Fort Frederick 2019

This was my second visit to Fort Fred, and it was just as much fun as the first time I went three years ago!  I caught a ride up to Maryland with my friend Britney, and shared a hotel room with her and our friend Stephani.  The three of us all dressed up and went to the market together. 

I wore my newly-finished Yellow and Blue Jacket and yellow wool petticoat.  Britney and Stephani kindly helped me style my Boogie Babe wig (previously worn for Carolyn's 1790's Tea) into a hedgehog while I finished sewing my jacket at the hotel Friday night:

I think it turned out pretty great!  I could barely fit in Stephani's car with it on: 

It was windy!  The wig was securely pinned to my hair, but before I could wear my hat we needed to find and purchase some hat pins.  I'd forgotten mine at home, and there was no way my hat would stay on without one - or two! 

I ended up getting two, from K. Walters At the Sign of the Gray Horse.  They are nice and sturdy, and quite long!  With my hat in place, I finally felt fully dressed. 

I re-wore my blue linen mitts that I made for Fort Fred the first time around, and in fact my hat is the same one I trimmed for that trip, too!  I accessorized with earrings from Dames a la Mode, and American Duchess Dunmores.  My stockings were purchased at Colonial Williamsburg (as was the hat).

I wore a bum roll and ruffled underpetticoat over my old cotton shift (that needs to be replaced with a linen one) and my maternity stays.  (I have yet to finish my regular 18th Century stays, which probably won't fit me anymore!)  Oh, and my kerchief is just a hemmed triangle of cotton voile. 

At the fort, we met up with Stephani's friend Lena, who is now my friend, too! 

Lena, me, Stephani, Britney

 The wind played havoc with our hats while we tried to pose serenely: 

But we did get some decent shots.  Thanks to Jessica for the photos! 

I was loving the beautiful violets that were everywhere in the grass: 

And just for fun, took a photo of my shadow: 

It was a loooooong day of walking and standing, and my feet were very tired by the end!  I ended up lounging on the grass next to a fabric vendor for probably 20 minutes or so, late in the day while the rest of my party continued to shop.  It felt glorious! 

Thank you to Britney for this photo

I came away with quite a lot of new stuff! 

Wooden box from Daniel Hrinko, embroidery pattern, floss, and two pairs of stockings from Penny River, stockings from Daniel Boone (if I recall correctly), market bonnet from Royal Blue Traders, silk ribbon from Fashions Revisited, dice and top from Wooden Toys and Boxes, feathers from a vendor I don't remember for sure, hat pins from K. Walters

I also got chocolate hazelnut shortbread from The Shortbread Exchange, but it disappeared before I thought to take pictures of it.  :p 

Also, we met up with my friends Jessica, Carol, and Sarah, but I have no photos of or with them. 

Yellow and Blue Jacket

I cut out this jacket three years ago, the same time as I was making my Coral Floral Jacket.  But I never put it together until this past week, when I wanted something new to wear to Fort Fred.  (More on that later.)  I had yellow wool set aside for a petticoat (it will eventually go with the gown I started in the B&T workshop a year and a half ago) that perfectly matches the pale yellow linen I was using for the zone front of this jacket, so it was about time I went ahead and made it.

Here are my photos from three years ago:

I had two 26" square samples of the same fabric, which was barely enough to squeeze out a zone-front or cutaway jacket.

I used the same pattern as the Coral Floral Jacket, with a self-drafted front, but the sleeve pattern is from my Green Swallowtail Jacket.  

I managed it by sacrificing the deep point at the center back waistline, and edging the bottom of the sleeve into the selvedge.  Fortunately, most of the white would be hidden inside the elbow dart and seam allowance.

The largest remaining piece would become the jacket peplum.  I traced a pattern from it, in case I want to duplicate it someday.

Here is my test pleating for the peplum:

And then it languished for nearly a year.  I don't know what I was originally planning to use for the "zone" part of the front, but from the time stamps on my photos I can tell you that I chose this pale yellow linen and cut out the original front pattern piece from it in February 2017:

And then did nothing with it for another two years!  But last week, with Fort Fred on the horizon, I decided now was the time.  

