So, I had this idea ...

Sweet Daughter and I both love fireworks, and there aren't any locally on Independence Day any more. The closest ones only have one way out of town, and the last time we did it, it was over two hours to go what usually takes 20 minutes to get home. If I was going to sit in traffic ... how about doing it someplace else?

Williamsburg sounded like a great idea, and with the Firelock Match canceled last week, I still had a little gas and lodging money set aside, so we could stay overnight and spend two days!

This, of course, lead me to realize that we had that ages-old female dilemma of having nothing suitable to wear. Even if it was cool enough, my riding habit based on a British uniform would be considered in bad taste under the circumstances. So I concentrated on Sweet Daughter instead. Lightweight cotton muslin gowns over a taffeta petticoat with matching sash were all the rage. Even the doll in The Copley Family was wearing one.

Not having time or money to buy anything new, I dug through my bins of fabric and found a sheer "cross barred" cotton. And I had some coral taffeta. So ... why not? Well, other than I didn't have a pattern. So, I looked closer ...

 

We already have the ruffled shift, so that's a start. They gown looked like it was constructed along the lines of an infant's gown, except that the bodice and skirts were cut in one length, with pleats taking up the extra width around the torso. I wasn't sure where to start ... how long to cut it, taking the growth pleats into account, or if I'd even have enough fabric, so I started by hemming and then adding the growth tucks to the bottom of the yardage I had.  Then I made a fitting muslin for the torso, measured from the neckline (in back, because it's higher in back) down to where I thought the gown should be lengthwise, and then measured up from the bottom of the hemmed piece and marked the cutting line. Then I pleated the fabric I had to fit the circumference of the fitting muslin. I also measured from the waistline on the gown down to the hem, added allowances for the hem and growth tucks, and cut the petticoat out and made that.

 

 

 

Compared to most of the examples I've seen, I think mine came out a little on the skimpy side. But as the saying goes, sometimes you have to "cut your coat according to your cloth", and sometimes that's not metaphorical, but literal.

 

The sleeves were cut straight from the armpits down, and hemmed and growth tucks added before setting them in. (I did this by putting SD in the gown and pinning them in place before sewing them in.) The sash is 10' long and 4" wide. When I do this again, I think the sash should be a bit wider. I made it out of the same taffeta as the petticoat, but in the painting above, it looks less stiff. And the length was not excessive once tied in a bit fat bow.

 

And the turban? I still have some more research to do on exactly how and/or what that frothy-looking trim is along the edges of the band. I have an idea, but need the right materials before I try. In the mean time, we have the straw hat we did in May. The underside is lined in the same coral taffeta, and the ruching around the crown is also the same stuff. This will be more practical on a sunny day, anyway.

 

And this is what happens after hours of sewing rolled hems. That's what I get for letting that callus go away.

 

Pictures of SD in the whole thing to come ...

Why I hate shopping for guns

I don’t mean to tar all you gun salesmen with the same brush, but why I can I not walk into a gun shop/gun show without someone trying to sell me a pink gun? About the only time it hasn’t happened was while in the company of about a dozen other gun bloggers. My local store even tried to sell me a pink rifle that was sized down for women. Let that sink in for a moment. He tried to sell an undersized rifle to someone who stands six feet tall and has a 74” wing span. The last gun show I went to, I purposely dressed in brown tweed so as to not trip either the “cute” or the “camouflage” stereotype and I still got flagged down with promises of Mattel colors.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was last Friday. I was in Large Sporting Goods store where I was assisted by a very helpful employee in confirming the black power supplies I needed didn’t exist in his store. I told him I was just going to look at the pistols under glass on my way out, but that I wasn’t in the market for anything any time soon and thanked him for his help. As I worked my way down the counter, I ran into his associate who was chatting up a couple. He asked what I was looking for, and I told him what caliber, but that I wasn’t in the market yet. His response?

“I got a hot pink one in the back!”

I spun on my heel and started to exit, but stopped after two steps and turned back.

“Really?” I said. “The first thing that comes out of your mouth is the color? Not the manufacturer, or the model, but the COLOR? SERIOUSLY?”

The female half of the couple standing there assured me that it was real “purdy”. She’d seen it!

I sighed and resumed my exit.

