JC & Jayci's Wedding: Part 2

Illness, heat, thin air, hot sun, heat exhaustion, car not starting... This is that post.

A luncheon was scheduled for us in a reception hall after the JCs Squared's wedding, but because we'd arrived early due to the heat canceling the outdoor photos, they were not ready for us. No worries - we could mingle and chat.

Mountain Mama Jessica played some games with some of the kids in attendance while we waited. (All but two of those are Pony Pals and Cowpokes.)

I was so glad to get back inside. Even with my walker, I was struggling with the heat and all the standing. (Which is why I will probably never make it to BreyerFest again.)

After cooling off and eating lunch, the bridal party headed back outdoors with the photographer for more photos. Even in the shade, the heat was oppressive, especially since we were very high in the mountains and the air was thin.

Soon the bride was feeling ill despite the attentions of Mila, Whitney, Melissa, and Cory.

The groom was in trouble, too, and much worse off than Jayci. He got the fan treatment, ice, water, and more, but he had to be brought inside and be attended to by three nurses who were in attendance. (His mama, his sister, and his other grandmother.) 

The venue began putting out large jugs of ice water for everyone and, while JC Squared (and a bridesmaid who fainted in the heat and was receiving medical care, too) were all in a back room recovering, the decision was made to scratch the outdoor ring exchange and bring it into the air conditioning.

Pony Pal Cambria was thrilled to be a flower girl.

And Cowpoke Titan (on the right) was "ring security" with another boy. Each of them had a black security box with one of the wedding rings in them. They were pretty funny.

Craig was the REAL ring security - he held onto the boys' ring boxes before the ring exchange so they didn't get misplaced. (Vanessa, Craig, and Lisa)

Trinity was a lovely bridesmaid (and a major help as we brought the ring exchange indoors and got it organized.)

The bride and groom said some sweet things to each other, ring security brought up their rings, and ...

both the bride and groom needed to sit down again. They both had been sick for a couple days before the wedding, and were already not 100%; add to that the stress of a wedding, the heat, and more - they were pretty worn out.

Luckily the fan brigade was ready to go and believe it or not, that was very helpful! (That's Pony Pal Addie next to Lisa.)

The wedding photos were finished indoors so that the JC Squareds and those in attendance did not have to go back into the heat.

Me with my grown up girls (and JC): Jessica, Lisa, me, Sarah, JC, Trinity, Vanessa, and Emily. (Plus Kate blowing bubbles on the far right.)

The Isenbarger siblings with the bride and groom: Jessica, Kyle, Lisa, Jayci, JC, Sarah, Cole, and Curt. (Grands Ian, Cory, Lukas, Mila, Kate, Susie, and a niece of Jayci are on the right.)

All our grands. Back row: Addie, Trinity, me, Jayci, JC, Craig, Ian. Front row: Susie, Mila, Melissa, Julie, Kate, Lukas, Cambria, Titan, Whitney, and Cory. (Missing are Braden and Isaac who could not be there.)

Some honorary Isenbargers were there, too - Craig's favorite cousin Lynda and her husband, Bill. They came all the way from Florida to be with us!

Cory brought a Breyer plush horse that I'd given her a while ago. She said it was because it reminded her of Abby, her twin horse. I was very touched because I knew that that gesture was also meant as a sign of love and sympathy for me. (Thank you, Cory! <3)

As the sun went behind the mountains, the heat lessened and the shade increased. Dancing had been set up outside on the terrace and the decision was made to move forward with that.

Ian, Cole, Curt, and Kyle out on the dance floor.

I was just making my way outside to the dance floor when Braden arrived!

We had a great time catching up. (When did he get so tall??)

And then there was another surprise.

Our two dear friends from Illinois arrived. We've known Dave and Zina since 1979. (That's Lisa's dress LOL, Emily, and Sarah in the background.)

Zina and I found it funny that we both had walkers that we were in and out of, so of course we took a photo of us together in them.

The JCs Squared left for their honeymoon with a sparkler send off (fire department approved due to the heat and dryness.)

But, just as the plans had changed all day, so did theirs. Furthermore, ours would continue to change, too.

Stay 'tooned!

JC & Jayci's Wedding: Part 1

For the first time since 2018, our entire family was together in one spot. That's a lot of Isenbargers - 27 of us! And it was wonderful.

Lisa, Craig, and I drove out together - a 24+ hour drive that we split into two days. We took my car (behind us) which had no problems getting us there. (It was the drive home that became dicey.)

