It's January and because we just started a new year, there's also a new "The Historical Sew Monthly" challenge made by the Dreamstress. 

The Dreamstress started those yearly challenge in 2013 and every year, historical clothing enthusiasts is invited to complete a historical garment or accessory every month. But it has to be related to the theme of the month. And this year, I'll join the challenge!

So here the first challenge for January:

Firsts & Lasts – Create either the first item in a new ensemble, or one last piece to put the final fillip on an outfit.

I'll go with the firsts!

Last year at my job, we created a new character for the spring break family animation. I work at the Citadelle de Québec, in Quebec City and we already had a WW1 infantryman from the 22nd batallion, a WW2 CWAC (Canadian Woman Army Corps) and a mid-19th century prison guard. For the new character, we choose to do Mary Durnford, the daughter of colonel Elias Walker Durnford, the engineer in charge of building the Citadelle. Since she wrote a book about her father's life, the construction of the fortress and her stay in Quebec City, she was a perfect witness to talk about it with the kids. Plus she was a girl, and it's mainly girls working in the museum, so female characters is always welcome.

Last year we rented a costume to play miss Durnford, but this year, the executive office wanted to own the costume. So I took the contract to make an 1830's full outfit from underwear to accessories. So I started by the foundation: the underwear.

To get the right silhouette for the 1830, you need a shift (or chemise), corded stays and sleeve puffers. You also need a corded petticoat, but because of time constrains,we just bought one from Amazon Drygoods. Adding another petticoat to add more volume and keep the cord from showing is also a must have but it will be done at the end of the project if I have time.

What the item is: 1830 shift, sleeve puffers and stays

The Challenge: #1 January: Firsts & Lasts

Material: Cotton, polyester filling

Pattern: Past Pattern # 001 (stays), 002 (shift) and zeitverweil (sleeve puffers)

Year: 1831

Notions: metal eyelets, tie-wraps, paint sticks, shoe strings

How historically accurate is it?  First, everything was machine sewed, but let divide the subject by items :

Shift: I redrafted the pattern because in 1830, the width of fabric was smaller so they needed to do more seam to make a shift. Because there's no reason for Mary Durnford to be going around the fortress in underwear, I just made the same shape, but without the historical seems. Then, the fabric is 100% Cotton, but a very rough one, more suited for a poor Irish immigrant than the daughter of the highest officer in the Canadas, but again, the museum wanted to keep the cost low with the project and nobody will see the shift as it will be hidden under the layer of cloths. 

Sleeve puffers: Everything but the polyester filling and the machine sewing is historical.

Stays: The shape and materials are historical, but the boning are made with tie-wraps since no whale boning where available. For the busk, I just shove a paint stick inside the stays. It works perfectly!

Hours to complete: Shift 2h (because I redrafted the pattern), Sleeve puffer 1h and Stays, about 10h.

First worn: Not yet, but they will be worn next week on February 7th.

Total cost: 40$

First challenge completed! I'm ready for February: Re-Make, Re-Use, Re-Fashion.

Welcome to "La Clé de l'histoire", the key to History.

I open this new blog as a place to publish my discoveries and realizations related to history. I studied in History and Folklore at University Laval and for nearly 20 years, I  always worked in historical site, doing research, guided tours and general historian stuff. But last year, I just started my own business, taking contracts in my field (though I keep my day job for now).

I hope to publish here for a long time and for you to enjoy your read!