A Long Overdue Update!

I can't believe we are almost through the first two months of 2010! So much has happened since my last posting, there's no way I'll be able to write all that has taken place. But I will say our year started off with a bang! January is a special month in our household, namely because we have 3 birthdays to celebrate. My oldest son is a New Year's Day baby, my birthday is in the middle of the month, and my youngest son is the last day of the month. My daughter was due in February, but decided to come a little early, and now I share my birthday with my sweet little girl!

I have not dresses her up in Civil War, Victorian Era Clothing yet, but my husband did snap this cute picture in the hospital, which I later changed to sepia, to give it an old look. I have a few original Civil War Era dresses I can't wait to try on her. Most of them are for older girls so I have to wait until she gets a bit bigger before I have a fashion show.

Here is another shot of the sleeping angel. I think this was taken when she was 2 days old.

Fall was a very busy time for me. I've never had so many dress orders than I had this year. I made many Civil War, Regency, and Dickens clothing and even a few Steampunk.

Below is my favorite outfit. The lady needed an outfit for Nancy in the book Oliver Twist. With some research I discovered the dress Nancy would have worn would have been in the Romantic Era, which is sandwiched in between the Regency Era and the Victorian Era. This is the first dress I made in the Romantic Era and I had a lot of fun researching the fashion of that time.

The transition from Regency to Victorian is quite fascinating, and elements of both Regency and Victorian can be seen in the Romantic Era clothing. The dresses were not quite as full as the Victorian era and still feature the narrow sleeves of the Regency Era. The dresses were not worn over a hoop but a corded petticoat or multiple ruffled petticoats to give the dress a bell shaped look which later grew fuller as the Victorian Era approached.

Here is my original sketch for the dress.

I already have a few dress orders lined up for this year and I'm looking forward to more! I hope to post more of my work before things get busy again this Fall.

Etsy Trade-A-Holic $5 Sale!

Just letting my blog friends know that I'm participating in the Trade-A-Holic $5 sale September 18th-20th. The Trade-A-Holic team is where Etsy sellers have a good time trading items of interest among it's members. The team also works together to promote sales among the members of the team.

This is the first $5 sale put on by the Trade-A-Holic Team. Over 80 members have lowered prices of over 1000 items to $5. To find a list of those items just click here.

Below are a few of my items I marked down to $5. On Monday they go back to regular price!

Civil War Haversack made out of ticking. Great for a Confederate Impression!

Pink Eyelet Half Apron

Blue Calico Pinner Apron

To see more $5 items from my Victorian Times Store just click here.

The past few week have been very busy ones for me. For those who have been following my blog, I'm happy to announce we are having a little girl! With two very active boys it fun knowing that I'll have someone to share my love of sewing.

There has been a lot of sewing going on over here. I've had a number of custom orders to fill, in addition to creating (or redrafting) a new line of dresses for my Etsy Store Victorian Times.

The pink dress is one of my new creations. It's a ready made dress that I will be offering as a custom order soon.

Here is the back of the dress.

And below is a close up of the fabric.

These Black Victorian Style Wrist Warmer Cuffs are perfect for keeping you in style and warm!

During the Victorian Era detachable cuffs served several purposes. They protected the sleeves of nice day dresses, gave the dress a little flare and kept the wrist warm.

This is my version of the Victorian Era cuff. It was a lot of fun to make and I hope to be adding some more fun things to my line of Victorian Era Inspired clothing soon.

New For Fall

Wow! This has really been a busy time for me. My dress orders are getting completed and I'm looking forward to getting some new ones. I enjoy "meeting" new ladies as I work on their Victorian gowns!

Here is my new design I promised to show everyone. This dress I call Plum Wheat because of the small wheat design on the fabric. I'm offering this dress for sale in my Victorian Times Etsy store. I will be offering this style as a custom order dress as well.

The bell shaped Pagoda sleeves make this style dress very charming! I added under sleeves and a matching collar to complete the look.

