Preparations for the Weekend

I'm vending at the Beltaine celebration at A Sacred Place this weekend.  I've been making preparations for the event and for camping.  As the Ez Up is 10' x 10' and I don't quite fill it, I'm setting up my cot in the back and blocking it off with curtains strung across the back on bungee cords.  I've got a 8oz canvas piece of 9' x 12' for a floor.

I've made two dozen little Mojo Bags.  One dozen is made of a material with a Peacock feather pattern and the other dozen is of an iridescent purple with stars and crescent moons.

Meanwhile the animals are helping.  Hector is supervising and Onyx is making sure the cot is safe.

Yes there is a Chihuahua in that pile

Not so sure three weekend events in a row is that smart but, well, you don't know until you have tried. 

In between enjoying your revelries this long weekend take a moment and remember our Service Men and Women who served and who still serve.  Spare a positive thought for them all.

NHRF wrap up and pictures of garb

New Hampshire Renaissance Faire was amazing.  I did very well.  I was thrilled watching all the little girls running around with my Princess hats and playing with my Ribbon Wands.  Here are some pictures of these.

My display table

Items I usually Carry

Fans

Tatted chokers, soap bags, wash cloths and pot holders

My booth

A happy customer and her Daddy who is a really good sport (no, he didn't buy the circlet).

Me on opening day

As promised here are pictures of the Bride in her skirted bodice.

This is the Bride and her handsome Groom

Here is me in my 15th Century Merchant attire, minus the sleeves.  The mini top hat is courtesy of Kate from Antika Nueva.

Not bad for a first try.  No sleeves, but it was way too hot for any additional clothing that day.

So, there you have it.  This coming weekend I'll be at Beltaine at A Sacred Place.  Tomorrow I'll start making small "medicine" bags.  Today I rest.

Princess Hats and something new

So, there is no way I am going to finish the sleeves for my 15th Century Merchant garb for Saturday.  That's OK.  The rest of the outfit is ready and, according to the weather report, I'm not going to need them.

So, more princess hats.  I got 20 decorated today.  That leaves five more for tomorrow.  I also will need to veil them tomorrow.  Here they are.

I found some "My Little Pony" stickers and some "Disney Princess" stickers and ribbon.  So cool.

The something new is I'm making ribbon toys.  I bought four yard long dowels and cut two today.  I cut them a foot long then, after I sanded the ends down, glued a good length of satin ribbon to the end.  I got six done today in Green and purple.

I have six more to create tomorrow.  Then I'll be all set for the last weekend of the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire.  Come on down and say HI.  I'm up on the hill to the right.

Dying with Dandelions and other things

First, yesterday I finished the Pirate Head Wraps.  Here are some of the prints I found.  They are too cute.

I also played with some kitchen chemistry today.  Ever since I saw the dandelion stains on Kate's husky's paws I have been curious to see how it would work as a dye.  So out to my damp yard, we have been getting a lot of rain this week, I went and cut the heads of several dandelions.  I brought them back inside and stripped off the petals.  I put them into a pot with a good amount of water and simmered them for 20 minutes.

Before the simmering

After the simmering

In the mean time I simmered the snoods in a water bath to which I added about a tablespoon of alum.  They simmered for about five minutes.

I rinsed the snoods out with cold water and patted them down to remove excess water.  I then prepared the dye bath by straining the plant material through a sieve with cheese cloth in it.  I squeezed the cheese cloth to get all the color out.  The remaining liquid is the dye bath.

In go the snoods.  I covered the bowl with plastic wrap because I have a very inquisitive kitten and I don't know if the dandelion liquid is bad for him.

After an hour and a half soak out came the snoods.  I rinsed them off and put them on a towel to dry.  One of them came out a bit two toned because I had to use a different thread to finish it.  It is interesting how just the difference in texture took the dye differently.  The threads were both cotton size 10 thread.  This is the kind of thing I find so interesting about using natural dyes.

The one in the upper left hand corner is the one that dyed two tone.

