Capt. Sterling

I rather listen to the wind right now...and the sound of the racoons taking cover!

The sound of racoons taking cover? What, pray, does that sound like?

Hector

The gusting high winds of a tornado that is passing through my front yard...not to worry, I'm use to stormy weather!

Oi!!! shouldn't you be down in the cellar????

Hector

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) British political writer.

The bloody fish tank bubbling....

Has anyone else ever heard of this?  Any idea where to get more information?

Oh I just read something regarding this as well... need to go back and see what book it was in... give me a night or two... but I've pretty much been in Restoration London by Picard or 1700s by Maureen Waller... Waller being the better of the two.... one of them mentions women fighters....

Hector

I've seen tons of posts on how to tweak something to be more historical and none capping on folks for doing it their way...unless they are claiming historical and misrepresenting the period.

I can't make up my bloody mind, so I'm working on both!

Why not do both? In my opinion any good historical impression would be that much better off if the person in the kit new how to play the part as well as dress it!

Hector

So (or sew, if you're pun crazy), are ya'll hand sewing these wonderfull clothes, and you're still able to finish in about 40 hours time? And, are there "shortcuts" (if you will excuse the affrontery of one who is time challenged) where machine sewing will save time but not be visible?

Everything NOT seen is sewn by machine, everything seen is hand finished, including all the linings to the outer fabrics, which are prick stitched in place which is period correct.

So on the coats and waistcoats: machine sewn pieces are sleeves together, and shoulder seams. then the coat is prick stitched together including side seams, by hand. Then the sleeves are sewn to the coat at the shoulder by machine for the outer fabric... lining is hand sewn in place and the cuffs are prick stitched together by hand, then hand sewn to the end of the sleeve. The gown has a inner bodice that is channeled for boning... the channels are machine sewn as well as the skirt panels together using the stitch in the instructions so there are no raw edges. Then the outer fashion fabric is hand stitched to the inner bodice and bound with narrow ware tape, again by hand. Sleeve pieces are sewn by machine but sewn to the bodice by hand as is the decorations. Hope that helps.... the patterns include BOTH instructions for period correct sewing techniques and modern machine sewing.... so what ever you are faster with... the directions are there

Hector

Thank you, Captain, for your wonderful review.  Your skills as a tailor should not be give short shrift, however.  You do excellent work! 

Thank you kindly Mistress!

The following images are garments all constructed from Reconstructing History patterns.... and the patterns are splendid indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I highly recommend them!!! First our crew does NOT consist of lady pirates. If you be a woman and want to play a pirate you need to pass inspection and be able to fool other men! Therefore the women in our group play period correct female roles... and there are a ton of those available to portray, and thanks to Kass's brilliant new patterns, Ladies can now be wonderfully attired and need not walk around in the wrong stuff any more. The first image is of our crew's Actress, Mistress Lilly McKinney. She is a prominent figure on the London stage and keeps the Captain entertained when he is in port. (btw we play pirate hunting privateers as well as pirates so we can legally be in well known ports without having to glance over our shoulders)

She is wearing the Bodice Gown pattern and it took less than 48 hours to put together including all the boning! And boy did she turn heads at the Blackbeard Festival Ball Friday night! The dress can also be taken down a notch for day wear. It is a gem to put together.

The next female, sorry guys if this is sounding like a fashion show... but I have to sing praises about these patterns.... is the Captain's Daughter! Left behind in London, young Mistress Sarah Sterling, is being raised by The Empress (an old and very dear acquaintance of the Captain's,) as a proper young lady. NO she does not get dragged around the world on her Father's ship, nor does he allow her to dress like a pirate and swing from the yardarm! He won't be able to marry her off properly if he did! She does get to spend time with him when he is in London. And the following pictures are how she dresses when she travels to visit with him...

She is wearing the full Lady's Riding and Hunting Outfit Pattern and it came together perfectly for her! Also using the Lady's Hunting Pattern, I began putting together kit for our crew's two Midshipmen... Check out the lad in the red striped cranberry coat.

