Creating an 18th Century-ish Wardrobe: Part 1

 So, I'm going to start this out with complete honesty. 

I have already begun this project and then sat it back down more times than I can count. I get either wrapped up in something new and shiny (thanks ADHD!), something comes up around the farm, or something comes up in the other parts of our life. And once again, this is shoved back on the back burner and I'm sitting here scrolling through the 'gram and suffering severe envy at the glorious clothing I see being produced by those I admire. 

Then I'm left here sitting and thinking, "Fuck, why am I not wearing stays and prancing around my cattle?!" Because that's the logical thought process behind wanting to wear historically inspired clothing, right? Our love letter to the stories we love the most. Belle feeding the chickens, Daphne throwing an apple, or even Claire Fraser traveling through the stones to live like it is 1745 or 1775 while experiencing two of the most monumental times in history. (Especially my own personal family history!)

We are looking for nostalgia, the feeling we cannot find in our modern society. The feeling of community, hope, slow gratification with deep roots with the land and those around us. Or at least I am, and that's part of what historical living, or historically inspired living, gives to me. A sense that things aren't rushed, life is truly a journey and not just a highlights reel, that is meant to be spotted with both ups and downs, highs and lows, wins and losses. 

So that's where I am finding myself at with my 18th Century-ish historical-ish wardrobe. I need to find my way to progressing on them. I want to wear them. I want to see the impact they have on my every day life and if they help with some of my farm chores by being more supportive than the clothing I currently wear. I want to be questioned by the random person when I do go to town as to why I am dressing like "that" and if I even have electricity at home. I want the skirts where I hike the front up so that I can bend down to weed the garden. I want the linen and the cotton. I want the fur and the wool. I want to both feel the heat and the cold. I want to know what it's like to experience a life as naturally as in sync with the world around me as possible.

I live in the middle of nowhere. I have all the time in the world to do whatever makes me happy. I want to dedicate time each week to working on my clothing goals, just as they would have to do in the past. I do realize that there was a village, and everyone was pitching in. The children are out of school in about a month and the already only go four days a week. As soon as they are finished, we are going to full dive into the farm dreams we all have in our head. It is going to be work and hard. We are going to hate it and love it, but we hope to mix in enough fun things, like fishing, bonfires with s'mores, and catching lightening bugs in June. 

So as for my wardrobe and where it stands. I have two petticoats, one wool and one cotton. A bum pad that I really think I'm going to remake because it feels to "poofy" for my liking. I have a shift and one set of cotton/bamboo socks already hand knit, though likely NOT historically. (We're going for historical-ish here.) I have an apron, though it is not historically accurate at all, but it is very authentic to some of my ancestral heritage! So I'm going to finish these stays first. Completely by hand, with two layers of linen and one lawyer of a stiffer cotton, but not quite canvas or buckram. I have made progress on the stays throughout time, but now I am going to focus on making sure each day I work on them for at least 20 minutes. If I can do that, I may finish them this spring. I have them about 1/3 done I feel like. Two full sets of panels and halfway on my second set of panels. I have done the shoulder straps as well. I plan to bind them all in lambskin for comfort. 

As for that aforementioned remake of the bum pad. I have heard that crin was used, which best I can tell is horse hair. I'm assuming their fur coat when they shed for spring. I happen to be in luck. It's spring and I have six horses and one mule shedding their winter coats. So I've been using the tool to remove the hair and am saving it to wash and dry. I've heard of people also carding and spinning it into wool, but I doubt that is something I'm going to look it to. I do want to see if this provide a more authentic feel to a bum pad versus poly-fil or the like. 

And here's a single set of pictures of the progress so far. Because I'm more interested in documenting with words at the moment than I am spamming with pictures. Though, stay tuned. I do plan to create a highlight of all the things! 

Completed panels thus far- straps, one of the sides and back.
(One back is fully complete, while the other is the one I am currently sewing on.)

Back panels up close.

Straps and side panels.

Up-close of hand sewing with needle, thread, and leather thimble.
You can see the lines of sewing on the stays.