Saturday, May 16, 2009

A Very Rainy Second Day Out


The time I painfully spent sewing this week seems, it turns out, in vain. At least most of the boys items are finished for the rest of the season, except for a few pinafores and a sunbonnet apiece for Judah and Malachi.

Yesterday was to be the start of our reenactment this weekend. It was a Flood. I didn't even try to take the boys out and David went alone to help our unit set up tents and to demonstrate. He called me yesterday evening to tell me the ridge pole that supported the main hospital tent and fly snapped and so we would have house guests overnight. I am thankful we live close enough to where this event is that it was possible to house the un-tented folk! Last night was no night for either man or beast to be outside. Water everywhere. Little rivers ran through the yard, the driveway, the street. The entire sky was a falling sheet.

Today I decided to take the boys out since it only rained this morning and the sun came out in the afternoon - quite pleasant! A few minutes into our arrival we found that our oldest son had run off. Across the road, actually, and into a drainage ditch, happily splashing in the water. (!) He was soaked. The wind was quite strong and with the temperature below 60 degrees (in the middle of May, mind you!) I had no choice but to take him home, dry him off, wash his clothes and get him into some dry things.

Let us hope tomorrow has fairer weather.

Since I don't really have a "reenactment post" I will share some of the things I've been working on this week. I hope to get everything for the boys finished this coming week so after that I can start on David's uniforms.

How Little David Appeared Prior to His Drenching:
Here is little David in one of his new outfits. He originally was wearing some new black cotton twill trousers with his tunic, but he decided to have an accident in those just before we left so he was changed into these red and white twill ones from the tunic outfit I shared last week. His tunic is his last falls wool dress, shortened four inches. His coat is the Godey's cloak coat I made last fall and that he barely ever wore. It looks like he won't get much more wear out of it either! I'll have to save one of these coats for Malachi and find another little boy who can use the other one, since Judah has an indentical style coat that he is outgrowing as well. David's little cap is made of brown cotton twill and was a last minute addition since it was so cold and windy out. From reading Lissa's blog post about the cap she made her little boy I think I need to research more into more appropriate cap styles for boys this young. But, for today it served its purpose and it's a cute accessory he can wear in modern life as well! And since I'm home this afternoon I can download the Workwoman's Guide and dig into some info on different cap styles.

How Judah Appeared and Continued To Appear:
Here is Judah in last fall's wool dress, with his own cloak coat and quilted hood. He kept the hood on the whole time we were away, which suprised me. Last year he wouldn't keep it on at all! His dress is getting pretty short and it's small in the bodice too. Another dress to save for Malachi. I think I'll need to make Mr. Judah a different wool dress for this coming autumn.

Other Projects~

David's Green Tunic:
I made this tunic from some pretty green plaid cotton. It is the same style as the tunic I posted about last week except its a bit shorter. I forgot to add the extra 2" to the bottom of the pattern I made last week! Oh well! It's hip length. I don't have any extra fabric to add more length since I was trying to get Judah's dress and this tunic from 1 and 2/3 yd. of fabric. It was doable, but just barely! To decorate the front I added blue strips down each side of the overlapping side with some blue rick rack down the center. The belt is made of blue cotton closes with a shell button. To go with it, he has brown twill pants (same as the fabric for his cap) trimmed with the same blue rick rack.

Judah's Green Dress:
This is from the same pattern as his pumpkin colored dress. I shaved 1/4" off each side edge of the bodice and that did the trick to get it to fit correctly. I pleated the skirt and the sleeves for a bit of difference from the pumpkin dress. It looks quite plain to me and I want to add trim to it but don't know exactly what I should do. I asked David and he told me to leave it plain, since it looks like a "boy's dress" without trim. I might. It will be covered by a pinafore most of the time anyway. I still have this intense desire to put black bows at the shoulders though!

Malachi's Ruffled Baby Cap:
My current favorite baby cap style. It is from the basic baby cap pattern but with the edges of the brim rounded and a ruffle added round the edges. Instead of a drawstring to tie it has self fabric sewn on ties and the back of the cap is gathered with a binding sewn on to hold it in place. I love how Malachi looks in this, with the petal-like ruffles falling around his sweet little face! Too bad the ruffles were plastered against his head in the wind we had today. No good pictures to be had. Perhaps tomorrow!

Love,

Sarah

5 comments:

  1. You sew so beautifully and I enjoy seeing your pictures.

    I really like the baby cap. So sweet.

    God Bless,
    ~Deanna~

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  2. So adoreable! I can't believe how big little Malachai is getting in the previous post! I love the baby cap. It's so dainty.

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  3. I love little ones in bonnets/baby caps. You are such a talented seamstress!
    xoxo Caroline

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  4. I love all the little clothes! I also really like the hat you made little David! Did you make the pattern for that also?

    Faith G.

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!