Here is a view of the back.

I drafted this pattern and designed it loosely after a dress featured on In the Swan's Shadow that was worn by Mary Todd Lincoln. Some day I would like to recreated the dresses exactly the way it was worn by Mary Todd, but for now it gives me inspiration to create dresses of my own. Check out In the Swan's Shadow to see pictures of the beautiful velvet dress worn by one of our First Ladies.

I'm Back!

Hi friends and sorry for the long delay in posts. A few months ago I found out I was expecting our third child and as exciting as the news of a new baby is, it came with some much undesired morning (all day) sickness. I am now in second trimester and feel much better as my family anticipates the arrival of our new little one.

I am also back to sewing. With peek sewing season just starting I already have 7 dress orders to be filled in the next couple of weeks! (Things must be getting better for our American economy!)

During my off sewing season I played around with some new dress ideas. (Well I should say I recreated some dresses, drafting some new patterns from civil war era pictures and original dresses.) I will be showing you some of my new designs in the upcoming weeks as well as some of my custom order dresses I'm working on.

For now I want to share with you a new item I've added to my Etsy Victorian Times Store. Pictured is my Black Pantaloon and Chemise Set. I had a couple of special request for a Pantaloon and Chemise Set made in black this past year and I have decided to offer it in my store. Some of the women who ordered the set said they wanted to use it to go with their civil war mourning outfit. During the civil war and Victorian Era those who lost loved ones and family members would wear black as a symbol of their grief.

Pink Paisley Civil War Day Dress

Since I have not had any custom orders or Internet connection the past week, I have been busy making new dresses. I drafted some new patterns and have worked with some really fun fabric. Here is the first dress I made last week.

I just loved this pink paisley print when I saw it at the store and knew it would make a beautiful dress.

For those who have been following my blog you are probably well aware that this is one of my favorite style of civil war day dresses to sew. But for the sake of variety I have drafted some new patterns for civil war era dresses and I will be featuring some new dress made with the patterns in the next couple of weeks.

Making a Civil War Dress Part 3

So here it is the finished civil war day dress with collar and belt. The sleeves are full gathered bishop sleeves that gather into the armhole as well as into a cuff.

Here is another angle of the dress. The belt and the collar are detachable and add to the look of the dress.

Here is an up close look at the belt and the fabric. I went with an embrodered white fabric for the belt. I thought it brought out the paisleys in the civil war day dress.

Sorry for leaving everyone hanging on the last part "Making a Civil War Dress". We are change internet providers and I have not had internet connection the last couple of days. I should be back up and running next week with some more Victorian Era Blog post. Thanks so much for following.

Making a Civil War Dress ~ Part 2

My latest custom order civil war dress is finished and on its way to its new owner. Now for part 2 of Making a Civil War Dress.

Here is an up close shot of the fabric I promised. The little swirls are called paisleys. Paisley fabric was popular during the Civil War era.

This is the front, back, and side back of the bodice cut out and ready to be sewn. All bodices were lined during the civil war era so I have two layers of fabric for each piece. For civil war era dress the lining fabric and the fashion fabric where based together before sewing the pieces together. Today the lining fabric is sewn separate as well as the fashion fabric then they are sewn together. All the seams are show in the civil war era dress which made the dresses easy to alter whereas modern day dresses the seams would be in between the two layers of fabric and not accessible.

Here are the bodice pieces stitched together and ready to be connected. The front bodice which are the two pieces on the top have two darts on each side. It is often referred to as double darted.

Here is the bodice on my dress form all ready to have the sleeves added.

The final part of Making a Civil War Dress, I will show the finished dress as well as the detailing.

Making a Civil War Dress Part 1

I finally got my camera out while making a dress. The dress that I'm working on is a Custom Order Civil War Day Dress like the one I sell in my Etsy store Victorian Times. I plan to post the Making a Civil War Dress in three parts. So please make sure you come back to see the next two post.

