Monday, May 27, 2019

Green Wool Cape

This was a quick little project, fortunately.  I needed something for Reptar to wear over her Green Floral Dress for our photo shoot in Williamsburg in February, to keep her warm.  I had barely a large enough scrap of green wool flannel from Burnley & Trowbridge - left over from the Green Wool Tailcoat I was commissioned to make three years ago - to eke out a half-circle cape and small hood.


I took no photos while I was working on it, being in a hurry to get it done, but the construction was fairly straightforward.


The hood was just a rectangle that I lined in pale gold silk habotai that I had on hand.


I stitched the layers separately for 5 1/2" (including seam allowance) up from the neck edge, and pressed under the remaining seam allowance up to the fold on both the wool and the lining.


Then I slip-stitched the edges together, and pleated the opening down into a circle:


I attached the collar to the cape by machine, and turned under the seam allowance of the lining, enclosing the raw edges and catch-stitching it to the seam by hand.  Then I stitched a line 5/8" up from the neck by machine, creating a casing for the drawstring/ties:


The front edge of the hood got prick-stitched by hand to keep it nice and neat:


The ties are long enough to cross over Reptar's chest and wrap around her waist.  This keeps the cape in place and prevents choking.














Saturday, May 25, 2019

Wandering in Williamsburg

The first weekend of February was a busy one for me.  On Saturday, February 2, there were two events in Williamsburg that I wanted to attend.  The first was the RSV annual meeting, followed by the Mini Market Fair in the afternoon!  I talked Brian the Engineer into going with me and Reptar and making a day of it.  We even managed to squeeze in a mother-daughter photo shoot in the historical area in between the two events!  I might be slightly crazy.  :p

But the photos (and there are a lot of them) were totally worth it!  I already posted a bunch on my Facebook page, but here are my favorites:








Reptar loved running up and down the hedgerows in this garden, which was like a maze to her:
















It's difficult to get very far with a toddler who is interested in every single thing on the ground.



And who must climb every set of stairs she finds!




There was an airplane flying overhead:



I couldn't resist getting some photos of her on my phone, too:


It was a cute shot, though!


Then I couldn't resist a selfie:



Brian also got a few shots of my ensemble for the day:


I wore my Cream Striped Bonnet, Pink Silk Spencer, Sheer Striped Gown over Pink Bodiced Petticoat, and of course my Hartfields.




Reptar wore a green wool cape over her Green Floral Dress, with an antique cap I was gifted, a green silk ribbon sash from Burnley & Trowbridge, altered children's stockings from Colonial Williamsburg, white leather ballet flats I got at a thrift store and altered to make them more Regency-appropriate.  The green silk ribbon ties are also from B&T.






Hey look, more stairs!


She could get up them by herself, but needed assistance with going back down.



So many stairs!



And here are some of the photos from my phone:




Loving papa/husband took such great pictures!  (And held all my things. :p)




Back home that evening, I let her play with a new game of Quoits that I had gotten at Colonial Williamsburg for her: