We have a confirmed date

On the 16th March (which is incidentally my wedding anniversary but let's not let that stop us), we will travel back in time 105 years and spend 3 days in 1908. Although it was meant to be a week, my friend's husband is only vacating  the house for 3 days and I think that will do us!

Apart from underwear, I have all my kit. I need to buy new boots for Hannah because that is one thing she has outgrown. I'm not going to worry too much about a hat for Hannah because I strongly suspect she's going to refuse to set foot outside the house!

We have all our books and games lined up and I'm taking a 1000 piece jigsaw. I think we should be fine for entertainment.

Food is a more pressing issue, although I have now acquired a copy of Mrs  Beeton and will be scouring it for veggie adaptable recipes we can do (another reason 3 days is probably long enough!)

More costume

My blouse I ordered from an ebay shop arrived yesterday. It is lovely...plain white with huge leg o' mutton sleeves. I could easily add some green and purple accessories to go with my suffragette character. I ordered a dress for Hannah which is lovely, but I think it is too short. More research needed to see if it is feasible! Not asked Shaheda if we can borrow anything from Zara, but I think with the dress Kay has offered H will be fine. It's just undies for me now!

Or maybe not!

Change of plans again...friend's travel plans changed so no need to rush as we will now be doing the project in the spring. Which will be better in so many ways....especially as I do not have a coat suitable and no intention of buying one. Less time to be dependent on lamps/candles as well.

However, we have made progress on the costume front anyway. I've ordered a blouse and Hannah has two dresses which should work. Zara was wearing the *perfect* dress yesterday, but whether Shaheda will let me borrow it is another matter altogether. We do have an offer of a loaned dress from a friend though.

So we have a bit more time for research!

It's actually going to happen!

I can't believe it was 2010 when we started this...and still nothing has happened. But now I think it actually is! The project has been on the back-burner for over a year now. It *almost* happened in August 2011, but circumstances intervened. Now a friend who lives in a house that is perfect for us is going away and needs someone to look after her cat! So we're all go!

I have a million lists to make, clothes for me, clothes for Hannah, books, toys and games, household items, food. So far,they look like this:

Clothes for me:

2 x chemises
1 skirt
1 blouse
1 shawl
1 hat
1 coat
boots

I need: 1 more blouse if poss,  stockings and drawers!

Clothes for Hannah:

1 set underwear
1 pr boots
1 pinafore
1 cape

She needs: at least one dress, stockings and a hat

Books:

I've changed my mind about what I want to read and am taking Vanity Fair, Great Expectations and Voyage of the Beagle. I read Cranford recently and really enjoyed it, but decided not to go for any easy options...so no Austen!

I'm looking at a selection of things for Hannah: Wind in the Willows, some Nesbit, either Story of the Amulet or Story of the Treasure Seekers...just possibly Phoenix and the Carpet, which I have read to her before and at least she knows she likes it! I was looking at The Secret Garden but it was annoyingly published just too late and although Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Little Princess were both available at the time of our visit to the Edwardian period, I can't see Hannah enjoying those. The Jungle Book and Just So Stories are possibilities that might appeal to her...being animal-related,although she isn;t keen on the idea of Wind in the Willows now! Other things that could work: Black Beauty, What Katy Did, Alice in Wonderland, The Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, Heidi, Adventures of Tom Sawyer,

Toys, Games and other leisure pursuits

Marbles
Paper theatre
Jigsaws
Teddy bears
Doll?
Skipping rope
Whipping top
Art materials
Sewing/embroidery
Paper dolls
Writing paper, pen and ink

Will have to come back to the food question...more research to be done!

Progress

Finally, there is progress to report on the Edwardian project. Hannah's costume is nearly complete. More than 4 months after we ordered it, the underwear set from Cornucopia Costume actually arrived on Thursday and a friend has offered to make a second set for H and some for me with her newly acquired sewing machine. This is great really. she needs to earn some money; I need a dressmaker because I just can't do it myself at all. So I can make a list of what I am going to need and see if I can find patterns for them.

Hannah now has: one set of underwear (bloomers, camisole and petticoat), a pinafore, a cape, a broderie anglaise parasol and a pair of boots.

She needs: at least one more complete set of undies and a 3rd pair of bloomers, 2 dresses, 2 pairs of stockings, a nightdress and a hat.

We have an offer of a knitted tam o' shanter from one friend, have found a supplier who makes stockings and now this dressmaking opportunity. It begins to look as though it is possible to do this!

I have: 2 chemises, a skirt that might possibly work, a shawl and 2 hats.
I need: at least 2 blouses, possibly another skirt or a dress, a corset (I'm trying to close my eyes to that one), at least 2 pairs of bloomers and a petticoat.

Off to look for patterns now!

Frustrations

I feel very thwarted by things outside my control at the moment. Back in December, I mentioned having found a period fancy dress company that sold sets of Edwardian underwear and I note now that I placed an order on 27th December. Now even allowing for some downtime over the holiday period, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect to receive the items before now.

Sadly, I have been very disappointed in the service provided by www.cornucopiacostume.com Not only have I not received my order but they have been reluctant to respond to polite emails requesting information. I have run a web-based business..I know parcels go astray; I know things can get overlooked if there's a rush on, but not communicating and not apologising is unforgivable. I was obliged to resort to threatening legal action and quite frankly, being very rude. Naturally I got a fairly snippy reply to the rude email which suggested they suspect me of lying. Ho hum, have asked for a refund as I am clearly never going to receive the underwear. A shame because I think I might well have ordered more from them.

And to add further injury to this seething mass of insult and injury and sheer disappointment, Hannah wore her Edwardian boots to her swimming lesson and they got stolen from the changing rooms. I had a £10 voucher for Next so have re-ordered them, but am so upset at how much more challenging other people are making this.

Building a costume

Hannah's outfit is getting there. I am so excited. I am awaiting the delivery of one set of underwear as discussed in the previous post and I have bought boots which might come from Next and not be at all actually authentic but they will do. I have sourced stockings which are affordable and authentic. After a conversation with my lovely friend Sarah, who is kindly making Hannah a tam o' shanter, I went back to investigate and it appears that the woman selling them owns an Edwardian sock-knitting machine so it is both machine-made *and* authentic!

So we have underwear, stockings and boots. Then a bit of a blank where dresses will go. For the outer layer, my best friend has lent us a gorgeous tweed cape which was her best "go to sunday School" cape when she was eight and a parasol for me. A straw hat for Hannah should be easy to come by as will a pinafore.

So really, one more set of undies, a nightdress and two dresses and Hannah is sorted.

then I can turn my full attention to the thought of squeezing my substantial curves into a corset....joy!!!