Progress.....I think.

This morning the real world crept in. I spent the morning in the front yard with my husband trimming the big mesquite tree and raking up needles. Not nearly as much fun as minis, but then what is?

I did make a little progress on the Colonial Kitchen box. Here's proof.

I built the hearth out of foam core. I won't bother you with photos of the first coat of gesso that I put on the walls and both sides of this. It would be literally like watching paint dry. Just take my word for it.

I will show you, instead, a couple of costumes that I have made. They are a part of a series that I am doing on historic dress. That was one of my fields of interest when I was in college.

This first one is a walking dress from 1895. It was copied from an illustration from Harper's Bazaar that year.

I made each dress with accessories from the same illustration.

I added a hand drawn sketch of how the clothes would have been worn to the back of the box.

The hat is straw with silk roses.

The parasol is silk.

The second one is from the 1840s. It's a Promenade Dress(fancy name for another walking dress) from 1840.

The interesting thing about this one is that the collar of the dress is actually made of a scrap of fabric, I believe from a nightgown, from 1840! I bought a box of antique lace and fabric. I was lucky enough to get parts of what was probably a wedding nightgown. It was hand made(before the invention of the sewing machine in 1849) and hand embroidered with the lady's initials and the date. You can see a scan of the embroidery at the bottom, in front of the dress.

This is one of my favorite pieces just because of that scrap of fabric. Someone must have really loved that nightgown to save the pieces for over 150 years.

OK, I have stalled you long enough for today. I am going to go collapse now.

See you tomorrow.