NCEPR: Who sews?

[MrsAxilla]

Apparently Ben MUST wear a costume to Immigration Day next week, even though the initial info said he was "encouraged" to wear one.  This means that *I* must make a fucking costume.  :::grumble grumble bitch bitch complain complain:::

Any help, thoughts, ideas, patterns, offers to do it for me??  His country is Ireland, BUT our ancestors absolutely did NOT wear kilts.  After extensive research (lol) it appears they wore your basic poor, rural farmer attire of the early 1700's.  He already had to dress a paper doll, and it wore a linen shirt, breeches, knee boots, a hat, and a woolen cloak.  Except for the hat, I'm at a total loss!  Where do I find knee boots for a seven year old boy?!?  I guess he can wear mine...?  Can I make like a linen shift-like shirt?  What can pass as breeches?  HELP!!

@helenabonhamcarter

[pixy0stix]

Go to the thrift store and get a woman's peasant shirt (there should be at least one).

I'd be tempted to use baggy sweatpants as the pants.

Do leather boots like this so he can wear his own shoes:

[aurora]

If you're not a somewhat accomplished seamstress, I wouldn't attempt breeches, or at least not from scratch. "Re-fashioning" from the thrift store will be way easier. Maybe pants a bit too big, cut off at the knee and tied at the bottom (you can attach a bit of velcro to fold it over itself)? I also wouldn't personally try to sew a linen shirt for a kids event...much more of a pain than it's worth. Cloak would be somewhat easier - you could maybe even find some suitable fabric at the thrift store in the linens/drapes section. Cut in a rectangle-ish and tie with a chord. I sew a lot, and FWIW when I made a cloak for a viking costume it took me about 30 min to do something pretty simple like that.

I have no idea how nice you actually want this to look but I'm erring on the side of simplicity.

[Deleted]

Dude, no. This sounds awful lolol. I mean I sew for my own entertainment, not school shit. Do you really care what era of Irish history because many Irish came over during the famine and there's really nothing all that fancy about those clothes. You just pick up something rather unloved looking at the goodwill and call it good.

A raggedy coat over some too big worn out pants should do it.

[Deleted]

Here are some Irish immigrants coming through Ellis Island.

[Deleted]

FWIW, according to wiki anyway, the first Irish immigrants were actually Scots-Irish who were Scottish and English, not very Irish at all. They'd immigrated to Ulster first and then within a few generations moved it on the down the road to the US of A.

Little boys didn't wear kilts though and really, only the Highlanders did and they were less likely to immigrate (iirc and I might not.) I think it was the Lowlanders who immigrated to Ulster.

[MrsAxilla]

Mar 31, 2015 22:40:36 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Dude, no. This sounds awful lolol. I mean I sew for my own entertainment, not school shit. Do you really care what era of Irish history because many Irish came over during the famine and there's really nothing all that fancy about those clothes. You just pick up something rather unloved looking at the goodwill and call it good.

A raggedy coat over some too big worn out pants should do it.

I think you missed my post on this a few weeks ago!  I actually do care - lol.  It turns out my aunt (and now me) knows EXACTLY who my first Irish-immigrant ancestor is and why he came over and his son even fought in the Revolutionary War.  I think that's cool!  Plus there's like five other kids doing Ireland and I'm a little bit of an over-achiever.  But also cheap.

Give me a few minutes and I'll post a pic of the doll.

[Deleted]

And he's Irish-Irish not Scots-Irish? And yeah, I totally missed that thread.

If he was truly Irish, then idk what to tell you because from what I understand, we're kind of lost as to what they were wearing. It's the same thing with Highlanders and what exactly they were wearing in the same era. For some reason, there's not a lot of documentation and very little extant examples either.

[alleinesein]

irene adler sews and works in a theater department.  She might have some simple solutions for you

[MrsAxilla]

Mar 31, 2015 23:23:17 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

And he's Irish-Irish not Scots-Irish? And yeah, I totally missed that thread.

If he was truly Irish, then idk what to tell you because from what I understand, we're kind of lost as to what they were wearing. It's the same thing with Highlanders and what exactly they were wearing in the same era. For some reason, there's not a lot of documentation and very little extant examples either.

