Infant Chemise, Finito.

Finished the chemise. If you're going to make this, one note: make sure you don't put too much bulk in the bias binding at the neck where you want the buttonhole. Trim off that edge before you bind it. :) That took me forever to finish.

Also, you could try making a loop, rather than a buttonhole. I wanted a buttonhole so the opening would overlap.

Of course, this could easily be done without an opening at all. The neck edge is large enough for the heads of most babies.

All in all, I'm pleased. :)

The many faces of Victoria

We had fun yesterday evening. Too bad the lighting wasn't better so that the images didn't come out so blurry. I hate using flash. But I couldn't help posting these. What a little blessing she is.

Recipe for a Happy Home

Half a cup of friendship, and a cup of thoughtfulness,
creamed together with a pinch of powdered tenderness,
very lightly beaten in a bowl of loyalty
with a cup of faith, one of hope, and one of charity.
Be sure to add a spoonful of gaiety that sings,
also the ability to laugh at little things.
Moisten with sudden tears of heartfelt sympathy,
bake in a good-natured oven and serve repeatedly.

* * * * *
from Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping
by Miriam Lukken

Infant Chemise Try-On

Thought I'd do a fitting of the infant chemise to see how it works out.
This is the 6-month size on a 4-month old, 16lb baby.
The bottom photo shows how the neckline lays.

The homestead.

On Friday afternoon, I went out to my dad's property just north of Austin to help him lay in some pipe for electric and water, and work on plumbing on the bathroom. The original homestead was about 200 acres when it was granted to my great-great grandfather in 1905. Since then, it's been split up -- some of it sold off -- but most of it is still "in the family". Daddy's portion is about 55 acres, and on it is his mom and dad's old double-wide (which is pretty run down now since it's been sitting unfinished for 15 years) which he's trying to fix up well enough to use it as a getaway cabin. He and mama live in Dallas, so he loves getting out to the property and enjoy the quiet countryside.

Keith and I are considering building a house out there and living full time. I've always wanted to live out in the country, have a big garden, maybe some livestock and enjoy the natural amenities the Good Lord provides. It would be quite a change, and quite a challenge, as Keith will continue to work here in town (an hour away) and that's one crazy commute. Please be praying for us that if it's God's will that we live out there, then the plans will fall into place.

I got to play with my new camera while I was there.
Here is a pictorial of my experience there this weekend:

{new front porch in early morning}

{sunrise from the front porch}
How about that for a wake-up call? That's God saying "Hiya!"

{Strange looking fruit on a tree outside the back door.}
I have no idea what fruit this is. Anybody have any idea? It's about 2" in diameter, almost entirely round (not like pears) and all of them were green with a little fuzz on them. I didn't think to open one, though, to see what the seeds were.

{View on the walk down to the stock tank.}

{A very full stock tank -- thanks to much rain recently.}

{My dad.}

{Pretty view of a lane near the tank.}

{A testament to my grandfather's sense of humor.}

{Work shirts.}

{Fence.}

{Old nail.}
Was playing with depth of field on my new camera.

{Cedar.}

{The backyard.}

Infant Chemise Pattern (1850-59)

Hi all!

Thanks for the encouragement in my last post. I'm going to go ahead and make that chemise up and see how it turns out. I love the simplicity of it.

While I was at it, I went ahead and sized up the pattern for Victoria, and then decided to size it up for the other infant/toddler sizes and pass it along to you. I really don't know how it'll work for kids of various ages, but if you'd like to try it for your kiddo and let me know how it works and what changes might need to be made, I'd appreciate it. I've never really sized up for the different ages, so I went by a "standard body measurement" chart for infants, added some wiggle room, and then sized up the pattern from there.

There are five sizes: 3mo, 6 mo, 12 mo, 18mo, and 24mo. Based on what I've read, babies grow really fast the first 6 months, but then slow down...hence the lack of a 9mo size. The other thing I thought about is perhaps the chemise should be longer for the older ages -- not sure. I know kids tend to get longer before they get wider. But then, lengthening and shortening should be an easy fix for the home-sewer.

I've put directions right on the pattern. Please pass along your thoughts/suggestions if you care to.

Here are the images:

Baby Slip (Chemise?) or Child's Undershirt?

Okay, all you period-correct experts out there...

