Bennett-isms and OSV in costume

I'll start off this post with a few random photos from when we picked Bennett up from school along with some quotes/stories.

Bennett: I’m cold.

Mummy: I’m sorry.  I can’t help you. (Since we were in the car, he had his hat and coat on, and the heat was on.)

Bennett: Can I help me?  Can I deal with it?

Bennett asked me why the car in front of us had a traffic light on it.  I said that those were brake lights which meant that the car had stopped.  When it started moving he asked why the lights were still on.  I had to then explain that red lights meant it was the back of the car and that white lights were on the front of the car.  He asked to see the lights on our car.  I said that he couldn’t because the lights would be off when we got out of the car.  He then mentioned that there were white lights on the ceiling and in the front by me (interior lights).  Yup, he’s too smart for me.

Bennett: Mummy, you’re a lion.

Mummy:  Roar.

Bennett: You’re a dog.

Mummy:  Woof, woof.

Bennett: You’re a cow.

Mummy: Moooo.

Bennett: You’re a pig.

Mummy: Oink, oink.

Bennett: You’re a giraffe.

Mummy: Giraffe’s don’t make sounds.

Bennett: You’re a hippo.

Mummy:  (Laughing) I have no idea what sound a hippo makes!

Bennett: Hip, hip!

He used to want to shoot his musket all the time, but now he’s been blowing imaginary bubbles.  Sometimes he complains that Grace took his bubbles, but almost every time he insists that we pop them.
One day in the car he was having trouble opening his bubbles but he told me that he used his jacket to hold on and he was then able to open them.

Many days this week when we picked him up from school we got to hear about the adventures that he went on. 
On Wednesday he and Grace went to Boston.  While there they went to the aquarium and to the museum.  They also went to the beach but it was covered in snow.
He also had to put the tomatoes away in the root cellar.
On Thursday he went to the fair and on Friday he went on the bumper boats.

We also learned this week that the calves at Sturbridge now have names.  They decided to go with period appropriate names- Button’s calf is Beulah (named after Beulah Freeman) and Bonnie’s calf is Isaac.  One day this week we mentioned bottle feeding the calves so I scrounged around for some old bottles and now Bennett can feed his calves.

So this weekend Uncle Andrew joined us at Sturbridge and he and I went in costume.  What was really interesting about this is that other visitors stopped us a few times and asked to take pictures with us.  I’ve never seen the interpreters being stopped in this way.  Did we look more approachable?  Was it because we were seen with other normally dressed people?  Did they even realize that we were also visitors?  (For the record, we did have badges pinned to our clothes that said “costumed visitor”, but they weren’t exactly obvious unless you knew to look for them.  Oh, and I did have a camera, so I guess that might have been a more obvious giveaway that I wasn’t an interpreter.)  I’ll have to remember to ask someone next time we visit if they are asked to have pictures taken, other than when they are working in buildings, etc.

It was fun being there in costume though, although I think I may have felt slightly self-conscious about it, especially at first. I think that the interpreters who know us appreciated it; others were perhaps a little confused about why we were dressed up.  Or maybe they just were confused at first about why a costumed person was in their building?

When we visited the calves Beulah was trying to suck on Uncle Andrew’s hand and Isaac was busy sucking on Beulah’s ear.  Guess they were getting hungry!

This week Bennett brought his Button and Beulah with him so he showed them to Beulah and Isaac.

Another fun moment for me was when we were speaking with Rhys.  Last week I had asked him if there was any way I could have a certain opportunity to try something that I’ve wanted to do for many years.  In fact, I have no idea how long I’ve wanted to try this.  It’s just something I always remember thinking that I would like to try at some point.  (Sorry to be so vague, but he asked that I not let people know about this as they don’t want to suddenly be inundated with lots of requests like this.  I think it’s a special privilege that only comes because we visit every week, and I would completely understand if they said I couldn’t do it.)  Anyway, over the week I emailed him some possible dates that would work well for me.  He mentioned that he got the email and that he was talking with Victoria about it and that she wants to make sure that it happens on a day that she’s working.  I just liked the fact that she wants to be there for this, and I also think it would be great for her to be there rather than some of the others who I don’t know as well.  And if/when this opportunity happens I’m going to hate the fact that I can’t share it here!

Finally, for anyone who cares about the weekly pie, it was quiche.

OSV costume

I'd like to preface this by saying that this outfit is all Andrew's fault.  :)  Last year Chris and I went to a dinner at Sturbridge and had so much fun that we knew we wanted to do it again.  We convinced Andrew and Gentry to join us the next year and they agreed.  (We also convinced our friends to do a dinner, so we are going to a private dinner next month.)  Back in the spring or early summer Andrew announced that he was going to make an outfit for himself and Gentry (turns out she didn't get one after all) and that I should do the same for myself and Chris.  I knew I wasn't going to make one for Chris as men's attire doesn't really interest me that much, but I was up for making myself a costume.  I ordered some linen and then looked at the box for about 5 or 6 months before finally starting.  Below is a breakdown of all of the pieces of my costume, some with pictures, some without.  At some point I would like to get decent pictures of all the various pieces, but who knows when that will happen.

