Here’s a little-known fact about me: I’m a member of the DAR — the Daughters of the American Revolution. That means I have an ancestor who fought in the American Revolutionary War. And today I’m sharing a little story I wrote for my local DAR chapter’s newsletter.

At the very end of this tale, you’ll see how it connects to sewing, so be patient as you read. You’ll also get to see a few photos of the “real me” (the one that isn’t a Liv doll) in today’s blog post.

Mid-December, my husband and I, along with my aunt and uncle from North Idaho, flew to Rhode Island to watch my oldest daughter graduate from Officer Candidate School for the US Navy. Then, to celebrate as a family, we took a tour of the New England states.

Only a few weeks before, I had heard Wendy French, the president of our Twin Falls Chapter of the DAR, talking about the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party at our monthly DAR meeting. Little did I know I’d be right there, in Boston, on December 16th, celebrating the very same anniversary!

Not only was I there, but so were two other descendants of a Massachusetts patriot: Robert Lenthal Eells – my daughter (now a Navy ensign) and my aunt – with me, that makes three generations of women, to whom this event was particularly meaningful.

Ironically, we hadn’t planned to attend the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. It more or less fell into our laps. As we drove through Boston, we saw people dressed in colonial garb (see image above), and I said, “Oh yeah. I think this is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party” (having heard this at my DAR meeting). So we googled, “Museums near me.”

Lo and behold, we found ourselves standing under the exact same plaque that the DAR had dedicated the day before, on December 15th.

We joined a tour of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, the very same museum that’s mentioned in this month’s DAR national newsletter, and all three of us – my daughter, my aunt, and myself – were given an opportunity to throw a box of tea overboard. It was magical. Three generations of descendants of a Massachusetts patriot took part in a reenactment of the very event that kicked off the Revolutionary War.

Now that I’m back in Idaho (where I live), I look around my house, and I see little snippets of my family’s history: my grandmother’s painting hangs on the same wall as my daughter’s painting; my grandfather’s hall tree stands across from the bookshelf my husband made; and my Dutch great-great-grandmother’s thimble sits beside the windmill pincushion that I designed and sewed. 

These mementos become a part of our everyday lives, and we barely notice them as we go about our business. But to actually stand in the place of the men and women who bought us our freedom… to throw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor… Well my aunt, Nita Musick, said it best: “History truly inspires us.”

If you enjoyed this blog post, and you’d like to see my videos, you might want to navigate over to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1 to look through my playlists.

If you would like to make a donation to this free doll clothes sewing pattern website, please click here. There’s also a “Donate” button in the main menu.

For anyone who would like to expand their dolls’ wardrobes, you should really check out my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course and my “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” classes on the Creative Spark online learning platform. Here’s my bio page on their website, where you can learn more.

For any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.

It’s a one-time fee for the course, and there’s no specific time limit to finish your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you. So go check out my paid courses on Creative Spark, using this link.

As always, feel free to pin, like, or tweet about my free patterns and tutorials.

To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with any of the doll or toy companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly enjoys designing her doll clothes to fit a variety of dolls. To learn more about the doll companies mentioned in today’s post, please visit the doll or toy company’s website.