The books are attacking

No, that's not the Pleasant Company book.

This is Samantha.  I was minding my own business and studying when the human decided that she would have me organize all the new textbooks that we got.

It's a bit of a mess.

 First in the pile was "The New England Primer", first published in 1777.  It's a little heavy on the religion and more than a little outdated, but it's still a book.  I don't think I will ever use it though.  Since this was predominately found in New England, I actually doubt that Felicity used this.  Maybe if she had lived in Boston instead of Williamsburg...

 Next up were "The American Spelling Book" by Noah Webster (good old Blue-Back), published in 1809 and "The Child's First Arithmetic", published in 1818.  I think.  The date is hard to read.  It's meant to be used an introduction to the normal math books of the day, those being books like Dilworth's, Pike's, or "The Schoolmaster's Assistant".

 Next up are these books from the 1820s.  Samuel Worcester's readers (I have the primer here) were some of the first graded readers available in the United States.  McGuffey's Eclectic Readers weren't around at this point in time, but they'll be showing up in another decade or so.  The math book is "First Lessons in Arithmetic" by Colburn, meant to be used as an introduction to his main book on Arithmetic.

 We're actually not sure when the "United States School Primer" was published, but the art suggests sometime between 1830 and 1850, probably early 1840s.  This was around the time that the math books started being published in sets with an introductory text (primer), a book focusing on mental/oral math, and a book on practical and written math.  The most well known from this period was the North American Arithmetic series.  The copy of Book 1 we have was published in 1829.  If the school district was small and underfunded, it's likely that Kirsten may have used these.

The North American Arithmetic series was still in use in the late 1840s and early 1850s before it would be displaced by more recent textbooks.  This copy of Book 2 was published in 1849.  As for readers, the human just could not find a copy of Salem Town's "Child's First Reader".  Trust me, she tried.  Instead we have the "Sander's New First Reader", published in 1853.  I'd suggest these textbooks for Cecile and Marie-Grace.

 Addy totally lucks out with three textbooks from the Civil War era, with "Sander's Union Reader Number One" (1860) (same as the Pleasant company version), "The Freedman's Speller" (1865), and "Ray's Primary Arithmetic" (1857).  The Freedman's Speller was published by the American Tract Society in Philadelphia and was specifically meant for teaching newly freed slaves how to read and write.  Ray's Arithmetic series started being in use around this time and would stay in use for another 50 years.  We have a copy of "Ray's Practical Arithmetic" as well, but I didn't take any pictures.

Finally, the infamous McGuffey Eclectic Readers make an appearance.  The Revised Edition dates from 1879, and the copy of Ray's Intellectual Arithmetic dates from 1877.  These are the books you'd want if you wanted to play "Little House on the Prairie".

Heading into the early 20th century, we have the Baldwin Primer (again, same as the Pleasant Company edition) that I would use if I was just learning to read along with Wentworth's Elementary Arithmetic.  Math books were changing again around this time and going from the three book series of primer, mental math, practical math to a more granulated and graded series where the material was divided up by year.  However, since I (nominally) attend a private school, we'd be a little behind the times in math, so I'm more likely to use an older style book.

 Finally, we reach textbooks from the 1910s and nearly at the end of what's available in the public domain.  The Baldwin-Bender Expressive First Reader was published in 1911, and would be perfect for Rebecca to use to teach Ana how to read English.  Math books haven't changed so much in the last decade, but the graded books have become more popular.  One of the series used was "Graded Work in Arithmetic" by Baird.  We have Book 4 (of 8).  We also think the human should make all 8, but she disagrees.

I never want to do this again.

And cleaning up now...

Samantha's laboratory and Nellie's study

Hello, denizens of the Internet, this is Samantha.  With the arrival of the new parlor set, the entire house was thrown into utter disarray, and our (Nellie's and mine) curio room/library was ransacked and left a disorganized mess.  Not to mention, the old study had been left uninhabited for months and had grown a thick layer of dust.  Nellie and I finally convinced the human to do something about the mess, and now we each have our own study.  (All the better, because even though Nellie and I are best friends, we have very different tastes and hobbies, and our things were always getting in the way.)  The studies are a bit cramped, but we each have a rolltop desk and a set of shelves for our things.

My cabinet is the smaller of the set, but also the perfect height to set up a small science lab.  I actually have two microscopes, the big blue one, and a tiny black one.  I could use more glassware and a bunsen burner though.

On the top shelf of my cabinet, I keep my rock and shell collection.  The two sand dollars were actually found on the beach in North Carolina.  The giant purple crystal is a fluorite crystal.  The large clear block is a piece of regular quartz, and the small shining crystal is a type of quartz known as a Herkimer diamond.  The sleeping cat is carved out of hematite and the mouse of agate.  And that shell?  That's not actually a shell.  It's an fossil ammonite that's turned into opal.  Cool, huh?

I keep my desk mostly clear for taking notes and drawing diagrams and recording measurements.  I really should convince the human to get me a real abacus or calculator, but the counting frame will work for now.  The little vanity set is just in case I need to clean up after an experiment.

Nellie's the romantic in the family, so to speak, and the one who wants to spend all her time reading and daydreaming.  She's also the one who keeps track of all the holidays and sending out greeting cards and whatnot.  The rest of us (Shepard, especially) are more than happy to leave that to her.

Since I got the science equipment, Nellie got the typewriter and the calligraphy sets (western and eastern).  She also has the cutest little desk stationary set with cards and envelopes and a to-do list (even if she never uses it).  The top cabinet has Nellie's collection of pewter miniatures and books, and the bottom cabinet houses her afternoon-tea-and-snacks.

