A blog dedicated to Early American History Lovers, Civil War Reenactors, Living Historians, and people that love the past. Lots of Historical Recipes and Patterns!
In the 1850s, mantillas were lightweight, short capes with hoods. They were outerwear meant for Fall and Spring and were frequently made out of lace or silk. If plain silk was used, mantillas were typically richly decorated with large pleats, ruffles, lace and ribbons.
This particular mantilla is made of silk, had a ribbon closure, an embroidered muslin collar and is decorated with a goffered flounce that is accented with braiding.
It seems like the perfect, simple project to make considering some of the reenacting and other period events will start getting a little chilly soon.
This was a strange illustration to have in the magazine as the diagram requires editing to make the mantilla look like the back in this illustration.
The pattern has sharp curves unlike the illustration. The square-cut fronts is what makes it a "Bournous Mantilla."
This is a diagram for an embroidered collar that was featured in the same issue of Peterson's Magazine. These collars were typically embroidered with white thread on a white background but some were done in entirely black. The collar for the mantilla should be equally decorated.
This is an illustration on goffered flounce. The pleats were usually 4 or 5 inches deep.Mantillas were a high-fashion item and were trimmed to excess.
If you plan to make this mantilla, keep in mind that it should not be lined with a heavy material or quilted. The square cutouts are supposed to land on your bent elbow and the back point should about 5 inches below your waist. Hopefully, I will enlarge the diagram and give everyone an idea on how many inches each part should be. It would be a nice, light covering to wear on your way to a ball.
Many times I find myself thinking "If I only had a desk that was an
inch shorter and a big comfy armchair, I would be able to write more," or
" I can't possibly sew so much until I have a permanent spot where people
won't keep moving everything." Many people have an image of what their
perfect working space will look like: the space where they will finally get all
of their work done.Possibly, the
perfect working space will have a large ornate antique writing desk and large
windows that look out onto a breathtaking vista. This space will inspire and
allow you to do work. It is the perfect space and it is a perfect lie.
Had your perfect working space ever materialized, you might find that
it wasn't the perfect working space. One thousand new problems would
materialize there. The windows might be distracting or the room too spacious.
It is very hard to build the perfect space. This is why this type of perfect
working space is false.
The perfect working space is the space where you actually get work done. You
might already know this space or have yet to find it. But the important thing
is to not wait for the perfect space to do work. If you wait for the perfect
space, you will never accomplish anything.
Many people have accomplished a lot in places that are perfectly average
places. J.K. Rowling found that her perfect working space was in cafes. Thomas Mann
liked to write in a wicker chair with an ocean view. It doesn’t matter where
you work as long as you get work done.
Some tips on being productive especially
when working space is less than desirable:
Keep well stocked.
Even if your working space isn’t perfect, make sure you have everything you
need before you start. It is frustrating to have to stop working every few
minutes to find more paper or some scissors.
Keep a schedule.
Depending on your situation and work you may have to plan to do work early
in the morning, late at night to variable. Just make sure you set time aside to
work. Make an appointment with yourself and don’t break it. It might be from “6
AM to 8 AM” or it might be “45 minutes a day.”
Work toward goals.
Set little goal and big goals. Little goals help break down a colossal task
into smaller, more manageable bits.
Take breaks.
Make sure you take breaks to prevent boredom and alleviate pain. Typing on
the computer, sewing, painting ect. for a long period of time can make working
more difficult. Breaks help keep you refreshed and focused.
This is a part of a program that a friend and I have been putting together for work. We will be teaching a colonial dance: "The Hessian."
Hessian soldiers were German soldiers who were hired out by their government to England. They were known as "Hessians" because many of them came from the state of Hesse-Kassel. England stationed these soldiers in America to keep the peace and later to fight the Patriots in the Revolutionary War. They were known for their brutal killing techniques and weaponry.
There is a grievance about them in the Declaration of Independence: "He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to
complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation."
The Hessian is a very simple dance so anyone can do it. Colonial dances were set to a particular tune, normally of the same name as is true with this one. Below is a music clip and the instructions for the dance. In the diagram, circles represent the men and squares represent the ladies. This type of dance could be danced in groups of four or with numerous groups of four, lined up in lines.The partners travel through the dances and eventually dance with every other couple. Keep in mind, if you are dancing in a line, one or more couples may be "out" during a rotation, but they will soon be back in.
Step 1: This is the starting position of the dance. The men
are on one side of the line and the women are on the other. The men are facing
the women.
Step 2: The first gentleman offers the second lady his right
hand and they make a complete turn and return to their starting positions.
Step 3: The second gentleman offers the first lady his right
hand and they make a complete turn and return to their starting positions.
Step 4: The first gentleman stretches his right arm across
to the second lady who does the same. Simultaneously, the second gentleman
stretches his right arm across to the first lady’s. From above, the arms will
form a cross. Together, everyone turns in a circle to the right. (From above
the figure will look like spokes of a wheel turning.)
Step 5: The first gentleman stretches his left arm across to
the second lady who does the same. Simultaneously, the second gentleman
stretches his left arm across to the first lady’s. From above, the arms will form
a cross. Together, everyone turns in a circle to the left until back in starting
positions.
Step 6: The first
gentleman will offer his right hand to the first lady, who will do the same.
They turn in a circle to the right one time. The first gentleman should be in
the first lady’s starting position and the first lady should be in the second
gentleman’s starting position.
Step 7: The first gentleman and the first lady turn to the
outside of the group and walk down behind the second couple. When the first
couple gets 75% of the way down, the second gentleman offers his right hand to
take the second lady’s right hand and leads her one step to the front. The
first couple takes the position that the second couple has just vacated.
