Tackle It on Tuesday: Civil War Women's Clothing

Last week, I had a deadline for myself to finish sewing some Civil War underclothes for a friend of mine. Almost came right down to the wire, but here is the finished chemise:

Civil War Woman Chemise

Looks kind of like a nightgown doesn't it? The chemise, along with a pair of drawers, would be just the first layer that a woman would where during the Civil War time period. Women would also wear a corset, layers of petticoats, maybe a hoop skirt, her dress, an apron, and a bonnet or hat. There were a lot of layers! To read a bit more about clothing during this time period, here is a good article that covers some of the basics.

So this last weekend, our family went to one of my favorite locations out here in California for a Civil War Reenactment. This event takes place every spring in Mariposa, which is just about an hour west of Yosmite. The location is a dream location for a photographer because it is very rural, not a lot of modern items to get in the way. And of course I took a lot of pictures...

Just a few photos to edit in Lightroom

...about 300 or so. Which means I need to spend some time this week doing a bit of editing. And I just found something on Pinterest which might just help me work through these photos a little quicker. Next week, I will share a couple of my favorites from the weekend with you.

Are you working on anything special this week?

Tackle It on Tuesday: Pinterest recipes

My 'Recipes I would love to try' board on Pinterest has over 400 pins, which is the equivalent of the average cookbook. Every now and then, I like to give those recipes a try because making the same things every week just gets a little boring. This past week, I actually tried three recipes and here is what I thought about each one:

5-Ingredient Bacon Asparagus Pasta

5-Ingredient Bacon Asparagus Pasta was the first new recipe I tried last week. All of the ingredients sounded wonderful! Bacon, asparagus, pasta, white wine, parmesan cheese...heavenly right? My husband loved this one, and he loved it even more the next day as leftovers. But something about it just didn't sit well with me...something about the bacon and the bacon grease. So I am thinking of changing this one up a bit with Italian sausage instead of the bacon...

Recipe #2 for the week...Pan Roasted Lemon Chicken. Again, the ingredients sounded amazing, but for some reason, the flavors didn't come through when I cooked up the recipe. I was really hoping this one would be a keeper because my husband really likes chicken for dinner...bummer!

Coconut Cream Bundt Cake

After two strikes so far, I was a little reluctant to try recipe #3. But this recipe was for dessert, and really, how can you go wrong with dessert? After finding all of the ingredients I needed for this one, I must say, this was really good and will be moved to my Pinned it, tried it...it's a keeper board!

This week, my project I need to tackle moves me from the kitchen to my sewing room...

Chemise

One of the reasons we were able to participate in Civil War Reenactments is because I did a lot of sewing for myself and my daughter. It is hard to believe the layers of clothing women wore during that time period and how expensive it is to buy those items today. Right now, we don't go to nearly as many events as we used to, so I am not making near as many outfits either, but a friend of mine has asked me to sew some items for her. The plan is to finish up her underclothes before this upcoming weekend and this chemise is just one of the items I am working on. Next week, I hope to share with you about some of the underclothes ladies wore during that time...makes you thankful for modern times.

Tackle It on Tuesday: Grandmother's Garden

So last week I shared with you about my long lost Grandmother's Garden quilting project that was just begging to be completed. I was hoping to get a little further along with it than I did, but I am happy with the progress I made on it.

Progress on my Grandmother's Garden quilt project

There is still a bit of work to be done, so once I finish it, I will try to remember to post a picture of the finished project.

Dinner ingredients

This week, when I was making my menu for the week, I decided to add a couple of recipes from one of my Pinterest boards. Tonight we are going to try 5-ingredient Bacon Asparagus Pasta, Thursday night is Pan Roasted Lemon Chicken, and because we have some cooler weather this week, time to do a little baking and try this Coconut Cream Bundt Cake. Three new recipes seems like a lot for one week, but we are finally moving into a more normal schedule around here which gives me a little more time in the kitchen. And I love to try new recipes anyway!

Be sure to check back next week to see if these recipes are going to make it onto my Pinned it, tried it...it's a keeper board.

Tackle It on Tuesday: Craft Room Clutter

Last week, I shared with you that I was determined to tackle the clutter that had taken over the floor in my craft room:

Craft room clutter!

It is almost embarrassing to show a picture like this from my home, but you know what? We live in our home. It is not a museum, it is not a model home. People live here, and people make messes. And yes, this mess was created by me! There are times when the messes in my home really drive me nuts. But I would rather focus on the relationships with the people in my home than spend a lot of time worrying about the messes in my home. 

But I am happy to say, that with not a lot of effort or time, I can now see the floor in my craft room!

Decluttered craft room floor

One thing that usually happens when I go through a decluttering process like this, I find long lost projects that are just waiting to be finished. This is one of the reasons I started these Tackle It on Tuesday posts.

Some time ago, I started working on an English Paper Piecing project called Grandmother's Flower Garden. When we were going to a lot of Civil War Reenacting events through the year, I loved having projects like this that were portable and could be picked up and worked on between events. Although the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern is not authentic to the Civil War time period, the art of pieced hexagon quilting goes back to the 18th century.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, here is what I found this week:

Grandmother's Flower Garden project

Now, if I were making a full quilt with this method, I would be a very long way from being finished! But if I just finish the blue border, then maybe attach this to a square of muslin or other material to be used as a table topper at our Civil War events, I just might be really close to finishing this project. So, that is my Tackle It on Tuesday project for this week!

What project are you working on this week?

Tackle It on Tuesday: Pinterest Spring Burlap Bunting

Last week, I shared with you a fun project I had found on Pinterest to make a Spring Pom-Pom Burlap Bunting. I already had most of the supplies on hand, so on one afternoon, I cut out all of the burlap and fabric.

Spring Burlap Bunting supplies

Taking the time to cut out all of the burlap and fabric was the longest part of this project. Plus I had enough supplies to make four of these. The quick and easy part was using the glue gun to put it all together! Overall, I was able to put these together over two afternoons.

Four finished projects!

So you might be asking, "What is she planning on doing with four of these?" Well, I am glad you asked! Last year, I used my Gifts from Our Little Corner Facebook page to post things for sale to earn money for our Compassion Mexico trip. Because I would like to go on trips in the future with Compassion, I am going to continue using that Facebook page to post items for sale. So, if you would like to purchase one of these for your own home, be sure to pop over to my Facebook page and let me know which one you would like!

Now onto my project for this week...

Craft room clutter

One of the blessings of having an extra room in our home is an area to work on craft projects and having an additional area to store things. One of the drawbacks of having an extra room is it kind of becomes a dumping ground for a lot of things...ugh!! And most of this clutter is my own doing. Now that my daughter's drama performances are over, my goal is to spend time this week putting these things where they belong. Wish me luck!!