Our main gathering place was a Vrbo with room enough for us all to play games, watch the Olympics, and chat.

There was a huge (and shady, thankfully) back yard with lots of room for the kids to play and enjoy themselves. (Cambria, Kate, Julie, Susie, and Titan.)

Me, Cory, Kyle, Melissa, Addie, Whitney, and Craig.

Abby is Cory's "twin horse" - I got the call that she'd been born as I was hauling Abby from Indiana Horse Rescue to Tim's place. Notice her cute horsey tee shirt.

The "twins" together in 2018. I love the happiness on both their faces.

We call Julie, Cambria, Whitney, and Ian "the Quads" since they were all born within thirteen weeks of each other. (Interesting that the oldest is the shortest and the tallest the youngest!)

The original photo from July, 2014. Cambria, Julie, Whitney, and Ian.

When they were babies, we took a picture of them like this and recreated it since we were all together.

For the life of me, I cannot find that picture but I'll keep trying.

The Vrbo was a great gathering place, but there was no way it could hold all 27 of us. Todd reserved a block of rooms for us in an Embassy Suites hotel.

The view from our room, looking across the valley. It was hazy due to fires burning in California.

The wedding day was excessively hot and it caused problems for us right from the beginning.

Combine that heat with the smokey haze and the much thinner air due to being so high up in the Rockies, and it was no surprise that we had problems.

The wedding (performed by Craig - what an honor!) was indoors and in the morning.

But when the bridal couple came outdoors, we were already wilting from the heat.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Coleman. Don't they look happy?

Walking to the site chosen for family photos. Lisa kept the bride in the shade while Whitney and Cambria walk with them.

The heat was awful and getting 50+ people organized was time consuming and tedious. Those not in the current picture would immediately head to the shade.

Some of us got a little silly. I nearly tipped myself over backwards clowning around like this. Lesson learned. 

People began wilting from the heat almost immediately and finally we decided to head on over to the air conditioned reception venue and finish there.

It was a good idea, but already the heat was taking its toll. 

Stay 'tooned.

Briefly

 We are back from JC and Jayci's wedding. It was lovely.

It was also fraught with car problems, excessive heat, and illness.

More on the wedding is coming - right now I am catching up on sleep, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and more.

And apologies for the issues with the blog posts while I was gone. I'd written and scheduled one to drop every day except for yesterday but I know at least one did not post when I'd expected it to.  I will be posting daily starting now. Depending on how much I get done as I unpack,  you may even get another one later today.

Stay 'tooned!

A Look Back: Abby Comes Up for a Visit

A quick look back at a favorite video of my girl. Turn your sound up as she is nickering to me the whole way.

Ah, the siren call of peppermints!

A Tutorial on Silk

I  sew a lot of pony pouches, I sell a lot of pony pouches, and I take orders and make custom pony pouches.

Recently I was asked to put in a silk lining for some custom pouches. When I replied, "I don't think you really mean silk, I think you actually mean something else,"  I got some very strong push back. The woman argued quite vehemently, "All my haversacks are lined with silk." "I like silk linings." "Why won't you do a silk lining?" And so on.

Well, because those pony pouches she thought were silk lined, were not. Their lining was actually a silk substitute and a manmade fiber. It was made from one of an assortment of silk substitutes - Charmeuse. Satin. Polyester chiffon. Mercerized cotton. Ramie. Cupro. And so on. 

Charmeuse. (Used to make Prom dresses years ago for my girls!)

A satin crepe fabric from my stash. (Cambria's baby blessing dress was made from this.)

All are silky, shiny fabrics that are very smooth, usually shiny, and slip through your fingers nicely. And, they cost far less than the cost of silk, go on sale for great prices at fabric stores, and work quite nicely for protecting our models.

I, too, used to use "silk" as a describer of shiny, slippery fabrics. It wasn't until I began sewing 18th century clothing that I discovered what silk really was. Sewing historical clothing requires you to have a significant amount of knowledge about the fabrics that you are using, those that were also used during that time period. Silk is one of those fabrics. 

Most sewists do not sew historical clothing and do not need to have that information. As a result, "silk" has become a misnomer, a generic term, for what are really manmade fabrics. It is an innocent mistake and definitely not a deliberate deception on the part of anyone. 

So, the educator in me would like to share a little about silk, the real thing:

Due to its expense and limited availability, you will not find real silk used in manufacturing everyday clothing. Neither will you find silk available to buy in most fabric stores. (The fabric stores near me do not even sell silk blends let alone 100% silk fabrics.) 

