Another busy weekend

Yes, another busy weekend that went by quickly, but since we like our weekends busy, it was perfect! Saturday morning I got up early and worked to get all my shipping ready and out the door. Then it was out to look for more of the fabric and trim items for my Sewing Summer Camp project list. This summer's Summer Camp at the Genteel Arts Academy is all about Civil War era winter outer wear.

Friday night we'd gone to a Joann's Fabrics that was going out of business and I'd gotten a bunch of solid colored broadcloth for linings and dress kick plates, so Friday night I put together everything I had already for the class and compiled a list of everything that I still had to find. I also found some Vintage Vogue patterns of 1940's designs for 1/2 off, so I was very excited. We're starting to get into the WWII era and doing research on the dress of that time, as well as into what my Dad's unit would have worn on their uniforms for Mark's impression.

We stopped Saturday morning at the local Joann's to get a few things and then off we went to the PA Fabric Outlet, which, coincidentally, is right next to a big antique mall. Mark found a pair of Late Victorian era eyeglasses for his Civil War impression, and I got a 40's era hat and a mink wrap a the same antique store, and looked through a lot of vintage clothing learning about different eras, much as I have learned about the mid to late 1800's clothing for women.

I couldn't find any of the fabrics for the 1940's dresses, and I still needed a couple of things for sewing summer camp, so we went from the outlet to my favorite Gettysburg fabric store where the owner showed me all the fabrics of that era (beautiful!!!) and I bought a couple of pieces of Rayon Chalis for the dress patterns I have. It'll be nice to be able to sew a 1940's era dress for less than half of what a Civil War era dress costs to make! And I don't have to wear all those foundation garments either!

We went home and I cleaned in my sewing room and put away everything I'd bought in the past week. I even was able to cut out some baby clothes for the Grandson in the oven...then it was a good night's rest and a fairly early rising on Sunday. We headed out the door on a meandering path to Hagerstown, stopping in old town Mount Airy to have lunch and go antiquing. Some primative sheep for my shelf jumped into my hand so I had to take them home. We stopped everywhere we encountered and looked through the antiques...but it was at an out of the way antique store in Hagerstown that I found a pair of Civil War Eyeglasses and a beautiful 1950's era glass citrus juicer, so I had a couple of finds to come home with!

When we'd been at Needles and Thread on Saturday the owner's husband told us about the big band sound live band that plays at the Pen Mar Park on Sunday Afternoons for free. So we found our way to this beautiful place, just up the hill from where Jenn used to go to summer camp at Camp Lousie. This park was built by the Western Maryland Rail Road as an amusement park and opened in 1877. They have an overlook with benches and an observation deck from which you can see into 4 states. It was a beautiful not very hot day so we picked out a park bench along the side that overlooked the valley below and enjoyed the band and watching people and just bein outside on such a beautiful day.
This is the dance pavillion, notice the attire of the visitors to the dance that day, this picture was taken in the late Victorian era. We really enjoyed watching the folks dancing, it is a perfect place to bring a family and stay the day picnicing and enjoying the music. The band played a mix of modern all the way to Glenn Miller Big Band songs, and they were very good! We stopped in Gettysburg "on the way home" (well really it was out of the way, but not too far out of the way) at Appalacian Brewing Company for a summer salad, perfect way to end the day.