A childhood interest in the American War and an indulgent father led me to participation in some of the Civil War Centennial events in the early 1960's. Once involved, I became increasingly interested in the uniforms that were actually worn during the great American upheaval. Though I met a few individuals during the Centennial who were wearing wool uniforms and proper (i.e. original) accouterments those people were the exceptions not the rule. It was not until the early 1970's, while working in Virginia, that I had the opportunity to closely examine Confederate clothing. To my surprise, I "discovered" that many of the garments were not all wool but some sort of wool/cotton fabric. With some hand weavers at Colonial Williamsburg, I discussed the possibility of producing some wool/cotton goods. I could not, however, interest my "Civil War" buddies in putting up the twenty dollars or so each that it would have cost us to procure such goods. At that point the project went into a deep slumber while my life in the contemporary business began.

1967 My Father & I scrubbed some woman's stairwell walls and ceiling in payment for the cotton poplin "blouses" seen in this photo. It was shortly after that I began sewing, hmmm.

By 1980 I was again ready to pursue some proper Confederate textile. By the following year I had taken a few weaving lessons, bought a loom and was ready to go. After studying some Confederate textiles and discussing the fabric with an NPS historian who had dabbled with such goods, I wove my first woolen jeans. A few friends were interested but most people were very skeptical. No matter, at that time it was "just a hobby". I wove more jeans, made a few garments, interest grew.

In 1984 I took the plunge and turned my hobby into a full-time pursuit. In January 1986 we took delivery of our first lot of Confederate kersey and a year and a half later we received our first lot of sky-blue kersey. Until 1989 we were still hand-weaving our jeans until competitive pressures forced us to factory-made jeans.

The fabrics we offer are all custom-made for us with the exception of those listed as Other Cottons. The blankets, too, are our exclusive reproductions. The patterns we use are our own and were drafted by me. I could never have accumulated all the photos, notes, research and other information necessary to produce our current array of fabrics and garments without the continuing access to original garments, support, criticism and patronage of my good friends Fred Gaede, Ross Kimmel, Les Jensen, Dean Nelson, Denis Reen, Don Troiani and the Nelsonian Institution.

Our piece goods offering has continued to change and expand over the years. Due to my own personal whims, slow sales or difficulty of supply, fabrics are from time to time discontinued or temporarily dropped. As most fabric buyers know, dye shades and finish will vary from lot to lot. For all the aforementioned reasons, if you see something you like, you would be wise to hesitate but a little. Hopefully, you will find something in the following pages you cannot live without.

Thank you for your interest.

Chas.R.Childs

1969. My first handmade wool uniform. The musket is an original 3rd Model Brown Bess.