The Hat

 My absolute ultimate, ultimate-ultimate favorite project for the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop was recreating a hat from a painting. This painting, to be exact:

Lady Edward Bentinck,
Painted by George Romney
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!

The portrait is of Lady Edward Bentinck. The date on the painting, I could not find, although it would have had to have been after 1780 because Miss Elizabeth Cumberland married Lord Edward in 1780, thus taking his name and reference in the painting. The story on the portrait itself is that Lady Bentinck was trying on hats and picked up this "old fashioned one." The painter, George Romney, saw her put it on and had to paint her portrait. Still, I cannot find the exact date.

The hat in the portrait seems to hint that it was a straw hat to begin with (seeing the slight ridges along the brim) and covered tightly with white silk, bunched silk gauze at the crown then finished with a lovely, large blue bow.

Working on the straw

I can't tell you how much fun I had on this project. It always seemed to make me hungry. I always got comments that it looked like a wonderful dessert. It really does look like meringue...

That is a wool cherry ;)

mmmmmm..."Food" Porn.

The hat was lined with a changable blue silk which was also used for the bow at the side as well as the ties. I love it because it's a surprise when you see the underside, the rest of the hat is so very white!

The lovely blue lining, all my stitches too!

Here it is finished, sigh. I'm definitely going to make another very similar. It now belongs to Doris, the Journeywoman Mantua Maker and Milliner, at the shop!

"The Lady Bentinck"

I'll model it for you...

What do you think? I think it turned out pretty well ;)

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

Bad News Bears.

Hello all! Again, I am so sorry about not getting around to blogging. Things are busy here in Williamsburg and it seems I could never get the chance. And now, there's a new wrinkle in the fabric...

My computer CRASHED. That's right. It crashed. Last weekend I had managed to accidentally unplug it from its power source and it went haywire from there. I'm writing this post using a friend's computer, so unfortunately I most likely won't be able to blog about the things I've made until I get back to Athens; when I either can get my computer fixed or get a new one.

To give you all a taste of what I will be blogging about; While interning here I've made a ton of items including a cap, petticoat, kerchief, mitts, and various parts of gowns and am currently working on a hat. :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D  It's a really pretty hat too. :)

Well, I hope you all are having a glorious summer! I'm having a blast here in Williamsburg and can't wait to fill you in on my wonderful summer!

Under the Redcoat 2011

I have a confession to make..... I have never been to an 18th century reenactment before. D:

Fortunately, my living in Williamsburg has changed that. My debut was Under the Redcoat at Colonial Williamsburg, just last weekend. It was wonderful.

Photo Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg

  For those of you who don't know what UtR is, I'll give you a quick overview. British. Invade. Williamsburg. And let me tell you, there was a LOT of red.

The redcoats leave town.

I spent my weekend walking about with Eliza and befriending quite a few redcoats and fellow costume bloggers. They were very pleasant and great fun; teaching us some new dice and card games, as well as letting us try some of their homemade meade, which was very delicious.

Eliza and I with some members of the 40th

That was the only picture taken of me (that I know of) at the event. I hope to trim the new hat I bought (it's the one I'm wearing) once I get hold of some nice stuff to work with.

I had a great time and hope to attend it next year too :)

Internship Beginnings

Saturday marked the end of my first week interning at the Margaret Hunter Shop in Colonial Williamsburg. So far I have had a blast!

Our work area, Right to Left;
Eliza (fellow intern), Doris (Journeywoman) Tori (fellow intern)
and me! At the Margaret Hunter Shop

The staff is extremely friendly, and every day proves to be more enjoyable than the last.

My typical outfit for the day time.

So far we've worked on perfecting our stitches and I patched and mended a cute blue jacket that I love to wear.

Such lovely patchwork, wouldn't you say?

Then on Saturday we got all "gussied up" in beautiful silk gowns and wonderful hats. We walked about town, letting millions of little girls take pictures with us.

Us ladies of the Millinery Shop (I'm first on the left)
Don't we look lovely?!

Me in a Coral gown (I do not normally
wear this color)

Eliza in a peach, ivory and green cross-stripe gown

I got to wear a coral Polonaise gown with silk gauze and a bum roll; feeling wonderful. The other intern, my new friend Eliza, got to wear a Saque-Back gown and AWESOME HAT. I was jealous.

All in all, we've had a wonderful time so far. Things keep getting better, and we're getting into some more "serious sewing"; which we're very excited about. More to come!