I LOVE this little thing I found on the Wisconsin Historical Society Children's Collection. It looks very much (in style) like some of the baby chemises of the 1850s-60s, except it has a longer skirt and no buttons on the shoulders. The neckline appears to be boat-neck once it's on the baby/child because the sleeves will be pulled down. I want to make this as a baby chemise for Victoria.

Problem is, it's listed under childrens clothing, not infants. It says it's a "Child's Undershirt 1850-59". Seems like it should be a chemise, rather than a shirt.


In comparison, this is listed as a "White Cotton Baby's Slip 1863-65". It's a little longer, has different seaming and has frills, but the basic shape is the same as the one above.

So my question is...is the first image more likely a baby chemise/slip? Or if not, will it still work as a chemise for Victoria during the "infant" ages for the early 1860s? She'll be 5 months at our next reenactment. Can I use it even though she's still a young baby? Or should she still be in the open shirts? I'm just not sure when you're supposed to change from first shirts to second shirts or chemises or whatever... I know you're supposed to shorten the dresses around 9 months, but that's about all I know. I never thought baby clothes would be so confusing.

Can you tell I can't wait for her to be in "little girl" clothes? I always wanted a Mini-Me. ;) I can't wait for the little chemises and child's corset and tiny hoops. Just watch, though....she'll probably turn out to be a tom-boy just to spite me.

Hope you are all having a lovely Monday morning. Down here in Central Texas, we are 57˚ with a clear blue sky and sunny. That's chilly for us. I'm sure a lot of you are all starting to get snow or freeze.

- Amy

Mmmmm..

I love fresh baked bread. I love Autumn!

Mama's Hot Rolls
(Makes about 30 big fluffy rolls. I usually 1/2 the recipe.)

2 pkgs rapid rise yeast
1/2 c sugar
3 c warm water (110˚-115˚)
1/2 c Canola oil
1 Tbsp salt
Enough flour to make a soft dough

Dissolve yeast into 1/2 c of the warm water (taken from the 3 c) and add 1 Tbsp of sugar (from the 1/2 c). Set aside to "rise". In mixing bowl, combine remaining water, remaining sugar, oil and salt. Mix in the yeast which should have started to bubble up and work its magic. Then mix in enough flour to make a soft dough -- kind of like drop-biscuit dough. Turn out and knead a bit with more flour (if needed) so that the dough is smooth and stretchy, but still somewhat soft. You don't want tough rolls. Make a ball. Lightly oil another bowl and turn the dough ball around in it so that it's coated, and then cover with a cup towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1-1/2 hours, or until double.

Prepare a couple of glass casserole dishes (or one high-edged cookie sheet) with non-stick spray or with shortening. Punch down dough, turn out, and pinch off pieces to make balls about 1-1/2" in diameter. (I actually make mine bigger, closer to 2" so that I can get 15 balls into each casserole.)

Let rise again until about double. Put into a 375˚ oven, lightly covered with foil for 12 minutes (just to keep them from browning too soon), then take off the foil and bake until golden brown. (If you use a cookie sheet, you may not need to use foil, as they'll bake faster.)

Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Dress-Up Time!

So she seems to like her cap after all. She's been wearing it all day today. :) Yay! Then I decided I'd do a dress-up session with her period clothing that I have done thus far:

(Get used to it, baby! You were born to a mama who loves to sew!)

Here's her regular petticoat.

Here's the quilted wool petticoat.

She suddenly decided she didn't want to pose by herself -- she had to sit on mama's lap. :) This is that quickie plain dress I did recently, plus the cap.
(I love that cap on her!)

She was starting to get tired, can you tell??

This is the coat and hood. I still need a hook/eye on the coat, plus ties on the hood and tack down the brim. Also, I put the hood on right over the cap, just because at the December reenactment, the wind can be so chilly that I don't want her ears to get cold. I figure it'd be an extra bolster against a chill.

Ungrateful...

Victoria loved her new baby cap. ;)

Free Corset Drafting Pattern

Catherine Hay with Your Wardrobe Unlock'd has a new website and a free -- yes free! -- corset drafting tutorial. If you're wanting to attempt to make a corset for yourself that truly is "glove-fitting" then her corset drafting tutorial will probably be what you'll want to try out. I can't wait to try it out myself!