Vista Civil War Weekend & the Dressmakers Shop

March 9-10, 2013

This past weekend I attended the Civil War reenactment at the Steam Engine Museum inVista, CA. I was part of the Historical Citizens Association, and we partially set up Oak Street with its shops. Due to bad weather our group was small. But we drew a lot of attention just the same. We were set up next to the sutlers tents which was perfect for a “main street”. We had a pretty good sized space with drop cloths and a large canvas overhead. A roped off picket fence surrounded us with a “door” in front, and a sign stating Mrs Cressman- Dressmaker, No. 69 Oak Street. 

 I was not Mrs.Cressman. That was Lana. I was Mrs. Ripper. I was set up near the door with my hand crank sewing machine and I drew in a lot of people curious of what I was doing. I had a completed dress hanging next to me to show them what I had sewed on my machine. Across from me Lana was cutting out fabrics and hand-sewing the lining into a top hat. Next to me was Paige who was demonstrating ink writing using a quill pen and writing to her husband away at war. And Trudy came to visit for the day. On one side of us was The Parlour, where ladies, Joanne and Annette, demonstrated games, calling cards and handcrafts. And on the other side arriving on Sunday, was Ginger and Mike of Sew Cranky Sewing Machines Sew Cranky They set up their machines to sell and demonstrate. Other friends stopped by during the day and we got to share some gossip and news. And I got my picture taken a few times.

One lady brought this adorable little sewing machine that reminded me of a child's machine but it was a real one. It was dated 1865 and does a chain stitch. She brought it back the next day for Mike at Sew Cranky to tune it up and show her how to work it.

On Saturday I wore my olive green 1860s dress which kept me warm but we were tromping through a lot of mud and my hems and boots brought a lot home with me. The next day proved to be sunny and drier and I wore my brown cotton Bloomer gown. I got a lot of stares and lots of compliments. One sutler even said she would love to wear one while she was working and would I be willing to make her one, and some for her to sell. I said I would think about it. I'm barely able to make my own gowns on time so I'm not sure I want to take that on. Making little girls dresses are a sideline and work well with demonstrating my sewing machine. I'm hoping I may have started a fashion trend however.

On Sunday afternoon we cleared the cutting table and I set out teapots and teacups I'd brought, along with some tea from Paris in a Cup tearoom called Perfumes of France, a fruity vanilla black tea. Other ladies brought cookies and fruit to the table, and we had a very nice afternoon tea, much to the delight of the public. Afterwards we played a fun game called, “Yesterday I bought...” and we took turns stating something we bought that was within reach. So “Yesterday I bought a new teapot”. “Yesterday I bought this new gown”. And so on, until we ran out of things we could “buy”. If you repeated anything someone else had bought, you were immediately out of the game. Next time I need to remember to have my sewing basket close and my pockets full of things.

I didn't leave the shop much except to visit a couple sutlers but we all enjoyed the afternoon of friendship and sharing with the public of what we do.

Thank you to Trudy, Jim Pool, and Darlene for a couple of these photos.

**In memory of my darling boy Rudy, who left the bonds of this earth on March 7, 2013. He was 11 years old and a truly loving kitty who is greatly missed.**

    

Cranky Ladies

Saturday, March 11, 2012

I was up in Vista yesterday for the Civil War reenactment, and it was mainly (besides playing dress up) to learn how to use my hand crank sewing machine from the other ladies there. There’s a group of reenactors who have created "Oak Street" which is a main street row of shops (tents with space in front) containing a bakery, hotel, seamstress, etc, and they set up like a main street. I was in the seamstress area, and there were a couple of us sewing. I had to learn basically from scratch how to use my machine (threading it/ winding the bobbin shuttles/ setting the stitch length) and my friends had suggested making a small quilt. But I wanted to make something that was more useable or something I needed. I ended up making the skirt that goes to a child's Civil War dress that I'm making for my friend Shelley to sell in her sutler’s tent. It was all straight seams and sewing the growth tucks on the bottom of the skirt. We were photographed constantly by the public and professional photographers, and had many questions asked of us, which is the reason we're doing this. 

Even though the sewing is slower, I really enjoyed it, and had a big grin on my face when I finished my first seam. But man, is my right shoulder sore from all that cranking!  One of my friends gave me a wooden thread spool so I can hand wind my thread onto it and use it with my machine.

These were my two friends who were sewing with me, Laura-lee, and Paige on the right, who taught me how to use it. The two skirts hanging behind Laura-lee were both made by Paige on her hand crank machine. We were joking about how I end up ripping out seams just as much as sewing them, so I said just call me Ripper. They said my name should be Mrs. Ripper, since they all have fake names for their shops. I thought about that awhile, and I’ve decided my name will be Mrs. Victoria Ripper, although that sounds a little  theatrical.  But I could have fallen on hard times during the CW and went back to sewing to support myself. They all like to have back stories to their characters.

I was so busy I forgot to hand my camera to someone for a photo of me. But if any show up somewhere, I've been told they'll be sent to me.  

This is the dress just pinned together after I got home. I still need to cartridge pleat the skirt and attach it to the bodice with piping between the seams, and then add the sleeves to it. I plan to sew black rick rack around the neckline and bottom of the skirt and sleeves. 

One of my other friends, Beth, who wasn't there this time usually does an afternoon tea for any of the ladies in the camp area (her husband runs the newspaper office) and I'm not sure if she's part of Oak Street. But I told the ladies that in the future if my friend wasn't there for this, I'd like to also do the afternoon tea thing. One of the "shops" makes lunch for us at the cost of $5, and yesterday we had cold meat pies, a delicious cucumber salad (that I got the recipe for), fresh sliced peaches & oranges, cottage cheese and pistachios. My friend that does the tea has a large collection of  Blue Willow stoneware plates and cups that she uses. I've found a few pieces for her in the past. They were used during the Civil War and are sturdier than fine china. So if I'm going to do that, I need to start looking around for some like that, mainly in thrift stores because they're dirt cheap there. But I would need to use my own stoneware teapots because you can never find those at all. But since I only make 1 or 2 CW events a year, I'm thinking of  NOT getting the Blue Willow, and just using my sturdier china that I take with me for my tea catering. They would have been in existence with the wealthier people back then. However IF I did find some Blue Willow cups & plates DIRT CHEAP, well, why not?   But it’s only a thought. I had way too much fun sewing on my machine, & it was quite an undertaking to get organized to set that up, and its 30 lbs so I don’t travel light. Now I have to teach my friend Cindy how to sew on her’s that she got for Xmas.