The cost of silk is prohibitive. Currently my best source for 18th century fabrics sells it at $20 - $35 a yard. Ask me to use silk for my 18th century sewing, and I will hesitate.  I'll think long and hard about an 18th century item of clothing before agreeing to make it from silk. Silk is just far too expensive and I will not make any money (or I will even lose money on that item.).

For a pony pouch? Well, considering that I can get two Traditionals out of one yard of fabric, a silk lining at $20 - $35 a yard is far too expensive to use. (Remember, that's just for the lining. You still have the cost of the outer fabric plus your time spent in sewing the item.) Those manmade substitutes can be found on sale for $5 a yard and less - much more cost effective.

If you were to feel a piece of silk and compare it to how the manmade substitutes feel, you'd realize how different they are. Every real silk I have encountered has had a bit of roughness to it (called "slubbing"), a roughness I would not like next to my chinas.

Blue and white silk Lutestring from Burnley & Trowbridge. A close up shows that slubbing that gives it a rougher feel than manmade fabrics.

Because I do a lot of 18th century sewing, I've had to learn a lot about the fabrics themselves. Not just how to sew them, but about the content of the fabrics. Wools, cottons, linens, and yes, silks.  How they are woven. How they are printed or dyed. What the beginning source is for them. (Silkworms, the source for silk fibers, are raised on mulberry leaves and then killed by being boiled alive to make that pretty silk fabric. Another reason I don't like to use silk.) 

Single faced silk ribbon, again from Burnley & Trowbridge, that shows the slightly rough texture of real silk. 

Did it matter that my upset customer knew what I would be using? 

To me, it did. I knew I would not be using silk and it felt dishonest to let her believe that she was getting something that she was not. 

Like I said, no one is deliberately trying to deceive anyone. Using the term "silk" for shiny, slippery fabrics is akin to using "kleenex" rather than "tissue." Or, here in my part of Indiana, "coke" for any flavor of soft drink. As in, "Would you like a coke?" "Sure! what kind of cokes do you have?" (Really. I call the Dr. Pepper I am drinking right now as I type, a coke.)

So that's a short and sweet explanation about the difference between silk and manmade fabrics, fabrics that we refer to as silk when they actually are something quite different.

As for my disgruntled customer? She listened when I explained the difference between silk and a manmade fabric, my reasons for not using silk in a haversack, and she accepted the alternative to a silk lining that I offered her. 

Things Begin to Ratchet Up

Today is August 1st and when that date rolls around, my mind ratchets up a gear or two. Sometimes it even jumps all the way into high gear.

The Feast of the Hunters' Moon now is only two months away! Am I going to be ready?

I'm actually in pretty good shape sewing-wise this year. The items my repeat customers come to me for are ready and any sewing besides that will be mostly just bonus items. I do still have several men's shirts I'd like to sew along with some aprons, but I am not too concerned about getting those done. 

The bread and butter of my 18th century sewing business is men's shirts, women's chemises and aprons, bedgowns, and cloaks.

An 18th century bedgown (and one I still wish I'd kept for myself!)

Check those off the to-do list - I'm really not stressed about finishing those.

The maple cakes are boxed and ready to go, plus I've ordered the bags to put them in when they sell. Another thing to check off.

Where I really need to get busy is in making the beeswax ornaments. I have a few done, but those sell really well plus I have a couple of new molds I'd like to try. 

The cardinal mold is one of my best sellers.

Cooling ornaments that have been cinnamoned and now need a couple of days to cure.

I also want to make some using my horsey molds to take to Marilou Mol's August show and the Great Lakes Congress show in October.

A horsehead ornament.

An unfinished Pegasus - I still have some loose cinnamon on his wings, mane, and tail to remove.

Funny how just the change to a new month can make you feel pressured and even panicky. I am reminding myself today that two months is a lot of time for preparation, especially when I've worked ahead and much of my work is already completed. I know I will be okay, and if I run out of maple cakes again this year, I run out of maple cakes. It's all good! (Um, no pun was intended when I wrote that. LOL)

Just for fun, here is a video taken at last year's of  The Feast of the Hunters' Moon. It has a lot of music, food, and shopping. At only a little more than 8 minutes, it is a quick and fun watch.

I'm not in it - it was filmed in a different part of the grounds than where my tent is (I am close to the Wabash) so it actually gave me a view into what I'd missed because I was in my own tent helping customers.

I'm starting to get really excited and am looking forward to immersing myself into the 18th century for a few days.