Friday we went to Colonial Williamsburg for the grand opening of the Coffeehouse, which I'll blog about later.  One of our favorite parts of the day involved some unexpected news involving my son's Lafayette hat!

     Now that I had the French American Alliance cockade made, my son wanted to return to the store where the hat shaper formed his Lafayette hat to his precise specifications a few weeks ago.   As soon as we walked into the shop, the lady who shaped his hat welcomed my son by name! I was impressed that she not only remembered my son but also remembered his name.  I explained that we needed her help tucking the cockade behind the lacing like the CW Lafayette wears his.  The problem was that the lacing was too tight. Also we thought the lacing should go over the top of the brim. Additionally, my son wanted a button at the base of the lacing, like Lafayette. We discussed the possible options to make it happen.

     She said that the other day Lafayette himself walked into the store and she asked him if she could look at his hat. (This is getting contagious. There is another CW employee who has been analyzing the Lafayette costume because of all of our questions!) She explained to Lafayette about my son's visit to the shop a few week's ago to have the hat shaped exactly like his. When she told us that Lafayette knew exactly who she was talking about, we laughed.  I can only imagine how that conversation went. (Wherever we go in America, people know my son!)  

      The lady said that Lafayette's cockade didn't look anything like the one I had made. Instead his was black and more of a T shape. Hmmmm, I told her that he must not have been dressed as Lafayette then.  My son explained if he's not Lafayette, he's Mann Page.  She seemed a bit confused. I told her that I modeled the cockade after a picture I took during Prelude to Victory when he stood a few feet from me. Even though I have the picture on the computer and I can enlarge it, I cannot see the black on black.  I was not able to figure out the precise shape of the black backgound of the cockade, nor was I able to tell precisely how the lacing went. However, I thought I got a fair representation of the white part of the cockade, which is more circular shaped instead of T shaped.  She was thinking of threading a new set of lacing into the same holes in the front of the brim. I told her I thought that the lacing actually goes over the brim and ties somehow in the back.  During all this discourse, my husband pulled up some Prelude to Victory pictures of Lafayette in his camera. After enlarging one, he handed me the camera and I handed it to her. In fact, my husband found several pictures this way and we showed them to her. Ah...she saw what I was talking about. There was white in the cockade and it was circular shaped. She had not seen that particular cockade.

     Finally, she had a recommendation and showed it to my son.  He talked her into setting the lacing over the brim of the hat and they had a plan. After the lacing was redone to accomodate the button and cockade, she put some special pins into the cockade to hold it securely in place. She also gave him extras, in case they would be needed in the future.  The entire fee for this was quite small,  which my son paid for. He tried to tip her but she wouldn't take it. She was definitely worth far more than the tiny fee he paid for this service.  All he really paid for was the lacing. We already had the button.  We were profoundly grateful for all of her patience and help. She was wonderful to work with, listening to my son and being certain of his exact specifications.  She told my son to come back for future visits. Also she told him that they are going to start carrying these Lafayette hats in the store, because of him! How exciting! Leave it to my son to start something!

    Now I am about to start my son's Lafayette coat. The one he has is falling apart and not accurate.  I've agonized for weeks over how I am going to do the buff facings.  This afternoon my son and I analyzed pictures together while he tried to explain how the facings work. Finally I got it!  It is all one piece of wool.  I'll use felt since it's cheaper and washable.  The outside is blue and the inside is buff. Those millions of buttons actually have a purpose. The general can keep his coat in a buttoned yet opened position in summer. In winter he can button the entire coat closed.  How clever!  Now my son can be even warmer this winter. 

     We are planning to go to the Grand Illumination. I'm afraid I am going to be too cold. Last year it was in the 30's during this CW outdoor Christmas event in the evening.  The Grand Illumination showcases special fireworks, music and entertainment.  Some people have told me it could be 82 degrees. Hmmmm, yes, but there is no guarantee.  It's the possible 32 degrees that worries me. My son really wants to wear this Lafayette costume and I want him to stay warm. Therefore I am going to try my hardest to crank this out while getting our unit celebration put together. Hmmmm, Thanksgiving is around the corner too.  And my husband will want to put up the Christmas decorations, not that I know where any will go in this new house. And I am getting a new stove and refrigerator today.  Talk about a new learning curve for roasting a turkey.  Then after the unit celebration there are the lesson plans and studying for lessons. I'd best get to work figuring out this coat!   

     The trick will be two things. First I have to size down a man's small pattern for my son. Second I have to figure out the extensions for the button closure in front. The cuffs though are still confusing me.  I am going to do what the milliner and tailor have told me to do all along. I am going to use muslin (or scrap broadcloth from past costumes) to make a prototype, which I can cut down, pin and fit to my son's body, basically creating a custom pattern just for him.  Theoretically, at that point I can merely whip out the Lafayette coat on the sewing machine. I am excited now that my son helped me figure out some key elements! Stay tuned! 

     Oh, I also figured out the new flounce on my son's shirt is wrong. In the meantime it makes him happier since it works better than that cravat he was using to fill up the blank space due to the wrong kind of vest. Well I can only do one thing at a time.  I'd best get to work!