As I mentioned, this was originally made for the dinners at OSV but we did also just have a regular visit where Andrew and I dressed up, and I imagine I may dress up at some other points in the future as well.

Shift: This was the first part of the costume that I made.  I figured I should start with the layer closest to the skin and work out.  I started it back in November, I think, got frustrated with it, and then finally got around to finishing it (in about a day) in early January.  In my defense, I did have a couple of Christmas knitting projects that took precedence. I used directions from The Workwoman's Guide which proved to be rather challenging for me.  I guess I'm used to more clear cut tutorials.

Stays: Before starting I made the decision to make a trial/practice set of stays, with the knowledge that I may not get to the "real" stays in time for the dinner.  I used fabric that I had on hand, so it's completely unauthentic, but really all it cost me was a couple bucks for the cording (yarn) and time.  Lots of time.  When I make my second set of stays I'll definitely make some changes so that they fit better, lowering the waist and maybe doing something with the straps/neckline since even with it laced well it still seems very loose.

Pockets: These were pretty basic.  Just some white linen.  I did refer to The Workwoman's Guide again for this.  Maybe not perfect, but no one will see them and they should work fine.

Corded Petticoat:  I can't even begin to imagine how long this would take someone sewing by hand!  Mine certainly has a lot more cording than some examples, but I like the rigidity that it provides.  It has 35 rows of cording in the bottom section, 20 rows in the middle section, and about 12 in the top section.  I also put a tuck between the bottom and middle sections to make it a smidge shorter.  After this was done it got starched to make it hold its shape even more.  Yes, it will pretty much stand up on its own.

Bustle: It looks so pretty in this picture!  This was another quick project using The Workwoman's Guide.  There was one step that I'm not quite sure if I did it correctly, but I'm not sure how else to have done it.  In this picture it had received a couple of coats of spray starch.  I later gave it a much heavier starching.  This made it much harder to gather up on the waist band, but does give it more body.

Second Petticoat: This was really simple.  Just a plain circle gathered onto a waistband.  Like the corded petticoat it also got a tuck to make it a smidge shorter.  And it got starched as well, but not as heavily as the bustle or the corded petticoat.

Dress: This was a bit of a pain.  I ended up changing the neckline which then presented some other issues.  It's still a bit loose in the bodice so I may go back and fix that.  Of course this means lots of ripping out of seams, especially since I added piping at the top and bottom.

Sleeve plumpers: The sleeves of the dress don't stay that big on their own! Historically plumpers would have been attached to your stays, but if I do that my plumpers don't fit into the arm holes of the dress.  So my method is to insert the plumper into the sleeve, then my arm, and then creatively tie the plumper to the strap of my stays.

Shoes: These didn't arrive as I imagined, but since they took about 6 weeks to get to me from when I ordered them and it was only a little over a week before the dinner, I  made the most of them.  I did later contact the company and they did give me a 20% discount.  If I hadn't already worn them I could have returned them for a full refund.  But due to the timing, I wouldn't have had shoes to wear.

The shoes come with the straps unfinished so that you can finish them however you wish.  I brought them with me to Sturbridge one day and asked the shoemaker to help.  :)

Bonnet: I think the bonnet is perhaps my favorite part of the costume, and I only wear it for a short time- from when I arrive at the Village until I get to the building where the dinner is held and then back again.  So maybe 10-15 minutes total?  And that includes time in the Visitors Center waiting for everyone to arrive.

The bonnet starts off with a buckram frame.  It's three pieces of buckram with wire at the top, the edge of the brim, and where the brim meets the crown.  Buckram is very stiff on its own and then the wire helps it keep its shape.

I then covered the buckram frame with fabric- silk on the outside and a cotton lining inside.  The cotton was a bit too sheer at first, so I had to do two layers.  It was a little tricky figuring out which pieces of fabric to sew when so that seems would be mostly hidden.  Then when it was all done I sewed down some flowers and feathers.

Tyre: I would have just called it an apron, but one of the interpreters told me that it's called a tyre.  I took measurements and traced the curves of one of the tyres at the village.  It looks a little funky when my petticoats are as big as they are, but it laid much better before they were starched.

Cloak: I made this in high school.  I would have liked to alter it a bit but I didn't have time.  Maybe for the second dinner?  The other problem with it is that it just looks silly when I'm wearing my sleeve plumpers.  Oh well.  Luckily, like my bonnet, it's only being worn for a short time.

Fortnightly review

Once again this post will cover multiple weeks.  One of these days I'll get back into regular weekly posting.  Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

We start off our recap with Presidents' Day.  Chris and I had off from work but Bennett's daycare was open.  We took advantage of that and took a trip to Ikea.  Then in the afternoon I finished sewing a bonnet for my costume.

