A New Knitting Project

Today I filled my buckets up with birdseed and peanuts, to head out and fill the feeders.  It's been pretty cold and blustery so the birds empty them fairly quickly in this weather.   Because I did this sort of by rote, I didn't look up in time to get a photo of the Coooper's hawk sitting on the garden gate, right beside the feeders.  It was really pretty.  I scared him off when I noisily shut the garage door.  If I'd looked up and seen the hawk there, I'd have been far more careful and tried to get a photo. 

I'm knitting a new shawl from a Victorian pattern.   The pattern is from Petersons which was a ladies magazine.  The pattern is in the 1842 edition.  The picture of the shawl and the pattern are separated, which made it a little more difficult to begin.   However, it's an easy pattern and is far more modern than expected.  It's a shawl knit from the corner up and there is nothing symmetrical, lacy or other things we might expect from a pattern from that era.   The original was done in blue, grey and white.  I used the darker grey instead of the blue, because I had some at home and had to purchase less.

Shortly after I photographed the shawl, I found Kevin had settled on it for a nap.   What is it about cats always sitting on the projects I'm working on?   After Kevin had his fill, Dion spent a few minutes on it.  Dion though is far happier sleeping on finished projects or puzzles.  Our Christmas activity is usually jigsaw puzzles.  As soon as we take a puzzle out, Dion is right there either playing with the pieces or sitting on it.   If we don't cover the puzzle at night, we find that he's played with it and have to redo parts of it.

This is the pattern and the picture from the magazine, which is actually a hard bound book.   The book is full of stories, recipes, patterns, music, colour plates and drawings of the most up to date fashions.  

From what I can tell, zephyr yarn from the time, was the weight of fingering or sock yarn.   I've chosen a worsted weight wool yarn, which is larger and faster to knit up.  It's a bit warmer as well.  So far the main downside I've found is that with all those colour changes, there are a bazillion ends to sew in.  Also, the pattern as written has the pattern flip every other repeat so that the colour change shows on both sides.  I added an extra row of the second white section so that there is a clear front and back.  This is mainly because I didn't want to sew in ends at the neck edge, which also has the increases. 

 

1830's dress

 I knew I would need an 1830's dress when I started working at the 1830's inn at Westfield.  Their costume department only had dresses for tall people and there was no way to conveniently and temporarily hem up 4 - 6 inches on a dress for a one time use. Last fall I was hunting around at a warehouse fabric store in the quilting department.  They have the reproduction prints shoved in with all sorts of other prints.  At least they are sorted by manufacturer though, so I had a starting point.  I found this madder/turkey red, 1830's roller print reproduction.  It was obviously discounted as it was just $7 a yard.   I really didn't care if I loved it or not.  At that price, a dress length came home with me.  I actually did like it well enough though.   I washed it, hung it out on the line and when it was dried, it had no wrinkles, so I rolled it up on a cardboard fabric tube, and set it in a corner.

Finally this spring, once the main part of the laundry room was done, I could move my sewing machine back to it's lovely little, brightly lit corner.  After my first day working at the Lockhart house, an 1830's farm house, I decided I needed my dress for the next weekend, when I would be there again.   I'd spent a few days researching extant examples.   Most but not all of the bodices had some sort of pleating or gathering on the front and the skirts could be either cartridge or knife pleated to the bodice.  There were a lot of boat necklines, but a few regular ones as well, especially on the few work dresses that I found.  I knew that I needed big, pouffy gigot sleeves. The gigot sleeves would take about a yard each. I knew I'd need that much because the 1838 copy of The Workwoman's Guide, had direction for making a variety of sleeves, most of which said to start with a square 15 nails on the cross, which turns out to be 33 3/4 inches, a nail being 2.25 inches.

I drafted out several different sleeves.   I was going to go with my second choice, a slightly less puffy sleeve, which I thought would be suitable for a farm wife to wear.  However, I couldn't get the numbers to work.   A much larger sleeve drafted out perfectly though and I settled on a third option which said it was included because it worked up so nicely.   It drafted out perfectly but I had to do a bit of thinking as it was almost a full circle of fabric to pleat into the armscye.

