Ooh, the excitment is building around here.
Not only did Momma finish my LepreCon outfit (complete with matching petticoat and lobster tail bustle) but she is finishing a second to sell in her Etsy shop, Greta Garb-oh!, this week!
Yes, you too can dress like me! Momma plans to make two of each outfit she makes for me (or my Vinyl American siblings) and sell the second on Etsy.
The Thimbles and Acorns description for both the 1870s Bustle Dress and Lobster Tail Bustle and Petticoat are the same:
Fashion
is where expression meets practicality and lures it into the realm of
the extreme. Though fashion trends have a tendency to push the limits,
practicality always manages to bring them back into balance… at least
for a time. Full skirts were the hallmark of the early Victorian era and
by the 1860s they had expanded to as wide as six feet in diameter.
However, as railroads began forging paths around the world, women began
to travel more and more. Full skirts and crinolines made for poor
traveling companions and the boundary for this fashion trend had been
reached. Still, it would be a gallant exit.
The
1870s saw a great boom in the textile industry. Hand looms were
replaced by more efficient steam driven power looms which resulted in a
larger supply of cloth and fancy trims at greatly reduced prices. The
great cage crinolines were shed and the surplus fabric from the full skirts was draped in elaborately decorated layers and pulled
toward the back in large bustles that were reminiscent of those worn a
century earlier. The fashionable silhouette had become smaller and more
mobile, but what was lost in size was more than made up for with the
elaborate trimming which would become the hallmark of the later
Victorian Era.
Momma used the green Victorian Dream Gears and tea-stained muslin. She deliberalty left the petticoat longer than the shortened bustle skirt so the raw, selvage would show. Momma plans to make me a matching camisole and drawers, too!
I think it's pretty awesome, myself.
Forrest’s Confederate raiders occupy Paducah, Ky.
Forces of legendary Confederate cavalry leader Nathan Bedford Forrest swept into Paducah, Ky., on March 25, 1864 and briefly occupied the city — forcing a Union garrison of hundreds of troops to relocate to a fort there. The Union garrison, backed by two gunboats on the nearby Ohio River, refused surrender and shelling of the Confederates by the gunboats ensued. Forrest’s raiders destroyed supplies and rounded up horses, generating panic among civilians before they withdrew. The Associated Press reported on the raid in a detailed dispatch dated March 26, 1864. AP said an estimated force of 5,000 Confederates captured Paducah at 2 p.m. a day earlier, sacking the place and firing weapons. AP reported that a Union officer in charge of the garrison occupied the fort below the city with about 800 men. “The rebels made four assaults on the fort, and were repulsed each time. Three of our gunboats opened on the city during its occupation by the enemy, much of which was burned,” The AP reported. Some 3,000 civilians had fled the Confederate advance, AP noted, adding they returned home to considerable damages once the raiders pulled out. AP added “Twenty-five houses around the fort were destroyed ... as they were used by the rebel sharpshooters as a screen” during the incursion.
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| simplicity.com |
My Dear Friend Joan Dickhaut (aka See Joan Sew) at beds-n-blankies.com is an extraordinary woman.
Not only did she make Francis a Mad Scientist steampunk lab that I am still coveting, but Simplicity Patterns is scheduled to publish her pattern next month on April 18.
Versatile pieces mix and match to create steam punk, gypsy, Renaissance and other eclectic looks to fit 18" dolls. See envelope for more information. Get FREE instructions for accessories at www.simplicity.com/1392.
Mind you, this journey has taken nearly a year! Joan first revealed the exciting news on May 11, 2013 ... and I didn't find out until Aug. 28!
Momma, of course, saw the pattern potential and wrote Joan:
Steampunk Addie is thrilled to see this and can't wait to get a signed pattern!
To which Joan replied:
Hahaha! Guess who was a major inspiration for some of those pieces. I'll need a signed pattern from her!
My pen is poised and waiting Joan.
