Tag: work

Working Weekend

On By kittycalashIn Living History1 Comment

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8482/8239978492_81e339d5fe_n.jpgThis is the house at the farm museum where we went to work on Sunday. That bright orange under the window is squash. The part painted red is an office addition and not interpreted space.

This is the view from the site.https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8238909459_f9165ff136_n.jpg It is not exactly what the tenant farmers would have seen, even discounting the power lines and road surface.   But even with the caveats of constant change in mind, I do not have access to a better lab for understanding the past. There are times when even the smart and sophisticated among us cannot come up with a better (just between us) interpretation than, “1799 sucked. And it was greasy.”

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/8238912881_454a7e8b67_n.jpgThat’s not what we want the visitor to learn (everything in the past was hard) though sometimes I fear that is all they take away. Callie, seen here swearing in my hand, was trying to take away leftover chicken and so was taken away herself.

The more time I spend stooping to reach a vat of tallow, or tearing a chicken carcass apart with my hands and a dull, greasy knife, the more I think that what we fail to grasp is not that people thought differently in the past. It’s why they thought differently.

Lives could be a great deal smaller: tasks were hard and all-consuming. Even as I realized that work would be faster with greater familiarity, I also saw that repetition would not breed enlightenment, because increased speed would only make the next task come more quickly.

After Cheer

On By kittycalashIn Events, Museums1 Comment

With the Young Mr on the lawn at the John Brown House Museum: he came, he dressed, he ate, he drummed. At the end of the day, his friend and his friend’s mother finally came, and thanks to them, I have a photo to post. I could crop out her shadow and the tree, but then you’d miss how lovely the place is.

What a day! It started at 7:00 and held two–no, three–surprises, which will result in at least one rant and one possible act of mischief later.

Surprise number one: The British did not show up. They didn’t call or write, either. Yikes. Mild mischief pending expected apology.

Surprise number two: Sew 18th Century came to visit with her darling daughter and husband. Yay! We’ve met before at an ALHFAM meeting, but it is always so lovely to see another costume blogger and museum person in real life. Thanks so much for coming!

Surprise number three: I made a lavender tea bread that was delicious, against all expectations, and which was largely consumed by Mr S. Good thing those overalls are adjustable, huh? More on that bread later this week; I will be making it for Nathan Hale this coming weekend.

But wait, there’s surprise number four. One of the volunteer docents who belongs to a local reenactment group came “dressed up,” and sat on the front porch entertaining visitors with children’s games.  We had a station for children’s games, and she competed with it, rather than coordinating. Also, the garments she wore were, um, not to standards. So that’s going to require some...tact…

All in all, the people who came seemed to have a great time. They were incredibly engaged, learned a lot from some very enthusiastic reenactors, docents, guides, and staff. It would have been nice if there were more knitters, and if our Civil War knitter had not been booted off the front porch by surprise number four.

I think we had about 200 people on the site, 90+ in the house and a bit more outside. With about 15-18 reenactors, that meant that the people who came into camp had a kind of immersive experience, and that can be lost at larger events like Redcoats & Rebels.

And even more cheering, links to my blog from American Duchess. Neat!

Buttonholes Made Fun

On By kittycalashIn Clothing, Events

For a time, I worked with a young man who sang at work. It wasn’t “Old Man River” or railroad work songs, but simpler, more repetitive phrases: “Up the stairs, down the stairs” while moving around the house, or “broccoli, broccoli; broccoli, broccoli” making his lunch. The habit had its charms and its hilarity, but now the little sing-song phrases get stuck in my head, like today’s “try not scream, try not to scream.”

20121011-064643.jpgButtonholes!! Board decisions! Bad fit! The last two are only hypothetical, I must remember. There’s been no real board meeting to cut that $100K from next year’s budget, and I haven’t laced into my stays and tried on the new dress yet.

I have been working on buttonholes, and have a new favorite sewing tool: a sharp chisel. It would be ideal to get one that could pass for period, and a mallet as well, because hammering a sharp blade through overalls has proven oddly satisfying. I might take on fancy waistcoats for the sheer pleasure of mallet use.20121011-064502.jpg

The dress is basted and hemmed and ready to be tried on and tested. there’s a little bit of minor finish work I can do at lunch today, but the big push this evening will have to be gathering up the gear and loading the car, fitting the ankles of the overalls to the wearer so those buttons and buttonholes, and the evil tongue, can be sewn.

That leaves Friday for finish work, which seems like a reasonable plan. I can always work on the shift during What Cheer! Day, as long as there is not too much running back and forth to do.

Weather and Wardrobe

On By kittycalashIn Clothing, Events, making things1 Comment
If only What Cheer! Day would look this good!

What to wear for 55-degree weather? Suddenly, “red and black and white calicoe” seems…foolish. The Cursing Sewing Mommy may have words for not having gotten her act together to make the red short cloak from the Wm Booth remnant. But there is a blue wool cloak (based on one in the RIHS Collection) that lacks only facings, but when I dress early next Saturday morning, will one layer of wool over cotton be warm enough? Hard to be certain, but I am not confident. And what does this mean for Nathan Hale? Is it past time to drop the cotton and drag out the wool?

None of this panic has anything to do with questions of fit, of course, or the schedule for today, which starts with boiler men and ends with a board dinner. Yes, that is sarcasm.

I’ll haul “red and black and white calicoe” in to work and perhaps while babysitting boiler men I can work on some of the issues—or if not, at least get the second sleeve set and the cuffs done. If I can make it passable, I can wear it over my black wool petticoat, and bring the wool jacket in my runaway-with-the-army bag.

The overall buttons are in progress, and I have chisels for buttonholes, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  One really can’t whack holes in clothes on private club tables…not if one wishes to keep one’s job.