Nice Day in the Kitchen- Apple Pie and Macaroni(and cheese)

I got to go cook for a field trip at Locust Grove last week. I haven't gotten to do this in awhile, and it was a lot of fun. It was actually a homeschool group, and they nicely divided the kids up into three groups by age. It was especially nice to get to talk to three different age levels in one day, but not all at once. The smallest ones are usually at the level of 'yes, you can make food with fire, wow!', the second group was about the right age to learn what we mean by primary sources, and the older ones, who were about 11-13, were able to understand a bit better when I talked about how this work was done by slaves at the Croghan farm. 

A Buttered Apple Pie - Amelia Simmons, 1796

Pare, quarter and core tart apples, lay in paste..cover with the same; bake half an hour, when drawn, gently raise the top crust, add sugar butter, cinnamon, mace, wine or rose-water

It's times like this I really wish Locust Grove had a bake oven, since this wasn't the easiest thing to handle in a dutch oven. Getting it out without burning your fingers isn't the best thing ever, and I managed to mess up the crust a little between that and rising it up to add the rose water. But, no matter, it was very well received! I absolutely love rose water as a flavoring, and this reminded me why. 

Macaroni - The Virginia Housewife, 1824

Boil as much macaroni as will fill your dish, in milk and water, till quite tender; drain it on a sieve,  sprinkle a little salt over it, put a layer in your dish, then cheese and butter ....put the dish in a quick over, twenty or thirty minutes will bake it. 

This has become another of my go-tos. It's easy, it's vegetarian, it is absolutely delicious, AND it really gets peoples attention. I actually brought this one in to one of my classes where I teach last semester and the students really enjoyed it. 

I was quite pleased with how it came out this time- when it looked almost ready I put a few more coals on top of the dutch oven and just left it 3-4 minutes longer to get some nice browning on the top. I was very careful not to wait too long so it wouldn't get burnt, and it came out just right. It was a big hit with the other volunteers and my kitchen helpers.

This was election day in Kentucky, which meant that the public schools were closed to serve as polling places (for a state with notoriously low voter turnout, we actually do a decent job of marking the day). There were two neighborhood children playing on the grounds who were just awesome. They kept coming into the kitchen to see what was going on, and eventually became my helpers. Normally I don't feed the public at these things, but one of them has a dad on the board, so I said they could have pie if they got permission.

It was delightful seeing them pop back up all sweaty and breathy, because they had obviously run home and then run all the way back after having asked mom (the one boy lives next to the Grove, so they weren't dodging traffic or anything). It was just really nice to see kids outside, playing, having adventures. And they even walked away with a taste for rosewater in pie :-) 

New Regency Ballgown

I made this ballgown for the Locust Grove Ball in February. 

USA!  USA!
Photo credit Historic Locust Grove 

This was mostly based on this example, sketched out in Costume in Detail 

I actually fished the fabric out of my stash (yay, destashing!). This was a cotton sari I had bought from Regency Revisited eons ago, and totally forgotten about! I really need to go through my fabric tubs more, you find the greatest things!

 

Costume in Detail pages 103-104

The first part of this project involved my amazing fiance helping me make a duct tape dress form. I didn't actually take pictures of this, because I honestly was too afraid it wouldn't work out. In the end, it *mostly* did, and it has been invaluable! Also the whole affair was pretty fun, though I don't know what anyone walking by our dining room windows thought! (Fun fact we live next to a funeral home...) 

We fit the duct-tape form with my regency stays on, so I could drape on the right bustline. I stuffed the inside with pollyfill and plastic trash bags. Having this made a HUGE difference! I was able to drape a mock-up over the perfect bustline (though I have no photos for the same reason). 

When I tried on the mock-up, there did seem to be some distortion around the armsceye. However I was able to solve it pretty easily by just slashing it and redrawing the curve. 

A lot of this project was just taking the time to set the the gathers how I wanted them. It was time consuming, but it was a fun and satisfying process.  I gathered the front and back onto a piece of tape right under the bustline to provide stability. 