Ignore the fact that his shirt doesn't fit nor his stockings, he pinched them from the Captain's chest and that he's making faces so he won't be sold... but the coat is a slightly scaled down version of the Lady's Riding coat. It is the same cut as the man's and much easier to resize for young boys who can't quite fit the men's stuff yet. Again a perfectly simple coat to put together. (The boy on the left in the white is wearing cast off Rev. War. NOT period correct for GAoP, but twas all we had for this one event. He's obedient and comes cheap for day hire, but ignore his outfit for now.) His new suit is in the making as well as the proper Dorset buttons for all the coats like the ones on the Captain's brown coat.

These patterns are very well made and go together like a breeze. The complete hunting outfit and an additional sleeved waistcoat and the cranberry striped coat were finished in less than a week (except for proper buttons... ). I HIGHLY, highly recommend em... and I hear tell if you can't sew, Kass can and is now willing to make the proper stuff.. ... too cool.... And she has her webpage Reconstructing History with all sorts of patterns and historical info and a chat site where you can ask questions and she is more than happy to help you create the perfect period impression!!!!

Most Sincerely,

J.H. Sterling

Captain of the Archangel

&

Purveyor of Fine Children and Brides

What be I bid for these fine young ones? Hard working they be and eat little at a meal!

  The young midshipmen are still in the works, one is wearing Rev. War cast offs, WHICH are NOT period correct for GAoP and the other is in Kass's Hunting outfit coat (which works great for the younger boys as the man's pattern takes a bit more adjustment).

Let me clarify this statement... there is NOTHING wrong with the men's pattern. What I mean is that it is much easier to adjust or scale down the lady's Hunting pattern to fit small children, then it is to adjust or scale down the man's coat pattern to fit small children. Since the Hunting Coat is the same style as the man's coat, it works perfectly for boys who just don't fit in the man's pattern sizes yet....

For those crews who have middys...

Hector

Okay the below link does not work unless you join the group. Sorry didn't realize that so I will post them here...since the clitches have been worked out....

The Actress

The Captain's Daughter

And ubnoxious middys

If you can click on the link http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/Reconstru...tos/browse/ad2f

It should take you to some photos (that still won't post directly on this site ) that show the beginnings of the Actress in Reconstructing History's new Bodice Gown pattern and the Captain's Daughter in Reconstructing History's Lady's Riding and Hunting Outfit. The young midshipmen are still in the works, one is wearing Rev. War cast offs, WHICH are NOT period correct for GAoP and the other is in Kass's Hunting outfit coat (which works great for the younger boys as the man's pattern takes a bit more adjustment). Still in the process of replacing the pewter buttons with posh Passiemetierie(sp) buttons like on the Captain's brown coat. Both sets of patterns went together like a piece of cake! I cannot begin to praise them highly enough! The bodice gown was completed in less than 48 hours! (even with all that boning!!) Each coat, including period correct prick stitching took less than 7 hours each.... so even if you are new to sewing in the time frame, it should be a project you can tackle. Kass is also more than willing to help via email on her patterns lists. You can find all her patterns at Reconstructing History,along with links to historical information and the chat list... btw the Woman is brilliant!

Hector

Since there are very few events, if any, that exclusively call for historically accurate pirate impressions... maybe its a moot point.

Greg

Kass and I be working on that!!!! Try to keep April open for next year. Captain looks at the Empress "Tis April isn't it??"

Hector

but I have yet to see any woman that does a period female that is not a pyrate...... and somehow, I think there were women back then.......

Wow you need to check out Kass's character. Not only does she NOT dress like a pirate, she has two great serving girls and has helped our crew with the development of one Actress and the Captain's Daughter. BTW the Daughter is NOT dressed like a pirate either but as a young girl who is left behind in the care of Kass's character, who is trying to raise the girl properly. The Captain only sees her when he is in port, he does NOT drag her around on ship allowing her to dress like a man and swing from the yardarm.....

There are soooooo many other types of female characters from the period.

Hector

I'm a Children's Lay Minister by trade but I've counselled a number of adults... when they fall away that is the usual behavior of the vast majority... if they continue in the sin long, eventually they get numb to it and grow worse in their behavior, always trying new and more dangerous things to fill the void...

Hector

It was a sailor's superstition at one time that drowning a cat would bring up a wind when the ship was becalmed. I don't know if that tale goes back to the Golden Age, though.

Oh then, by all means, one MUST have several aboard ship....

Considering that dogs and cats were destroyed by the hundreds during the plaque in the 1660s, one wonders if they were still thought suspect toward the end of the century? If they were, surely folks knew enough that illness spreads quickly in confined areas, so maybe cats and dogs were not favored until later? Just a thought....

