Month: October 2012

The Great Curtain-a-Long Kerfluffle

On By kittycalashIn Clothing, History4 Comments

Not to be confused with the Great Benefit Street Curtain Kerfluffle of 2007, in which I averred in a lectured that the wealthy of Providence did, in fact, have not just shutters but also curtains, and was publicly challenged by irate docents. Sometimes I feel the need to remind them that John Brown did not in fact squat naked in a corner of a fireless room gnawing on a joint until Benjamin Franklin appeared with the gift of fire called down from the sky by a kite….why, yes, I do have some docent issues.

Way back in a warm sunny month I bought the Waverly curtains at Lowe’s in the cream color way, though both the black and the red were also tempting. Now the question is, what to make? Not that there aren’t plenty of other projects requiring my attention…but sometimes, you want to do something just because it’s fun.

“Fun” is a concept I have some trouble with. I am much better with work and responsibility and guilt. “Spontaneous” isn’t too bad (how do you think I end up in some of the situations I find myself in?) but simple “fun” can be tricky. So here I am with the spontaneously purchased curtains, and the need for a plan.

The plan has vacillated between “just for fun” dress and a fully documented dress. A “just for fun” dress would not have to be documented to 1770-1780 New England or 1790-1805 Rhode Island. How liberating! French dressing, here I come! Except…where and when would I get to wear my new creation? So I need not just a plan but a cunning plan.

Where to turn? I chose the Met, and here’s what I found.

Dress number 1, 1725-1750, British, embroidered linen. Has the right features (open, robings, cuffs) and the fabric could be plausibly mimicked with the print. Could be worn with a matching petticoat (need another curtain if I do that) or a red flannel petticoat. Would be super amazing with a crewel stomacher if I made myself do that. Could probably be worn to Rev War events if I felt a bit brazen. (She wore curtains at Battle Road?! My dear, the idea!)

Dress number 2, 18th century, French. Printed cotton. Actually a two-piece item, jacket or bodice and petticoat, this is probably 1790-1800. Dates are good for work and other places in Rhode Island. Problem? It’s French, and there’s no evidence that anything like this was worn in the U.S., much less in New England.

Dress number 3, mid-18th century, American, linen and cotton. The bodice closes edge-to-edge, the back is pleated, and the skirts open. Probably 1775-1785, trending later than 1775 judging by the closed front and the longer sleeves and the style of the cuff. Not OK for Rev War events. Just OK for events at work, but not ideal.

Dress number 4, ca. 1780, from the Scottish National Museums. I have been looking in the National Trust Collections online for an image of the gown that appears in Nancy Bradfield’s book (see below), but to no avail. (I do keep falling asleep at night, and while that doesn’t help, it may be that the dress has not been photographed.) The fun part of this dress is that I have some light-weight Ikea curtains to make a petticoat and  kerchief out of. Also, my hair can get into the crazy hedgehog style practically on its own. But I can document this to Rhode Island 1780-1790?

See the dilemma? Maybe the thing to do is to make the fabric into a banyan for Mr S (that would be a little weird to see on a private soldier in von Steuben camp) and think again about the later styles.

Or maybe the thing to do is to lighten up a tiny bit and make a dress that’s just for fun.

My House Stinks

On By kittycalashIn Events, Reenacting4 Comments

I said to the B&G guy at work, “My house smells funny.”

He asked, “Funny good, or funny call the police?”

“Like black powder and wood smoke,” I said.

“Oh, call the police!” and we had a good laugh. Ed is a black powder hunter and camper, but not (yet) a reenactor.

We spent the weekend at the BAR event at the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry, CT, about 1.5 hours from Providence. It’s Route 6 all the way, twists and hills, lovely in the fall colors, but pokey.

I did get several apologies from the Captain of the Bail-Out British, so visited no mischief upon them. To be honest, I think they were into mischief enough themselves, judging by the aroma of the liquid in their mugs.

Saturday started foggy and party cloudy in Rhode Island, mist hanging over the reservoir in Scituate, framed by gold and red leaves. It was warmer and clearer in Connecticut, and lucky me, Sew 18th Century was there, too! She was cooking in the house, and I was in camp.

On Sunday, the Young Mr came out, too. Through machinations on Saturday, he was convinced to drum on Sunday, though he has been much afraid to since Fort Lee last year, and the SOI. He did just fine for a novice musician, and perhaps most importantly, learned he was wanted, needed, and would not die if he drummed in public.

