DENMARK TOWNSHIP — Growing up, Diane Barriball would watch intently as her grandmother Mary Campbell lovingly stitched all of her clothing.
Time passed, and Barriball grew up, married and began to rekindle her interest in the art of sewing.
“After my grandma died, we cleaned out her house and found she had kept all of her (store-bought) patterns from the 1930s and 40s,” Barriball said as she held up a little girl’s dress with matching pantaloons made from a 1936 pattern from her grandma’s collection.
This rekindling of her interest led to a college degree in fashion merchandising from Ursuline College, in Pepper Pike, in 1993.
A re-creation of her grandmother’s wedding dress was Barriball’s senior project at Ursuline and her first experience with creating a period piece of clothing without using a pattern.
“All I had was a photograph of grandma posing in her gown,” she said. “I utilized table-cloth lace to achieve the right look. I got an A and graduated with honors.”
A rare seamstress talent, combined with Barriball’s love for history, prompted her to open a home-based business called Windy’s Stitch-in-Time.
Windy’s Stitch-in-Time, named for the windy farm the Barriballs live on in Denmark Township, specializes in re-enactment and period clothing.
Barriball’s involvement in re-enactment clothing took off when she happened to meet Jeanne Onuska, of the European Military Historical Society in Conneaut, about nine years ago.
“I play in a couple of period bands (the Great Geauga County Fair Band and the Remember When Band), when I met Jeanne at an event and she asked if anyone knew how to sew,” she said. “That was it; I have been sewing for them ever since.”
“I needed a replica made of an original German field-hospital nursing uniform that I had and she re-created it just by looking at the original,” Onuska said of Barriball’s seamstress abilities. “She does wonderful work.”
“I try to come as close as I can and use as much of the original type of cloth as I can,” Barriball said. “It is very interesting to me, to research why they made a particular garment the way they did.”
The European Military Historical Society is a nonprofit organization. The focus is on education presented through public events and displays. All proceeds from donations will go back into veterans programs, educational programs and the preservation of living history, according to www.emhs. info.
“Our goal is to remember and honor those veterans and civilians who lost their lives from all past and previous wars,” Onuska said.
Barriball has created garments from the Pilgrim era, Revolutionary War, French and Indian War, War of 1812, Civil War (north and south uniforms), World War II German uniforms, and period clothing.
“I have always loved history, and this is a perfect way to combine the two. With each garment, I learn a little bit more,” Barriball said.
Not all of Windy’s Stitch in Time is period or re-enactment related. Barriball also makes wedding dresses; horse-riding apparel, including leather, vests, jackets and coats; and alterations and repairs.
“The economy has not affected the demand of re-enactment and period clothing. As soon as I make something, it sells,” Barriball said.
For further information, contact Diane Barriball by telephone (440-858-2658).
See Barriball’s handiwork at Muster At CCRC III, a Living History Time Line event, sponsored by the European Military Historical Society, June 13 and 14, on the grounds of the Country Club Retirement Campus, 923 E. 26th St., Ashtabula. Doors are open to the public at 9:30 a.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The event is free to the public, but donations are welcome.
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June 2, 2009
Step back in time with Windy’s Stitch-in-Time
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