A Look at 18th Century Jewelry

Second Post of the Day

Last week I posted this picture of the jewelry I wear to enhance my period clothing and help give the impression that I am a woman living in the 18th century (the 1700s.)

Not only is it all period correct, I also have strong personal and sentimental connections to it.

The true, actually made in the 1700s, piece is this strand of feather beads.

They are made of Venetian glass and are strung on rawhide. Feather beads get their name from the design on them that makes them look a bit like feathers. These were my mother's and my first piece of 18th century jewelry, real or reproduction. My son Cole, has strong memories of this strand of beads connected to his grandmother, and I have a note in their box that they are to go to him when I am gone.

Feather beads are under the umbrella name of "trade beads" which is what they were used for. European traders took them around the globe. A short history about them can be found here.

I have another necklace that is chock full of a variety of trade beads. Made by a Native American friend of my mother's as a gift for me, this necklace is made of deerskin and decorated in trade beads. (Thimbles and bells were highly popular trade items and often used as decorations.)

All the beads are glass and are real - none are reproductions. My mother asked that the horse be an Appaloosa as a tribute to my first horse, Amy, so seed beads were added on the hips to represent spots. 

I added an arrow to show my favorite bead - the watermelon bead. Each end of that bead has a tiny red bit and the body is striped and long like many heritage varieties of watermelon are. A jingle cone is on the far left. It is made of trade silver and filled with horsehair.

Isn't it cool? Needless to saw, I treasure this necklace.

Next, let's look at more trade silver.

First is a medallion made by Leslie's husband, Rick. A silversmith, he made this for our mother. (The chain is a modern one.) She sewed and sold period clothes herself and she wore this at events as a way of identifying her trade. 

In the 18th century, many if not most people could not read. Signs might be put up identifying businesses, but if customers couldn't read them, you would lose out on sales. 

So, traders wore medallions like this one. Can you see the thimble and the scissors? By looking at this medallion, people would know that she could mend that rip in their coat, sew them a shirt, and more.

I wear it because my 18th century persona can do the same. (And it makes me feel close to my mom.)

This next is also a treasure and connects me very much to things that mean a lot to me - the Ouiatenon Cross.

Another piece of trade silver, it was made by Rick and I think Leslie strung the trade beads for it.

The real Ouiatenon Cross

The Ouiatenon Cross was found when archeologists were doing excavations at the site of Ouiatenon and is considered a true treasure from the era. Most likely it belonged to a French Catholic priest who ministered to the people living there. I am not Catholic, but my faith is very important to me. Connect that to Ouiatenon, a place that I love, to my mother, sister, and brother-in-law, and this piece has significant meaning to me.

Me wearing the Ouiatenon Cross and Leslie in her 19th century riding habit.

Here's more trade silver in the form of earbobs! 

Triangles and jingle cones. Jingle cones were prized by the Native Americans as well as the Europeans. Both groups adorned their clothing and other things with jingle cones. 

Watch this Women's Jingle from the 2019 Gathering of Nations Pow Wow. What energy and such beautiful dancing!

Amethysts and sterling silver. Made by Rick. (Need to use some silver polish on those!) I wore these on Sunday as they look nice with the Ouiatenon Cross.

More trade silver from Rick - a recent addition to my 18th century jewelry and suitable for the woman I portray.

Finally, the chatelaine. 

This is mine but I have several that I inherited from my mother, one of which is truly stunning and was made for her as a gift. They get a whole blog post to  themselves.

Stay 'tooned!

Kalamazoo: Time's Up! And Moving Forward

This past week I have been stressed, more so than I thought.  I spent two hours yesterday morning working on pleating the skirt of the robe a l'Anglais. 

I was on my third time repinning the first half of the pleats when I looked at the clock and realized that I was not going to be done in time for the event.

The pleats were going to need repinning for a fourth time because they still were not fitting correctly. I had the bodice lining to hand sew to the inside of the bodice after that. Then the sleeves had to be completed and stitched into the armsceye (old Scottish for "armhole.") 

The cuffs were cut out and pinned but not yet pleated, the back neckline facing to add, and last of all the robings (already stitched) needed to be placed on the shoulders and sewn on by hand to finish off the garment.

I could not do all that in the time I had before we left for Kalamazoo. 

I sat back in my chair at my sewing table and shed a few tears. I cried because Mama Bear here really wanted to do this for her daughter and was not able to. Even though Lisa had been reminding me for some time that she had plenty of other period clothes to wear and was fine if it wasn't finished for Kalamazoo, I still wanted so much to make this gown for her. And I hadn't.