I cannot TELL you how much I agonized over the direction the peacocks were going here. Ultimately I decided it was fine, but Brian was pretty entertained to hear my muttering that the 'the damn turkeys are going the wrong way!"

Once the bodice was done, I just had to place the skirt, which was pretty easy.

I tried to keep the front smooth, but keep pleats on the back and sides. The original  had them mostly towards the back, but I like to add some on the sides as well so everything flows well over my hips. 

After I had pinned everything in place, I topstitched it. I was able to mostly hide the stitching, but there is also a line of stitching showing on the sketch in CID, do don't worry too much about. Topstitching is totally period. 

 

You can kind of see the stitching for the drawstring channel under the bust, but from the sketch in CID it looks like it is like that on the original. 

I ran into some issues because the ribbon I used for the drawstring was not long enough, and ended up popping back into the channel as I put the dress on. I was able to fish it out, but I really should have known  better. 

I finished this dress about an hour before I left for the ball, so I pretty much realized there would be some issues putting it on the first time and went in prepared. Luckily my friend Tom Tumbusch was there to help me get dressed, and he is AWESOME.

One other thing I realized far too late in this process was that I should have traced a line showing where my stays sit on the dressform. As it was I may have made the dip in the back a *little* too low. Luckily  Tom was able to help tuck everything down and pin it in place. I think I can alter it pretty easily before I wear it again, but I also need to just trace the darn stay lines on this thing.

Takeaways: 

Making a duct tape bodice over your stays is great, BUT

• You will still need to do a mock-up!
• Draw a line showing where your stays are on the the dressform.
• Longer drawstrings are better than not long enough! 

With the ladies of the Indiana Historical Costuming Society. This was a really fun night.
Photo credit Historic Locust Grove.

Dressing Miss Ann Croghan

This post is about a dress which I draped and consulted on for one of the girls in our First Person Interpreters program at Historic Locust Grove. I hope this post will give  you an idea of how we use historical sources to create historically accurate, and ideally, character-driven clothing, to educate museum visitors on the year 1816.

Heather is 16 years old (I am posting this with permission from her and her mother), and she portrays Ann Croghan, daughter of William and Lucy Croghan who owned Locust Grove. Ann was born in 1797 and was 19 years old in 1816. Heather, who is legally, contractually, not allowed to leave the city of Louisville before her 25th birthday**, will hopefully portray Ann for some time to come.

This is a portrait which was painted of Ann after her 1822 marriage to Thomas Sidney Jesup. She is a brunette, wearing the color red.

Ann Croghan, from the Locust Grove collection,
 (portrait photographed by Heather Rene)

We didn't ask her to do this, but Heather actually started dying her hair, which is naturally dark blond, brown for this part. Talk about dedication! Her mother made her some false curls based on my post here, and modified this method of styling Heather's hair.


I found the fabric for this dress on Fashion Fabrics Club, before Heather joined the cast. It reminded me of the fabric this dress from the DAR Fashionable Tyrant exhibit was made from. Since we ask that all fabric for this program be approved, I will often pick up approveable fabric when I find a good deal, and pass it on at cost to the ladies in the program.

1810-1815 (Private Collection)

I draped the bodice for the dress on Heather and drew up instructions for the skirt. We chose a front opening dress so she would have an easier time getting dressed.

Heather's grandmother Patsy actually did all of the construction on the garment with my instructions and consultation. She was a real champ about learning historic clothing construction techniques! 

Apparently Patsy has come to really enjoy doing tucks :-) 

Heather stuck with the red theme for her evening gown, which was made from some lovely red silk from 96 District Fabrics. I also draped the bodice for this on her, and helped fit all the tucks on the fashion fabric.  Patsy handled all the major construction.

Here she is in action with her 'sister', Eliza Croghan. 

I may be biased, but I think they look pretty darn great!

