Abounding sun bonnets

Hello!!

 I am, at last, back after my lengthy hiatus! :) I'm now off my job for the summer months. And as of an hour ago we wrapped up the elephantine project of picking up and organizing (sorta) the sewing room! Which pretty much looked like a tornado had hit it. :S So now all the fabric is sorted by color and all the small peices for quilts are separated from the more useful lengths (which to my disappointment are rather limited in both size and quantity). Box after box of knits were hauled to the basement. In every form and color you can imagine. Single knits, double knits, tricots, and well the list goes on and on. I'm now accepting ideas on how to use this mountainous collection. I have to admitt I have very little patience when it comes to the horrible heap of poly esther. lol That type of fabric basically goes against my entire idea what I should be sewing. Never the less, I'd definately like to turn over abundance into advantage. Speak now or forever hold your peace when it throw it all away. :D lol Anyway enough about that... Now that I that I can sucessfully enter my cheery little space and not have to dig threw every one of the boxes to find something specific each time I get an order. I'll be producing more things to show y'all.

 To hold y'all over...here's a few of the bonnets I've made for some of my customers. They're definately the most popular item I sell. :)

                                      

                                     

Until next time,

Brooke

Grand Dames of the 19th century

Here-in you'll find some extremely drool worthy ladies of the 19th century.

 Empress Eugenie -1860 I love the flounces on here dress the must be sooo full and out of a very crisp fabric.

 Countess Csekonics of Jimbolia and Janova -1862-65

The skirt detail is awesome! Her shawl is really cool too.

 

Duchess Marie in Bavaria -1857
by Franz Hanfstaengl

She's so adorable!

Amina Boschetti -1863
by A. Armand & C.ie, Bordeaux.
Quite the hair style. Wish I had the opportunity to wear this... :D

Empress Elisabeth of Ausria
Its interesting how all the stripes have
 a different design on them.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia -1869
Can you tell I'm quite taken by very geometric designs?

Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna, Winterhalter -1857.
Must have been very wealthy. :P And very fond of pearls. :-. lol

 Princess Royal and Princess Alice -1852
by Theodore Brunell
They look like little angels and their dresses are to die for.

Hungarian coronation dress -1867
One of my favorites... ♥

 Elisabeth dressed for the cold in a fur-trimmed paletot -1865
 by Emil Rabending
A nice little peek into fancy outer wear. I can't imagine how heavy this whole outfit must have been. Even tho velvet was probably lighter in the 1860's. There's still alot of yardage there and then add the coat which looks quite girthy... wow

Infanta Isabel, Princess of Asturias, Countess of Girgenti nicknamed "La Chata"
Is that one heck of a gown or what? lol




Duchess Sophie Charlotte of  Bavaria -1867
I'm sure most of you are thinking this is probably one of the most ugly dresses you've seen. lol But I'm draw to its angular lines. Its simple beauty is quite my style. :D



Isabel II Queen of Spain -1860

Her dress is so pretty! I'd love to make myself

a dress like that someday. :D Its so feminine. 



Duchess of Wellington

She is like ultra graceful, in my opinion.



 Princess Alexandra of Wales  -1866

Isabel Alvarez Montes, Duchess of Castro Enriquez and Marquise in Valderas -1868
I'm loving all the tulle or whatever you want to call it.  It must have been alittle nerve racking to wear, so fragile. The trim on the skirt is such a cool design as well. 



Princesses Helena and Louise -1856
by Roger Fenton
They seem really impressed by getting the dag taken don't they?! :P Their hats are really cute and I realllly like the jackets.  

Elisabeth as Queen of Hungary

This is my personal favorite. I think its probably the most beautiful 19th century ensemble I've ever seen. I'd really like to make a reproduction of it some day. *heres to one's dream*

You can find many more at the source. :) I hope they inspired y'all as much as they did me. Which ones are you favorites?

Until next time. ♥

Love,

Brooke





1860's toddler strapped petticoat and chemise

Awhile back I had the pleasure of working with my dear friend, Paris. She needed a few undergarments for little boy, Asa.

 First off is the strapped petticoat. It was a blast to make. Everything was squares or rectangles thus making it super easy.

It consisted of the waistband, straps, and 2 skirts. I sewed the two skirts on as one thus giving a the look of multiple petticoats, but they're all one piece. Anyone with little kids know how difficult it is to get all their layers on correctly. ;P 

The chemise is shaped the same as Elizabeth Stewart Clark's ladies chemise. A simple raglan style. Both of them are of course 100% cotton. All the gathers were hand sewn. It makes them so much finer and I'm able cram alot more fabric into smaller areas. :D

Here Asa is with his whole ensemble on. Paris did an awesome job on his dress. Makes me wish I had a little boy to dress. He looks picture perfect and is one the cutest little boys I've ever seen. :)

Love,

Brooke

Christmas dress 2011

 This past Friday was my work places' Christmas party. I've wanted to attend this particular party for 3 or so years. Needless to say I've been brain storming for awhile about what I want to wear. :) This year it was held at the Embassy Suites in large town near here. We were super excited about the chance to wear fancy-ish dresses. :P So this is what I came up with.

