Colonial Williamsburg Part II

Ok, yes, I know… I’ve been a terrible blogger. Those of you who follow me on facebook know many of the reasons. The top reason has been Mr. Bob, my horse. He’s in full time training and between him and the business my time has been limited. Anyway, I finally got around to writing about the rest of the trip to CW. Here are the photos… Enjoy!

There was SHOPPING…. Lots and lots of shopping! We also had a great opportunity for experimental archeology. The weather did not exactly cooperate the entire trip. We had sun, snow, sleet, rain, freezing temps, then sun again. This, of course, taught me what I need to add to my wardrobe to winterize it. More on that later.

We had a lovely tavern night with new friends.

And the highlight of the trip for me was the last day. My wonderful husband gifted me an extra day and so we strolled on the sunny streets of Colonial Williamsburg, took a carriage ride, and had a private tour of the stables.

In short, the trip was absolutely magical!

We also had a private photo shoot at Bacon’s Castle with the lovely Lauren, from American Duchess. Hop on over to her blog post to see the photos…

On Location at Bacon's Castle - Journey to the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries

 

And finally, I have some exciting news coming up with regards to this blog. I am working on rebranding myself and working on my workshop at home. More on that later too.

Colonial Williamsburg March 2014 Part 1

Wow! Where to begin? Williamsburg was absolutely amazing, magical, and I cannot wait to go back. I spent a wonderful week with some of my favorite ladies and met a number of lovely people.

I hit the ground running and joined Abby, of Stay-in Alive, in the millinery shop Saturday morning. It was wonderful to meet the ladies that work in the shop and see their stunning creations!

(Photo by Lauren of American Duchess)

Lauren and Maggie arrived later Saturday afternoon and I hoofed it back to the house to round them up and drag them, willingly, all over Williamsburg. I look rather disheveled, but this was taken after I had walked a good 5 miles that day.

The next morning we woke up early and dressed for our day in Jamestown for the Military Through the Ages event.

Jamestown was a lovely experience! The sights, smells, and interpreters were wonderful. I wish we had more time to spend meandering the grounds and seeing the sites.

The ever lovely, American Duchess Lauren

The surgeon showing explaining his trade.

No trip is complete without making chicken friends. (Photo by Lauren of American Duchess)

(Photo by Lauren of American Duchess)

Then this happened….

Yes, we met Napoleon while shopping! Doesn’t get much better than this…

 

Stay tuned for Part 2

A Hat and a Reticule

Hello All,

   I have returned from Williamsburg and I am slowly sorted through my pictures. It was absolutely AMAZING; words cannot describe how wonderful the trip was. I will be posting pictures and stories soon, I promise.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the final projects I completed right before I left for CW. Enjoy!

Attr. to John Hoppner, Portrait of a lady, ca.1785-1786, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

While doing research on 18th century hats, I stumbled across this beauty! I decided I must have this hat in my wardrobe.

I am very pleased with the result! I jokingly refer to it as the hat of doom.

The second project was a simple embroidered reticule. My older reticules have definitely seen better days.

I’m very happy with the results and it held up beautifully during my trip.

I promise to have pictures and more on the trip soon.

God Bless!!!

Love Lauren

Blue Spencer, Remaking a Spencer I Never was Happy With

Some years ago I made this spencer. This particular photo was after I had altered once. This is one of those projects that I was never completely satisfied with. The spencer always had fitting issues around the neck and the sleeves never quite fit right. Not to mention as soon as I hit 27, certain areas in the chestal region decided to expand, joys! So, I started taking this piece apart about 2 years ago with plans to fix it and change it into something else.

Ahh, the early days… please ignore Aaron’s boots, and the ill fitting frock coat… and.. well… pretty much everything he is wearing. Eeek! We all have skeletons in our reenacting closets, right! (Ok, I’m hard on myself, but I’m a perfectionist who is always trying to learn more and hone the craft.)

Anywhoo… back to the point of all of this.

About six months ago I found this lovely miniature. I decided my old, worn out, seen better days, ill fitting spencer might be able to have new life.

Here’s the starting point, well the semi starting point, after removing the sleeves. As you may be able to see in the picture, the arms eye sits too far back and digs into my arm. I HATE it when clothing digs into me, especially when I try to move my arms forward. So, that had to be fixed. The other issues was the wrinkling of the bodice when I would close the front. The darts did not sit in the right spot and somehow needed to be moved. So, I sat and thought for a day or so, and looked at it. Yup, I need my sit, think, and stare time.

During my sit and think time, I made my way to one of our local antique stores and found this lovely trim. It was perfect for this project and it’s vintage silver!

After fussing with things for a few hours, I decided to add a side piece under each arm. I somehow forgot to get a picture, but it’s really not that exciting. Anyway, that did the trick! It put everything in the correct spot. I also added boning to the front of the bodice on both sides and metal eyes on the inner edge to lace the bodice closed, like the painting shows.

After a day, or so, of mounting the trim, we now have a finished bodice.

Again, not the best of pictures, but at least you get the idea of the fit. I’m  much, much happier with this incarnation of the spencer. The fitting issues are fixed and I love the result!