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My Sewing/Cosplay Projects

That's so cool!
Yeah, Christian is a great guy, it's unfortunate his career got killed by Jumper. 😢
 
I discovered a new social media platform, and I thought people here might like to know about it. It's called Cara, and it's supposed to be a social media platform for artists and art enthusiasts. It's very new and still in its beta phase, but they just recently got 300k users, so I'm hoping the platform will succeed. One of their values is that they do not allow any AI generations, so everything you see on there is authentic art.

I made an account yesterday. It definitely has kinks to work out, like sometimes the app crashes because of high traffic. There's also not a ton of people on there yet. I only have like 3 followers on there right now, lol. But it's run by a team of volunteers paying for this out of their own pockets, and I'm hoping it will grow and become a good platform for artists. Instagram has just been awful lately. Everything I post has been performing worse and worse. So I hope Cara will become successful, and since I joined it early, maybe I can get a decent following on there.

Here's my profile. I think this platform is worth supporting, so please check it out if you feel so inclined!
 
You may have noticed a random Curufin suddenly following you.
 
Ah okay! Because I'm installing it now and I was going to follow you and Servo there.
 
As some of you are aware, I just spent this weekend reenacting at a Civil War muster, the biggest in the Midwest, from what I've heard! I will give you guys a bit of a recap of the weekend here and share some pictures.

First of all, I woke up on Friday morning to some Facebook chatter, and learned that they put me on the cover of the program!

This photo is from last year. My mom can partially take credit for this picture, because she was photographing me from the front, and she's the one who directed me to pose like that. I guess the hired photographer from the event came up and photographed me from the side. I had no idea they had decided to put me on the program cover until that morning, when the people in my group alerted me to it. It was quite the happy surprise!

Everyone was telling me they wanted me to sign their program. No one actually followed through with it, lol.

After finishing up some last minute packing and sewing on Friday morning, I managed to fit all my reenacting stuff, including my tent and cot and all, into my little Ford Focus.

This is how my tent setup looked. I'm very pleased with it because it's much improved over last year. Last year, my tent basically looked like someone had barfed up a bunch of farb stuff (or modern/inauthentic stuff) into the tent. I had no organization. My dresses were in trash bags, I had a modern cooler with no covering, etc. Contrast that with my current setup, where my dresses are all in this awesome antique trunk, my cooler is covered up with a heavy duty wool blanket (which I would have needed for cold weather IF THE NIGHTS HAD BEEN COLD AS I HAD ANTICIPATED, BUT NOOOO... anyway...). And my water container is nicely set up on this mini table outside, rather than inside the tent, and it is concealed with a little burlap bag. I also really enjoyed having this little wooden crate, which I used to store my dishes, embroidery stuff and bonnet. I also got a rug this year. (It's just from Hobby Lobby, but my buddies told me it looks passable enough for the period.) Any other farb stuff I had was hidden under the cot or behind the chest or whatever. And so, the other reenactors gave me approval to leave my tent open this year! They made me keep it closed all day last year, which sucks because it traps that much more heat when closed.


And yes, I had to actually live out of that tiny space for two days. That's the only thing about reenacting I really don't like, is the sleeping in a tent business. I am not an outdoorsy person. I merely tolerate camping for the sake of getting to wear and live in my Civil War wardrobe.

Pretty sunrise over the pond on Saturday morning! At reenactments, you wake up at 7am whether you like it or not, because they play that military wake-up call thingy on the trumpet at that time. Which sucked for me, because I did not sleep well in the tent. The weather was much warmer than I anticipated, somebody's baby was screaming, and people were being noisy in general late into the night. So I only slept for a few hours, probably.


Here's how some of the other tents near me looked. Reenactors are pretty hardcore people, and some like to pretend their tent is actually a portion of a Victorian home, and they fully furnish them with cabinets, stoves, ovens, dining room tables and chairs, etc. That is way too much work and expense for me, but I love hanging around outside my buddies' tents during the day. Whenever I need more space to change, or I need to borrow a mirror or a place to wash dishes, or a place to sit down and eat, I can go to a neighboring tent.


