In the fall, Victoria and I are going to be doing Pioneer Farms again, and this time I want to be much better prepared. Last year, it had been so long since I'd done an event that I only had t...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2013/05/new-project-1860-65-peignoir.html
Happy Mother's Day to all the dear mamas out there! This year, I really wanted to make something for my mother that truly spoke to how I feel about her. She sews. She quilts. She embroi...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2013/05/happy-mothers-day.html
I was tickled to learn last week (while I was sick and/or nursing the sick) that I received two blog awards - one for this one and one for Thistle & Lilly. I'm so pleased, and humbled, that you...
My corset adventure fizzled. I decided to go back to an old favorite. This is the first corset I ever tried when I started reenacting. But this one is way better than that first try. It f...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2013/04/light-french-corset-1860.html
I have finally published a pattern as Thistle & Lilly (a free one, which you've all seen), new and improved, with a shiny new name -- the "Victoria Chemise", after my daughter, not the queen of ...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2013/02/this-and-that-and-shameless-plug.html
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. I sure did. It was quiet and (relatively) peaceful and a fun time hanging out with my parents and sister and good friends. And we ended up with a surpr...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2013/01/do-small-things-with-great-love.html
I've been having a good time making homemade things for my family this year. I was catching up on blogs (finally!) and came across Nana Company's Tag-A-Long project and knew I just had to ...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/12/handmade-holidays_20.html
This is my shameless plug for my very first pattern for Thistle + Lilly. :) It's a little Christmas Dress based on an 1862 fashion plate for children, and I just thought it was fun to make up...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-ornament-pattern.html
After reading the comments from my previous post -- and thank you for the compliments on the style, by the way!) -- I endeavored to see how this corset would do with gussets in the hips. I made...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/12/new-corset-begin-again.html
Oh the joys of making a corset. The top and bottom are not bound yet, but the corset is boned, eyelets and busk are put in. I copied the pattern from the old corset, then took a bit in at the...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/12/new-corset-progress.html
Hello! I hope everyone is preparing for a lovely holiday. I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving! I've been busily working on finalizing the first of my e-patterns, getting extra detail...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/11/musing-over-new-designs.html
RECOGNIZING MOTHERS WHO TRY (AND NOW AND THEN FAIL) TO FIND TIME TO CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL AND/OR USEFUL WITH NEEDLE AND THREAD, BETWEEN FEEDINGS, NAPPY CHANGES, LAUNDRY, NURSERY RHYMES,...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/10/recognizing-mothers-who-try-and-now-and.html
The last time I posted was in April, and my goodness, how things are changing around here! I tell you, dear readers, that since April (and even before then), I've been praying for something exc...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/08/faith-as-grain-of-mustard-seed.html
Now that I'm home from a fun weekend of living history, I'm more fired up than ever about putting out a small e-pattern line for children's clothes for the 1860s. As usual, my mind runneth over...
If you've been following my blog for any decent amount of time, you've probably noticed that I've created a few patterns to offer for free in PDF form -- mainly things I've created for Victoria...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/04/creating-patterns-new-venture-or.html
At long last. My girl is now shod. Let's just pray she doesn't step in horse poop the first morning out. * * * * * And ooh, look! I found another design for a gaiter! Unfort...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/04/childs-gaiter-shoes-finished.html
After a glorious weekend of intense sewing with my dear friend Paula, I'm now a whole lot closer to being prepared for the event in two weeks. I'm way too busy. Ugh. And I was getting reall...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/04/project-childs-1860s-nightgown.html
Well, it's one shoe at least. 1860s girl's gaiter shoe in cotton/silk blend stripe with duck lining. A side view of the 1860s girl's gaiter. It's still a little big on her, and it wa...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/03/one-shoe-down-one-to-go.html
1 hour of sunshine in this dark, dreary, extremely wet day provided me with an opportunity to take some photos. Ominous clouds quickly pinched out the glorious sun, and now we have (as we call...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/02/victorias-unmentionables.html
...but progress nonetheless. I've almost finished the little pair of drawers, petticoat, and corded stay for Victoria. I just have the bazillion buttons and buttonholes to put in. Fun stuff...
I found another dress idea for Victoria. I want to make her two dresses, so this one would be simple and cute. I love how it has directional pleats on the bodice instead of regular gathers. ...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/01/another-dress-idea.html
In April, I'm doing my first semi-immersion living history event. I've been doing the "normal" reenacting every since I got into this hobby, but this event is already proving to be a challenge...
http://adayin1862.blogspot.com/2012/01/in-april-im-doing-my-first-semi.html
Craving a departure from historical clothing and a place to talk about non-reenacting, day to day, modern crafty stuff, I've decided to start a new blog. I'm certainly not abandoning "A Day...
Well, I'm doing it. I'm selling off some of my old Civil War stuff. I simply can't fit in them anymore. Luckily for the recipient, most of my clothes are nearly brand new, as I rarely got t...
Well, sort of. I'm still on the clock, but my mind is already wandering to this weekend when the family and I go out to my dad's farm to help him pull down an old storage building. I'll mainl...