No, we're Scotch-Irish.  We managed to find a little documentary and there were a couple of paintings.  One had men in very severe black clothing (like Puritians, kinda) but the others showed regular "peasants". Here's the doll we made (yes, that's his face):

[Deleted]

I would make this way easier for the pants, just tuck regular pants into boots or faux boots like Pixi showed. I would probably use sweat pants if it's not too hot where you are. You could take some elastic and make a stirrup for the bottom of you don't think they will stay put. If he's agreeable you could also use some plain black girl's leggings.

For the shirt, I would probably just choose a plain long sleeved tshirt without a pocket in a dull color.

I would spend some time actually sewing a cloak. And find/make some good boots. I think the outer accessories will give you more band for your buck.

[ringstrue]

Seems like you can get away with a creative combo of clothes- maybe black leggings or tights? - and then it's all about a scarf n hat combo? If you don't have those the thrift store has to have some interesting items.

[katfco]

For breeches, can you find some long bermuda shorts or baggy capris?

[Deleted]

Another easy faux boot option is brown duct tape. Put some tall socks on him over the shoes he's going to wear, wrap them in the tape as smoothly as you can, then carefully cut them off down the back. Cut the bottoms off too. Make a tab that covers the seam out of more tape & apply adhesive velcro for the closure. Quick & dirty.

I'd thrift the rest.

[irene adler]

You could always wrap the bottom of a pair of pants with ace bandages in lieu of boots (or in addition to that--it can help the pants stay put inside of boots). The duct taped sock boots and getting a woman's peasant shirt are great ideas.

[SallyJ]

I am learning how to sew as I make the ballet costumes for a our recital in June. It's not as hard as I expected, as long as I find good tutorials.

I just made peasant shirts by upcycling men's dress shirts. This tutorial is good. www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=382743.0

Here's a tutorial on boots...she made them from felt but they didn't hold up and recommends vinyl. If using a sewing machine, make sure you buy the right needle to sew vinyl with. www.thecraftpatchblog.com/2012/11/syndrome-costume-mini-tutorial-plus.html

For pants, I recommend buying some brown pants from the thrift store, cutting them off and re-seaming to add some elastic. Similar to the shirt sleeve tutorial above.

A hat should be easiest to find between the craft store, thrift store, and Target.

ETA:  The shirt only took me about 3 hours in an afternoon to make.

[MrsAxilla]

Thanks, guys! I feel a little better about this now. Stupid homework for parents! I also have to COOK something! Grumble grumble.

[meshaliuknits]

Apr 1, 2015 10:17:10 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Thanks, guys! I feel a little better about this now. Stupid homework for parents! I also have to COOK something! Grumble grumble.

Cook and sew? Kid better get the A plusiest A+ ever.


But whatcha gonna cook?

[MrsAxilla]

Apr 1, 2015 10:19:31 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:17:10 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Thanks, guys! I feel a little better about this now. Stupid homework for parents! I also have to COOK something! Grumble grumble.

Cook and sew? Kid better get the A plusiest A+ ever.


But whatcha gonna cook?

Hagas!  Whiskey!  Lol.  My aunt has my grandmother's soda bread recipe.  I should probably take a look at that and see how hard it is.  Knowing me, I'll wait until the night before and have a disaster on my hands.

[meshaliuknits]

Apr 1, 2015 10:43:03 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:19:31 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Cook and sew? Kid better get the A plusiest A+ ever.


But whatcha gonna cook?

Hagas!  Whiskey!  Lol.  My aunt has my grandmother's soda bread recipe.  I should probably take a look at that and see how hard it is.  Knowing me, I'll wait until the night before and have a disaster on my hands.

Whiskey is a good backup plan.

[catfish]

I could probably sew you the entire look for like $35. I'll PM you my paypal info.

[WOT?*]

Apr 1, 2015 10:19:31 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:17:10 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Thanks, guys! I feel a little better about this now. Stupid homework for parents! I also have to COOK something! Grumble grumble.

