Silk Painting Progress

::: Silk Painting Progress :::

Yesterday I made more progress on the Iris silk painting that I am working on for school. I think that I am just about done fiddling with the painting part of the project. The next step will be to steam the painting to set the dye.

Facebook (literally) of the 1860s

Cross-posted at Lancaster at War

As I mentioned in my post about the Gill stereoviews, paper photographs in the form of cartes de visite (CDVs = visiting cards) had just come onto the scene as the war began, and several photographers set up shop on the top floor of buildings near Centre Square (now known as Penn Square).  When assembled into albums, they are interesting to study as not just as a set photographs that reveal personal information about historical persons--especially from the standpoint of fashion--but taken together as an artifact that preserves a snapshot of a social network.  You can see it somewhat in the album below, but it will become a little more apparent in a future post of an album of a wealthy Quaker farm family from southern Lancaster County.    

From the Lutheran and Missionary (Philadelphia, PA) of June 26, 1862: (alternate link)



Families and friends widely traded these newly affordable photographs.  Here is one album with mostly young and unidentified Lancasterians that I purchased for my girlfriend, now wife, several years ago.  The photographer's backmarks have been copied to the bottom of each image, and a revenue stamp implies the photograph was taken between 1864 and 1866.  Note the differences in quality among Lancaster's photographers and how they used props and backdrops differently.

Carte de visite album (vws)

Also, if you ever get the chance to look at a CDV collection, spending only twenty or thirty minutes can train you to easily identify whether a photograph is early war, late war, or postwar, as the commercial aspects of photography rapidly evolved during the war.  For example, the photographer's advertisements on the back of photographs went from very plain in 1861 to very fancy by the late 1860s.

Summer Projects!

This has been a busy summer, as usual. I've been sewing for customers, doing an internship, finishing up school projects, and throwing parties!

I threw a Baby Shower at our apartment two weeks ago for a friend who will be having a baby girl any day now. Above you can see a picture of the dining room all decked out for the party. Complete with pink polka dot curtains to go with the theme.

I've been working with a beautiful royal blue silk taffeta to make an 1850s Basque dress for a customer in Lancaster, PA. It's coming together quite nicely so far.

And, I've been working on a silk painting project! This project is my favorite. I thought that it was going to be much more challenging, but selecting a design that lent itself well to this media helped a great deal. Originally I wanted to silk paint an Alphonse Mucha image - that would have been very tedious to silk paint. This image of Iris flowers is much more organic and lends itself to the freedom of silk painting.

Here the silk is stretched on a wooden frame, push pinned in place, and the image transfered to the silk first with pencil or disappearing ink and then with gutta. I am using a water-based gutta that can be washed out after the painting is steamed when finished to set the dye. A gutta that is not water based would have to be dry cleaned out. I'll post more pictures as the process continues!

Old Economy Village

Several weekends ago I had the delight of welcoming my mother, Nancy, and her good friend, Audrey to Pittsburgh, PA for a weekend of sight-seeing and to attend a living history event at Old Economy Village in Ambridge, PA.

We had a wonderful few days of touring Pittsburgh. We went to the Zoo, Aviary, Phipps Conservatory, Duquesne Incline, my favorite thrift store - Common Thread, and a new found favorite restaurant - Legends of the North Shore.

But the main event of the weekend was the Old Economy Village event. Vince and I hadn't been out to a reenactment in quite a while, so it took us a long time to get ready! We waited until the morning of the event to find and iron all of our clothing because we're so organized like that. But we arrived just in time to participate in the fashion show - my favorite part of the event.

We also enjoyed strolling in the gardens of Old Economy. They are stunning. My favorite part is the classical statue and pond above. It's exquisite in any season of the year.

I'm wearing the ivory sheer silk dress that I made last summer. I'm in the process of finishing a longer petticoat for under it. I am wearing a straw hat that I made that is trimmed in white flowers with coral centers and coral ribbon. An original coral necklace, brooch, and belt buckle add color to the ensemble.

Audrey is wearing a beautiful blue cotton dress made by Somewear in Time of Gettysburg. Her bonnet is made by Beverly Lister. Nancy's dress is a sheer cotton dress from Family Heirloom Weavers reproduction fabric trimmed in ruched red silk.

Vince's frock coat was made by Kara Bartels of Corner Clothiers - she did a fantastic job! His other clothing items were made by my mom and I as Birthday and Christmas presents.

This photograph was taken by a very talented photographer at the event. We had the pleasure of posing for many such pictures throughout the day. You can see my mother's bonnet in the distance. This is a straw bonnet form from Beverly Lister that my mother trimmed herself.

Vince was asked repeatedly throughout the event if he was portraying a doctor. No, he wasn't. His leather portmanteau was purchased from Landis Valley Museum and is a gentleman's travelling case to carry important documents.

We had such a wonderful time at the event. I do hope that they decide to organize a similar event in future years.

Old Economy Village

Audrey and Lindsey

My mother and Audrey stayed at The Priory hotel in Pittsburgh, PA. The hotel is an old building that once belonged to the church, now restored into a gorgeous 42-room European-style hotel. The hotel is beautifully decorated with antique furniture. We are pictured above in the courtyard.

Upon arriving at Old Economy Village we were asked to participate in the fashion show coordinated by Emily Lapisardi - the lovely lady in the pink sheer dress (above).

Here Vince and I relax under one of the many beautiful trees at Old Economy.

Audrey and Nancy.