 I used this pattern many thanks to Aunt Kristi, who gave it to me for my birthday. :)

 The fabric is from my always enlarging collection. :S lol Michelle thought the color suited me okay and it kinda looks like the one on the pattern cover. :D Always a plus so I know what it will kinda look like when its done. ;)

Its was fairly simple to construct, but the neckline was quite difficult to get straight.

I also had alittle trouble getting the ruffle on the sleeve to lay down right, but a little or should I say a bunch of steam got it to behave correctly. :P

I had to add 2 inches of length to the skirt. It turned out the perfect length!!! :) YAY. ;)

I also sewed the neckline about an inch higher then it would normally be. That went really well. Which was a relief as I was sure how that was going to come out.

The belt "buckle" is actually a broach that my Grandma gave me on my birthday. :) Are we seeing a trend here? :P There's also matching earrings. Which I wore to the party. :)

And for the record. My 4 year old brother Matt gave me the flowers. :) He calls me his girlfriend. :) So the first flowers I've ever been given were from  my little brother. How cool is that? :D

Over all I couldn't be happier with it. I love it sooo much. I've already worn it several times and I plan on making much more good use out of it this season. :D





 On a side note. Amanda is have 2 awesome giveaway's on her lovely blog. The first is the stunning Shabby Apple dress 'Ski Bop' and secondly is Modest 4 Me high cut camisole. So go check them out. :)

Love,

Brooke

1850's living history at The Rex Roat Prairie

Several weeks ago we had the our first opportunity to do a living history event, that wasn't 1860's! The setting was an 1850's settlement. It was at a place called The Rex Roat Prairie. There's 3 original cabins that have been moved to one location. As well, as several other out buildings and such. And of course there's several acres or 'prairie land' with all sorts of awesome wildflowers and such growing it in it. We first discovered the places mid-June of this year. When a reenactment we'd planned on participating in was cancelled due to flooding issues. We spotted it on our way home and thought it would be a fun place for a photoshoot. :D We got talked to the guy who owns it and he asked us to come back during their Fall festival to demonstrate mid 19th century sewing techniques. We gladly accepted the invitation and that's how the story begins. :D

The weather was fantastic, tho a bit windy, its added to the reality tho I suppose. :P

This is the first cabin we were stationed at. :) Even tho you can't see much of it. ;) 

The morning glories were flawlessly beautiful! And made for a nice shade block for those of us sitting outside on the porch. ;)

I wore my black pin striped wool. Along with a apron to save my dress from an over abundance of fuzz and threads from the fabrics I was working with. lol

Even Mom and Megan got in on the fun. :D

There was a girl across from us that made beautiful rag rugs! They were so awesome! :)

I especially liked this one.

Inside there was a lady doing hearth cooking. The awesome part was that we got to eat the product of that throughout the course of the day. So that was super cool! :)

All the cabins are set up so darling. Makes me feel like I could live in one for awhile. Then I remember how much I love the Internet. :P lol 

A wood worker...

And some sort of tradesman I take it. :-/

For most the day we worked on our patch quilt. Which were using all of our repro fabric scraps for....

Its fun to see what kinds of combinations we can come up with. :D I've come to the conclusion that its going to be a true scrap quilt. lol I can't imagine what its going to look like when its done. haha

I found it alittle hard to interact with all the spectators. I'm used to a few questions, but I discovered being shy doesn't make this job easy. lol 

Michelle did an awesome job. :D She always knows just what to say. :)

Sisters hard at work. :D

Megan decided to go gallyvantin' a bit.

Later in the afternoon we were moved to the "1st Cabin". Where we greeted the visitors and tried our best to answer their questions about about the place. :D This is the toy cabinet. :)

They had several quilts on display in there. I'm so amazed by the integrity of this one. These squares were less then 1/2" across. All the stitches are the same size and match perfectly. And I couldn't believe how straight the quilting lines were! I can only dream of being that good someday! :D

Out one of the front windows was the black smith and his son. :)

I also switched to sewing on my new pinafore. :P I was able to get some done before closing time, but my needle was like to big and didn't want to go thru the fabric which was so annoying. :S Lol



She drives in STLYE!

 

This girl not so much. :( Lets hope that's just because I don't drive yet tho.... :P

It was such a great experience and tons of fun. All the people that put the event on were so wonderful and kind. To top an already awesome day off. Megan and I made the newspaper!!!! Woot! :D We were pretty excited about that. lol They've already asked us to come back next year and I'm really looking forward to it..... ;)

On a side note. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I started a full time job several days ago and my older brother is also in the process of moving out so things have been keeping my on my toes and I haven't been able to get thru photos to post!! *sighs*, Never the less I'm still hoping to get at least a post a week in. :)

Thanks for reading,
Brooke