Museum Adventures

While I was in Williamsburg, I had the wonderful opportunity to look at their museum exhibits. Here are the pics that I most enjoy:

WAISTCOATS!

ooooo
ahhhhh
Ohhhhh!
*swoooon* to see Devin in one of these....
My favorite pics are of lovely embroidered waistcoats, which apparently were very common.  Nevertheless, it's pretty and I would like to make one. The second one, in particular, was so sweet looking. As I captioned the picture....I really want to see my dearest Devin in one of these. le sigh


TAMBOUR!!! While at the shop, Sarah showed me how to do a little bit of Tambour Embroidery, which is basically embroidering with a sharp crochet hook..... and I LOVE IT. I reaaaaaallly reaaaaaalllly reaaaaalllly want to make this men's cap:
Downright purdy.
There were also some wonderful Calash bonnets that I desperately wanted to try on.


soooo muuuucccchhh ffunnnnnn
This one reminds me of an accordion.
 Then there was this gown:


What's so interesting about this gown is that it is black and in superb condition. The black dyes tend to deteriorate the fabric, so to have a gown like this one, that is so well preserved, is an extreme rarity.

 The motif you see on the gown is actually embroidered to the fabric itself. A lot of time went into it.
Sorry for the shakey pics
(museum lighting)
 Another interesting tidbit pertains to the trim. It is done by a series of knots, and to my knowledge, was an entire trade to itself. O.O There's a bajillion yards of this trim on the gown. Can you imagine only tying knots/making this kind of trim for your career?!?

muy impressivo

 The last things I took a peek at were the tools on display on the lower level. My favorite.... The Waffle Iron.... I want it.

nomnomnom

2 comments:

Emily Kate said...

All of the photos are gorgeous, but... THAT BLACK GOWN!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Absolutely magnificent. I would attempt to recreate it, but on top of being rather horrid at embroidery I don't think I would have the patience required. Ah well, perhaps someday :)

Thanks for sharing the photos! You're making me want to plan another trip to CW now...

The Dreamstress said...

OOOOOOooooh! But especially the black gown!

I'm super envious of the whole experience, but especially that you got to try tambour embroidery. That's something I really want to do.