Procrastination Switch -- HSMC 2016, January

The Historical Sew Monthly Challenge for January was Procrastination. I was planning to finish my major put-off, the 1830s stays I really need to go under the 1830s dress I have planned, but will have to keep them on hold a while longer. I have to travel about 50 miles to go to a fabric store and this has not been the month to do that.

So I turned to another project I've had languishing in a bag - a 1910s sweater jacket. I love to knit and do a lot of it during the winter months. I really like the big sweater look of the late 1910s and early 20s. In my climate, a large cardigan is such a practical garment, keeping off the chill indoors over the winter, and great for outdoors in spring and fall. My ex-hubby's grandmother was an Old Order Mennonite born in 1900 and told me about the debate over women wearing cardigan sweaters when she was a teenager. They were so practical, but obviously a modern fashion, so some people thought they should be avoided. Practicality won the day, and she was glad.

Here is the sweater I wanted to copy. It's from the Columbia Book of Yarns by Anna Schumacker, dated 1915, and the pattern is available here for free. I colored the photo to match the yarn I used. The body is a deep brown with tweed flecks of yellow, red, orange, and blue. The trimming is bright yellow wool, all knitted in garter stitch, and it really brings out the yellow flecks. 

Here is my new sweater! I can see I will be wearing this a lot.

January, 2016

The Challenge: Procrastination

Material: 100% Wool yarn, worsted weight. Brown tweed and solid yellow.

Pattern: Ladies’ Knitted Sweater from The Columbia Book of Yarns, Anna Schumacker, 1915.

Year: 1915

Notions: 6 vegetable ivory buttons

How historically accurate is it? 100%

Hours to complete: Too many to count!

First worn: Today

Total cost: Thrift store finds

Swell Ties to Crochet

My brother is an avid stamp collector and recently acquired a stack of old envelopes. In one, he found a pamphlet of instructions to crochet neckties from the1920s, which was given to me.the envelope is addressed to Miss Katharine B. Collier, of Vassar College, who, according to my Google searches, must have been Katherine Brownell Collier, a 1908 graduate who went on to earn a PhD from Columbia University with her dissertation entitled Cosmogonies of Our Fathers: Some Theories of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Why she had this pattern delivered to Vassar is a mystery, but I found no other Katherine B. Collier among Vassar alumni.   

The ties are made up in Corticelli Spool Silk thread, which the instructions tell us is "the very latest thing in swell neckwear". The envelope has Corticelli's cute kitten logo, and I date the publication after 1922, when the Nonotuck Silk Company merged with the Brainerd and Armstrong Company to form the Corticelli Silk Company. 

New year, new plans

Probably the biggest excitement for me when starting the new year is the 2016 Challenge List for the Historical Sew Monthly Challenge. (I know, sad life!) I am more of a planner than a doer, I know. Getting that list of topics for sewing starts me on a binge of sorting through my fabric stash and searching for patterns. My computer is bulging with inspiration. Now let's see how many actual garments I produce...

January is "Procrastination", meaning I've got to do something I've put off and put off and put off. And that means corsets or stays. I really avoid doing them because of the fitting problems, but you can't wear the clothes without the proper shape underneath. Fortunately, I came across this great German costuming site (also in English) Kleidung um 1800 that has some excellent patterns for early 1800s short stays. I plan to make one wrap-style undergarment and one with back lacing. These stays have no or minimal boning. Sabine digs out all sorts of excellent documentation, clear patterns, and a step-by-step tutorial. 

I've got the pieces cut out, so that's a start. Keep it up, girl!

Sabine's wrap stays with no boning

Sabine's laced stays - so simple!