Sponsored by The Ladies of Refined Taste & Friends
and Minute Man National Historical Park

Hive 1: Interpreting Battle Road, Sunday, January 18 — 9:30 to 3:30pm, sponsored by McAlpins Corp

As always, there will be coffee and tea available, but snacks to share are always welcome!

“The Buzz” 9:30–11:30pm  

Come for the morning, get some sewing done, discuss a book, watch a movie or all three!

• Hive Book Club—Read and Discuss—The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. Discussion lead by Matthew Mees.
• Sunday Morning Movie—"The School for Scandal" by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (A Great Performances: Theatre in America production).

Lectures: Interpreting Battle Road

12pm–12:30pm   Interpreting Hartwell Taverm
Park Ranger Jim Hollister will lead a discussion of topics and issues surrounding the interpretation of Hartwell Tavern: the family, the house, tavern operation and the Revolution.

12:30pm–1pm   Meet the Smiths
In 2014, the Lincoln Minute Men, after receiving a generous donation from the family of long-time member Wayne Mount, contacted Minute Man NHP about using the money towards furnishing the Captain William Smith House. You'll hear about this amazing project, why particular items were chosen and how we can use them to interpret this wonderful house and the fascinating family that occupied it.

1:15pm–2pm   Battle Road Combat and the Bloody Angle
The Bloody Angle, a curved stretch of road in Lincoln, MA is one of the best preserved and documented battle sites within the bounds of Minute Man NHP. Why did one of the sharpest actions on April 19, 1775 occur here? How do we know what really happened? We'll look at primary sources related to this action, discuss how the opposing forces engaged one another, and how the landscape may have played a key role.

Clinics: Fine Tune Your Impression 2:15pm–3:30pm (concurrently run)

Newbie Clinic for Women
Whether you are just starting out or need to make some updates, we'll look at what you need to interpret New England early 1770's—the good, better, and best.

Refit your breeches
Do your breeches look more like bloomers? Are your kneebands more like shinbands? Time to get your breeches refit! You will learn some tricks for getting your breeches to fit in a more 18th century manner. Bring your breeches and sewing kit.

Replace or rework the collar on your shirt
Collars wear out and most collars on ready-made reenactor's shirts are too short. Take it off and replace it with one that fits properly. We'll also take a look at how to properly wear your neck covering. Bring your shirt and sewing kit and some extra linen (we'll have some for sale if you don't have any).

Pinking
We'll look at pinking as a technique for finishing silk trim for a gown. Try your hand at several pinking techniques using a pinking iron and other tools.

Hive 2: Taking Needle to Fabric, Sunday, February 15—10:00 to 3:30pm Cancelled due to snow. The plan is to rework the schedule for March's Hive essentially making it a double header.

As always, there will be coffee and tea available, but snacks to share are always welcome!

“The Buzz” 10–11:30pm  

Come for the morning, get some sewing done, discuss a book, watch a movie or all three!

• Hive Book Club—Read and Discuss—Book to be announced
• Sunday Morning Movie—Barry Lyndon, Part 1

Lecture, 12–1:30

The focus of this Hive will be to learn how to make good fabric choices, not only ones that are appropriate for the garment and time period but also fabrics that have the right feel, texture, etc. The second part of this session will be to learn hand stitching techniques that will enhance the beauty of appropriate fabrics.

Fabrics of the 18th century  Look at the wide range of fabrics that were available to the buyer of 1770 New England. We'll explore the advertisements, as well as the period swatch cards, and sources like Barbara Johnson's journal.

Round Robin Breakout Sessions, 2:30pm–3:30pm (concurrently run; pick 2)

"Touch This"
Sometimes what seems like a great buy turns out be a disaster to sew, especially when one shops on-line. You will learn the hallmarks of a good fabric by touch and feel. You'll quickly learn how to avoid the clunkers that don't turn out to be the bargains you thought they were.

Buttonholes
As our dear Mr. Cooke always quips—"it's the first thousand"! Besides practice, there are some secrets to creating great buttonholes. In this session, you'll learn the basics as well as some of the tricks of the trade.

Stroke Gathers
A seemingly easy technique that requires a little skill and a lot of patience. Used to attach sleeve heads to the body of a shirt or shift, as well as attaching a cuff to a sleeve, a well done stroke gather is a thing of beauty.

Basic Stitchery
You might know the basics but may not know the techniques to create secure and consistent stitching. In this session we'll cover: running stitch, combination stitch, back stitch (several variations), underhand hem stitch, whip gathers, and eyelets. You'll also experiment with different size needles to find the right tool for the job. Bring your sewing kit.

Hive 3, Sunday, March 22 — 10:30am to 3:30pm

“The Buzz” 11–12pm  

10:30-12:00   Kit Tune Up — Don't wait till the last minute to make sure your kit is in good shape for the season. Take this time to reattach those buttons, fix blown out seams, replace the collar on that shirt—all those tasks that lots of us leave to the night before an event. Coffee and tea will be provided; snacks to share are always welcome.

Lectures

12pm–2:00pm   Textile Tutorial — Cloth in Pre-War New England
We'll be looking at common fabrics advertised for sale, mentioned in runaway ads, in probate inventories, and in period literature. What are they? What do they look like? What were they used for? And what we can still get today? We'll also look at some originals so you can see first hand what some of these fabrics look like. Join Hallie Larkin, Steph Smith and Henry Cooke for this textile-o-rama!

Breakout Sessions 2:00pm–3:30pm (concurrently run; pick 2)

"Touch This"
Sometimes what seems like a great buy turns out be a disaster to sew, especially when one shops on-line. You will learn the hallmarks of a good fabric by touch and feel. You'll quickly learn how to avoid the clunkers that don't turn out to be the bargains you thought they were.

Buttonholes
As our dear Mr. Cooke always quips—"it's the first thousand"! Besides practice, there are some secrets to creating great buttonholes. In this session, you'll learn the basics as well as some of the tricks of the trade.

Stroke Gathers
A seemingly easy technique that requires a little skill and a lot of patience. Used to attach sleeve heads to the body of a shirt or shift, as well as attaching a cuff to a sleeve, a well done stroke gather is a thing of beauty.

Basic Stitchery
You might know the basics but may not know the techniques to create secure and consistent stitching. In this session we'll cover: running stitch, combination stitch, back stitch (several variations), underhand hem stitch, whip gathers, and eyelets. You'll also experiment with different size needles to find the right tool for the job. Bring your sewing kit.