Days of Napoleon - Belvidere

Nothing like a little sweat and heat to kick off my first whole reenacting season!
We all drove up to Belvidere, IL, to participate in a reenactment of several Napoleonic skirmishes.  The first day oscillated between freezing rain in the morning and oppressive heat in the afternoon (we had a water fight in our stays, though, so that helped,) but Sunday was glorious weather.  I can't say that I know much about the military details, but it sure was awfully fun to go to even though the Frenchies outnumbered us good Brits by nearly two to one (why doesn't anyone want to do a British impression? We're so much cooler.  Also, why doesn't anybody take shots during the battle? >:c )  But as it was the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, we got to win a battle anyways and honestly, it felt good to watch the frogs eat dirt.

Photo creds to Anne D.

As you can see, there were serious things going on allllll weekend.

I didn't bring my camera, so creds to Anne again c:

I spent half the time in my corded stays, but it got so awfully hot that I ended up wearing my significantly farbier short stays just to stay cool.  I did, however, get my camp dress nice and dirty, as it ought to be, and my Fugawees got a bit of wear.  And my regency camp dress (my first all hand sewn piece!) got all nice and dirty and eggy and accurate looking.
 I also whipped up an impressively last minute vest-that-totally-wasn't-supposed-to-be-a-spencer:

 Hand sewn, blue thrifted wool, printed cotton lining left over from my camp dress, silk piping made from leftover silk, and bullion trim from my grandmother's trim bin.  All in all, it cost me about $4, which to date is probably the least I've spent on just about any serious article of clothing.

 And of course, it doesn't work with my full-length corded corset.  Only with my farby short stays.  Naturally.  C'est la vie...
 (now! onwards! to fixing all of my 1860s clothes! D:)

Making some fun for myself in Minnesota

I'm making a family trip up north, and an eight and a half hour car trip necessitates some way to pass the time.  So, hand-stitching it is.
I won't give any spoilers about what I'm making, but if it turns out (after many fitting fiascos) I'll wear it to this weekend's Days of Napoleon reenactment.  I've done some figuring, and I have a skin-out outfit that is ENTIRELY hand sewn!

Here's a little picture of the lining and my teensy weensy backstitches.  I was really, really bored.

But one notable commodity that they do have in Northfield, Minnesota, is antique stores!  There's really nothing better than the anticipation of going into a really great looking antique store.  Ugh, it's wonderful...

 First, an antique parasol/umbrella - I need to remove and clean the cover and cut down the handle.  It's newer then several they had there, but my mom liked this one better and, well, she had the  credit card.

Pretty colors!

 And, to my delight, several Victorian needle-books, like in Anna Worden Bauersmith's books.

 This one is teal watered silk-

 This one still has needles in it-

 I got this 1880's ladies magazine for 4$! (I love going up to the cashier to buy something heinously underpriced.   I get a little warm feeling inside.)

 I'll post something about Days of Napopo, and then after that is the Athenaeum Rectory, I promise.