Step 8: The first gentleman will offer the first lady, both hands and they will make one right turn so that both the gentleman and the
lady are on the side that they started on.
Step 9: While not a physical step, the couples change
numbers. The first couple becomes the second couple and the second couple
becomes the first couple and the dance is repeated until the song ends.
Please watch the video to hear a pretty boring rendition of the music. Imagine the melody played on the harpsichord or by an orchestra.
Reenacting can be expensive. If you add up the cost of gas for one event, the price of your gear, the cost of food and the price to register, you are talking about a lot of money. Many people are surprised to find out that reenactors are not paid to do what they do and, in fact, actually pay to be there. Most reenactors also buy their own cookware, tents, clothing and other equipment.
Become a Nonprofit. If you haven’t already, make sure your reenacting group is registered as a nonprofit organization so that your clothing, weapons, equipment and gas mileage is tax deductible (save your receipts.)
Focus on one impression. Would a poor farm-girl have 10 dresses? Probably not. Would she really want a new dress? Probably. Wanting what you can’t have? Priceless. Do you know how the guys talk of those magic moments on the battlefield when it “feels real?” It feels real when you sit outside of a ball, just listening to the music because you don’t have a nice dress to wear and your poor farm-girl couldn’t afford a ticket anyway. (If you are poor in the day, be poor at night. If you are a man in the day, stay a man at night. If you portray a wealthy person, make sure you have the money to do so properly and can afford nice dresses, bonnets, jewelry, ect. If you choose to be a wealthy person, it is much cheaper to not have a “farmer’s wife impression” and a “nurse impression” and a “general’s wife impression in addition to it. When you are ready to take on an entirely new impression and after a lot of research, you should have been able to have saved up enough money for it. )
Buy secondhand or trade for things you need. Once you have created a new impression that you like and want to keep, you can get rid of some of the old things that you don’t use anymore by selling them to reenactors that need them and buy things that have already been used. Used clothing has the added bonus of looking like it is worn everyday and not just one weekend a month for half the year.
Do without. Limit yourself to what you bring to an event. It would be nice to be able to bring a dish for anything you might possibly want to cook but it’s costly, not practical and period incorrect.
Learn to Sew. You might spend a little bit making mistakes when
learning to sew but the mistakes will pay for themselves when you can
make your own clothing. If you are truly a beginner, try to find someone
to help you sew something simple to start out.
Try to keep your “gear” to a minimum and sell the rest. In my tent, there is a rule that if something isn’t 100% necessary (dress, shoes, gun, cartridge box) than it must serve at least 3 other purposes. We have a tiny skillet that we use to move coals, dig holes, cook and as my plate/dish. Our 99 cent skillet has replaced a possibly expensive shovel and eating utensil. Less money and less to carry.
Do research then buy at unexpected places. If you study fabrics and research well, you can find cheap, appropriate fabrics at thrift stores and yard sales. Make sure you are very well researched first, though. This works for cookware and furniture too.
Share equipment. This can cause problems so be careful. Hammers, cooking utensils, some clothing can be shared. Make sure you are respectful and courteous to those you share with.
Whether your a mom or a dad, older sibling, babysitter or teacher, these books are great books to read with children. A great benefit of reading along with a child is the ability for discussing the book. You can answer questions, discuss decisions that a character made and whether or not you both think that it was a good idea and what you would have done differently.
Brian's parents are divorced. He goes to spend time with his father but tragedy strikes and Brian gets stuck alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a hatchet. Will he survive?
A brother and sister decide that they are taken for granted so they run away from home and take up residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When a mysterious statue, possibly the work of Michelangelo, is sold to the museum for a few hundred dollars, the siblings can't rest until they get to the bottom of the mystery.
Running Out of Time byMargaret Peterson Haddix (Okay, the appeal of this book might just be the reenactor's dream that this could come true.)
Jessie is a normal 13 year old girl in 1840: she lives with her family, goes to school and has never been far from town. That is, until children start getting sick and her mother tells her a huge secret: the year is really 1996, they live in a historical museum and the owners are holding them hostage and denying them modern medicine. It's up to Jessie to sneak out and find help in a modern world that she knows nothing about.
Anne is a orphan with flaming red hair and a temper to match.She is mistakenly sent to a brother and sister looking for a boy to help them on their farm. Anne likes to daydream which gets her into trouble at the worst times possible. She doesn't mean to be a bother, but will the family keep her after all the trouble she causes?
Harry Potter is an orphan whose parents died in a horrible car accident. He is sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle who hate him until he receives a letter in the mail telling him that his is really a wizard. He finds out that his parents were really killed by an notoriously evil wizard and in the wizarding world, he is famous. He is sent to school where he struggles through schoolwork, makes friends and comes face to face with the wizard who killed his parents.
The Sign of the Beaver
Matt lives with his father on a homestead in the early days of American colonization. His father leaves him to watch over the house while he brings the rest of the family there from the east. Matt is alone and without food when he gets injured, when he is saved by a Native American doctor. A Native American boy, Attean helps Matt learn Native American survival methods in exchange for English lessons. The boys don't like each other but they soon learn to respect each other.
Huck sets out on an adventure, rafting down the Mississippi with an escaped slave named Jim.There is some controversy over the word choice in this book. The book is a period book and clearly a product of its time.
According to US News in 2007, 1 in 4 American adults had read 0 books in the previous 12 months. We need to raise children who become adults who love to read. Children who are read to, learn to love books. Many students' only experience with books is in the classroom where they can link books with negative experiences. Children should associate books with having fun and exploring worlds with the people they love.
