Recent Events

We spent the last weekend of April in the lovely little town of Plymouth, NC, enjoying the breezy weather and some good cannon fire!  I wore my ever-faithful green cotton dress, with bonnet. But I was sporting a new accessory! I finally got my brooch made!!! You can see it in the picture, a gold filled frame contains a lovely curl from my dear husbands hair! It was  a good conversation peice, and I look foward to wearing it in the futer to many events!

Seen here with good friend Corey O!

My sewing plans have not been going as planned. I have had a few upsets that have caused set-back in the sewing progress. I have started my Regency short stays, well, sort-of. The first mockup was way too big! So down 2 sizes I went, but have not assembled that mock-up yet. However I did get some lovely light-green fustion for $2/yard!!! Yes, I did buy the whole bolt. I am thinking about making a dress and matching pelessie, or just a dress with some very nice trim!

Also on the Regency list is my purple "work" dress & linen apron. Both of which will not get done until stays are completed as well as DH's hunting frock.

All of this goes along with the new job!!! Yes, NEW JOB!!!  I am happy to say that I am the Programs Corrdinator at Bentonville Battlefield! I am so happy to recieve the job!

So, as busy as I am,

Happy Sewing!!

A Fun Weekend

This past weekend was the first time I had camped at an event since March! What a trip! It took me almost a full week to prepare for it (not inlcuding the 9 loaves of bread). It was a great weekend! We had an iffy weather forcast, full of rain! Luckily the rain held out, only a few showers on Friday after we set up. The clouds did hang around all day Saturday with a constant threat of rain, but no drops fell! We spent the weekend cooking for the guys! It was so much fun to get the hands dirty again! I enjoy cooking for the large crowd in a big pot and connecting to the public through a campfire, such a cool way to interpret.

This was the first event that the CCLHA fielded the 1st NC Volunteers and they looked great!!

Still recovering from the weekend! But it was a blast! I really love that the cooler weather is starting to set in!!

Happy Sewing!!!

A Few More from Bentonville

Ladies watch the men enlist from the porch

Lunch in the Kitchen

" John and Amy Harper"

Taking a break by the kitchen

145 Bentonville- In Pictures

A look at the weekend, in pictures.

Lora, Hilda, and I take a break inside the museum on Sunday

Ladies Benevolent Society host the Saturday Evening Dance

Playing Graces for Wednesday School Day

145 Bentonville

What a weekend!! We had been preparing for this event since October, and now it has come and gone. The weekend was amazing! There were about 3500 reenactors, and 40,000 spectators. This was my first "mega event", and it was just that- mega.
I have to admit, I did get a little emotional on Sunday. I stood there and watched as the thousands of soldiers walked off of the inspection field on their way to the battle field, it was quite a moment to see that many men "prepare for war". Knowing that 145 years ago the day men lost their lives in a field, the emotions of the Civil War still run deep here in the South, I felt them this weekend.
On a happier note, the LBS hosted the Saturday evening dance without flaw. Lemonade and 3 kinds of cookies were handed out the guests at the dance as the Huckleberry Brothers played the night away. It was something that I had stressed over for some time, but I could not have felt better about it when the night was over.
Pictures to come of the wonderful weekend at Bentonville!

Sewing Frenzy

As I'm preparing for the biggest event in the state, 145 Bentonville, I have been in a sewing frenzy. My list keeps getting longer and longer, but with good intentions I doubt it will all get done before the 19.

I have made progress on my new dress! A friend of mine helped drape a new bodice for my new corset, you can read all about it and enjoy pictures of the adventure at http://whynotthen.com/Blog/How-to-Drape-a-Bodice-in-119-easy-steps. The lining and fabric bodice are cut out. The skirt panels are cut and stitched with hem tape and facing attached!! Also, the sleeves are drafted, cut and sewn. I actually drafted these sleeves all by myself! This is the second sleeve that I have drafted, and I like the process, though this time I went through 3 drafts before I got to this.

I also started making a belt to wear with this dress, well ay dress really, but this dress in particular. It is a bright pinkish velvet ribbon with a faux 2 piece buckel of gold filligree squares, a picture to come later when it is complete!

More updates coming!!

Fort Anderson

This past weekend I participated in the 145th Fort Anderson. It was a gorgeous weekend. The temperatures were in the high 50's low 60's on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was spent sewing small things, touring the fort, playing graces and socializing of course! I also got my first tintype made on Saturday. Harry Taylor (http://www.harrytaylorphoto.com/) struck this tintype of part of the group Saturday. We were very pleased with it.

Sunday was spent peeling and cutting vegetables for the chicken soup lunch. Then Church services in the 1700s St. Phillips Church. After church it was the regular explain what we were wearing and answering questions from the "taters".

I wore my new corset this weekend, and it was great!! It is so much more comforatable than my old one. There were a few mishaps with the boning trying to escape through the top of the binding, but I can fix that.

Fort Fisher

This weekend we went to and participated in the 145th Anniversary of the Battle of Fort Fisher. The weekend was a nice one, until late Saturday night when it started to rain, and kept raining until about 8 Sunday morning. Luckily, we stayed dry!! The tents did not leak, except for a drip where a hat was touching the wall, but other than that everything else was dry.

Saturday was very nice, I still do not think that the temperature got as high as they had predicted, but the sun was still shining. I finished the second peice of my Godeys scarf and started on the last peice, though I only got about 2" of it knitted. The battle scenario was one of the best I had seen in a while since both sides were able to fight on the original mounds of the fort. Saturday evening I helped with the night tour. I was Daisy Lamb, wife of Fort Fisher Commander Col. William Lamb. I read a letter that she had penned to her parents in Rhode Island between the two attacks on the Fort, her words were very moving. After the tour the site provided us with an excellent dinner. There was chicken, barbeque, potatoes, rice, mac& cheese, green beans, corn, rolls, salad, and banana pudding, and some of the best tea!

Since it had rained so much during the night, Sunday's events were cancelled. We packed up and spent the day with good friends before heading home.

Taylor and I at Fort Fisher, I was able to wear my new apron and bow!

Kinston!

Went to the CSS Neuse Living History this weekend in Kinston. It was such a wonderful weekend, though we left early. The weather got a little cool on Friday night, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day on Saturday. Sitting and talking with all the ladies was so much fun, though we did not get much done :). We did have a "hair party" in the morning where we took turns getting our hair done.

We also played graces, which didn't turn out so good sometimes, as we ran across the yard trying to catch the hoop, which didn't seem very graceul,but it was fun none the less.

Taylor had some fun later in the day "training cadets" , which is one of his favorite things to do at an event. He does such a good job at it.

Read more about the event here: http://www.kinston.com/articles/site-60130-neuse-historic.html

Kinston

We will be headed to Kinston this weekend for the annual CSS Neuse Living History. This is a good event every year, rather small but a good opportunity to share history with people who really care. I have finally made my new bodice out of grey wool that I plan on wearing. It is straight waist with darts, and slim cut- double puff sleeves! I still have to attach the sleeve to the bodice and make a collar and cuffs, but those are fairly easy! I would like to trim it before this weekend, but we will see.
I also want to fix the broken rung in my cage before this weeked so that I am not walking around with tape on it :).

New Stool

I've been wanting to recover my camp stool for a while now, but tonight it finally got done.

My mom actually covered it, dad sanded down the corners to make them more comfy, and then I handstitched the new fabric and the old canvas together on the sides.....

Before & After