The little dolls are Japanese Kokeshi dolls.  And next to them is a fairy catching set.  We have yet to catch any fairies in this house.

Our human found the stationary set printables online and wanted to share them.  The site they're from, http://www.paperminis.com/, has many free projects if you sign up for their newsletter.

You can find the full set here:
To Do List
Thank you cards and envelopes
Friendship cards and case
Desk Blotter with Corners

The desk blotter works better if you glue it first to an index card or cardstock to give it some weight.

Free Starfleet Uniform Tunic and Dress Patterns

To boldly go where no doll has gone before

I finally have my good laptop back from the shop, so I can start working on my crafting projects again.  Here's the pattern I used to make these uniforms.  I use 1/4" seams and hems on everything, so that's what this pattern allows for unless otherwise noted.

Starfleet Uniform Tunic and Dress Pattern

Instructions:
For the tunic and dress,  add braid to the sleeves, and follow the instructions for the Liberty Jane Trendy T shirt for construction.
For the undershirt, follow the instructions from the Liberty Jane Trendy Tank Top for construction.

For the pants, I would use any of these free patterns:
Milomila Free Pants Pattern
Wren*Feathers Capris

Last I checked, you can't actually copyright the designs for clothing since that falls under 'utilitarian', but you can copyright the instructions and photographs for said pattern.  This a free pattern.  I don't actually care if you share it or copy it or do whatever you want with it.  However, I would appreciated a mention and a link if you do use it.

To Boldly Go

 Meet the latest crop of Starfleet officers!

 The dresses and tunics were made from a slightly modified T-Shirt pattern (LJ Trendy TShirt Pattern), or, if you have it, the LJ Tshirt variations pack.  The pants are from the free MiloMila pants.  I used old tshirts to make these.

Instructions to make the tunic pattern:

1. Lengthen tshirt sleeve to wrist length or use the long sleeves from the tshirt pack.  WIDEN THE SLEEVE EDGE BY 0.5".  Once you attach the ricrac, it restricts the stretch and you won't be able to get the sleeve over the hands.
2. Widen the bottom edge of the front bodice by 0.25" on either side.  Widen the bottom edge of the back bodice by 0.25" along the side only, not along the center back.
3. From the bottom of the armhole, draw a line to the new ends of the bottom edge.  Repeat for the back.  This gets you an A-line tunic.
4. For the neckband, cut a 1" x 8" strip of fabric.  Trim to fit as needed.

For the dress:  This is actually 2 pieces, an undershirt and an overdress.  The undershirt is a crop top.

1. For the undershirt, take the basic tshirt and move the hem up front and back by 2".
2.  For the overdress, cut a neckline 0.5" lower than the original.  Lengthen the front and back bodice pieces by 1.5".

 Closeup of the insignia and rank braids

Science officer and Engineer

Redshirts.  They're doomed and know it.

Kana's library and Elsa's sitting room (Free printable book patterns)

The new library 

Hello, humans of the internet, Kana here.  The human finally gave in to the sale from the mothership...I mean American Girl...and we finally have some new furniture!  The human spent all of Friday night rearranging the bookshelves in her study (three bookshelves of books that needed a new home after the parlor set displaced them) so I could have my study.  And my study is the best thing ever not in the least of which because it has perfect natural lighting in the mornings.  Also, unlike my bedroom, this is permanent!

 The curio cabinets in another room were overflowing, so I took some of my favorite things for my room.  The books had been hidden and stacked behind other books, but I can show them off to their advantage here.  I don't like the ship that came with the parlor set too much and much prefer the ship-in-a-bottle.  This is a call for the human to find us some more knick-knacks.  The shelves are far too empty.  For the record, Running Press Miniature books fit perfectly onto the parlor shelves.  And the window seat is going to be my personal property.

The new sitting room

 Meanwhile, Elsa (FKA Kirsten) claimed the fireplace for her new sitting room.  It's a much better setup than the old one that we shared.  We cluttered up the mantle already, and you can just barely see the faux oriental china behind Elsa.  That brown shelf had been our main cabinet in the old sitting room.  (Elsa would like the human to know that she needs a new and complete wardrobe now.  In blues, silvers, and a not-to-obvious ice theme.  Even for summer.)

 Here are some closeups of the fireplace and mantle.  We put all the little glass bottles and candles there.  Did I mention how awesome it is (everything is awesome, everything is cool when you're part of team...*ahem*) that the candle that comes with the parlor has a metal base?  Also, please notice the lovely blue stones on either side of the fire place.  They're bookends that need a new home, and we thought of the porcelain dogs from the Anne of Green Gables books (Anne of the Island, I think) at Patty's Place and there you are.  We didn't name the stones though.

A new book

So with a new sitting room and library, we obviously needed new books.  And thus we pestered the human relentlessly until she complied with our demands.

Historical (1830s-1860s) books of riddles

These are replicas of actual books for kids published in the mid 1800s, mostly published on the east coast.  If you're looking for some accessories for your historical girl, these would be best for Addy, Cecile, and Marie-Grace.  Addy would have seen these since Philadelphia was a major city and she would have access to some books through school.  Kirsten might have encountered these at general store in town, but her family wouldn't likely be able to afford extras like these.  Marie-Grace, having just moved from the northeast, would have definitely encountered these.

These books are between 2"x3" and 2.5"x3.75".  Some of them are a little large, but that's because they're scaled to be readable when printed with a normal printer.  You'll need a printer that prints two-sided, paper, and a stapler to make these.

Instructions
The Riddle Book
The Book of Riddles
The Little Riddler
Home Amusements

Let us know if you've made these and what you think of the instructions!