I have gotten a similar color from celery leaves, but this is a use for those prevalent dandelions that so many curse in their lawns.

NHRF prep

I bet you thought that I have been slacking off on my NHRF prep.  No, No, not me.  On Saturday I was at a cookout at the Bride's house.  We did a final fitting on the Bodice.  It looks really good on her.  I will post a picture of her in it at her wedding.  I just have to finish the shoulder straps and she is all set. 

On Sunday, the Beloved and I set up my two tents.  I bought a brand new Ez Up and, despite the advertising that seemed to say they were included, there were no walls in the box.  Grrrrrr, now I have to find walls.  My other tent looks good, I'm just going to use it as a sun shade the first weekend as I'm sharing space with Looking through Glass Painting, my lovely friend Jenn, on the second weekend.  So to the rescue comes my other lovely friend Kate, check out her stuff at Antika Nueva.  She has a spare set of walls.  Whew.  I ordered a set for myself on EBay.  They say they will be in Thursday, but I have a backup just in case.

On to yesterday.  I had to go up to JoAnn's Fabric to get some extra fabric for Pirate head wraps.  I got two really cute prints.  I have about a dozen wraps cut out.  Oh, and my two dozen fans came yesterday.  They are beautiful. 

So today I'm ironing the fabric and ironing down the hems and I think, why am I doing this then sewing it.  Out comes the Stitch Witchery and that's how I'm doing them.  It's cheating I know, but it gives you a nice clean hem and seals the cut edges.  I have five left to do and I need to get more Stitch Witchery.  That's an errand for tomorrow.  I have to go to the local Walmart to get some rope to tie down my tents also, so it's one trip.  With gas at the ridiculous price it is I try to cluster my errands.

I'm going to finish up the Bride's shoulder straps tomorrow and bash the grommets into them (ah God, I hate grommets).  I'll be all done with my NHRF prep.  Good thing too, since I have to go set up on Friday.  Can't wait.  If I do well at this Renaissance Faire then I'll start vending at a few more.

I'm putting off working on the sleeves for the Merchant garb that I want to wear to the wedding until next week.  I don't need it until that Saturday so, no rush.

The Bride's Bodice

First of all, here is the legacy from my day of Bashing grommets on Wednesday.  I circled the bruises that started developing yesterday.  Yes, I bruise very easily.

This is also part of my preparations for NHRF as she is getting married the second Saturday of the Faire.  She wanted a full partial skirt that came down to about her knees attached to the Bodice.  Yesterday, for what ever reason the machine just wasn't cooperating with me.  After over an hour of fussing with it I gave up and decided to try again today.  Today it worked like a charm.  Go figure.

I hemmed the bottom and roll hemmed the sides.  Then I started to gather the top.  By setting the thread tension to Nine and the stitch length to three I got a nice full gather.

I pinned the skirting to the bodice, starting and ending where my Bride indicated she wanted it.  I then went back to the sewing machine and manhandled it through, only having the bobbin jam once.

I'm not going to post a completed picture of this until after the Wedding out of deference to the Bride.  The last thing I have to make is shoulder straps.  She is going to be trying it on tomorrow.

YAY - The Princess Hats are done

Seriously, the 24 Princess hats are all decorated, veiled and packed in a box ready for NHRF.  Here are the white ones veiled.

Today was also Grommet Bashing day.  I don't particularly like putting in grommets, mostly because I can't seem to avoid hitting my thumb.  Sure enough, while bashing the grommets into the my 15th century Merchant bodice I slammed the hammer into my thumb knuckle.  Here is the finished bodice.

This picture is blurry but you get the shape of the bodice

I also did the grommets for the Bride's bodice.  She came over for a fitting to see if I had to make any more adjustments so on went the ugly fitting straps again.

I did the front closure ones and the front and back of where she wants the removable shoulder straps.  Tomorrow I will start on the skirted portion of the bodice.

So, that is how I spent my day.  Thankfully, no more Princess hats to work on.  I do need to start some "Pirate" head wraps for the boys.