Craig saw I was upset and got out the six pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden in the freezer. (Ah ha! Now I know the Easter Bunny's and Santa Claus's hiding place for candy!)

I ate two of those and went to take a nap, Pepper cuddled up with me.

I slept the afternoon away.

Frank had flown into town to go to Kalamazoo with us, and we were meeting them and Curt's family for a pizza dinner. I barely had time to get ready to go but we made it. Lisa was very kind and kept reminding me that she has plenty of 18th century clothes to wear and would be fine.

I realized just how focused and tired I had gotten when I slept in late this morning. The gown and its non-fitting pleats is still draped across my sewing table. I will try again next week.

In the meantime, my focus this morning has shifted to final preparations for The Kalamazoo Living History Event.

Last minute things to pack include my binder (with my business license, historical documentation for the clothing I've sewn, etc.), an inventory/price sheet, new tongs for serving maple cakes, and the beautiful handmade money box from Leslie and Rick.

I need to count out enough money to have on hand for making change if needed and record that on my spreadsheet.

The clothing went to Kalamazoo with Leslie and Rick on Wednesday,

but I am still sorting out my own caps to wear, stockings, fichus and scarves, and 

my 18th century jewelry. Each piece tells a story from the 18th century and reflects the history of the time. And some of it actually is from the 18th century.

I think it's pretty cool and may share their stories in a future blog post.

Stay 'tooned!

Things are Heating Up - Literally!

One week until Clover City! I've not gotten down my show tubs and haversacks, but that will probably happen later today.

My show string is always fluid until I put the lid on the tub and leave home. A model I'd overlooked when planning catches my eye and "just hast to come!" or I remember that a particular judge likes one of my models and usually places it well and so I go grab it.

Yesterday a question I had about which class to put a model in sparked a discussion and they may add a class. I don't want to pack that model until I know there is a class for it.

But that's model horse showing and that's fun, too.

Speaking of packing, I did end up making some more haversacks despite having just finished a bunch of orders. I'd said that I was moving on to making some18th century clothing and getting ready for the Feast of the Hunters' Moon. Nonetheless... this happened:

Extra Long Traditional (XLT) for Breyer's shelf eaters.

Another XLT.  (Wish I'd bought more of this fabric - it would make a nice show donation.)

Look at how long that model is! 

This fabric makes me think of early Disney movies. 

I love that the zebra's face lined back up again after the fabric was cut and stitched!

That big and bold zebra fabric was actually ordered by mistake - I thought I'd ordered it in a smaller scale and was a little dismayed when I opened it.  But it turned out okay.

It taught me to always check the scale of the print when I purchase fabrics that are not in hand. This is probably my favorite zebra print of all. My virtual seminar for BreyerFest is making a show apron, and this is the fabric I used for mine. (I'm wearing that apron in the photo currently on Breyer's website.)

A traditional haversack done in a colorful Sicilian/Romanian print. 

I didn't get completely derailed from 18th century clothing - I did get a men's Voyageur shirt cut out and started.

but as soon as I got to the point where it was all cut out and prepped, I was leaning toward working to get another five or six haversacks made to take next Saturday.

I'm still on the fence about that, and today I'm going to FINALLY get my flowers planted and the patio furniture uncovered and ready for summer. Since I also want to head out to the barn before the heat gets up into the 90s again, I need to go get busy.

I can think about which sewing project to work on then.

Jolis Chevaux: Blackened Beeswax Ornaments

While isolating at home with COVID, I have put that time to good use. Not only did I complete an order of 20 Stablemate haversacks and a set of show drapes for FAMulous, I will be taking Jolis Chevaux to the The Feast of the Hunters' Moon in October and am preparing for that.

To be specific, I have been doing an 18th century German tradition of making blackened beeswax ornaments.

Sorry for the poor photo - it was taken at 5 AM in my kitchen and I did not want to move the ornaments to a place with better lighting as they are still curing. (That odd angle is because that was the only way to keep most of them out of the shadows.)

You start by melting beeswax (which makes my kitchen smell so good) and pour them into molds. As they begin to set, you add hangers to the cooling wax. (That's the hardest part - wait too long and you'll have to throw that ornament back into the pot and melt and pour again.)

After a bit more cooling but while still warm, you pop the ornament out of the mold and dredge it in cinnamon. This is the blackening process.

I learned very quickly to not brush the cinnamon off with my fingers or even a small paint brush - if you do, you will get uneven blackening.

Or leave a big spot like I did on this one here.