I like to use a dress form. I can watch the dress take shape while I'm sewing. Although the lady who order the dress did not order any of my civil war undergarments I still like to put those on my dress form before I begin sewing. In the above picture you can see my corset and corded petticoat. My corded petticoat need a good starching to hold the cords out better. Women wore corded petticoats rather than hoops when they needed to work. The corded petticoat gives the dress a bell like shape without the bulkiness caused by the hoops. As reenactors, women where corded petticoats under their "Camp" Dress / Work dress. When cooking by the fire you need to be able to get close and a corded petticoat make that possible. When I'm sewing a Civil War Day dress I usually put my hoop on the dress form instead of the corded petticoat. Unfortunately, my hoop is still pack and I can't seem to find it! Hopefully, I be about to find it for the final picture of the dress.

In the picture above I have my petticoat over the corded petticoat. This will give the skirt more fullness. My petticoat can also fit over a four bone hoop.

Above is picture of the fabric I am using for the dress. It is a soft blue with a white paisley design. I'll post a close up picture in part two. In this picture I'm getting ready to cut out the panels for the skirt. I use four panels for a Day Dress, it gives the dress 180" in circumference.

Next, I sew the panels together and pleat the waist. The picture above is the skirt. I like to make the skirt first because I makes me feel as if the dress is mostly finished, even though I still have a lot of work to do. This skirt is wide enough to fit over a four, five, or six bone hoop! In part three I'll post a picture with the dress over a hoop. Part two will focus on the bodice and sleeves. Part three will be on the finishing of the dress.

Cameos and More

Today I would like to feature another Etsy Store as well as a Blog that I follow, and that is The Ebon Swan. At The Ebon Swan you can find beautiful cameos. Pictured below are examples of cameos currently listed in The Ebon Swan store. I love cameos. Probably because it was the jewelry my Grandmother gave to me as my inheritance. (I will be posting pictures of my Grandmothers cameos in a later post). Cameos are a nice accent to any living history impression.

Sarah's Memory Hand Beaded Black and Ivory Cameo

Bacchante Classical Berry Red and White Cameo Set With Pink Rose Quartz

If you are not up for Cameos, the Ebon Swan also sells beautiful earrings and other jewelry. I just love the earrings below!

Shards of Shadow Simple Black Glass Point Earrings

Feeling creative? You can pick up cameo and other jewelry supplies at the Swan's Nest, another The Ebon Swan store.

Carnelian and Cream Profile Cameos



Single Goldplate Decorated Locket with Bail

To find out more about The Ebon Swan as well as some wonderful information on Civil War reenacting you can read The Ebon Swan's blog In the Swan's Shadow. Pictures are owned by The Ebon Swan and where used with permission. To go to The Ebon Swan Etsy store just click on any of the above pictures.

I'm On Twitter!

I just got on Twitter. It looks like a great way to keep up with all my customers as well as blog friends. You can find me at https://twitter.com/VictorianTimes .

Here are some more pictures of my new house.

This is a before shot of our dinning room.

We darkened the green and accented with brown. We will be decorating with a somewhat primitive theme so the colors suit better than what was their. We love antiques so they will find a welcome place in our home!

My husband added this T.V. cabinet. Our HDTV fits nicely inside. The doors slide in when opened. We have two civil war reproduction candle lanterns on each side of the plant. With the TV room in the basement we wanted to brighten it up with a dusty yellow color for the walls.

This is one of my favorite additions to the house. It was just a hole in the wall where the previous owners stripped out the fireplace when they moved. There was a lot of damage to the drywall that my husband repaired before putting our new fireplace in. I love to decorate with books. On top of the fireplace you will find some of my pre civil war (1830s) books on the left as well as a civil war Bible and CDV Album. Although the fire place is gas only I still like the looks of the brass log holder and fireplace tools.