Hector

The one thing Janelle reminded me of regarding the waistcoast she just finished for me (mid-thigh in front, waist-length in back), is that men like to look good in two fundamental positions... Astride a horse, and sitting on their ass while blustering about politics.

In period correct breeches your arse looks rather "plump" to put it mildly... not something I would want to show off and mine is far from plump to start with....

Hector

All great suggestions, thank'ee!

I'm more likely to go with the Protestant Deacon angle, mostly because a am one. Just not a lot out there on any non-catholic christian influence in the Caribbean. Still, the suggestions have given me several new directions to work on. I'll try and get back here to post my decisions once I finish the first draft of the character and see if it jibes historically.

If you are one in the real world, why not think of putting yourself in a situation that would force you to question your faith and then just find a comparison from the earlier period... After all your faith has carried you to a rather high position in your local church (according to Scripture Deacons are supposed to be living a good life as an example to the others in their congregations) and after all these years it would most likely take something rather devasting to "chuck it all in" and go to the other extreme. Verily you would be torn between your new chosen life style and your old one, and God, if you believe in Him as I do, is not going to want to let you go. You would have a nagging doubt about what you are doing and a strong need to get your life back in order. I also believe, if your charactor's faith was genuine to begin with and not just in the church for the job and cash, he would be the first to try and help out another.... You would go to the extremes in your new life as a way of "justifiying your sin" to yourself, hoping to make yourself feel good about your new life... but every so often, believe me, you would come crashing down and a VERY HARD crash it would be.

Hector

And I'm afraid I'm just not understanding how a waistcoat with no back tails would make it more convenient to sit a horse.  There's no need to "eliminate" the slit in the back for sitting a saddle.  All waistcoats (and frock coats and great coats and any other jacket-type things) of the time period had this slit.  Bar none.  It's simply an extension of the center back seam.  It's actually easier to make them with a center back slit than to sew it closed.

As an equestrienne, I've noticed this parallel in modern riding gear.  Many jackets made for warmth have zippers at the side seams so you can open them when seated on a horse and close them when working in the barn.  I haven't seen riding jackets (then or now) that stop at the waist in back.  This only serves to expose the back and that just doesn't make sense.  You'll catch your death! 

Besides when you post, the tails of the waistcoat don't end up under you.  They sit behind you.

Yes, I have to agree with Kass here. I've been riding with period gear since the early 70s and the only article of clothing I've had "caught" under my tail end is a regimental cloak....no slit.... all other coats, waistcoats, overcoats, frock coats, reigmentals, etc. have never been such a pain in the arse as to have to shorten only the backs...

Hector

Hector,

I think The Professor has an old Anglican Book of Common Prayer, but I'll be damned if I knew what box it was in...

(Yes, I moved in October and I still have stuff in boxes!)

Great... won't need it until Feb.

Hector

At last week's SWPF Bonaventure revealed our new swivel gun - it's only taken us 6 or 7 years to get round to mounting it...

Very Nice! :)

Hector

When was the 1653 act repealed? A lot of Cromwell's legislation was void within 20 years of the Restoration, so if you're talking about GAoP era weddings then rings might well be back in.

The Book of Common Prayer, which until fairly recently was still used in the same form as when it was written in 1549, contains a marriage service, but I've got no notion about weddings aboard ship - I've never heard of one happening during the GAoP or the period either side.

I have a Book of Common Prayer from 1846, BUT it is from the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Hmmmm, I wonder how different it is from the English version. You know, after all these Hollywood marriages, I just assumed that there was something, at least in the Royal Navy at the time.... I'll see if I can't get my hands on a BofCP from the period. One wonderful benefit of moving to Virginia, the old book shops are truly plentiful not to mention some of the churches are pretty old as well!!!! And although, not naval or seafaring, wonder what Williamsburg has to offer....Thanks for all your help everyone.

Hector

But the "pursuit" of the experience is fun too.  I enjoy researching and building different kits, and trying to make them the best I possible can. 

Re-enacting is cool that way, everyone can (and does) get someting different  out of it.

