Needlework Monday - Making A Napoleonic Cartridge Box Cover
Today's project was to make a cover for my cartridge box.
There are a combination of reasons for this. Mainly it's because I've only got one cartridge box right now, and this will enable me to use it for two different re-enactment impressions, as a voltigeur of the 30eme de Ligne, and as a fusilier of the 45eme de Ligne. But also, because the cover is water-resistant and will help protect the lather when it rains.
The cover is, in essence, nothing more complicated than a cloth bag that covers the cartridge box flap, with ribbons to tie it in place. But there are some subtle details that are worth talking about, and it requires a precise work to get a good fit.
The image below is the start; it's a rectangle of oilcloth, with 4 ribbons at one end. At this stage they are just tacked in place with contact adhesive.
The oilcloth we use is sourced from Merchant and Mills - organic cotton dry oilskin. It is odd stuff to work with ! Good points are that it creases like paper, the edges don't fray in the way fabrics like linen do, and of course it is highly water-resistant. Not so good points are that you can't pin it without damaging the water resistance, it seems to act like a magnet to every piece of lint and fluff in the room, and that even though it is supposed to be dry you still finish up with a feeling of having dirty, oily hands even though they aren't really.
The next step is to crease in a 10mm hem, then fold the ribbons back over it and sew the hem closed, giving the ribbons some extra stitching. Also put a 10mm hem in the opposite end. What you are seeing here is what will become the inside of the cover. Note that I'm using natural-coloured linen thread. This is completely authentic; at the time, dyed threads were frighteningly expensive so tended to only be used for the most prestigious garments for the wealthiest in society.
Next up, we fold the cover in half and sew the two edges. The pattern specifies a 10mm seam allowance, but after a quick fit check I reduced that to 5mm to allow for the thickness of the leather.
Turning the cover inside out, I then measured and cut a slit for the fastening strap.
The slit is protected by a blanket stitch, because although the oilcloth is fairly resistant to fraying, it's not that resistant in regular use. Below is a little trick I use when doing blanket stitch on slots and buttonholes; a simple piece of folded shiny cardboard protects the unsewn edge and prevents me accidentally sewing the two sides closed.
This is the finished strap slit. Not my tidiest blanket stitch, but it'll be hidden on the inside, and will be nice and strong !
This is the finished cover ready to be fitted onto the cartridge box. The brass horn emblem is an insignia for the voltigeurs, who were light infantry skirmishers. One touch I'll add at a later stage will be to put the regimental number on the new cover. That'll happen when I cut the stencil to do the number on the shako cover which is my next project.
As you can see, the box is pretty worn already, so I might make myself a new one over the winter. But that's a major project in it's own right !
The back of the cartridge box, showing how the ribbons tie to keep the cover from slipping off.
Finally, this is the front view. Nice and plain, and pretty tidy. The white leather strap at the bottom of the picture is the martingale, which fastens onto a button either on the back of the coat (for fusiliers) or on the sabre belt (for voltigeurs) and keeps the cartridge box in position.
All photos by me