Pre-Event Cramming

No matter how much you plan, you will inevitably end up cram sewing the week or two before an event. The bigger the event the more the cramming. Sewing is Stewpid. Enter Stony Point.

As this year is the 240th anniversary, it's a capstone event. The 17th Regiment is going to be all hands on deck and showing out in impressive force. We will stepping out with numbers equal to that of an actual weakened company at 40 plus men at arms. Pretty impressive considering most units are lucky to field the strength of a single platoon. With that comes more sewing.

On the list for completion is a new kit for the wife that fits properly, and oh yeah, lets throw in a regimental coat because doing a gown and bedgown in less than 3 weeks is not enough insanity for one guy with a full-time day job.

Luckily, this regimental was being made from a partially completed loaner coat so the most (32 of 43) lace loops were already finished. It was merely a simple task (he says with retrospective gusto that was in fact profuse profanity at the time) of pulling apart the coat, recutting the pieces to fit the wearer, and then re-assembling and finishing it.

I have to say that it was an enlightening task. I did a lot of the work at Fort Frederick during a POW event. I told Fort visitors that the original wearer had died in captivity so I was remaking it to fit another soldier; that got a lot of looks. It was a bit surreal pulling apart the garment as regimental tailors would do in the 18th century to remake it to fit a specific soldier. I even cut the thing using an original pair of shears from the 18th century. It was one of those moments that you can really reach out an touch history because you are a part of it.

Around and in between doing that, I was working on the wife's stuff. I once said that I would never make lady's clothing. Since saying that, I have subsisted on a diet consisting primarily of crow. Women's clothing is not as hard as I thought it was going to be and the results have been fantastic.

I wanted her to have a cool relaxed garment and an nice garment for the summer, so she got a striped linen bedgown and a Virginia cloth gown. The bedgown was simple, but I have made one before. Since the bedgown is unlined linen, I cheated on the interior seams and machined them where I could since they will all be felled and unseen. That was an afternoon project, but the begown looks great.

Side note: Virginia Cloth is amazing if you can find it. It is a 50/50 mixture of worsted wool and cotton. The stuff looks like any worsted, but is super light and breathable. It is absolutely perfect for summer wear. I'm jealous that she will be wearing this while I am dressed in heavy drilling and broadcloth. In flash photos, it looks like a sheer that you can see though, but it's not that way in person.

The gown has been an adventure. It's not as difficult as I thought it was going to be, just different in the construction. Unlike men's clothing, where a lot of things are sewn from the inside of the garment, the outside of the garment is the working side for a gown. The process otherwise is very similar: fit the garment with a mock-up, then put it together. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an over simplification of garment construction.

Anyway, it's not that bad. I thought the pleats on the back of the gown would be very difficult to do, but with a little patience and the assistance of of a folding cheat sheet penciled on to a piece of fabric, they turned out perfectly. I was surprised to find that pleating is done flat on the exterior fabric only cut in a large rectangle. Once the pleats are stitched down, the lining is attached and cut to match the shape of the lining. It's an ingenious process that still amazes me. All in all, the gown is coming together nicely and is almost finished.

I have two more days until Stony Point, and only need to finish the sleeves and hem the skirts. Oh yeah, and make some petticoats. The struggle is real.