Free Antique Baseball Coloring Page

Bustles and Baseball? 
An old illustration from the 1880's Victorian Bustle Era.

I ran across this old graphic recently while doing research on a completely different project. It was in the Public domain, and yet needed a little facelift, so to speak. I have enlarged it and cleared it of some torn areas plus one scratch using photoshop processes. There is a bit of a quality issue as far as resolution goes, but since it is intended to be either hand colored or tinted, I saw this as being  a very minor issue. My recommendation would be to use colored pencils. After all, it is fairly small (not even filling the 8 1/2 by 11 inch final size) and yet it is also very full of details! Please adjust your printer margin settings to .25 inches (1/4 inch) for this one.

My! - how they did used to dress up for the ball park! Americans really would do that a lot. Almost everybody wore hats, and some men would even wear suits. The women in the foreground of this picture wear hats, corsets, and long dresses with bustles underneath. Just look at all of the different hat styles the ladies are wearing to this game! Personally, I like the small top hat that another woman is wearing.

In the distance, there is an obviously very busy harbor of some sort. This must be a port town somewhere. I wish that I could share the location of this old ball field with all of you. Perhaps somebody can help me out with the history and location? Meanwhile ~

Happy Coloring!

PPSColorMe™: An Antique Baseball Game Graphic

Download HERE

Display version

(lower quality than the download)

Credits:

nypl.org

Free for use.

I'm keeping this in the Public Domain.

Thank you

for helping me to

keep free things free!

Victorian Man's Thinking Cap

An appliqué pattern to make for a gentleman.

This item is a bit of a curiosity. We see illustrations and photos of gents wearing their smoking jackets and caps, almost as if such garb had a kind of uniform appeal. Oddly enough, such caps were sometimes also called, "Thinking caps." I think most Americans can relate to being asked to put on our imaginary "thinking caps" as children, can't we? I doubt that any one of us thought of a tassel or rich embroidery at the time, however!
:)

Often, these items of apparel were decorated in great detail, using embroidery on velvet or wool, with appliqué or couched cording or braid. Sometimes, even bead embroidery was used, although this technique was generally reserved for ladies' apparel. The addition of a tassel was according to taste, of course, yet was often considered a must in fashion for gentlemen.

A man's smoking jacket was not the same robe as his dressing gown. These two totally separate species of apparel we tend to smile over nowadays. Nobody really tends to take them very seriously anymore. 

That is, except for a number of historic reenactment hobbyists and professionals. It is for these people I have posted this straightened and somewhat refreshed pattern. After all, I once was one of them!

The sizing for such things can be a bit tricky. As a former costumer and hat designer, I highly recommend making at least one good brown paper mockup or model. I used to use clear tape, pins and pencils with a measuring tape in order to tailor most hats to fit. Nowadays, of course, we have the additional luxury of advanced copy machine technology, image enhancement software such as Photoshop or Gimp, etc., as well as incredibly complex sewing and embroidery machines that can synch up with our computers. In other words, the rest is up to the tools and the imaginations of the ones willing to take on such a project.

Thank you for stopping by with your
Costuming Creativity!

PPS™ Victorian Gentleman's Embroidered Cap

Download HERE

Display version

(lower resolution than the download)

In the Public Domain.

Thank you

for helping me to 

keep free things free!

Baseball Graphics: Free for Father's Day

Baseball Series Part 2

Our second offering in this series will be mainly colorful rather than plain black and white like last weekend's. 
This time, we offer two sets two ways, and in two separate formats (Digital or Print, at 8.5 inch by 11 inch or 12 inches square).We hope that you will find these useful in the making of projects for your own fathers, husbands, boyfriends or friends (or for yourself, for that matter!).
Note: all of these have half inch borders on all four sides.
Happy Creativity!

Take Him Out to the Ballgame (for Print version)

Download HERE

Digital PNG Version (11 inches by 8.5 inches, at 300dpi)

Download HERE

All Star Greats

Print Version (same 12 by 12 format) 

Download HERE

Digital PNG Version (also 12 inches by 12 inches)

Download HERE

Image Sources:

Library of Congress

NYPL

Baseball audience silhouette reprocessed completely 

by us here at Plush Possum Studio.

You are free to:

make art using the images above for either fun or profit.

You are not free to:

Repackage any of them for sale.

Please respect our gifts for the public's use.

Thank you.

Free Father's Day Baseball Graphics (Part 1)

PPS goes to the Ball Park for you this weekend, and with not a single moment to lose! After all, in just two weeks' time, we will be celebrating our American Father's Day.

But this is also Baseball season, so we have decided to run the bases in hopes of making a home run with free summertime sports graphics for our guests.

Our first offering features some of baseball's all time greats. 

From left to right, they are as follows:

1.) Satchel Paige, one of the finest pitchers America will ever see

2.) Chick Keating, shortstop (that is one tough role to play!) for two clubs (Cubs and Phillies)

3.) Babe Ruth, a superior hitter, known for hitting 714 career home runs, and considered to be one of the all time greats of the game

4.) Jackie Robinson, who played in a total of 6 World Series, and who began in the old Negro League, eventually having a stellar career playing Major League ball

As for our silhouette, this had to be completely overhauled, and it took about a total of 7 hours to clear up all of the jagged edges and messiness in order to remanufacture it for use. All of our work on it will therefore be copyrighted. (Please see our guidelines, below, in red)

First up, we offer our classic sized printable, followed by its Digi partner. Then we will offer you a 12 by 12  Digi set, with two silhouettes instead of one. 

These sets will be followed by more, next time in full color. 

We hope to have hit a real "homer" with our initial set for you today.

As per usual, all of these have at least 1/2 inch margins, if not more.

Happy Father's Day Creativity!

American Baseball Greats

Download HERE

American Baseball Greats Digi PNG Version

(Same size)

Download HERE

(same as above, but without any background, and ready for digital processing)

12inch by 12 inch Digital PNG Version

(same as above, but which features two ballgame crowd silhouettes instead of one)

Download HERE

Image sources:

Library of Congress

Wikimedia Commons

(please attribute as per Wiki Licenses)

We will list links here at our earliest convenience

You are welcome to:

use these images in your artwork for fun or profit provided we (for the silhouette in this case) and Wikimedia Commons (photo links will be provided shortly) are given credit 

(a link to our site would be nice, thank you)

You are not welcome to:

Repackage any of these items for sale in any way.

Please respect the work we are giving the public.

Please respect the rights of the public, as well as the rights of the image providers over at Wikimedia Commons.

Thank you for cooperating in this matter.