Now you may begin to see why I've been so busy to post the last couple of months. I hope now that we have finished most of the work on our house that I can get back into a regular posting schedule. Thank you for all the kind comments and encouragement!

A Look Back In Time

It is a lot of fun dressing up my little boys in their Civil War reenactment clothing. It is even more fun watching them play with all the civil war period (reproduction) items laying around. It really sets the mood when we are civil war camping. My oldest boy gets a lot of photos taken of him when we our out on the field. When we are not too busy we get a couple of shots of him as well. These are two of my favorite photos of him. The photo on the left I call "Collecting Water" and the photo on the Right I call "A Look Back In Time"


The outfits my son is wearing I made for him. The shirt on the left was copied from an original in my collection. The outfit he has on in the right picture is a miniature outfit that matches his dad's. That's Dad's hat on of course!



Children wore dresses or long gowns during the civil war until they were potty trained. And it was not unusual to see a four year old boy or even older in a gown! Boy, haven't times changed. Both of my baby boys looked more like boys in their clothing rather than babies when they were newborn! Their outfits where complete with baby baseball caps, and even soft sold tennis shoes. Yet when we start pulling out our reenactment gear my three year old waits in eager expectation for his turn to play dress up!

Back To Work

It's been so hard to get back into the work mode. But I do love to sew and create as well as make a little money that I've decided to offer custom order dresses for this month. I posted a listing in my Victorian Times Etsy store as well as on eBay. We will see if I have any takers. In the mean time I intend to unpack my sewing machine and make a few ready made dresses.

I'm keeping my eye open for some 100% cotton organdy. I'd love to make some sheer dresses this year. Below is a picture of an original CDV of a lady with a sheer dress on. I always wondered how the women survived the heat of the summer months in all their layers of clothing, but when I learned that some of the dresses were made with sheer fabric it made more since to me. I think I can bear the heat of summer with a sheer dress, seeing how I wore a flannel dress to an August reenactment event!! Boy was that hot!

The following pictures are a before and after shot of our library in our new house. It is amazing what a little paint can do.

Before

After

I love having a library in our house. The built in book shelves where a very nice feature! When I post next, I show another before and after shot, as well as one of my newly inherited treasures. (The horse drawing on the wall in my library was drawn by my very talented sister in law who has an Etsy store called Pintogirl. She plans to stock her store with her artwork as well as western wear that she designs and creates.

Happy Spring & And Update!

Hi Everyone, sorry for the long interlude! But I'm about ready to get back into my regular posting! We've just about got our new house to our liking. I've posted some photos of the outside of the house. We got about 10 inches of snow on the first of March! It was so beautiful. It's so hard to believe today is the first day of Spring.

Here is a side shot of our house.

And here are our beautiful Pines which did not fair well!

Here is the front shot of our house.

And here is another shot after it stopped snowing.

In the next couple of days I'll post some before and after shots of the inside of the house. I can't believe how much it has transformed the last 7 weeks.

It you live in the Roanoke, Virginia area and are in need of a great realtor make sure you look up Al Hardy. (You can click on his name to be taken to his web page.) Mr. Hardy was the best in helping us find the perfect house in a couple of weeks time! And he help us with all the paper work and inspections and thing up to closing. I highly recommend him!

In regards to my Victorian Era post, I will be getting back to them very soon. I inherited a few fun Victorian items that I want to post about as well so some very fun thrift shopping finds. This week I am making a Renaissance Style Wedding dress. Then in about a month I'll get back into making more Civil War Era dress and start posting more pictures of my creations.

Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments! I look forward to checking out my fellow bloggers' posts and leaving a few comments my self. Take Care, and check back in a couple of days for my next post.

Our New House

We hope to close on our new house today! I can't believe what a long drawn out process this has been. The main floor has a Victorian feel to it. The outside of the house is not at all Victorian but Contemporary. Although I love the looks of the Victorian Style decor, my husband and I decided to go with a Primitive decor look to our new house. All of our Civil war items and old books will still look great in a Primitive setting.