Most of the day Saturday was pretty standard. I wore my yellow dress because it was hot out and that dress is sheer and lightweight. There was a reenactor-only tea party on Saturday too. Also, my grandparents and parents visited. Cute story regarding my grandparents: when they came and found me, they arrived with President Abraham Lincoln. Apparently, as soon as they got to the reenactment and started looking for me, they found Abraham Lincoln and told him they were looking for their granddaughter who was wearing a yellow dress. They asked him if he had seen me. Luckily, he had in fact visited my area of the camp earlier that morning! So he indeed knew where I was and he brought them to me! I just thought that was so adorable how my grandparents decided to ask Honest Abe for help, and he was indeed able to help them find me.

Saturday evening was the ball. The week before the event, I decided to make some upgrades to my blue ballgown. I was bored of that ballgown because it was my very first Civil War piece, made in 2019, and I've worn it to every reenactment ball these past three years. So I added the draped lace to the skirt, and the flowers at its top points, and the flowers decorating the bertha (which is the sort of triangular top piece of the bodice). I'm very glad I did this because it took the ballgown to a whole new level aesthetically, and it made me feel like I was wearing a whole new ballgown, without having to actually make one.




The ball is held at these waterfalls at the park, which have these gorgeous staircases going to the top of this 60 foot high hill. Unfortunately, it's not the greatest space for dancing, because the dance area is this very long/narrow strip in front of the falls. But it was very scenic. And I always enjoy doing the historic line dances such as the Virginia Reel.

Here's a picture of the falls (they light up in changing colors at night!)


As for Sunday, there's not a whole lot else to tell. I kept my activities low-key because again, I didn't sleep very well (it was too dang hot and noisy). Also, the day was incredibly hot, hotter even than Saturday, and I was trying to conserve my energy for tearing the camp down later in the day. Speaking of which, the teardown around 4-5pm was absolutely miserable because it was so disgustingly hot, and my whole body was tired and sore from three days of action and carrying heavy things. Even on Thursday, I was busy and active hauling tent stuff around and baking and whatever. And the duffel bag I used to carry the tent canvas and stakes probably weighs 30-40 pounds with all the stuff in it. Not to mention there's the trunk, cot and everything else, and I had to pretty much tear it all down myself, with only a little help from other reenactors, because everyone else has their own stuff. Being a solo reenactor is extremely difficult. There's a reason why most reenactors do it as couples or families. I felt kind of faint a couple times while tearing down, especially with the sleep deprivation, feeling too hot to want to eat much and so on. So that was the worst part of the weekend, aside from my sucky nights of sleep in the tent.

There were some nice things on Sunday, though. One of my reenactor buddies who, with his wife, has a fully functional "home" setup with cabinets, a stove and an oven invited me over for breakfast, and he cooked some eggs and hashbrowns for me. I got a cool picture by his tent with his historical flag.


Oh, and he took kind of a cool picture of me doing my hair. I usually borrowed their mirror when I was doing my hair.

By the way, this red floral dress is called a wrapper. I don't have any good pictures of it from the front, but a wrapper is basically like a house dress. It is a loose, comfortable garment which was only worn inside the home. It was good enough for your family members to see you in, but that's basically it. The nice thing about them is they can be worn without a corset. Though they can also go over all the undergarments like the corset, hoop and petticoats. I wore mine in the mornings before I got dressed, and during the miserably hot afternoons when my corset was trapping all kinds of heat. My yellow sheer dress is perfectly cool and breezy, so wearing that wasn't a problem. The only reason why I got so hot was because of my corset.

But before anyone turns this into an excuse to hate on corsets: My. Corset. Is. Very. Comfortable!! I really like wearing them, generally. I make my corsets myself, and I make sure they're perfectly fitted to me, accommodating such issues as my slight scoliosis. They feel like wearing a hug, and the back support they provide is incredible. They also help lift up the weight of all those skirts, and enable the bodice of dresses to fit smoothly and without wrinkles. Most importantly, they create the proper silhouette for the time period. My 1860s corset is the most comfortable corset I've yet made. I forget I'm wearing it after having worn it for a while. The only trouble is when it's very hot, it really traps the heat because it's a dense fabric and very tightly fitted.

