue for me was not being able to read all the awesome sewing blogs that use the Google blogging platform (Blogspot). I had a VPN, but the internet was still slow. Thus, I have failed in my goals to post about my sewing projects. I'm back in the United States and dove headfirst into exciting sewing projects and finding inspiration from my fellow bloggers. I want to share my friend's blog, "The Young Sewphisticate," firstly because it's fantastic, but also because she is hosting a blog giveaway to celebrate the second anniversary of her blog: http://youngsewphisticate.blogspot.com/2016/07/blogiversary-giveaway.html#comment-form Anneliese will give away a 19th century housewife sewing case to the winner of her giveaway. Read her blog post to learn how to enter. I have ...

I started reenacting the French and Indian wars era last year and very quickly threw together the basic costume pieces. Now, it's time to add more items to my wardrobe. I definitely need a couple of petticoats as I had only made one wool one to start. For the Historical Sew Monthly February 2016 challenge, I wanted to finish my 1750's gown, but I hadn't yet gotten to it. So, on the very last day of February, I quickly whipped up this petticoat. It's the same fabric as my gown. These pictures feature the debut of my model, Penelope. She's been in my life for well over a year, but I don't quite know how to approach her. We haven't actually collaborated on any projects yet. Here she is showing off my petticoat. FYI, Penelope is significantly shorter than me and is incapable of growing taller. Back Front February's challenge is about pleating. I'm disappointed that I ended up entering something so basic, but it's something that ...

This project was definitely a procrastination item, so I'm entering it in the Historical Sew Monthly Procrastination challenge. What the item is: Schuylkill Arsenal Infantry Jacket The Challenge: January 2016, Procrastination Material: wool broadcloth, linsey woolsey lining, cotton lining, cotton batting interlining Pattern: County Cloth Chas. R. Childs Year: 1863? Notions: silk buttonhole thread, cotton thread, buttons, japanned steel hook and eye How historically accurate is it? Great, except I machine sewed the interior seams. The Schuylkill Arsenal contracted out these garments to individuals who rarely owned sewing machines. Hours to complete: 30 First worn: January 2016 Total cost: Maybe $100 U.S. for the materials My friend for whom I made this coat gave me this commission and one other, a sack coat, two years ago. I started making this infantry jacket last spring. It went very, very slowly as I didn't know what I was doing and kept anticipating major problems ...

...wear a beard hat. And learn how to roundhouse kick. A co-worker asked me to make a beard hat for her son right before Christmas. I didn't think I'd finish it in time for Christmas, but I told her I'd try to have it done the week after, so I've been scrambling to finish this. It turned out okay, but I'm dissatisfied because: 1. It's crappy Red Heart acrylic worsted yarn, which is awful and not pleasant to work with. 2. The hat is a little snug and not very stretchy due to the yarn. 3. The beard is a little too big and engulfs the face somewhat too much 4. I put sooooo much time and energy into this project that I really wasn't motivated about, so the money that I'm being paid is an insult when you look at the hours of labor it took; however, if I were the customer, I wouldn't want to pay much for it because it's low quality (cheap materials and meh construction).  It's not all bad, though. About a year ago, I made a few beard ...

I'm still an amateur at knitting. I learned how to do it many years ago, but never liked it until recently. I've been doing a lot of knitting over the past year and a half, slowly getting better at it. I wanted to make some mittens for my dad--he loves anything homemade and likes to show off things that I've made for him.  These intarsia mittens were his Christmas present. I specifically chose a colorwork pattern because two or more strands of yarn make the item thicker and warmer. Mom's knitted mittens are very cozy, so Dad definitely needed some as well. He loves outdoor activities, especially hiking and skiing, so these mittens will receive a lot of use.  I searched for a pattern on Ravelry, using several criteria: two colors, worsted weight yarn, in the round, and thumbs with a gusset (some mittens that I've made don't have a gusset on the thumb, making it less movable and creating stress points where holes are forming). There are so many incred...

It's high time for me to document some of the 19th century bonnets that I've made. Here's a link to one of my previous blog posts about my first attempts at slat bonnets: http://fabricoftime.blogspot.com/2013/03/slat-bonnets-hsf-accessorize-challenge.html I made some more after that, then this year I made a few, so there are several that I haven't shared on my blog. I finally figured out the proportions just right after experimenting. There are some details that may seem insignificant, but I found them to affect my overall satisfaction. I also sampled a few different styles. Here I am sharing pictures of all the bonnets I've made and the features that seem ideal. First, I researched what 19th century bonnets should look like. I wanted one for Civil War reenacting, but the styles typically span most of the 19th century. There are several images of originals that I found on Pinterest that did not lead to an existing website, so I did not include them her...