I assembled the lining of the gown as a mock up draft.  Then I tried 3 different methods of knife pleating the sleeve into the armscye.  There was no way around it.  I was going to have to cartridge pleat the sleeves.. ick..   I ripped apart the lining and reassembled the bodices, flat lining as the originals were done.   After sewing the sleeve and lining together at the bottom and underarm,  I found the only thick and sturdy thread I had on hand, a lurid purple buttonhole twist and started running my gathering stitches.  I did two rows of gathering stitches and I eyeballed it for regularity instead of marking them all.   It was close enough.  After gathering up the pleat, the sleeve fit in the armscye perfectly.  I stitched in each pleat by hand, although I only used 2 stitches per pleat instead of 4 as I'd have done for a cartridge pleated skirt.   7 hours later, I had 2

sleeves stitched into the bodice.  It took 3 1/2 hours per sleeve.  I did it over an afternoon, took a break and finished up the second one the next morning.   It was a lot of work, but the sleeves took spectacular.  I lined them and many of the sleeves weren't lined, but used a framework around the arm to support them.  Since that wasn't on my list of stuff to make, the lining adds enough support to hold the sleeves out.  The disadvantage though is that it adds a fair bit of warmth to the dress.  That will be appreciated in the cooler weather, but not so much when it's 30 C and humid!  It's bearable though and does look pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself.

Now to make a new day cap.  The old one is a wearable mockup.  I don't like it.  It's in some sort of cheap broadcloth, probably a poly/cotton blend.  I've a nice, half-white cotton muslin which will make a lovely cap.  I'll get the pattern from the Workwoman's guide, since they have a number of cutting diagrams and assembly instructions.

When worn, these sleeves puff up to a nice ball on the upper arm, with the lower arm being cut tight and form fitting.   Several other striped gowns, in similar patterns had the sleeves on the bias like that.  It was such a nice look I added it.  Not remembering how much fabric I'd originally purchased and not knowing if I could get more, I left off any pleating for the bodice.   There is always next time though :)

Bake Oven and White Projects

It's Open Doors at Westfield, on May 4th.  That means there is no entry fee to the museum!    Most, if not all of the buildings will be open as there will be lots of volunteers.   If you need something to do, it would be a great day to visit the site.    It will be the first day this year that the bake oven will be working.   If all goes well, 'cause baking outside in a downpour just isn't very much fun, there will be bread, cake and cookies in the oven.   Maybe even more in celebration of the first run of the oven.   I'm pretty sure the cookies will be an exploration of ginger.  There are so many gingerbread recipes in 19th c. cookbooks, with lots of variations, some minor and some extreme.   I'm also wondering about exploring the use of egg whites as levening but am not sure that I want to whip egg whites by hand for an hour, before I can mix my ingredients.    I was reading in one cookery book that it is noted that it is always mindful to separate the eggs and beat the yelks and the whites separately, adding the whites in just before baking. We'll see about that one.

Whatever I'll be baking tomorrow, I'll be sporting my new day cap, based on one from the Anitoch Historical Societies collection.  This is a wearable mock up, made in a very soft, white cotton.  Instead of using lace like the original, I used plain cotton for the ruffles and only did two of them. I think the original has at least 3 ruffles around the face and a separate ruffle at the back.  But to work the bake oven, where I've a good chance of getting, wet, smokey, sooty and smudged with batter, I want a plain cap that will wash easily.  From the look my DH gave me when I modeled it, I'd say it's about as attractive on me as it would be on anyone else.  However, the aim was for period acceptable and I had to admit, that wearing a cap does keep the hair controlled, tidy and cleaner. 



It seems to have been a week of working with white.   I finished spinning up two separate bobbins of cotton.  Okay, really only half bobbins full.  I plied them for this mediocre 2 ply cotton yarn for Level 5 dyeing.  If I'd kept going and done 3/4 bobbins full, I'd have had enough for all the dyeing, but there is only 300 yards here.  I still need 160 for one particular dyeing exercise.  I decided to switch up and spin some Ramie.  Ugh.. I so don't like ramie.  It's slippery and fussy.  While it can be spun both wet and dry, I find I don't like the feel of it wet.  I've been spinning it dry, which makes it a bit of a hairy yarn.   I've no idea what my yardage is yet because I didn't measure when I should have.   Instead, I'll guess and then spin up a second bobbin to match, hopefully having enough.

Victorian (ish) Knee Socks

I need a pair of proper stockings to wear at the heritage village when I'm working there.  It's not that anyone ever sees my stockings but having some of the little costume details, does help me to get the right feeling to start the day on site. I'd been looking for knitted stocking patterns online. I 'd found lots of photos of extant socks and stockings, mainly cotton or silk and machine knit.  Finally, after who knows how long of wandering aimlessly amongst pictures and patterns online,  I found  Digital Resources from the Knitting Reference Library .  Who knew there was  Knitting Reference Library or that it was on line?