Greg

Yes, my dad was the "means" behind our dragoon regiment. You just couldn't buy Rev. War horse equipment when we were active. He LOVED making swords, helmets, pistol buckets, what ever was needed even more than going to the events. Every free moment he was busy making something because he really loved doing so. Now I get a call every once in awhile "Need anything "timewise?" I was thinking of asking him to work up a pair of pistols since the Grice won't do, but I have a feeling he would want to keep them when he was done... When you ask him about reenacting the first thing he talks about is making kit or something amazing one of the horses in our group did.

Hector

I've had alot of those experiences.  Maybe I'm not as picky?  I dunno.

And hey!  I've done that event?  Was that in conjunction with Williamsburg's Publick Times event?  It ranks up there with the coolest of events - from the beggars outside, and the little girls hawking apples, to the harpsicordists inside, to the torch-lit gardens... simply amazing!

Maybe not so much being picky, as realizing no one can actually recreate the past perfectly... there is so much we really don't know about. Let's face it, some events can be pretty lame, but as long as most folks are putting forth the effort just go with it and have fun. I went to my first Pirate Feast last Feb., thanks to Kass and one of the soldiers came up and was speaking to me in first person. He had the language down so well that he was really interesting to listen to and of course I started asking him questions. At which point he got this amazed look on his face and then bowed and remarked how kind it was of someone of my station to lower themselves to speak with him. Of course I realized I had blown it and wanted to bang my head against the nearby post, but he was soo good. He continued and then I went on to grunt an occasional "answer" and had a very good time. But he certainly didn't make it seem like my mistake was the END OF THE WORLD!

And yes it was Publick Times about, geeze when did I get married, must have been 1991. And yes, we had beggers at the front gate as the carriages rode up to unload the higher ranking officers. Did you have the horse races out by the far end of town? They were brilliant!!

Also I've been looking through my sources showing extant waistcoats from 1700 through the 1770s and the vast VAST majority of them have backs as long as the fronts.  Some do, as Dorian mentioned, have backs of plain linen while the fronts are silk and embroidered.  But there is no length difference.

This is not to say that backs weren't sometimes shorter than the fronts, just that the usual form of waistcoat was with the back the same length as the front.

They're all split at center back so no problems riding a horse! 

Kass

Oh good Kass, I was hoping you would jump on this as well. I have never come across any period patterns nor original waistcoats where the backs were shorter than the fronts. I am almost beginning to wonder if this is some 19th century fancy dress ideal or "hollywood" inspired. Does anyone have any hard documentation on a short backed waistcoat style which was common?

have researched cavalry for years, I have not come across any uniform with waistcoat, where the backs were shorter. .... I would LOVE to see some originals that hadn't been altered by later generations....

Hector

You know, the only time I've had one of those "time travel" experiences was on the way to a Colonial Christmas Ball. .. we were travelling on the old road to Philadelphia that dates to before the Rev War, and there are more 18th century houses along that road than not.  In some areas, you have to slow down to 10mph to go around very sharp turns between old houses.  It had just snowed, so the cars on the side of the road weren't that obvious.  It didn't matter that we were in a modern conveyance; I just suddenly felt like we were on our way to the Ball in the 1770s... 

I agree that the "Perfect time travel" experience is very hard to achieve especially if you go out looking for total perfection. Honestly, I don't think it could ever be perfect. But I have been to some spectacular events that sure came close and really made you wonder how folks must have felt in the past in similar experiences.

I once went to a private event at Colonial Williamsburg, invitation only for reenactors only, at the Governor's Palace. The only modern disturbances were planes that flew over but once the sun went down and the fires were lit they were hardly noticable. And once you stepped foot through the front gate and not ONE modern spectator was allowed inside, it was truly amazing, from the period correct musicians on the lawn, to the slack rope walkers in the other gardens, to being greeted by the governor and his lady, even the African American staff at Williamsburg recreated their roles as slaves for the entire night. And for me, the most amazing thing was walking down by the water and suddenly being surrounded by Indians who seemed to come out of the greenery as if by magic. I was supposed to meet their British officer and they had come to "fetch" me. Damn near scared the life out of me. I had no clue they were there and had no clue how long they had waited there. The entire evening just blew me away, even the reenactors were on their best behavior as far as staying in character for the entire time.

Yes I enjoy the public, I truly have fun with them, espeically the kids, but when things click with private reenactors who truly try their best at making the period come to life, it can really, really be amazing. I guess I just don't dwell on the parts that go wrong as much as make the most out of the parts that go well....