Since it had been so long since I cut it out, and I'd had a baby in the interim, I was concerned that it might not still fit if I made it up as originally cut out.  To test this, I tried on my old Coral Floral Jacket over my stays laced to a comfortable level, and it would not pin closed.  Which I expected.  I tightened the stays and tried again, and this time I got it to fit!  But the stays were uncomfortably tight.  Also, the armscyes of the jacket were uncomfortably tight - a problem I'm finding with many of my older costume pieces.  So adjustments would need to be made.  

I ended up taking 1/2" seam allowances on the center back, side back, and side seams instead of 5/8".  I didn't want to go too much smaller and risk the structural integrity of the jacket, plus I needed the seam allowances to support casings for the bones on the back seams.  I applied those to the lining pieces, which I had cut out at the same time as the original jacket.  

I have no photos of construction, other than these quick ones I took on my phone while playing around with trim ideas:  

I really had no idea what kind of trim I should do, but after discussing it with friends who are more knowledgeable about 18th Century fashions than I am, I decided to go with no trim whatsoever.  Which was certainly a lot easier!  I even nixed the bows I was going to put at center front:

My friends told me that cutaway jackets of this type were not as "frou-frou" as some of the earlier 18th Century styles, and that less was more.  They did encourage me to use one of the above dark blue ribbons as a belt, though.

I did take one actual construction photo!  It shows the line I was about to cut to open up the armscye more on the jacket front:

I lined it up with the shoulder strap at the front of the armscye, so it would match up properly.  I also cut down the lower edge of the top curve of the sleeve, by the same amount.

Here I am wearing the finished jacket at Fort Fred!

I made a quickie breast-knot in the car

 I was pleased with the end result, and it was comfortable to wear.

I'd like to get more photos of it, but it was so windy that day!  Photo ops were largely eschewed in favor of ducking into sutlers' tents to get out of the wind - and shop!  I'll post about that next.

1790s Tea Party

On Sunday I got to attend another one of Carolyn's fabulous parties!  This one's theme was 1790s, which was a new decade for me.  I ended up making two new gowns and a new set of stays, and I decorated a pair of shoes and styled a wig - another new experience for me!  I'll blog about each of these projects separately, but for now here are my photos from the event.  (If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen quite a few of them already!)

I arrived right on time and already dressed, which is unusual for me.  But it means I got to join the group that was gathered outside taking photos in front of a lovely ivy-covered wall:

Taylor, Carolyn, Aubry, Deborah, Bridget

Most people had already had their turn when I showed up, but I got this shot of the lovely Ginger:

Lauren was kind enough to take these photos of me:

Jewelry by Dames a la Mode

These shoes make me so happy!

The blue decorations are on shoe clips, so I can change them out or leave the shoes plain.

After the photo shoot, we continued the party indoors.  Carolyn had decorated her beautiful high ceilings with garlands of flowers, and I tried to get a couple photos of them:

Bridget, Debora, Taylor, Lauren

Mostly I just took candid photos of people enjoying the ambiance:

Robin and Rob

Sarah and Jessica

Leia, looking serene

And playing cards:

Ginger, Lauren, Taylor, Bridget, Deborah, Jenny-Rose, Katy, Carolyn

Chatting and socializing:

Cait, Carol, Nastassia, Emma

Sarah, Leia, Robin, Rob

Jenny-Rose, looking regal

Aubry and Leia, chilling on the floor

Partway through the afternoon, a small group of us went for a brief walk around the block, since it was such a nice day.  We stopped at the same wall of ivy for a round of photos for those who weren't there for the first photo shoot:

Cait, looking windswept and fabulous

And we found this lovely flowering tree:

Emma, being elegant

Nastassia, Carol, Emma

My shoes looked like this after our walk!

I think I can clean the shoe clips, though. I'm pretty sure it's just dust that my skirt hem swept onto my toes, and the velvet ribbon grabbed onto.

Back inside, I couldn't resist getting some photos in my pink gown with a pink drink:

Finally, Ginger and Carolyn were standing together in just absolutely beautiful light after coming back from their walk, and I had to get a pic of them together!

Then someone insisted that I jump in, too.  Jessica took these pictures:

Such a lovely time with lovely people!