Rural Infant/Toddler Impression

[ohioreb]

Help! :) I was barely feeling comfortable with the authenticity of my own rural impression, when baby made 3.. That hasn't really affected my husband's habits in the hobby, but I had all but given up on reenacting 'til I began looking through photos and approved vendors today.. I really don't want to leave the hobby b/c we can't afford for all 3 of us to be authentic. I can make do with what I have at the moment, but my 11 month old has outgrown her original infant gown.
My Question is this: What should a (very) rural farm baby of the 1860's have to get by?
I'm guessing a gown of some sort (she is crawling.. don't know if that makes a difference in length/style?), drawers of some sort, an underskirt?, a pinafore? I'm very much a beginner when it comes to sewing.. (don't have the patience to improve), and our budget is rather limited (I'm a Stay-at-home-mom). If it's possible, I'd prefer to have things that can grow with her (I'm thinking that is period anyway so I should be okay there.. ?) So I'm not having to get more than 1 wardrobe together per season. Help?! :) Thank you in advance for any tips/referrals!

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: Rural Infant/Toddler Impression

Mrs. Clark, a moderator on this forum, has put together an article on infants' clothing of our era. You may find the article here: http://www.thesewingacademy.com/wp-c...nfantDress.pdf

She also has created a number of articles on re-enacting with children, to include topics such as food (even for finicky eaters), toys and games, bedding, personal cleanliness with minimum water, and dealing with hot and cold weather. Found here: http://www.thesewingacademy.com/the-compendium/

She has created a very reputable sewing pattern series. (I hope she is an approved vendor here!!): Find her patterns here: http://www.thesewingacademy.com/the-...-publications/

And for technical support on the patterns, and advice from other mothers about re-enacting with children, she offers a forum, much like this one, found here: http://thesewingacademy.org/

[bizzilizzit]

Re: Rural Infant/Toddler Impression

Here's a group (CW Clothing) for people who wish to trade/buy/sell used clothing - you might find someone here who wants to sell their children's outgrown clothing:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cwclothing/?yguid=136995907

[jcraig]

Re: Rural Infant/Toddler Impression

Here is another Yahoo Group that I started specifically for buying/selling/swapping children's clothing.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/econonmyfrugality/?yguid=352172658

[ohioreb]

Re: Rural Infant/Toddler Impression

Thank you all so much! I hate coming across as the spoon-fed type.. but I really appreciate the links!
Hope to get miss priss correctly outfitted soon. :)

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Rural Infant/Toddler Impression

Rachel, if you have any trouble downloading the free articles from the site, click here to shoot me an email and I can send you the files by return message, or pop me a private message with your email in it, and I'll do the same through that channel. :) There's lots of support out there for families on a budget, and you can definitely learn to outfit your little one really well, and very appropriately. I'll add in a "second the motion" vote for the Economy/Frugality list that Jess runs; people try very hard to keep the quality very high there. Some items are swaps, others are fairly-priced sales.