You can see the excess cinnamon in this photo. I will shake that off when these have finished curing.

The ornaments are not difficult to make and an added bonus is that the scent of beeswax and cinnamon wafts through the house while I make them.

Interested in trying them yourself? Go to Carolina Honeybees for directions.

 

Jolis Chevaux

Yesterday I wrote that I had started a parallel business to Horsiemama's Haversacks and Mercantile - sewing 18th century period clothing for re-enactors.  And, since there was a heavy French influence in Indiana during that time period, I wanted my business name to be in French.

Naturally I started with Horsiemama, but when I plugged that into an English to French translator, there was no French equivalent.

I separated Horsiemama into two words and tried again. I didn't like how that translated. 

Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows that I love alliterations (i.e. Horsiemama's Haversacks) so I did a couple of those to see what came up.

The translation for Happy Horses was too long (although it rhymed, something that might be nice in a business name.)

Pretty Ponies, another alliteration, was close, but the teacher in me didn't like how "pony" was spelled. (This spelling of poney is also an urban slang word that I'd rather not use.)

Jolis Chevaux! And while pretty horses have nothing to do with sewing, many of the tradespeople, sutlers, and merchants at 18th century events have names that reflect more on the proprietor than they do on what is actually being sold.

(Case in point, my sister Leslie's business is Chien Noir, or "Black Dog", and she sells block print fabrics.)

I just got in an order of sewing labels with my new business name to put into the items that I sew and I am stitching up inventory in preparation for my first event in March.

When I retired in 2018, I never dreamed I'd be opening one business, let alone two! 

18th Century Riding Habits: Slow Progress

In July I posted that I had begun sewing two 18th century riding habits for The Feast of the Hunters' Moon. I need to have them done by October 9, although really I want them done a week before that so I can take them to be professionally pressed at the dry cleaners.

Needless to say, the pressure is on and I constantly feel time is ticking past.

Each riding habit takes about 8 yards of fabric, so I bought the fabrics on the bolts and have them stashed in a corner of my sewing room. (Having them on the bolt makes it much easier to cut the fabric.)

One will be in shades of plum/maroon and the other in teal and green. 

Most patterns come in a variety of sizes rather than just one size per package. That meant that I had to trace the pattern pieces before using them. Luckily I have a big roll of pattern paper on hand, but it took quite a while to get all the pieces I wanted traced.

Then, to check fit, I cut the pattern out in an inexpensive white muslin. This helps me understand how the pattern pieces will work together as well as how the riding habit will fit when worn.

This dart really threw me - and that is exactly why it is best to make a practice piece on a pattern this extensive. Usually darts start in the side seam under the arm and taper to a point at the tip of the bust; this pattern has the dart begin at the center front and taper back toward the shoulder.

Believe it or not, this is the jacket. It will have a peplum skirt attached at the bottom.

I tackled making the petticoats (the 18th century word for skirt) first. Each petticoat took three yards of fabric to make and they are very, very full.

There was 135 inches of fabric at the waist that needed to be gathered to fit around a 35 and a 40 inch waistband. It took forever (to gather, you slide the fabric along loose stitches until it is all bunched together) and my fingers were sore by the time I completed the gathers and pinned the skirt to the waistband.

Big commercial pattern companies such as Simplicity and Vogue rarely leave out steps when you are sewing their patterns. Small company patterns, like this one, are often missing steps. 

Case in point? I realized quickly that, despite there being no directions to do so, I was going to need to finish the edges of the waistband opening. Luckily I caught that omission before I gathered the skirt and added the waistband. (This photo is from before I started gathering the fabric. You can see the long, loose gathering stitches along the edge of the fabric.)

The completed waistband opening on the teal petticoat. (Those long threads are the gathering threads that I will pull when I gather the petticoat to fit the waistband.)

The maroon petticoat was pretty straight forward to make as the fabric selected for it was a standard size. But the teal petticoat was a different story. Its fabric width wasn't standard, plus, it was in two pieces - someone had cut two yards of it from the bolt, changed their mind, and rolled it back on.

The non standard width also meant that I was on my own placing the pattern pieces - I would not be able to follow the pattern's cutting guide.

I had to sit down and plan, plan, plan before I cut - if I made a mistake, I would not have enough for the jacket of the teal habit, and the fabric shop had no more of the fabric left nor was any more available to order.

Needless to say, I'm having some tense moments as I stitch these two riding habits. The petticoats are done, and now I am ready to move on to the jackets and waistcoats.

Wish me luck!