Late summer/fall reenactments

 Dear Readers,

 There have been a few more reenactments this summer I'd like to catch up on! However, I didn't get a lot of photos at each one, so I'm posting about several reenactments at once, this time.

Zoar

There was a reenactment at Zoar village in September this year. This reenactment happens every other year, although in the future it may not: From what I've heard, the levy will no longer be maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, so the historical village may be/get flooded in the future.
I did take pictures, but not with my own camera, so I don't have any pictures to share. However, a picture of me did appear online, in the red memorial day dress you might remember from a few posts back!
LINK: Times Reporter (New Philadelphia paper) - Picture of me!

Fremont

Fremont is the town in which President Rutherford B. Hayes lived. He was born in 1822 and lived into the 1890s. He was president in 1877. His home and grounds are called Spiegel Grove, and still have connection with his descendants.
The event was the first weekend in October.
This would have actually been a very nice event (it was last year, even though I only day tripped it, so I was really looking forward to this year!) - except that we got LINK: rained out!
They actually cancelled the event late afternoon Saturday. So the dance, Saturday night, and all of Sunday were cancelled.
What amuses me is that they were surprised... This is a direct quote from their website:
"Spiegel Grove is the name given to the estate of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes. It was so named for the large puddles of rainwater that collect beneath the towering trees following a storm. "Spiegel" is the German word for mirror - an accurate description for these nature-made reflecting pools."
Well, they put the union camp right in those pools!

Here are the pictures I got from our very damp Saturday noon battle:

It was dark and rainy when we got up. This is actually the beginning of the battle - it wasn't quite this dark, but close!

 

As I said - dreary.

You can see the rifle and artillery smoke starting to hang low in amongst the trees. The cloud cover was low, and the air wasn't moving much, so the smoke didn't have anywhere to go!

Here you can see the cannon just fired, and the smoke it expelled went straight forward along the ground.

Some more cannon smoke stuck to the ground, plus confederate reserves moving forward to support.

The "camp" being raided - note that the smoke is getting very dense!

At this point I could see barely anything beyond the troops that were about 20 feet from me.

The confederates, holding their position against the union.

Moreland

The most recent event we went to was the LINK: Moreland Community Historical Society Heritage Day.
This is south of Wooster, Ohio, and is a smallish event. There were a few Civil War camps as part of the event, and many of the spectators were local Amish. Very pleasant! Unfortunately, again, I got no pictures from this one. I did help bake a pie, though!

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

County Fair

Dear Readers,

This year, for the first time, I entered some items in the fair!

SPOILER ALERT:

I didn't win.


That's ok, though! Most of the pieces I submitted, I could tell you exactly what's wrong with it. The frustration is that the judging criteria are not publicized, so there is no way of knowing for sure why your piece placed or didn't.

I only was disappointed about one of my pieces - as I said, the rest were more of a lark.

For your perusal, the pieces in situ:

Robbie's doll. Actually, I don't know if the doll's been named! I should ask the little boy I gave it to.

A close-up. I embroidered the stars and moon on the belly and on the hood before I sewed the guy together. Entirely hand-sewn. He was made from a kit, but the pieces were not pre-cut and there was no pattern for the embroidery. The face is also hand embroidered.

The purple one in the middle!

A close-up. This is a pillowcase (with ties on the bottom using standard 1/4" white twill tape). The white diamond is stitched onto the front side. The back is a green leafy print. The embroidery is done on white muslin using DMC embroidery floss. The top and L/R corners each contain three small hand-done eyelets. The embroidery is done using satin, stem, and running stitches, while the blackberries themselves are done using french knots. No pattern was used, this was my own design based on a photograph.

This is a jacket and hat combo I made for my littlest sister several years back.

Up close again! These are both made of what I believe would be called a brocade - they are upholstery fabrics and thus nothing special (probably all sorts of gross modern fibers). The hat is lined with a light blue/white striped cotton. The pattern for the hat consists of four quadrants plus a brim/band. The jacket is all one piece, with the only seams being the underside of the arm leading across the front of the chest. The rest of it just folds together! This is based on an early medieval pattern I was shown in my history of fashion class. The coat is lined with a slightly coarse green fabric, and "piped" with red bias tape sewn with a fancy machine stitch in green thread (maybe it was just a zigzag? I can't remember, and I don't have the garment in front of me right now). The jacket is actually also entirely reversible. It fits a four- or five-year-old.

Child's nightgown (age 10?) and my housecoat (house dress? coat dress?).

Made of wool or a wool blend. Buttons down the front. Cuffs, collar, and accents are all crocheted. The collar and cuffs (but especially the collar!) are actually a physical representation of a mathematical hyperbolic plane. The yarn is acrylic, fall-tone variegated.

The nightgown. Based on another nightgown my sister used to have but had outgrown. Made of pink striped cotton flannel. Has small lace around the yoke. Sleeves gathered onto elastic just up from the edge to create a ruffle. Buttons down the back of the yoke.

1820's inspired dress. Made of a non-natural crushed velvet with gold sparkles. High waist. Sleeves are small tubes, so they fall similarly to cap sleeves. Zipper down the back.

And my standby medieval gown! This is a particolored cotehardie with undergown. Buttons down the front, tippets on the sleeves, buttons up to the elbow on the undergown. Both undergown and gown made of a linen & rayon blend (bleaugh).

I had a great time at the fair, too! I danced with my clogging group, and really enjoyed the Ferris Wheel!

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah

Hale Farm - Hale yeah! - August 9th-11th

Hello dear readers!

In August, I attended a fabulous reenactment. In fact, it is up there as a contender for the best of the season! It was the annual Hale Farm reenactment. I'm taking fewer and fewer pictures per reenactment, since camera looks a little out of place around my neck... but I'll try to still have a few pictures of each event for documentation purposes!

The first thing I saw when I rolled up was the cavalry drilling.

You can tell -- I took this picture through my windshield; I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet!

Saturday's first battle. View from our camp, into the middle of Hale Village! We were camped in and amongst the buildings. It really gave the event a feeling of immersion.

Our camp (the 29th OVI) next to the Hale Village meeting house/church.

The wagon full of the rations we pulled! Lots of eggs, bread, potatoes, and BACON!

The town from a distance...

One of the gun crews. Artillery makes a much louder bang when there are buildings nearby! Wow! Wasn't expecting that.

Sunday's battle. Union retreating into town.

Union troops falling back but guarding the house.

Pushed further into town. I believe the unit in the center of the picture may be the 41st.

Better view of troops + house.

You can see the smoke of the engagement between the houses!

"Fall back!"

Full retreat position

The flag bearer went down - but another soldier took up the colors!

More action

Final positions

There were also merchants, living history, artillery, and lots of wonderful people and wonderful food. Hale Farm/Village was also open, so I also toured the buildings and talked with some of the costumed interpreters who work there. Additionally, there was a dance on Saturday evening that I really enjoyed, but I didn't get pictures of that because I was too busy dancing!

More soon, as I attend more events and sew some more. There are a few more events I attended since this one in August, such as Zoar in September, Fremont in October, and a small event in Moreland (near Wooster) in October. The season is pretty much through, but there are balls coming up. Winter will be sewing season for me, so on the docket are: embroidery, gowns, still some underpinnings, and perhaps small items like kerchiefs and such. I am always doing mending, moving buttons, etc. - but I won't pester you with those details!

Most sincerely yours,
~ Sarah