Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Tunics Done and Wrapper Started

The two extra tunics for young Patrick are finished. I do say, this tunic style is by far the quickest and easiest I have ever sewn up. 2 hours per tunic and there ya go. These were finished and delivered yesterday, so hopefully young Master P. will be cool and comfortable during the rest of our hot reenactments. Since he is growing quickly he got an A line style that can be worn til it is hip length. The belt is simply pinned into place at the side seams right now and his mother can adjust the belt to accomodate his waist placement as he grows. This style is great because all that really needs to be fitted is the neckline, shoulders and armscyes. Everything else can be as baggy as you please - it all is pulled in at the waistline with the belt so there is lots of growing room.
The blue one is a solid cotton. Yes, a solid cotton. It is true that solid cottons were not generally used for clothing during the 1860's. However, this particular cotton is very thick and is definitely not your regular run-of-the-mill quilting weight cotton. Since it is an identical hue to a ballgown I made for this young mans mother earlier this year I went with it and for all intents and purposes, this is a fine wool tunic. :) It is trimmed with black braid down the front and at the belt and black decorative buttons and is intended for church and dressier occasions.

The plaid tunic is brown and tan and green and is trimmed up in green. It is a lightweight cotton and will be a good play outfit. The dark plaid will hide stains - I love plaids for this reason! Stains and little boys just seem to go together it seems.
With the tunics out of the way I've started my wrapper. Yay! I have it all cut out and partly sewn together. It will have a V-neck, slightly short, open coat sleeves with loose lace trimmed undersleeves and a decorative white petticoat. Here is a picture of the back and side bodice pieces with the skirt pinned and ready to be whipped to the bottom piped edge of the waistband. I thought I would have to fit a new muslin since this will not be worn with a corset but much to my suprise, my muslin fit very well without a corset! Now that is odd! I must be extra squishy or else I have lost some more weight since the last dress I've made. I think I'll go with the idea I've lost some more weight. It is more appealing to me. :)
 
Love,
Sarah

6 comments:

  1. I have been hoping to make a wrapper. At the end of the night at reenactments I am always too hot and feel sick and I need to get the corset off. But if I take the corset off, nothing else fits together right. I can't wait to see how yours turns out. I love the print.

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  2. ooh, the wrapper is such a tease! sigh....I wish I wasn't back at work now...but, alas, there are kids to be taught. I'm envious of your sewing time. ;-) The tunics are adorable!

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  3. I love the black trim! How much time does one of these projects take you? It seems like you're an extraordinarily fast seamstress! :)

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  4. The tunics look great and I love the fabric you have chosen for your wrapper. I'm so impressed that you have gotten tunics down to 2 hours! Although if I had 2 uninterrupted hours, maybe I could get one done. I'll guess I'll never find out because by the time the boys leave me alone that long, they will definitely have outgrown tunics :)!

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  5. Thanks! I'm really excited about the wrapper. I think I will use it a ton. *hopefully* I can get most of the basic construction done today, if the boys are cooperative and let me sew. :)

    Lissa, I owe David a lot for being able to get these tunics done so quickly. He was home on a sick day on Tuesday so helped watch the boys so I could sew in the afternoon. Otherwise. . .I doubt I would have been able to get them done by now. I need to sew in short spurts since if I don't check on the guys every 15 minutes or so they can be *extremely* destructive!

    The bias tunics took a lot longer though, I'd say it was probably at least 5 hours per tunic there. I started them on Saturday and didn't get them totally finished til Tuesday night when I put in the buttonholes.

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!