And yes, I wore another gown.The fit, or perhaps the position of my stays, or both, need tweaking. I lay awake early this morning obsessing about the fit and whether i would need to move the sleeves, and should I undo it all now, and how all my fitted patterns were wrong, when I realized I had gone down the dangerous road of Dressmaking Doom.

I will lace up again, and try the gown again, at least once, before officially freaking out. Does this mean I need to put a wool gown on hold? Perhaps. The better time investment might be in a second wool petticoat and a short cloak for greater maneuverability. Also, some long underwear for the boys who wear linen. There’s no way a regimental for any regiment is getting made by November…and now there will be more than one. Who says men aren’t into clothes? Mine are, as long as they’re complicated styles of several centuries ago.

More pictures on Flickr.

On Baskets, and Authenticity

On By kittycalashIn Clothing, Events4 Comments


I have been thinking a great deal about Surprise Number 4, issues of authenticity in reenacting, and what is really important. As tempting as it would be to post an image of Surprise Number 4, I remember how ticked I was at the comments about an image of someone’s unkempt tent at Fort Frederick, so I can’t. It would be wrong. I may have missed the Dalai Lama today (HVAC will be my undoing, I think) but I didn’t miss the point about “doing unto others.”

So instead of philosophizing, have some photos.

The large one actually captures the entire Kitty Calash family, from Mr S at the right of the rank of soldiers to the Young Mr, in close proximity: a rare sighting indeed. Mr S’s calves stand out nicely in his new overalls, if I say so myself. Two more buttonholes, two more buttons, two more straps and those suckers are done. He did a good job, too, getting them dirty before Nathan Hale.

Yes, that’s my attempt at the “Ale House Door” jacket.  The fit is OK, the style a little late for RevWar, but it’s what I have in wool for now, made from a Wm Booth Draper remnant, and that’s the first wearing of the Sharon Burnston apron.

Sew 18th Century has a nice post on baskets, and where to get them, but wondered about the documentation of the market basket. What I can find is 1732, Plate 1 of Hogarth’s series, The Harlots’ Progress, based on Moll Flanders.


Would these have been out of use by 1770? Hard to say—I think I may have seen this form in catchpenny prints, but I have only a print source for those and it’s buried in one of the many stacks of books at home.

Still, I love my newly-arrived basket, ordered from Jeanne Beatrice for $24.

And there I am running away. Coventry, Connecticut, here I come!

Baking with the Cursing Sewing Mommy

On By kittycalashIn Events, Food, History1 Comment

Meet the cursing baking mommy! On Friday last, she started a full day of work that included a reenacted regiment backing out of the major event at work, a panic attack during her physical, a camera crisis during the visit of an Ambassador, as well as the full complement of broken things, paperwork, Section 106 reviews, and requests for meetings. So of course she came home with a plan to bake, in addition to packing up a full kit of 18th century camping equipment and finishing buttonholes and hems on overalls and that devil dress.

I did bake, actually. I tried a recipe I found on Let’s Burn Something, lavender tea bread.

Nooning with the Reg’t. They enjoyed the tea bread.

The recipe is pretty simple; the cursing part came in when I discovered that baking distracted has its dangers. Yes, I forgot to chop the lavender blossoms before steeping them in the milk. I did it after wards, and then tipped them back into the milk. You’d think the final result would look like, well, a loaf of pound cake with mouse excrement baked in, but it doesn’t. The little flowers look like seeds, so if you’re OK with a Rich Seed Cake, this will be fine, too.

Oh, I also used too much butter. Fortunately, that turned out to be fine, as too much butter usually is. And no, I don’t know my cholesterol levels, but let’s eat some more cake before the test results come back!

The Receipt, from Mom’s a Witch , via Let’s Burn Something :

Lavender Tea Bread

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 Tbsp. dried lavender flowers, finely chopped, or 3 Tbsp. fresh chopped flowers
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 6 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs

Method:

  • Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Heat milk with lavender almost to a boil, then steep until cool.
  • Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in bowl.
  • In another bowl cream butter and gradually add sugar, then eggs, one at a time, beating until light and fluffy.
  • Add flour mixture alternately with lavender milk, in three parts. Mix until batter is just blended, do not overbeat.
  • Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
  • When completely cool, drizzle with a simple sugar glaze or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Garnish with sprigs of fresh lavender.

I skipped both the sugar glaze and the confectioners’ sugar on the basis of sugar being expensive in the 18th century, and because I thought the final result would be less conducive to transport. It seemed fine, though with white linen uniforms, you wouldn’t notice the powdered sugar if it spilled. It’s just be the informal markings of the Second Helping Regiment.