Cook and sew? Kid better get the A plusiest A+ ever.


But whatcha gonna cook?

How much is HIS homework and how much is yours?  Sheesh.

Boxty would be a good one. Or Soda Bread.

I try not to cook.  I'd just send a keg of Guinness or some Bailey's.

[2curlydogs]

Apr 1, 2015 10:43:03 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:19:31 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Cook and sew? Kid better get the A plusiest A+ ever.


But whatcha gonna cook?

Hagas!  Whiskey!  Lol.  My aunt has my grandmother's soda bread recipe.  I should probably take a look at that and see how hard it is.  Knowing me, I'll wait until the night before and have a disaster on my hands.

I can give you my brown bread recipe if you want.

The nice thing is that there's no mucking about with yeast.

[MrsAxilla]

Apr 1, 2015 10:48:24 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:19:31 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Cook and sew? Kid better get the A plusiest A+ ever.


But whatcha gonna cook?

How much is HIS homework and how much is yours?  Sheesh.

Boxty would be a good one. Or Soda Bread.

I try not to cook.  I'd just send a keg of Guinness or some Bailey's.

I know, right?!?  I remember doing so ethi g similar, but I was in sixth grade and actually did the work myself.

plus, I don't know if you guys know this, but libraries SUCK now!  There were literally NO books on Ireland at the two libraries we went to.  The other twenty second-graders doing Ireland snapped them up.  And I'm not about to turn my seven year old loose on Google, so guess who did all the research?  I had to find the websites I wanted him to read

[MrsAxilla]

Apr 1, 2015 10:50:26 GMT -5 2curlydogs said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:43:03 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Hagas!  Whiskey!  Lol.  My aunt has my grandmother's soda bread recipe.  I should probably take a look at that and see how hard it is.  Knowing me, I'll wait until the night before and have a disaster on my hands.

I can give you my brown bread recipe if you want.

The nice thing is that there's no mucking about with yeast.

Yes, please!

[meshaliuknits]

Apr 1, 2015 10:50:26 GMT -5 2curlydogs said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:43:03 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Hagas!  Whiskey!  Lol.  My aunt has my grandmother's soda bread recipe.  I should probably take a look at that and see how hard it is.  Knowing me, I'll wait until the night before and have a disaster on my hands.

I can give you my brown bread recipe if you want.

The nice thing is that there's no mucking about with yeast.

Me too!

And MrsAxilla's gramma's soda bread!



I like bread.

[pixy0stix]

Apr 1, 2015 10:17:10 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Thanks, guys! I feel a little better about this now. Stupid homework for parents! I also have to COOK something! Grumble grumble.

Dude, what?

I'd call the teacher and ask if you're going to get the grade or the students.

That's straight up bullshit.

[2curlydogs]

Apr 1, 2015 11:04:54 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Apr 1, 2015 10:50:26 GMT -5 2curlydogs said:

I can give you my brown bread recipe if you want.

The nice thing is that there's no mucking about with yeast.

Yes, please!

Ingredients:

4 cups of whole wheat flour
3 cups of unbleached whole-purpose flour
3 tsps. of baking soda
1/4 lb. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 cups of buttermilk


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, position the rack about 1/3 from the top of the oven.

Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

Combine the two flours, then add the baking soda and mix well. Cut in butter. (Alternatively, you can partially melt the butter before cutting it in. I think I did this once and the bread turned out lighter? )

Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined. It will be a little lumpy.

Divide the batter evenly between the loaf pans and push down to compact each loaf.

Place the loaf pans in the oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Test for doneness with toothpick.

Remove bread from loaf pans (if stuck, use a knife to loosen from the pan), transfer bread to a wire rack to cool.

[auntie]

DS had a similar assignment on year.

I hate these sorts of tasks. I sew well, but I'm not going to waste my time on shit like this. So I hit the thrift shop.

I bought a pair of slightly larger tan pants and cut them off below his knees and put elastic in them to make breeches. Then I bought a men's dress shirt in oxford cloth, tea stained it and cut the pointy collar off and put casings on the wrists to replace the cuffs. I also bought a vest to wear with it.