I don’t have a pink hammer, or a pink trim saw, pink kitchen knives, a pink mixer, a pink lawnmower or a pink car. Other than one pair of scissors, I can not think of a single tool I own that is pink. When I walk into a wine store, the salesweasels don’t assume I drink white zinfandel, or show me where the wine coolers. My used car guy doesn’t try to sell me a minivan. Why do guns stores think I want a pink gun?

 

 

 

 

 

Firelock update

Clothing (that fits!) done? Check.

Supplies inventoried, procured, and cartridge production begun? Check.

Stuck musket ball removed from musket barrel? Check.

Inside of a musket lock

Organizers of the umbrella organization contacted the participants a couple of days ago to let us know that the state of Maryland had updated its black power regulations in 2011 … and they weren’t compatible with the rules of the umbrella organization. (Yes. They figured this out a week before the event.) They thought they had a work-around, but concluded yesterday that there was no way a compromise could be reached, mostly because one group says aluminum foil cartridges are mandatory for live rounds, and the other group forbids aluminum foil cartridges for live rounds.

So, of course, I put 10 shots on paper at 10 yards today that looked like this:

10 rounds on paper. See the one in the middle? Second from the left? Two rounds in that hole.
 

Yes, I realize this in only 10 yards and not 25, but pffft.

Movie night

Sweet Daughter and I were watching Moulan tonight, and SD was having a very difficult time wrapping her head around a different time and culture that didn't value intelligent women.

"Why does somebody else choose her husband? Why is she wearing that white make-up? Why weren't women allowed to be in the army? Why are they going to execute her when she's such a good soldier? Why don't they use common sense?"

Righteously indignant didn't even begin to cover it.

And unfortunately, I had to tell her that common sense was still in awfully short supply, even today.

Linen outfit jacket and petticoat

Photos courtesy of Sweet Daughter.

Here's the blue linen outfit fashioned from the maternity outfit. Here's it's worn without stays (shocking, I know). Plans are to wear this to the Firelock Match if I get there (long story). The first time I participated, I wore stays, and I ended up feeling like I had whiplash. My guess is that my torso remained pretty much immobile as a result, and my neck took up all the recoil.



I'm hoping I can get the back to fit a bit better -- maybe with stays.

I'll be able to wear this with stays, too, and can upgrade it with a nicer apron and neck handkerchief. Looks like a good outfit for Williamsburg in the dog days of summer. Now I just need a straw hat to go with it.

 

The important part is that I can move my arms well enough to shoot.

 

My next opus

I think the next big sewing project for me is going to be this.

The Ladies Shooting Poney by John Collet

Weekend

This weekend consisted of lots of random stuff, but I got a surprisingly amount accomplished.

On Friday night I started altering and 18^th century jacket and petticoat that had started out life as a maternity outfit, based on this at Colonial Williamsburg, but in navy linen. The idea was that a stomacher could fill in the expanding front, and it would lace shut again after pregnancy.

Image courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, found here.

 

I was overly optimistic 9 years ago when I started this. I underestimated how much things widen, and I don’t just mean the waistline. So Friday night saw me letting out the vertical seams and telling myself that the sleeves were now just fashionably snug. On Saturday, I got the petticoat hemmed and the front panel shortened (now that there wasn’t a pregnant belly to cover) and on Sunday I put the hook and eye closures in. Pictures will follow once I get the sleeve ruffles made and attached.

Saturday also saw a whole lot of yard work going on. Clearly, I need a case in remedial weed whacking as I’m not very good at it. I’m blaming the fact that I’m too tall to hold the base parallel to the ground. That’s my story, anyway.

On Sunday, I got up and ran to the local hardware store (well, "ran" after breakfast and coffee) where I purchased 2” x 4”s so I could build some shelves for my sewing room. Holy crap, when did dimensional lumber get so darned expensive? Granted, these are excellent quality with unusually few knots, but pricier than I was expecting. Even with having to trim every single piece, it was still a quick build which left me time for laundry. All the winter bedding got washed and just needs a clean tote so I can put it all away on the new shelves.

As a dear friend would say "Good enough for who it's for."

The strangest part of the weekend? I used the push mower, the riding mower, the string trimmer, a hedge trimmer, various hot and/or pointy kitchen implements, a battery charger, a trim saw, a drill and made countless trips up and down a ladder, and the thing that beat me up the most was that string trimmer.

 

I see shin guards in my future.