Want to get a scope of just how large the grounds of The Feast of the Hunters' Moon are and how big the event will be? Check out this video that was taken yesterday. And then imagine all that open space filled in with tents and tens of thousands of people. (Usually 40,000 to 60,000 over the two days of the event.)
Today is the first day that event participants can start setting up their tents and camps. I'm heading out mid morning with Mr. Friday Night Lights and Local Son Curt to put my tent up. Leslie and Rick will be setting theirs up as well.
Because I'm using a walker much of the time, I am going to unpack my tubs in stages with lots of breaks in between. (I have until the Feast begins Saturday morning.) Lisa has offered to come out after school and help, and I'm sure Leslie will drop by.
Despite calling it done (and it was), I did just a little more work on the robe a l'Anglaise yesterday. I decided the pleats needed to be pressed again.
It took me almost two hours, about 175 fabric clips, and four or five steam burns before I was finished, but they look much neater and flatter.
I've said it before but I will say it again - this is the most difficult thing I have ever sewn, and I've been sewing since I started making doll dresses when I was 8!
When I finished ironing those pleats and put the gown back on the dress form, the clips jingled like the jingle cones the Miami, Wea, and Potawatomi people at the Feast sometimes wear when they dance - made me smile.
Jingle cones on a pair of my trade silver earrings. (Rick made these.)
Although the Feast hasn't begun yet, I've already sold one bed gown and possibly a second. And, a woman contacted Leslie and asked if she knew anyone who sold panniers (pocket hoops.)
Leslie knew I'd made two sets and asked me to send her pictures to pass on to the woman.
The woman, Audrey Johnson, is an opera singer from the East Coast who tells 18th century history in song and she will be performing at Feast this weekend. I got a chance to hear her perform last year and it was engaging for kids as well as adults. (And can she ever sing!!) I hope to sneak away from my tent this year and at least hear a song or two.
You can see the pocket opening - some female re-enactors stash Hershey Bars in their pocket hoops. Not naming any names, but all three of them are mentioned frequently here on the blog...
Panniers can take a lot of room in your closet - they have plastic or reed strips in them to give them their shape. (Originally it was whalebone.)
Luckily they "deflate" and collapse down into a fairly flat bundle
that can then be flipped one side onto the other and stored on a shelf, taking up much less space.
Time is getting away from me and I need to get some things loaded into the car, the dogs walked, and run to the grocery before I head out to Fort Ouiatenon.
I did get some horses in the mail yesterday - Horatio, Outlaw, and Felix all arrived! I'll share those tomorrow if I can.
Wish me luck today - the Feast becomes very real whenever I do set up, and I can't wait!
Believe it or not, I discovered a little more KZoo wrap up that I needed to do. I have inventoried the clothing that I brought home with me so I know how many shirts, chemises, aprons, etc. that I have in stock, but what I don't know are the sizes that I need to make of those items to replenish my inventory before The Feast of the Hunters' Moon.
Jolis Chevaux set up at the Feast.
Before I do any 18th century sewing, though, I want to get some Mercantile sewing finished. I'm attending the swap meet for Indy Blooms at the end of April and I've gotten some new fabrics I'd like to turn into haversacks and bring with me.
I did finish another Mercantile sewing project yesterday. I completed the sixty mini haversacks for a friend who is holding a live show later this year.
I used up all the green and grey wool scraps the I had, so I had to use cotton. It was difficult to find a print small enough to be in scale with the mini theme (the finished size of these is about 2 x 2") but I did my best. I also only had 50 of the Dala horse buttons so I had to add charms for decoration on the extra 10.
I'll pack these up later this morning along with some other donations and get them into the mail.
It's spring break and Lukie has been busy with a project too. If you remember, he wanted a chain saw for his birthday earlier this month. That did NOT happen, but he did get a lot of tools and building materials.
Look what he surprised his parents with - a chair for his teddy bear that he made all by himself. (In his bedroom. With gloppy glue. And sandpaper and screws and nails and... I can only imagine!)
Not only can his stuffies sit in it, Chain Saw Lukie announced that he could, too - he had tried it out! And while it was a little small for him, he still could sit in it. (Translate that as, it did not collapse under his weight. That gloppy glue did its job!)
Another sewing project that I finished recently but haven't posted about is this:
I finished and hung my Feast button holder. When Craig and I got married in 1976, my mom gifted us with four hand woven placemats made by a Feast friend of hers and this is one of them.
And while that goldenrod color is out of fashion now, those placemats have a strong sentimental connection for me to my mother and to the earliest days of the Feast. As I add buttons, I can easily attach another placemat to the bottom of this one. It is perfect for what I wanted. (I plan to replace the dowel, too.)
Meanwhile, the work on Lisa's robe a l'Anglaise continues. She's told me to put it aside for a while - we have until October before it is needed.
But most of my pins are in various parts of that gown
and I need them back for other projects!
And so the work soldiers on - I hope to complete this project by the end of next week.