Bennett and Daddy later had lots of fun racing some cars down a ramp made of Ikea boxes.

One day while in the car Bennett drew a picture of our cat Tony.  We didn't see what he was doing as he was drawing, but he mentioned legs, a tail, the head, a collar, and a heart shaped tag.  Considering most of his drawings are still indiscernible scribbles, we were rather impressed when we saw this.

On the 22nd Bennett had his last skating class.  They gave him a ribbon indicating that he had passed Tot 1, but we're pretty skeptical about that.  We had decided to hold off on signing him up again though because he spends a lot of time on the ice just people watching and doesn't seem all that interested.  So maybe next year he'll be back?

The other exciting part of our weekend was that Chris and I along with Andrew, Gentry, and 9 strangers participated in a Dinner in a Country Village at OSV.  Sturbridge explains it best:

Enjoy a unique opportunity to prepare and eat a meal as early New Englanders did. Participants gather in the Parsonage, where costumed interpreters oversee the preparations, but the guests do the roasting, baking, and mulling. Roast meat using a tin reflector oven, fire a brick bake oven, and mull spiced cider over the hearth before sitting down to enjoy the results, all by candlelight.

Chris and I had gone to one of these events last March and knew we wanted to do it again.  Andrew and Gentry agreed to join us, and Andrew also suggested that I dress up, so for the past two months I've been busy sewing.  I'll get more into my costume at a later time, but for now here are a few pictures from the dinner.

While we were out Bennett spent the night with Nana.  He had lots of fun baking, playing in the snow, etc.

On Sunday we picked Bennett up from Nana's house and went back to OSV.  Yes, it's official.  We're crazy.  I showed a picture of my costume to one of the interpreters and her first thought was that I was Victoria.  (Woo hoo!  My costume was a success.)  She then asked me why I didn't work/volunteer at OSV.

It was a good visit with a couple of baby animals.  Button had her calf, a girl, earlier in the week  Button and the calf were in a mostly private barn but one of the interpreters snuck us in to take a look.  Button apparently wasn't too thrilled because she pushed the door closed on us.  The message was clear- stay away from my baby.

There also was a baby lamb.

Perhaps the most entertaining part of the afternoon though was the running of the sheep.  Typically the sheep are kept in a pasture at one side of the common during the day, and in the afternoon they run down the common to go to their barn for the night.  At first that's what we thought was happening, but then we realized that none of the interpreters were around.  Turns out the sheep had broken through their gate.  Unfortunately the gate by the barn was closed so there were a number of confused sheep milling around.  We thought about opening the gate for them, but soon a couple of interpreters arrived.

Bennett quickly turned a toy cow/ox/calf that he had received in January into Button's calf for use on his farm.  "Shhh, my Button's calf is sleeping."

Continuing with the weekly pie, we once again had a Pork and Apple Pie.

Moving on to this past week...

Here I am rocking my baby while he rocks his baby

On Saturday morning I wanted to make my pie and Chris was busy with other things.  I let Bennett watch Cars, but since I also wanted him to eat some breakfast (he chose cheese and crackers) I set him up on the couch with a tray.  This worked rather well for containing crumbs.  Otherwise he would have been up and down from the couch or would have forgotten about eating.

And speaking of pie, I found a new one in one of my cookbooks called Fruit Salad Pie.  It had banana, pineapple, and strawberries with tapioca as a thickener/binder.  It was ok, but I'm not sure that I would make it again.

After the pie came out of the oven we headed out to Sturbridge.  Knowing that Button was going to have a calf soon we stopped at the gift shop and picked up a toy calf for Bennett so that he would have it when the time came. A few minutes later we learned that Bonnie had had her calf the night before.  And it was a boy!  The hope is now that Betsy will also have a boy so that they can be raised as a pair of oxen.  If Betsy has a girl then this boy would be raised for about a year and then it would be sold.

We suggested to Rhys (the interpreter in charge of all the animals) that this new calf should be named Bennett since we come so often.  We'll have to see if that happens.  As it is, Button's calf still doesn't have a name.  Rhys gave Bennett and I a sneak peek at the calf and later he brought others into the pen as well, but we lucked out with a much longer look.  Since Chris had been in the cooper shop when Bennett and I saw the calf, he joined the line of people to get the quick peek.  I had Bennett go with him and I gave Bennett the new calf.  He proudly showed the calf his Bonnie's calf and Rhys asked if that was the calf for his Freeman Farm.


Bennett had also brought his Doc and Blue with him and of course had to show them to the real Doc and Blue.  Here we have Blue giving Doc a bath.

After Sturbridge we headed out to Agawam.  Luckily Bennett fell asleep quickly in the car, but it was still a shorter nap than we would have liked.  Oh well.  He had a blast playing with the other kids (he excitedly told us about their dance party).  I'm sure he frustrated them a bit given that there's a bit of an age difference, but they were pretty good about it.

On Sunday we had a relatively quiet day.  We visited Mimi and then ran some other errands.