There are all sorts of 19th C. downloadable books on knitting, crochet and needlework.    On my first visit there, I found the 1865 edition of Miss E. Ryder's booklet "How to Knit Stockings" : this packet contains general rules for knitting stockings, ladies' ribbed stockings, gentlemen's knickerbocker stockings, boys stockings.    The pages within, give guidelines for knitting socks and stockings.   It does refer to an earlier publication for details, but there was enough information for me to make an attempt.   I did some changes.  The original just calls for decreases down the centre back but I added a cable for interest.  A knee sock is a long sock and that is a lot of knitting.  Adding the cable, also added a bit of extra time, but it added enough interest to get through the plain ribbing from knee to ankle.   The original also states to use a 3 - 1 ribbing pattern, which was easy to do.

On a later visit to the Knitting Reference Library website, I found a copy of the first book, though published at a later date (1870), How to Knit socks:full and simple directions by which persons may teach themselves, also by Miss E. Ryder.  As well, there is The Stocking-Knitters Manual: a handy book for the worktable,  written by Mrs. Geo. Cupples, although I haven't set aside time yet to read this one.

Let me tell you that there sure is a lot of knitting in a knee sock!  It seems like it's taking forever.  I'm finally half done the foot of the first sock.  Phew...  At this rate, I might have them done by next Christmas. 

Sock yarn is Mary Maxim Simply Sock.  It was almost solid, the closest thing to black or brown that they had that wasn't over the top expensive for an experiment.   Hind sight being what it is, I now wish I'd bought a better brand of sock yarn as this has a few unevenly spun areas and just isn't horribly pleasing to knit with.  The finished sock is acceptably nice though, so I guess that's what really matters in the end. 

Victorian Undies and the coolest sewing tool

I've recently found myself in a position of needing new costume clothing as most of mine is now way too big.  As I'm working the Bake oven for 2 Sundays in a row upcoming and the weather is noticeably cooler, I decided to start with 1865ish stuff.   Since you need to build these costumes in layers, starting with the inside and working out, I am replacing all the Victorian undies first.

I drafted a new pattern for the drawers and while I was testing the pattern hoping to make a useable muslin, I kept the decoration fairly low key, I didn't want them completely plain.  Even if nobody else will see them, I wanting something I knew fit in with period style ornamentation.  I started these a week before a family member was schedule for surgery and I was pretty stressed.  However, the pattern came together flawlessly or so I thought, with the most even, spectacularly perfect tucks I'd ever made, which I then noticed were on the inside of the drawers.  I think it might have been faster to bin them and re-cut the pattern, but I didn't have enough fabric left.  So after tossing them in a corner for a couple of weeks, I went to pick out the stitches and found that my seam ripper didn't make it home from Fruits of Our Labours back in May.  Back in the corner they went until I could get a new seam ripper and dump the lethargy of a rapidly failing project to go at those tucks again.

The threads came out easily while the nicely pressed fold lines didn't disappear, making it a little more difficult to fold them the opposite way and resew them.   They aren't as perfect second time around, but they aren't too horrible and I can live with them as functional clothing.   The eyelet edging I had considered for the hems of the legs was all wrong.  All the extant samples I've seen use cotton laces.  While I have a significant amount of cotton lace in my stash, most of it is narrower, being bought for doll clothes and for what was really supposed to be a sample, and might not fit, I wasn't going to use the good stuff.   I did find a bit of flat cotton lace in a rumpled ball, which after a bit of a pressing, turned out to be not really expensive lace, but quite suitable.  I did have to pull a gimp thread - the thicker heading at the top to gather it. I used a machine heirloom sewing technique to sew it on.  I've used them a lot for doll clothes and other projects which don't take any stress or wear and tear.  I hope it has the strength to stand up to actual wearing.

The two tucks are functional tucks, meaning they are put in after the legs are sewn together and they can be let down if more length is needed in case for some reason I suddenly grow 2 inches taller or damage the bottom edge and need to length them to keep using them.
They are constructed with flat-felled seams and facings to reduce chafing possibilities.  I dragged them out to a guild meeting last night where I finished the hand stitching although they still need a button and button hole on the front waist band.

Today I drafted out a pattern for a new Victorian chemise and had the fun of using my pattern notcher.  I have a couple of cool tools but this one never fails to amuse me and make me happy.  It makes the sweetest, most perfect little notches in patterns which work so much better than any I've put in with just nipping with scissors.  It's a solid feeling little tool which works perfectly every time and is just fun to use.  I'll have to admit it was a gift and something I'd probably have never purchased for myself but definitely adds enjoyment and makes patterns look much more professional!