Our first year reenacting

My first year of civil war reenacting was made possible by a dear friend of mine that helped me out greatly by finding clothes for my then 18 month old son and lending me items that would help me look period correct. And the greatest gift she gave me was the knowledge of how to make my own items and where to start my research to expand my knowledge on my own.

Tonight as I was doing some web surfing about different types of clothing for my now 3yr old, I stumbled upon a blog that had pictures of a child in dresses that seemed very similar to the first dresses my son started in. I sent my friend a message and found out these were the same exact clothes! How random!! My favorite discoveries seem to be that way! I left a post on this gal's blog telling her that I would post some pictures of my boy on her for her to see. Hope they are enjoyed!

My newest Project!

Once again I have drifted away from the world of blogging, and I apologize!! Ive been super busy with working at Cabela's for the past few months and as of December 28th, I am done there!!

I was out and about on Dec 23rd with my son and we stopped by the local pet store to purchase some crickets for my lepard gecko, Lizzy. I was talking to my son about the different animals and fishies that the owner had for sale when he himself asked me how I knew so much about all of them and I informed him that I had previously worked at Petsmart in Waterloo, Ia, for four years. We talked for a few more minutes when he asked me if I had ever thought about grooming dogs. After a short discussion, I told him I'd think about it over the weekend and get back to him the following Monday.

After talking awhile with a grooming friend that weelendI decided to take the job! I've only had a few dogs so far but I must say, I do believe I'm doing fairly well!!

My next step was to start getting tools gathered, which the owner was sweet enough to supply most the things I would need to get started.

My latest project was a box to store and dispense ribbon from! I've included pictures of the project and the way I make my ribbons and how I put them in the dogs hair with help of my son's fuzzy teddy bear!

t was a great project! All the materials (except for the ribbon) was stuff that I had laying around the house. The box was one that I had used at Cabela's to warehouse to store my daily tools in.

The fabric I had purchased at Walmart a few months ago and had used a lot of it to

make a set of curtains for my sewing room.

The rods that I used to put the ribbon on were actually, at one point, part of a stand up lamp that my boyfriend had that was in pieces. It was a fairly easy project that only took me about 3 hours. The part that took the longest was waiting for the glue to dry! I started with fabric glue and used it on all the parts of the box that wouldn't show, but soon found out that it would take a lot more glue than I had anticipated!! At that point I started using Elmer's glue. This project was all about what I had already in our home because it was just going to be a rough draft.

I finally used my ribbon today on a gorgeous little Shih Tzu named Ella that was a dream to groom!! She was a perfect angel and her daddy absolutely loved the look of her!! Unfortunately, since I don't have to pet parent's permission, I won't be posting pictures of the pups on here. But on a happier note, I've got lots of work to do on my Civilian dresses so I hope to keep up with this blog and keep everyone up to date on how my endevors are coming!!

A long time gone

Hello all!! I'm sorry i've been missing for so long! I've been having internet issues and have finally gotten on line for a few minutes!! I'm just leaving a few little updates on here for tonight. Hopefully once all of this is taken care of I'll get some pictures up and keep the updates coming!

My hand is back to normal!! I'm able to sew like a wild woman now!! I have also left my job for a new, higher paying job at Cabela's. I'm very excited even though it's seasonal work for now. The bonus side is that they higher on after the peak season if things go well.... AND!!! They have a sewing department that I might be able to squeeze my way into!

I finally finished my very first work dress 100% by myself!! :) My dear friend sent me e-mails of the pattern but unfortunately my computer and printer weren't playing nice together so I used a dress that she had made years ago and designed a dress for myself :) I'm so proud!!

Well, I must be going for the night! It is well past my bed time and soon I'll be turning into a pumpkin if I dont turn in soon!! Good night and hope the weekend finds you all well!!

Another week

Another week has come and gone, and unfortunately I haven't gotten any pictures to post... my internet doesnt like me very much. :( And now, I finally have my loverly cast off!! Just got cut off yesterday and did some more xrays and found out I have 2 fractures instead of just the one. No wonder I've been having so much pain!!

But on the downside of things, I still haven't gotten the bodice of my workdress finished. now that I can get a little work out of my hand I plan on getting a few things going! This weekend CW is going to his dad's so I'll have plenty of time to spread my projects all over the apartment! Hoping to get the bodice and my work petticoat finished before Father's Day weekend. CW and I are traveling to Blanchardville for a living history! This will be one of the few main events he will get to go to this year because most of the weekends fall when he will be with his dad.

Now, I'm off to put the munchkin to bed so I can do a lil bit of sleep so hopefully *fingers crossed* I can make a full 10 hours at work tomorrow!!

Well, today I found out the cast has to stay on until next Monday, thankfully! Hopefully I'll heal faster with it on!

Today I didn't get much accomplished in the sewing department. Had to do running for my thumb and then got a wonderful nap in this afternoon with CW. He and I were both pretty crabby. Then I woke up with a migrane that has lessened enough for me to start working on my bodice for my green polka dotty work dress!

Jenny, Amanda and I are involved in our little "sewing challenge" that we started a few weeks ago and we're only a few weeks in and I'm falling behind. Hoping this little bit I get done while CW is asleep will get me back in the runnin!!

Tomorrow I get to start back at work again! we'll see how I feel, see if I can make a full day or not. It's always a toss up! I work for M-C Industries in town here. We sew a lot of the leather accessories for Harley Davidson and a few things for the US Army. Luckily, I'm on one of the Army lines that has some simple jobs I can do one handed!

Well, I'm off to get a little work on this bodice going and get this posted before the storm cuts out my internet! Just heard it thunder again... I'm afraid that I won't be getting a workout in tonight. I hate taking CW out while it's raining. He doesn't mind the storms, but I do! I get a lil nervous when they start up. But that's what I get for living in Iowa! :)

I'll try and get a few photos posted up here of my projects that I've done and am working on. Please keep in mind that I've only been sewing my own reenactment clothes since October last year, and had only a small amount of experience before that! I'm polishing my skills and learning more everyday! G'Nite All!!

New to This

Well, this is my very first blog! Thanks to my dear friend, Jenny, I've opened this blog to talk about my family, friends and sewing projects... hence the name :) I unfortunately won't be talking about much in this tonight because it's fairly late and I have a fractured thumb that is giving me a titch bit of pain tonight.

I started Civil War Reenacting a year ago in June and have fallen in love with it and sewing. I've started sewing all of my own clothes and my 2 1/2 year old son, CW's, clothing too! I can't wait to start posting pictures of my work and more information about our clothes and all of the awesome things that I'm learning everyday!

Well, off to bed for now! G'nite all!