What to wear for 55-degree weather? Suddenly, “red and black and white calicoe” seems…foolish. The Cursing Sewing Mommy may have words for not having gotten her act together to make the red short cloak from the Wm Booth remnant. But there is a blue wool cloak (based on one in the RIHS Collection) that lacks only facings, but when I dress early next Saturday morning, will one layer of wool over cotton be warm enough? Hard to be certain, but I am not confident. And what does this mean for Nathan Hale? Is it past time to drop the cotton and drag out the wool?
None of this panic has anything to do with questions of fit, of course, or the schedule for today, which starts with boiler men and ends with a board dinner. Yes, that is sarcasm.
I’ll haul “red and black and white calicoe” in to work and perhaps while babysitting boiler men I can work on some of the issues—or if not, at least get the second sleeve set and the cuffs done. If I can make it passable, I can wear it over my black wool petticoat, and bring the wool jacket in my runaway-with-the-army bag.
The overall buttons are in progress, and I have chisels for buttonholes, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. One really can’t whack holes in clothes on private club tables…not if one wishes to keep one’s job.
Layout, 8:00AM. Started after cutting out the last parts for the red calico gown
Many thanks to Sew18thCentury for the Sewing with Babies award. I’ve seen the badge on people’s blogs and thought, How charming! At least I don’t sew with a baby anymore… the Young Mr is, after all, very nearly 14. But aside from some safety issues (pins are slightly less hazardous, as they only get trapped on the size 13 feet, not potentially ingested), sewing with a school-age child is sewing with someone who needs (wants) your attention.
Sewing With Babies was created by Sarah W. from the blog A Most Peculiar Mademoiselle to recognize, “mothers who try (and now and then fail) to find time to create something beautiful and/or useful with needle and thread, between feedings, nappy changes, laundry, nursery rhymes, and baby kisses.”
I have been sewing with and for the Young Mr since before he was born; the day I went into labor, I was home with a sinus infection, contractions, and seated at the sewing machine frantically making…Christmas stockings for our family, including the cat. After all, my mom was coming for Christmas! Clearly, while I was in the grip of something strong, what I really needed was to get a grip.
What did I do after he was born, when he was the Monkey and not the Young Mr?
Like most moms, I sewed during naptime, or gave him a creative, not-too-messy activity to do alongside me. Caution was in order, because at about 18 months, he did climb onto the table to ride the sewing machine like a horse.
I took handwork with me to sew at lunchtime—and I still do this. Since 1999, I have sat in buildings under construction, hand sewing or quilting. It’s a good thing to talk about if you’re babysitting a lobby during a members’ open house, or while men screw heat detectors into ceilings in rooms without internet access, and you may learn new words to use when sewing goes awry.
Mostly, I get up early. When he was the Monkey, the Young Mr woke up before the New York Times was delivered. People, that was just unconscionable—and worse in the dial-up internet era. St. Louis at 4:00AM was a lonely place. After I got him back to sleep, I was wide awake waiting for the paper, so I started planning pieces, cutting patterns, and sewing before Mr S got up and we had to get ready for work.
I still get up early, sometimes 4:00, usually 5:00, and have sixty to ninety minutes before the rush to work and school begins.
I’m struck by the mothers who sew for their children, and wish I had been able to sew historic clothes for the Young Mr when he was little. So even though some of these folks have been nominated, here’s another vote to keep on sewing.
Romantic HistoryI especially like historic clothes for boys…now that I’m stuck making man-size clothes for my boy. (How did that happen!?)
Dana Made ItWhen my son was younger, I wanted to quit my job and sew for kids. Didn’t work out that way, but it’s great to see fresh ideas for sewing for kids.
Sewing with Kids This is how I started, felt animals and tense embroidery projects.
Still, from layout commencing at 07:59AM today to the cessation of sewing machine hostilities at 16:42PM, we have a garment. The words I have heard carpenters, electricians and pipe fitters use came in handy when the thread was– I swear–possessed by demons. Fabric wandered like it had grown legs, not been cut into legs, and I thought about how our mechanic said, “The Devil has many feet, Mr. S” when pronouncing the old Subaru unfit for resuscitation. I tossed the bad thread, rewound the bobbin, ate a sandwich, and started over. It was worth it to get to hand-finishing work, which is portable.
Now, it’s time for a beer (the cursing mommy would approve), and to switch to another project. Before I laid out the overalls, I cut out the stomacher and cuffs for my gown, and organized the finish work for that. Yesterday I decided to attempt to make a coral necklace, and that might be a good project for this evening. My thumb muscles need a rest.
What Cheer! Day is a week away, and exactly a week from now, at 6:30 AM, I will get into my B&G guy’s truck and head into the site. We’ll measure and tape out camp sites, fire pit sites, and safety lines, bring wood and gear out from the woodshed and basement. We’ll put out the handicapped parking only sign in the parking lot, drop the orange cones (I love the thick flexible plastic of a traffic cone), and drink some coffee. I haven’t decided at what point I’ll start to fret in earnest that day, but the trick to not fretting will probably be to get dressed in 18th century clothes as soon as we are done carrying items upstairs, because then I will have to take off my watch. Watches lead to fretting: there’s administrator time, and re-enactor time, which is more like artists’ time. Better to take off the watch and get closer to the past.
Half-pleated skirt, sleeves in progress
At the School of Instruction, I thought the “People of the Brigade” program worked well; at OSV, I really appreciated the Military Fashion Show (I did not make it to Runaway Runway). Using these models, and knowing about the School of Instruction’s Women’s Dress program, I thought we’d combine these ideas. I don’t have a good name for the program yet, but the reason I’m going so nuts about the dress from 1774 is that I plan a “History Dress-Tease:” starting in shift, stays, stockings and shoes, I’ll demonstrate all the layers my runaway wore: 2 petticoats, pockets, dress, stomacher, apron, cap, bonnet.
Any soldiers I can convince to get down to small clothes and layer up with waistcoat, coat or frock, canteen, cartridge box, bayonet scabbard, haversack, knapsack, hat and musket, will demonstrate the gear they carried. I thought about a weigh-in, to record how much it all weighs, but my scale is a pathological liar, and varies by 4 pounds from one side of the room to another.
All this work has an educational, and not merely sartorial, purpose. Now, if only the public will come…
All this sewing nonsense started in earnest the year the Young Mr wanted to be Aragorn for Halloween.
You could argue about whether or not we should have allowed him to watch The Lord of the Rings at the tender age of 7, and perhaps we should not have. But we did, and it all fit within his obsessions with dragons and swords–fully developed by age 4–so when he wanted to be Aragorn, a trip to Lorraine Fabrics was in order.
The boots are rubber riding boots from the Salvation Army, and the sword came from the party supply house next to the craft store in Warwick. It’s the toothless sneer that gets me.
If I were to do this again, what would I change? Probably the cloak fabric and cloak design, but not much else: it’s a costume. Yes, those are stretch velvet leggings from the $2 a yard fabric loft at Lorraine’s, or else their remnant table. In the dark, who notices? They worked well for a kid who needed ease and speed in dressing.
The Young Mr wore this to play in until he outgrew it–and even a little beyond that. He still runs around with a sword if he thinks you’re not watching. Teen age cool cracks sometimes.
No more Halloween costumes, though. Last year he stayed home to hand out candy. When the little kids said, “Thank you,” Mr Cool replied, “No problem.”
Kirsten Hammerstrom 
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