**If you can't tell that was a joke, I weep for our species.

Using Social Media to Create Cohesion Before a Living History Event

This post will focus on how to use social media, and other digital media, to create cohesion between groups and individual participants before one-weekend living history events. I will also be talking about how we can reach out to the public to help them feel comfortable engaging when they walk through the gate. These strategies should apply whether you are working in a first-person or third-person environment. 

The Problem
There are some living history events and groups which are able to meet regularly to rehearse. Events which run for several weekends in a row, such as The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, will rehearse for several weeks leading up to the run. This creates group cohesion and helps to keep everyone lined up with the goals of the event or site.

But what do you do when everyone involved can't get together ahead of time? Many living history events are only one weekend. They typically consist of several independent groups and individuals which come together for the weekend, and then go their separate ways. These folks may live several hours apart, making any kind of physical group rehearsal impossible.

If your group meets regularly to rehearse, drill, etc., you may have excellent internal cohesion, but you may still face challenges interacting with other groups for the weekend. It can be too easy to remain in an insular group with the people you know all weekend, instead of cross-pollinating with other participants.

"Who the heck are those people over there? Do they bite? Am I allowed to go talk to them? I better just stay over here where it's safe...."

Sometimes this can even be a matter of fear, or intimidation- we think 'Oh, So- and -So is so cool, they couldn't want to talk to me!", etc.  Of course this is usually not true, but it is still a perfectly understandable reaction around people you may not know very well yet.


So, What to do?
This is where our modern communications tools, including social media, can be extremely helpful. Facebook, for all its many troubles, is a good meeting ground for reenactors and living historians. You tend to find active groups with lots of people there. Instagram could be a good place to start too, to get the word out about what you are doing and how others can come interact with you, though it may not foster the same kind of interactive discussion.

I was actually inspired to write this post by watching my friends in the Guild of St. George, Inc., prepare for the San Jose Renaissance Faire. The theme for the event is fairies, and the Guild has chosen a scenario to support this where they are putting on a court masque based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. I know this from 2,300 miles away, because I've seen Rydell posting this EVERYWHERE the last few days. As Guildmaster, he's been using social media to explain what his group is doing, and invite folks from other groups to come and interact with them. This way St. George is supporting the theme of the event, and encouraging interaction between participants, to create a better immersive experience for attendees.

Members of other guilds came to perform for the Queen.
Photo by Angelica Roque

Readers of this blog may have also noticed several posts leading up to the Jane Austen Festival.  At the event, I was running an environmental area where festival goers were invited to come, sit, and enjoy some Regency-era hospitality. However, this is not the only such area at the event. Carol Jarboe also runs a wonderful salon as Caroline, Lady Linnington. My goal was to add something to the event which complimented what she was doing, but did not copy it. I think of us as the Longbourn to her Rosings.

So I reached out to Carol on Facebook, and we talked about what she was doing, and how I could be sure to add something different. It turns out that Lady Caroline does not enjoy games of cards in her parlour, so cards became a major feature in our area. By coordinating this way, Carol and I made sure that we weren't stepping on each other's toes, and that festival goers would have a broader immersive experience by visiting each of us.

Lady Linnington would prefer that her guests attention be focused on her, not whatever ace they may be holding.
Photo by Jen Jarboe

It is very easy for us to forget how overwhelming it can be for people to walk through the gate and into our world. Members of the public who come visit may not know how to approach living history performers. Remember, these good souls are the ones who keep the playground alive by showing up!

In the particular case of the Jane Austen Festival, there is less of a divide between "public" and "participants" than at many other events. The festival has a particularly active following on social media, including a very large Facebook group. This made it possible to reach out directly to attendees prior to the event by putting my blog posts up in the group. I was able to use this to invite festival goers to come and interact with us, and tell them how to do so. I even included a link to a Whist tutorial, and was extremely gratified when a few ladies showed up having practiced!

Some delightful, well-mannered company, at a game of whist. 

Photo by Janet Abell

However, it is rare for event goers to be conveniently herded into a Facebook group heading into an event like that. More of the time, I have found that Facebook events can be very good for recruiting and coordinating participants, but they are not ideal for promoting the event to the public. The event planners themselves may wish to incorporate what you are doing into their promotion, which is why it's important for group leaders and event coordinators to stay in close contact. 

