Fun with twill tape labels

I know it's not an 1860s project, but with all the people on here who sew and might be interested in custom clothing/fabric labels, I just had to pass this along. It's useful for 1860s clothing as well as modern, as some antique garments have labels inside identifying the maker.

Thanks to the advice of Anna Allen at wildflowers::pretty and a tutorial from freshvintage, I have finally started down the road of learning to make homemade labels. For all of you out there who sew and want to label your work -- either because you're selling the item and want to brand it, or if you want to just have a simple "Handmade By" version for things you make for loved ones -- this was a fast, easy way to design your own unique label!

There are two ways I've seen to do it, and both use twill tape. You can use ink and a custom rubber stamp or you can do like I did and use iron-on transfer printer paper from the local office supply store. I tried a variety of widths and types of twill tape -- heavy duty cotton, regular weight cotton, and 100% polyester. Those were all I could find in a pinch to test out the process. However, one can probably find many more options online -- even linen, which I think might be darn pretty. Whatever works for your project.

You simply create an image file in Photoshop (or the like), make a label document in Word and insert the graphic into each cell. Then print it on the iron-on transfer paper according to the instructions. Make sure your image is backwards -- a mirror image of what it should be! After that, you just cut out the image closely and place it onto the twill tape. Iron according to the instructions and then peel off the backing.

Voila! Your own custom label! Now think of all the different options...from a folded label (perhaps with care instructions on the backside if it's a garment) to skinny labels, to even using fabric instead of twill tape...or even satin ribbon! You can really customize it to your project or garment. If you need a dark label, the iron-on transfer paper comes with a dark fabric version. Happy labeling!

Not 1860s, but...

...I totally had to give a shout-out to my dear childhood buddy Theresa Reinhardt for her adorable puppets (and other cute things!) that she is making and selling on Etsy. Having been a puppet lover since her days doing puppeteering for Children's Church at the church we grew up in (and met through), she has really found her niche designing and making puppets of all kinds (like "PJ - Funny Bunny" at left). She also designs other stuffed-like things that can sit on a shelf or desk or make a great plaything for kiddos.

If you have kids or are interested in puppeteering yourself, take a look at her cute stuff. She is one fantastic gal with a silly sense of humor and very creative. Here's to you Theresa!

Here's her Etsy site: http://www.sillytoesproductions.etsy.com
Or her blog: http://sillytoesproductions.blogspot.com

A river runs through it...

April 19th. So many rotten things happened on that date in recent history, but one glorious thing did: Keith and I were married before God, and in the presence of many witnesses -- our dear friends and family. One year ago, at noon. In the pavilion at the Confederate Reunion Grounds in Mexia, TX. It was such a magical day; I don't believe I will ever see the like again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Flash forward to April 17-19, 2009 -- Mexia, TX reenactment

While we hoped for as beautiful a weekend as last year (and many years previous), it didn't start off very promising as we gazed dubiously out our front door at the torrential line of storms which passed through central Texas that morning. We knew it was headed for Mexia.

Then seemed to get better. The radar showed the line of storms had gone through Mexia and was in "light" rain at the time. The rain let up entirely at home so we decided to chance the trip to the reenactment and see how we'd fare at the thing. But we drove right into more rain on the way there.

But the rain subsided. For a while. We got the tent set up before it started sprinkling again, and we were on tenterhooks wondering if it was going to wash us out, but sprinkle is all it did throughout the evening and night. We had a wonderful little night in our tent, listening to the rain and just ruminating on what this last year has brought us -- each other, plus one very little thing.

Then the rains came around 7:30 am. We tried to wait it out.

And wait. And wait. But there was no hope. We had a puddle outside our tent, and under it. It was A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, only in real life. In our tent, that is. We had a little stream that eeked its way into our tent and swathed a path along our floor tarp. We tried every means to stem the flow, and it worked for a time, but the ground got soggier and soggier until we could hold it back no longer. We packed up.

Before we left, though, I caught some images of the water and rain and various "creeks" cut into the earth by the rain that morning. Glad we left when we did. We would have been camping in a swamp.

All's well that ends well, though. We got home Saturday afternoon, washed ourselves up, and sat around feeling mopey that things didn't work out so prettily as they did a year ago. But Sunday -- our actual anniversary date -- was a gorgeous day, full of sunshine and promise. We watched movies and I sewed, and we went for a nice dinner to celebrate our first year together. I'm so thankful to have Keith in my life. I praise God for bringing him to me, and for bringing (so quickly) a new little life into our care and keeping.

Here's to many more years together!

A weekend project

Or an exercise in insanity. I'm pregnant. But I've started to make another corset. :) Go figure.

I promise, I do not have some sort of corset fetish -- I'm just still on my quest to learn how to make a nice, authentic corset. And though I really shouldn't have started this until after the baby is born, this piece was really nothing more than a desire to replicate an original using my pre-pregnancy measurements. During the last 5 years or so, I was a bad corset-wearer -- I would always try to squeeze myself into my old 27-28" waist when I could only comfortably fit into a 30-31" waist. So I'd quite often be miserable at reenactments trying to achieve that little hourglass shape.

Now that I've accepted the fact that I may never be 28" again (although I suppose it's possible), I decided I'd need to make another corset for my after-baby-body anyway if I were going to keep reenacting. When I saw this corset on LaraCorsets.com, I knew I had to recreate it, even if I never got to wear it. It's not 1860s -- it's actually a little later era (1880s, probably) due to the colored flossing on it. The shape is 1860s, though. It's very similar to the "Light French Corset" which came out in 1860. I love green and earthy tones. This corset is a tan twill with two shades of green for the flossing. It was also my first time to do flossing, so that is making it extra fun. :)

A Jug

I've bleached, I've rinsed in very hot water, I've soaped and rinsed again....but I can't get the lingering scent of something fruity (dare I say wine?) from this old jug of my great-grandmother's. Don't really know how old it is, but it was empty when we got it, nothing smelled like anything was...erm...growing or deteriorating in there. We replaced the cork, washed a billion times, and now that it's all dry and ready to go...it still has that wine-y or fruity smell. I can't see inside of it to see if there's any residue, and I don't have a scrubber thin enough or long enough to reach the bottom.

