Texian Market Days 2013

This weekend was the 30th annual Texian Market Days event at the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond Texas. This year marked my 10th year of attending this event. I was even featured in the program for the 1860s programming as a familiar face!

 

It was a beautiful day, comfortable temperatures, low humidity and a nice breeze. As in past years, we interpreted the parlor in the Ryon 1860s house. We also were able to stay in the house for the weekend. With the windows and doors open we caught a nice cross breeze and were very comfortable. 



 

 

They had rearranged the parlor since we were there last and it made the room seem much larger.

 





A few of my friends were attending this event for the first time this year. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of everyone :( However, I was able to get one of Emma

 

 

and Katelyn. Katelyn brought her new shear but failed to try it on with her new corset so opted for wearing her wrapper for the day.

 

 

Little Victoria joined us for the weekend along with her mother, Amy (no photo of Amy...)

 

 

Amy made Victoria's clothes and her shoes!

 

 

You can see Amy's work on her Facebook page and her blog.

 

Since there were a few of us this year, I stayed downstairs in the parlor to give more room in the upstairs bedroom we occupied. During the day we set the cot up as a bed used for a recuperating soldier in the library.

 

 

We had a good steady crowd throughout the day. Unfortunately, they changed things up a bit at the 1860s house and we served as docents rather than doing living history. We had 5 minutes in which we were to tell about the room and answer any questions. Probably not the best use of our participation. The kitchen of the house was also interpreted; however, it was too crowded to get any good photos of them in action.

 

Other activities around the included quilting, soldiers, paper marbling, laundry, music and children's activities.

 

There was a battle reenactment and the Yankees overran the house forcing us out. Then the Confederates came to the rescue.

 

Oh and the first event for the dress:

 

 

 All in all it was a pleasant weekend. A pretty strong thunderstorm came through early Sunday morning and we packed up the house early and loaded the cars in the rain. We stopped for breakfast and went our separate ways until the next event.

 

Favorite quotes of the weekend:

A Ryon House docent explaining to me "unlike other reenactments, this did not happen here." Hmmm, really?

 

A little girl eagerly waiting for us to finish our talk so she could go up to my friend seated in her hoop, pat her skirt and say "hello princess."

 

Little Victoria upon seeing the Yankees, run into the parlor and tell us "The Yankees are coming!"

 

Additional photos of the weekend can be found on Photobucket.

Red Check Dress Done

Dress is done!! Was not sure I was too pleased with it until I tried it on and I'm pleased, not ecstatic, but pleased. The picture below is not the best, sorry for the droopy undersleeve, but I didn't want to wait until the event in a week to post the finished product. I'll post a better picture from the event in a couple of weeks.











Just for comparison, here is the inspiration.

Collar and Buttons

Have added the collar and buttons to the bodice of the red check. I searched and searched for the perfect buttons for this dress. Then a friend offered some antique buttons she had. What a perfect match!

Paletot Findings

Velvet, wool, button...bad photo, sorry. Oh, BTW, a white Persian cat and black wool and velvet do not work well together.

Third Time is a Charm

So the bodice is finally done; only three tries to get the waistband on and I'm still not completely happy with it. I think it should have been higher. But then, I'm so short-waisted it's hard to get it right without looking like I have no waist :). No hooks on the waist yet; those will be added after the skirt.

So on to the collar and then the skirt. Hopefully this will be done in time.

 

And the collar and buttons.

 



Paletot

The dress is not done yet but I'm gathering stuff for the paletot. I have black wool and silk velvet to trim it and I've ordered the buttons. Wasn't sure how I wanted to do the trim and then I saw this:

 

This is it. I'll get some black silk for the edges of the trim, down the front and around the bottom. Woohoo!!