In the old days, where event advertising was limited to costly print media, it could be hard do much about this. However in this brave new world of nearly limitless, often free, media leading up to an event, we can get really specific telling people what they are able to do, and how they can go about making it happen.  The organizing body may wish to share blog posts you have written. Or they may prefer to put up easier-to-digest graphics with quick blurbs, telling visitors how they can interact with you, "You may present yourself to the Queen!" or "Lady Caroline would love you to introduce yourself!", or "Don't forget to check the schedule to see where and when to sign your kids up for militia drill!"  If possible, it is also a good idea to include specific times and places to direct visitors to.

Kids militia drill, being lead by a visiting reenactor at Locust Grove's 18th Century Market Fair. Photo courtesy of Historic Locust Grove.

I always want to support the theme and goals of any living history event, while creating an immersive environment for our guests.  All of these things are possible when we take the time and initiative to reach out and communicate with each other and with the hardworking folks who organize and produce these events.

Burnley & Trowbridge Workshop Apron Front Dress and New Chemisette

This post is about my new apron front dress, with a few lessons learned along the way. I have come to really appreciate and enjoy apron front dresses. They seem like such a strange style at first, but I can get into this one entirely on my own, and I quite like the look of it on! 

The dress is 100% hand sewn, using historically accurate construction techniques. 

At the Oldham County Historical Society.

I made this dress at a Burnley & Trowbridge Workshop in Williamsburg I went to with my friend Hannah in May. This workshop was originally scheduled for October but was moved to May, which worked out great since school was out for me, and Hannah could come!

If you have never been to a B & T workshop, they are great. You work in pairs, and learn to drape patterns on each other. These are especially good if you are someone who is confident sewing with patterns, and ready to move to the next level and start making custom garments on the body.

Fitting on Hannah. Photo courtesy of Angela Burnley.

This turned out to be my second crossover, apron front dress in 6 months. (You can see my post on the Fig Leaf Patterns Surplice Dress here).  I really wanted to be sure the two dresses looked different, so I looked around for a trim option on the front that would really stand out. I found this example in Fashion in Detail from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Fashion in Detail, page 57

This was pretty easy to achieve. Cut out three long strips of fabric, and fold the ends in so no rough edges show. I didn't stitch the edges in place or anything, which seems to have worked out fine. I clipped the ends into my sewing bird from Amazon Drygoods to provide some tension while I braided them.

 As you pin it in place to stitch in place, try to fan out the braid and keep it nice and full. Then stitch the ends down on each side,and use a wide whip stitch to attach it inside the neckline of the garment.

I added tapes on the inside back so I could tie in a pad to hold out the pleats.

I have found with these dresses it is best to make the laces on the apron front long enough so that you can bring them around and tie them in front under your bust. I added a couple of loops on the back to keep them in place (you see this on a lot of originals).  Both the ties and the loops are made of 1/4 inch tape from Burnley & Trowbridge

This not only makes you more self-sufficient, it also provides a nice amount of tension to keep the skirt in place. I also add a couple of straight pins to be sure, and so far I haven't had any issues with it slipping out of place.

Once I have tied the tape snuggly under my bust, I'm actually able to tuck it under the skirt so it doesn't even show. I usually secure the top with a couple of pins, though this is more preventive, I really haven't had trouble with it falling down at all. 

I also wanted a new chemisette to go with the outfit. I draped the pattern out on the mannequin my friend Jocelyn gave me.

If you are someone who wants to take that jump into draping, this would be a great place to start. The first thing I ever draped was a chemisette on my friend Erica back in 2013 when she came for the Jane Austen Festival. You know what a chemisette is supposed to look like, you are really just making sure the shoulder slope, neckline, and length are correct. Take the plunge and try it!

The ruffles are actually antique trim which I restored with Restoration. If you have not used it, this stuff is amazing! It will seriously take the yellow out of older white fabric.