We would like to be able to use it for reenacting at some point But I'm too nervous to drink whatever comes out of it yet, even though water comes out clean looking. Maybe I'm just a wimp.

Any ideas on what to do here?

Suggestions on a new book to read?

I'm finishing up Lucy Maud Montgomery's ANNE OF GREEN GABLES series (yet again). I know I'm not a little girl, but boy do I love those books. Not only did I once aspire to be a writer like Anne when I started reading those books as a gal (I think we'd have been "kindred spirits"), but I've grown to really love how L.M. Montgomery turns a phrase. Sometimes I'll read whole paragraphs over again because of how much I enjoy her style of writing.

But I've never, if you can believe it, read any of her other works. So instead of reading the whole series over again, I ask....are there any recommendations on another book of hers I should read next?

Musing over a future project...

Maybe it's weird, but I've always wanted a homemade set of bed sheets. Linen bedsheets, that is, with some fancy work on the edge. It has always seemed so romantic and old fashioned. The right kind of linen can be very soft, and I hear quite luxurious, but where to start? I wonder if you can get linen in widths befitting a sheet (like you can get cotton quilt backing pretty wide). Seems no fun to have to piece a bed sheet together.

Hm.

Even more fun might be to have a contrasting duvet cover with matching shams for the pillows. (See below.) We have four pillows on our bed and I always try to find ways to cover them up with the quilt because they don't have shams. Call me over-sensitive, but there it is. I like matching shams. But when you have a homemade quilt that someone gave you, it's nearly impossible to have shams to match.


Hm. Gotta keep thinking on this one.

Battle for Pleasant Hill

Greetings everyone! Well, I'm back from the Pleasant Hill, LA reenactment and it's been so long since I've been camped out at a reenactment that it's taken me since Monday to recover. I was truly Wiped Out. But we had a great time, nonetheless. Weather cooperated (although it was a little warm on Saturday) and a cool front moved in late Saturday night. We got a sprinkle of rain early Sunday morning, making Keith fly out of bed with fears that we had stuff getting rained on that shouldn't be rained on. But at least he was awake to help me with the fire that morning -- a task which had me so upset Saturday morning that I was already saying "I want to go home!"

Here are some pictures. Now that I'm going through them, I realize what a dismal photographer I am: I completely forgot to take pictures of some of the monuments there, and the old houses with bullet holes. I can reasonably tell how to "frame" a shot, but my brain apparently doesn't look for photo opportunities very well. I guess because I'd seen the old houses before, I didn't think to photograph them. But now I don't have them for posterity. Or for all of you to see! Sigh.

Here's our first reenacting "home"! Since our wedding 1 year ago, this is the first we've gotten to stay in it. Keith did a fabulous job on it.
Neat shot of our artillery after they fired a volley.
Cavalry is so cool!!
The below photo was taken at about 100 yards away. Maybe more, actually. I have a new camera, so I was seeing how well it took at a distance. I'm amazed!
This is our captain, Jack Strain. He had to be Yankee at this one, but we'll forgive him. ::wink:: He's a rather famous Civil War painter -- check out his website!
Getting ready to march on the field. They're behind the artillery lines, which is why its so foggy. But I do love some of those foggy photos.
Our boys taking a shot.
Another far-away shot. I'm in love with this camera.
I'm a widow. Sob! See the straw hat and the boot sticking up towards the back of this "pile"...just about where that other fella in blue pants is falling down? Yeah, that's my man.
Lovely shot of a man trying to ease a "dying" man's pain
We have a few musicians in our group. The one in the center is our bugler -- and he's really good. He can play anything, I think. And he always gets applause after he's done playing Taps or Revele (sp?).
Keith tirelessly stoking the fire. We had green timber for our fire. Not fun.
Our mighty mounted boys. Captain Strain went Confederate on Sunday and here he is with his unit.

Wool Infant Petticoat

My project this week has been to work on a wool underdress for Baby, since the babe will be 4-5 months old during our cold-weather reenactments. It'll be nice and toasty, but since the fabric isn't too thick, it shouldn't be hot. I made it using Elizabeth Stewart Clark's "Infant Linens" pattern (shown) I happened to have this lovely, soft cream-colored wool I bought off a friend 4-5 years ago, and thought it would make a lovely quilted petticoat, and maybe a tiny paletot and hood. (Not very practical, I know, but think of the pictures!) I know I'm not likely to have this much time on my hands ever again, so I'm enjoying this all-too-brief moment of bliss -- creating clothes for my Little Darling.

I did machine quilting on the skirt, rather than doing it by hand. I've seen an original petticoat that was quilted by machine, so I felt pretty confident doing it this way. It's not perfectly symmetrical, but that gives it character. :) The skirt still needs to be attached to the bodice, and all the buttons/buttonholes/shoulder straps need to be added to the bodice, so I'll probably be finishing it up at the reenactment this weekend and posting pictures of the finished garment next week.

I also hope to work a little on my long-neglected straw bonnet this weekend, too, if I find myself with free time. I'm not far from being done stitching the plaits down, and I'm Super Excited about how it'll look when done. I've made 1 other straw bonnet, but it was a commission so I never got to wear it. I've never had one myself. I bet it's so light and pleasant in the warm weather.

Until next time...God Bless!