Sick Day with a Good Book

Ugh! I've been so sick! Luckily I've been in bed with a really awesome book: Fashion : A History from the 18th to the 20th Century. It is a photograph rich book detailing dresses from the Kyoto Costume Institute. It's normally a pretty expensive book but it is currently on sale in store at Barnes and Noble for $10.00 in their 50% off section. :D

I normally do not buy new books but I really couldn't pass this one up. You can read a preview of it here. Be prepared to drool and have your "To Sew" list expand by 100 garments.

 

Hope you enjoy!

Full View Godey's Lady's Book for January 1864

I really love it when people have wonderful resources at their disposal and take the time to share them with others. I decided to digitize one of my Godey’s Magazines that wasn’t available online so everyone can benefit from it. I wish it turned out a bit nicer but I couldn’t use my scanner without damaging the magazine. The benefit of using my camera is that the pictures are of a really high resolution. You can read it in my pages at the top of my blog page. It is really hard to read in picture form, anyone who would like a PDF copy of it, please leave a comment with an e-mail I can send it to or send an e-mail to TheSailorsWifeSA@Aim.com.

Enjoy! (Oh, and I promise, no more Civil War posts for a while, I've been neglecting other periods and topics terribly.)

1850s Multicolored Yarns

Pearl wool and Chine Wool were multicolored wools similar to multicolored yarns today. In the late 1850s, these yarns were a relatively new style. These yarns were dyed alternately white and one or more colors, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 and inch long of each color. This yarn was used in scarves, hoods, and decorative pillows. This very pretty, sweater vest is possibly made out of pearl wool.

Another type of multicolored wool was "Clouded Wool." Clouded wool was  Clouded wool was wrapped in corn husks,paper, cloth or string every two or three inches apart before dyeing to create a white and colored effect. Clouded wool was popular in the 1840s.In later years clouded wool was made by combing two different colors of dyed, raw wool together before it was spun. Blue clouded wool socks are referred to in many early 20th century books and a possible "clouded blue sock" can be seen at the Wisconsin Historical Society. 


Below is a pattern for a knitted comforter or scarf. It is knitted with pearl wool and black to imitate woven plaid. For reenactors, if you can find 100% wool with 1/4-1/2 inch color streaks, a knitting project using it could add some much needed variety to the group impression.  

Living History Award 2010

With the end of the year approaching, I thought I'd point out some excellent blogging, living historians.  Currently the award if for ladies only. The ladies are the unseen foundation of living history and few people actually see all of the work they put into reeactments.

Many people don't get to the clothing we sew, the food we cook, and the chores we do, just so the men can have a battle. :D We also have to look pretty while wearing the same clothes for three days straight, not showering, and sleeping on the ground. (Okay, I admit, the men do a lot too, some women go into battle and some guys sew their own clothes.) But I think that everyone will admit that the following ladies do deserve recognition for their dedication to the hobby:

*The 1st award goes to Atlanta from The Story of a Seamstress. She always has a lot of projects going that get us through the reenacting off season. She also created a website for beginning reenactors. 

* The 2nd award goes to Becca Kae. and Susan and The Lady's Guide for Re-enactresses. Their blog gives numerous tips for reenactors.  

* The 3rd award goes to Bethany Lynn at Diary of a Seamstress. Bethany Lynn is a Living History rising star. Her blog shows photos of a lot of beautiful clothing she has made for both men and women. I expect more, great things from her in the future.  

Congratulations Ladies!

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With that being said, I need help with my HTML. My blog template has a serious issue. On some computers the page looks fine and is readable, but on many computers it is tiny. I have read a lot about how to change it, but nothing adjusts it so it looks good on small and large computer screens. Does anyone have any idea how to improve the template?

Christmas Ghost Stories: A Lost Tradition

Charles Dickens in 1842

During the 1820s-1830s, there was a heightened interest in forgotten Christmas traditions. Many traditions such as Christmas Ghost stories, decorating trees, and carol singing. 











The industrial revolution left families with more time and money to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Images of Prince Albert and his family celebrating Christmas, were published and republished, which further popularized forgotten Christmas traditions. Our celebrations today are a direct result of the Victorian celebrations. People sent Christmas Cards, went caroling, and even gave gifts.

Telling Christmas ghost stories was a popular Christmas tradition in the early and mid 1800s that has not survived to today. The most famous Christmas ghost story is by far, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was inspired to write a Christmas Carol when his father was imprisoned for debt and Charles had to work in a shoe-blackening factory among the poor. Seeing the poor working conditions coupled with the lack of Christmas celebrations among all people incited him to write about the forgotten traditions and greed.  

Christmas ghost stories were widely popular in the 1830-40s, many writers wrote their own. Magazines of the time almost always included a ghost story in their issue for December.  It is thought that the ghost story tradition originated from the celebration of the winter solstice, or Yule. The shortest day of the year was associated with the "death of the sun" and its "rebirth."  The twelve days of Christmas also comes from traditional the Yule celebrations which lasted for 12 days.

Some Victorian Ghost Stories:

- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

- A Christmas Ghost Story by Thomas Hardy.

- Two Ghost Stories from Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens.

- Winnie and Walter's Christmas Stories by Increase Niles Tarbox.

- A Ghost Story for Christmas by Dudley Costello