Before and after - I think these were originally meant for the bottom of a sleeve, so I just opened them up and trimmed them down a little. 

I found that I had to iron the antique cotton on a very low setting without any steam. When the iron was too hot it yellowed it again, though the Restoration was able to remove it (AMAZING).

Gathered onto 1/4 inch tape- See Patterns of Fashion Volume 1 page 50 for examples. 

I gathered the trim onto separate pieces of tape which I attached to the collar of the chemisette. There are examples of this from the period, including two in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion. This also means I can easily remove the trim and put it on another chemisette in the future if I want to.

These go really well with my blue cotton spencer and straw bonnet. Put it together and this is definitely my favorite Regency/Federal outfit at the moment.

What we're looking at....well, that's another story...

Mrs. Ann Gwathmey

Here's a post about a dress I made back in 2016 for my friend Janice Sidebottom. Janice is a member of the first person interpreter cast at Locust Grove, where she portrays Ann Clark Gwathmey. Ann was the oldest sister of George Rogers Clark and William Clark. She married Owen Gwathmey, who ran a mercantile business in Louisville.

Janice at the Jane Austen dinner at Historic Corydon, IN. She is wearing a cap of mine, along with a chemisette from Amazon Drygoods.
Her lovely curls came from Custom Wig Company.

We wanted to create something for Janice which would be and fashionable and appropriate for her character in 1816, the year we portray at Locust Grove

There is a miniature of Ann which was supposedly painted in 1820, just a few years later,  though I suspect it is incorrectly dated. Ann was born in 1755, so by 1820 she would have been in her mid 60's. The shock of brown hair seems surprising on a woman her age. Hair pieces were certainly available, but those would likely have been curled. Since the hair in this image is brown, but does not look purposely styled, I suspect it is Ann's real hair, and this portrait was painted earlier. **

There is a later portrait of her sister, Lucy, however, which also provided some good inspiration for Ann at this point in their lives. Lucy Clark Croghan was painted at Locust Grove in 1820, where her portrait now hangs in the dining room. She is dressed in a manner which is very dignified and fashionable, and which displays the wealth and comfort Lucy knew at this time of her life.

Both portraits show women in darker colors, with frilly lovely caps and fichou or other frilly fabric about their necks. And it just so happens that Janice's favorite color is blue....

Our model for this dress was this one from the Snowshill Collection in the National Trust, dated 1812-15

Nancy Bradfield also sketched this one out in Costume in Detail on pages 115-16. 

This was actually one of my first forays into draping on the body. Maggie Roberts, who was our outgoing ladies costume director at the time, kindly held my hand and helped me through the process. 

I likened the construction of this dress to an arch- its very simple how all the pieces hold each other together, once they ARE together. The shoulders are gathered on pieces of tape, as is the bosom in the front. Janice was very patient while I set all the bosom gathers in place on her. 

Below are the pattern pieces I traced off the pattern I had draped on Janice. There appeared to be more gathers on the front of the shoulders, so the shoulder is wider on the front bodice piece than the back. As with all crossover styles, the front is cut on the straight of grain.

The back is on a drawstring, which makes the dress adjustable. Janice has a history of weight fluctuation, so this adjustability was something she wanted. I created the channel for the string between the skirt and the bodice . The very bottom of the sleeves close with a drawstring.

The fabric came from Fashion Fabrics Club, where it was labeled as a 'dark blue lawn'. FFC can really be a great resource for low cost cottons, but it is never a guarantee exactly how what you order will show up.  Luckily, this arrived as a lovely, smooth, lightweight cotton with a nice drape. 

Janice with the other ladies at the 200th anniversary of George Roger's Clark's death and burial.
February 17, 2018
Courtesy of Wayne Tuckson 

I hope this entry has given you an idea of how we work to create character appropriate garments, based on primary source documentation as well as the taste and preferences of the wearer, at Locust Grove. 

**The image is stored along with two other miniatures, of her son and daughter in law, at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville. Those are also dated 1820, and I suspect that Ann's came with them, and got lumped into the same date.