So, that's basically my civilian life at the reenactment this year! There were battles going on, but I didn't watch them this year. Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I'm really satisfied with my camp setup. I have some goals for next year, though. First of all, I want to make a second sheer dress so I don't get stuck wearing the same thing two days in a row at any hot reenactment I go to. I also want to make a summer corset. These were made of a sturdy bobbinet. I've been wanting for years to try to make a summer corset simply for the sake of challenging my skills as a corsetmaker, since I have never made a mesh corset before. It would be a challenge for sure. I've never gotten around to it, but I feel I have an actual reason now, especially if I want to go to this other reenactment in July next year in addition to the Jackson one.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, and please feel free to ask if you have any questions about the reenactment or 1860s clothing!
 
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Nice!
 
Server Room Gremlin said:
I loved all the pictures, especially the sunrise one, and the ones of your blue dress. The one where you're doing your hair almost looks like a still from a movie, lol.
Click to expand...
Oh, thanks! Man, I wish I could be in a period movie. But you know, when they make Civil War movies, they often hire reenactors as extras, and they use their camps and everything.

Also, for those of you who read the post very shortly after I posted it, I made an edit with an additional paragraph about corsets.
 
Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:
Oh, @Server Room Gremlin , some of my reenactor buddies were telling me there are some American Civil War reenactments even in Australia! Have you ever heard of that happening at all?
Click to expand...
I've never heard of it myself. With a quick web search, it appears they happen on the other side of the country (which I would have guessed, since most of the population lives there).

The closest I've been to historical reenactment in Australia is 'being convicts for a day' as part of a class excursion in grade 5. Being attached by the wrist to a long chain going down the centre of our group was quite an effective way to keep all the kids moving together in two straight lines and not wandering. 🫠
 
THat is hilarious.... I think all schools should organize Field Trips (US version of "class excursions") that way.😆
 
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@Maedhros_Nelyafinwë ....
Wonderful account of your "play-by-play" experience.... fascinating details and good pics.
About the corset... before you explained everything I was going to ask "why wear it? No one will know if you don't"
But now I see why it is necessary for your dresses to look right.
And it's great that being your own design it comfortably supports your back, especially during the reels.
 
Deimos said:
About the corset... before you explained everything I was going to ask "why wear it? No one will know if you don't"
Click to expand...
Heh, I'll sure know if I don't, because it will hurt like heck to wear a hoop skirt and several heavy skirts without it!

To expand on why wearing a corset is super important, even if you have a small waist already, let me explain further.

Probably the most important thing about accurately portraying a time period is the silhouette, or shape of the figure/shape of the dress. So many poorly done period dramas will slap a dress on a person without the correct undergarments, and it will look too loose or too tight in the wrong places, baggy, wrinkly and so on.

This is the silhouette of the 1860s.

What makes this different from the modern silhouette? The most important thing is that there is a smooth, gently curved line from the waist to the bust. The bust also sits rather high up. (Another important thing with the 1860s silhouette is the dropped shoulder, meaning the shoulder seam is about an inch away from the actual shoulder, resulting in the appearance of broader shoulders. But that relates to the cut of the dress, not the corset.)

Compare that to the modern silhouette, which has a severe, abrupt line at the underbust.


So, you think you could achieve the 1860s silhouette with modern undergarments? Absolutely not!!

Also, a few years ago, I made a little video on Instagram showing what one of my 1860s dresses looks like without a corset.

A tightly fitted bodice WILL look wrinkly and stupid if you are not wearing a corset. On the contrary, when you are wearing a corset, the bodice looks so fitted and smooth. I can tell immediately in period dramas if the actress is not wearing a corset because of the smoothness or wrinkliness of the bodice.

Lastly, for the purposes of evaluating a historical silhouette, please ignore the size of the waist in these fashion plates. Any figure, whether large or small, can have a historical silhouette with the right undergarments, because people of all shapes and sizes have existed throughout history. Having a small waist is not that important for an 1860s silhouette. What is important is the smooth, gently curved line from waist to bust, and the bust sitting up fairly high. Any woman can have that as long as they have a corset made to their measurements. Also, those fashion plates are exaggerated. Pretty much nobody had a waist that small. Kind of like how nobody has legs that long in the modern silhouette.

Also, regarding that 1860s fashion plate I edited with the black silhouette, here's the unedited version.

 
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