If we close on our house today we hope to paint the basement on Saturday. The previous owners painted it a dark orange!



I will be another couple of months before we are fully settled into our new home. We have quite a bit of work. We are putting new cabinets in the kitchen and we have a lot of painting to do as well as a number of other things.






I've already bought some fun things for the new house. A great place to find some fun decorations is on Etsy. There are some great vintage finds as well as some wonderful handmade item.

One of my favorite soap shops is Grizzly Mountain Soap, on Etsy. They have some of the best buffalo soaps. I ordered a bar of soap for each one of the bathrooms in my new house. The fragrance from Grizzly Mountain Soap fills the room even better than a candle!

Win a $1000 Shopping Spree! Fun Etsy Contest!!

We move Monday!! So lots of packing this weekend. I just wanted to pass along this fun Etsy Contest to all my readers.

WhatsInTheBox's Shop Announcement
welcome to our $1000 give-a-way!!!! This is a collection of feature shops that will be included in a $1000 give away prize!!!!! Absolutely no purchase necessary!

Do you like to MEET NEW PEOPLE, play GAMES, and win FABULOUS PRIZES like $1000 worth of GIFT CERTIFICATES from the shops you see listed here??? then come chat with us herehttp://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5936605

Each reply will be counted as an entry in the drawing! Come say hi, self promote, meet the artists, or shop in some of the stores listed here and let people know what you would put in YOUR ultimate mystery box! We play a lot of games and there are prizes as we go. And there are some AMAZING specials that are only available to those who are "in the know" on the thread.and sellers, if you want to be a part of this exciting experience, gain more exposure and drive more business to your store, then conversation us! we'd love to add you to our list of FEATURED SELLERS and include you in our next big drawing!!!! all it takes is one $20 gift certificate donation per store and a one time fee of $1 to cover the cost of your listing. Once we have 51 items listed here we will draw a winner and start all over again!

You dont have to donate to play. and if you do donate... you can still WIN!THIS ROUND'S FEATURE SELLERS INCLUDE:

1. frommyhandstoyours.etsy.com DESTASH, jewelry, scarves, shredded t's

2. Vidia2be.etsy.com

3. VictorianTimes.etsy.com (vintage & Reproduction items)

4. Sarahinflorida.etsy.com

5. DesignsbyEricaKortz.etsy.com

6. SouthernCreations.etsy.com-jewelry,photography,floral

7. JewelrybyJenn.etsy.com

8. HippyKlippyKlopShop.etsy.com A lil bit of everything

9. Junquete.etsy.com

10. HavenDawnDesigns.etsy.com

11. ClearLakeCreations.etsy.com

12. Desera21.etsy.com Hair Bows & Accessories

13. HammelmanArt.etsy.com

14. Sunnfox.etsy.com vintage treasures

15. Sheltie19.etsy.com

16. MoleHillTreasures.etsy.com

17. Krishenka.etsy.com

18. BeadWired8.etsy.com

19. ILoveHelloKitty.etsy.com

20. FlightFancy.etsy.com

21. Lyndee495.etsy.com

22. Lilesj.etsy.com-handmade chainmaille & metal jewelry

23. SarahNWonderland.etsy.com

24. Buppins.etsy.com vintage finds

25. IvyRoad.etsy.com

26. LizardQueenJewelry.etsy.com - One of a Kind & Custom Jewelry

27. CocosCreations.etsy.com-paper quilled items!!!

28. ShaShaAnn.etsy.com Art, Children's Art, ACEOs

29. JodayCraf.etsy.com

30. LoveStamp.etsy.com

31. LadyFarrah.etsy.com

There are some wonderful shops giving away $20 gift certificates and there will be 20 more shops added before the contest winner is drawn. Pop over to this link herehttp://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5936605 and just say hi for your chance to win.