Historical Sew Monthly September Challenge: Brown

This is my first HSF/M challenge ever!  Even though it’s not September anymore, this garment was completed in September, and I wanted to practice the HSF format.  This shirt was sewn as a commission for the man I sew for, who works full-time at a museum.

This is the first of about 6 or more shirts I am sewing for him, as he wears 18th century more or less full time.  The shirt features machine sewing on all major inside seams, but all finishing (flat felling, hemming, buttonholes, etc.) are all handsewn.

I added rectangular shoulder reinforcements, and triangular gussets at both the hip and neckline, which help make the shirt fit better and wear more durably.  I know that if my handsewing can stand the wear that this shirt will get, I should never have a problem with any of my clothes, as they have to endure considerably less wear.

The sleeves are very full and considerably long, almost folding over near the wrist.  I may need to change that in future shirts, as they run the risk of getting caught and tearing or generally impeding movement.

I wanted to try out marking the shirt with cross stitch, as it would help differentiate the shirts I make from the other ones he owns.  I sketched out my own gridded pattern for this, and put a “1” to signify which shirt this is.  Since in future shirts I will vary some elements for a better fit, numbering them makes it easier to tell them apart.

Here’s the quick and dirty info:

The Challenge: Brown

Fabric: Lightweight Unbleached Linen

Pattern: my own pattern, drafted from measurements

Year: approximately 1750-1820

Notions: linen thread, 5 bone buttons

How historically accurate is it? 80%, more or less.  The machine stitching would have been handstitched in the 18th century, but aside from that, as far as anyone can see, it is historically accurate.  I’m practicing stroked gathers for the next one, so it should be even better!

Hours to complete: A lot, I didn’t keep track.  I would estimate at least 40 hours, but probably more.

First worn: Worn for photos upon delivery and to ensure fit.  I think he has worn it to a reenactment since then.

Total cost: Since it was a commission and he provided the fabric, I don’t know.  This linen runs about 10 dollars a yard, so probably about $20 for fabric alone exclusive of labor.

Remembering WWII 2015

Last year I heard about a somewhat local event in Linden, Tennessee called Remembering WWII.  With such fantastic posts from Atlanta at Story of a Seamstress and Lily at Mode de Lis, I knew that we had to go in 2015.

So we got a small group together who all wanted to dress in 1940’s clothes, and made plans to go.  Between everyone going, it wasn’t hard to outfit everyone in vintage or vintage-inspired clothing from head to toe.

I got my hair cut in a middy style especially for this occasion, because it has not been shorter than shoulder length since I was a sophomore in high school.  I practiced wet sets for awhile beforehand to get the hair just right.

This is the results of the first hairstyle I tried.  Success!

I took these two pictures the morning of the event to show my sister and her friends whose hair I also did, so they wouldn’t freak out at the mass of curls that happens when you start taking all the curlers out!  You can see the curler that was a dud right in the front there.  I pinned that side behind my ear, which worked well to hide it.

We got to Linden just as they started the first reenactment. It was sprinkling rain for most of the time we were there, which caused everyone’s hair and hats to droop a bit, but it all worked out in the end!

My husband and I standing in front of one of the many vintage cars that were parked along the street.

My sister and I. She is wearing a dress I made a few years ago, and my dress was made for this event from fabric I had bought years ago to make a 40’s dress. You can see my shoes in this picture, they are vintage style shoes I got from eBay.  They are pretty comfortable, but I may bring other shoes to change into next year, there is a lot of walking involved in this event if you want to see everything.

These are my sister and two of her friends, and they looked adorable all day long!  They got a lot of attention from other attendees.  I am still trying to track down some of the pictures that were taken of us all by different people there.
Somehow I managed not to get any photos of my other friends that went, but they looked great as well!

It was a really fun day!  I did not manage to take any pictures of the other goings on, but we got to see two veterans telling their stories about the war, a reenactment, some swing dancing, and some musical performances that were all really enjoyable.  My favorite part was just walking around the town.  The people who live there had done so much work to give the town the proper ambiance of a WWII era small town.  There were lots of other reenactors dressed to the nines, even whole families all in their Sunday best!  I think this is definitely an event we will be attending again, and hopefully with a larger group next time!

Rebecca