Tiger Lily's Threads

For this section, I decided to focus my attention on the wardrobe. What would have Ona Judge worn in 1796?  Now, here's the thing that left me a bit perplexed. According to the runaway ad, it described Ona had taken several nice dresses with her, but were too many for the Washingtons to recollect. Since Ona Judge was Martha Washington's personal lady's maid, this meant that she would have worn the nicest clothing compared to what a domestic maid or a field hand would have worn. So...this lead me to the age old question...what should I wear? Which style dress would best interpret Ona's occupation?  Looking up examples of 1790's fashion plates online and in my Kyoto Fashions book, this simple and yet elegant gown grabbed my attention and made me feel like this would be a good fit. The only thing I am not 100% sure of is whether Ona would have owned any taffeta gowns; If anything cotton or linen fabrics would have been selected for her in either a plain or ch...

This past weekend was the 9th annual Colonial Market Fair at the Benjamin Banneker Museum in Ellicott City, MD. It's a small but increasing local event that seems to annually bring in a lot of spectators from all over the Howard/Baltimore/Arundel County areas. Of the four years that I have participated (2014-2018), I have watched the CMF grow in size. From performances, to vendors, to demonstrations, and sutlers. Saturday Each year that I participate I always set up my display of 18th century women's fashion; I show everything from fancy ball gowns, jackets, hats, etc. to simple clothing like work jackets cotton petticoats and even underpinnings. This year due to the crappy weather that threatened us again this weekend, I decided to forego the fancy gowns and display rural 18th century women's clothing of the area. Basically your basic jacket and petticoat, underpinnings, and accessories.  The only new things I added to the table were a couple of booklet...

This past Saturday, I attended a little get-together with a few friends in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and had an indoor picnic. Originally it was going to be outdoors at the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, but due to the pretty nasty thunderstorm that threatened the weekend, last minute changes were made-which worked out pretty well. Anyway, we all had a great time! Everyone wore wonderful outfits that dated from 1740 to 1800, there were lots of delicious finger foods (though the chocolate chip cookies that I brought with me sadly did not make it out of the package unscathed; next event I'll get a fruit platter). The best part of the picnic though, was the opportunity to meet some new faces and just let our hair down and have fun!    The quartet of Dunmore shoes and buckles from American Duchess These beautiful ladies in their Chemise la Reines. Fun fact: The Chemise la Reine (The Queen's Chemise) became a very popular garment worn in 1780's  France due to ...

Over the past few months I've always wanted to make a pierrot jacket...actually scratch that! I've always wanted to make a proper zone front. The past few attempts I've had to make a zone front, mostly resulted in me just sticking trim overtop of my gowns to mimic one. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was; but then overtime I came to realize "where's the challenge? You're not really making a zone front by decorating the front like that. Gotta actually get in there, and do it." To quote Miss Frizzle, "It's time to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy." So with that in mind, I pulled out some inspirations via Kyoto Fashion Book, Pinterest, 18th century fashion plates, and online tutorials and got to work.  Shameless plugging here, but my stockings and shoes are from American Duchess . I've had these shoes since 2013 and never once needed to get them replaced (especially with all the battle reenactment events a...

Last week I was asked by my good friend Heather, to make her an outfit for her steampunk themed vending booth for an upcoming anime convention. She didn't want anything elaborate and complicated such as a floor length Victorian walking gown or anything flashy like a heavily cogged bodice.  SO MANY COGS! However, the request for something practical and comfortable seemed to come to mind. Also, everything would be due on Friday! I started this on Sunday.  So after our trip to JoAnn Fabrics, we grabbed patterns from the Simplicity line. A vest from Simplicity 8023 and an A-line skirt from 1369.  While making the skirt, I was immediately faced with a few tiny challenges: installing pockets into the front of the skirt, and installing the waistband with elastic (when the pattern does not call for it). I had to do a lot of trial and error in order to get the skirt to look right; otherwise it was pretty easy to knock out in two days.  The ves...

This past weekend was the battle reenactment at George Washington's Mount Vernon; where the Continental Army with the aid of Spanish forces, squared up against the British and Hessian forces. With the weather surprisingly on our side this year, the event turned out to be a very successful and educational experience for all. Working on the numbers This year I debuted my newest impression Mrs. Charlotte Carter, a wife of a merchant who operates a local trading company in Alexandria. With supplies dwindling, the British Brigade had contracted us out to replenish their food and uniform rations. Originally, my husband Jonathan was supposed to accompany me with this impression (in an attempt to break him into the wonderful world of reenacting), but had actual military duties this weekend and couldn't make it (the life of an NCO is never dull, I tell you!).  However, what I've learned through my research and from the scenario my Lieutenant and I did for this new i...

A few months ago, I decided that I needed a new bum pad that would best work with my 1780's and early 1790's gowns; this is mostly because the bum rolls I had just wasn't cutting it anymore. While they do at times give me a nice silhouette for the skirts in the back, it just seemed a bit blocky around the front of my hips. So I wanted to change that.   When American Duchess came out with their underpinnings pattern (half boned stays, with flounced shift and bum pad) I figured this was a good place to start. And boy am I glad I followed through. While this is my first time using AD patterns, I was a little nervous at first (Simplicity sometimes can be a bit hard for me to follow), but to my surprise, I found Lauren and Abby's instructions very easy to follow and it came out looking like it did in the sampler photo (phew!) I also made one for my friend Stephanie to use for her ball gowns and also augmented it just a little bit to match her impres...