Michaelmas Party and New Harp Inaugural (Part II - The Dress and The Party!)

There were many moving parts to this party.  Besides the sewing, there was music to be learned and practiced, a hairstyle to be gotten, and food and decorations.  Paul, was an angel, and helped me so much with party set up and as our butler!

I had a special braided style done by Crowning Glory Braiding.

The table beforehand.

This time I have the right dimensioned tablecloth!

The new baby - cherry wood, with a cherry blossom motif

Here I am with the new harp.  

(Excuse the wrinkles in my dress - 

photo taken after I played for the ladies.)

And here are the Tea Ladies!

We had a lovely time.

Michaelmas Party and New Harp Inaugural (Part I - Sewing)

A week ago, on September 29th, I had a Michaelmas Party at my house.  Michaelmas is the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (one of my favorite saints, and I say the Saint Michael prayer often: see here).  I had often heard this holiday mentioned in Jane Austen movies, and never really knew what it was.  I was vaguely aware that it was near the end of September. I was wanting a theme for a dinner I was planning for my Tea Ladies.  It was going to be a special dinner, because I wanted to debut my new folk harp, a Dusty Strings FH36S, which was due to arrive at the beginning of September.

So I put together a Michaelmas Party with a Jane Austen/harp theme.  I decided to make a new gown.  I had a nice yellow fabric that I was actually intending for a test pattern that I am involved in evaluating, but I wanted to do something simpler, so I used La Mode Bagatelle's Regency Wardrobe Pattern which I have had in my stash.  I also needed a set of stays that I could wear and still play the harp in, so I bought a Short Stays pattern and the kit from Redthreaded.

The dress pattern: 

I used the crossover bodice with short sleeves

The Redthreaded kit:

I liked this kit, and the owner was very helpful with my questions!

The finished stays

The sewing was rather rushed; as usual I was running out of time, literally sewing up until a half hour before the party.  It is only by the Grace of God (and the fancy-schmancy invisible zipper foot I bought years ago, especially for my machine) that my invisible zipper went in without a hitch. (Yes, I was completely historically inaccurate and used a zipper.  This dress was meant to be a quick costume, not a faithful reproduction.)  The hem I put in is probably The Worst Hem Ever.  Machine sewn with a big basting stitch setting, and horrible on the inside, But it passed muster on the outside.  I will go back and re-do it in the future.  

Stay tuned for Part II - The Finished Dress and The Party!

Attic Afternoon

Yesterday we spent time putting things away in the attic.  Our attic is accessed by pull-down stairs that fold up into the ceiling.  Tyler has never been up there before.  But he was intrigued, and went up to help.  My job consisted of handing things up to Paul.  We had boxed all of the Christmas decorations, but had not gotten to storing them.  This included our tree.  We also needed to put up a small wooden hutch, part of a play set that my dad made for us when we were kids (Ty uses the little stove as his end table; I sometimes use it as an extra tray table when I have ladies over for tea.)  But the hutch is usually homed in Ty's closet, and we needed to clear a space for the "secret passageway" that will go between Ty's and Robert's (well, the guest room) closet.

It made me think about a decorative plate I have, one of a set of four that combines Victorian homes with cats!  The name of one of the scenes is "Attic Afternoon".  The four plates used to be in our old kitchen, on the wall that had weird paneling up so that upper cabinets could not be hung.  Now that the shelf is removed (and languishing in the basement), the plates are sitting in the sideboard.  I want to put the shelf up, maybe in the dining room, so I can put the plates out again.

See the plate below, although the attic pictured on the plate is so much lovelier than our rather utilitarian one.  Oh well, Ty had fun, and our house is a little more organized.

Ty and Paul, up high in the attic

"Attic Afternoon" plate

Disorganized Sewing/Robert's Room

I have two sewing projects on deck.  The trouble is that right now my home is not completely conducive to successful sewing.  Yesterday I wanted to get started tracing an Edwardian-era hobble skirt, and cutting bias strips to finally finish a quilt I started many, many years back. Step one was clearing off the dining room table - a Herculean task.  But it was done, wiped down, and worked commenced.  I was able to trace the skirt pattern yesterday.

The bias strips however, ran into a snag.  We have been, over the past, oh, six months or so, been doing some work on Robert's old room.  You see, Robert now lives in Portland, so the room is to be a guest room (and Robert's room when he comes to visit) and also a sewing room for me.  I've never had a sewing room before, and I long to have one.  But his closet was in need of repair (walls cracking, not insulated, cold), including a "secret passageway" that Tyler wants put in that leads from his closet to Robert's.  Fun, and has sort of a Narnia aspect to it (Mr. Tumnus?!).  So far the closet is insulated and has most of its wallboard.  All that remains is some electrical and the passageway door.  But we also needed to replace the ceiling in the room itself.  Right now the old ceiling is out, and 70% of the wallboard is up on the ceiling.  A paint job and new baseboards will follow (pre-stained oak this time, so all that needs to be done is the cutting and fitting).  But my sewing stuff is scattered to the four winds, including my iron.  Hence, the difficulty going forward with the bias strips.  So once I get all of my projects to the sewing stage, I will not have an optimal sewing space yet to do them.  Not really much different from when my sewing machine was in the dining room.

No one seems to know where the iron went.  To be honest, it is quite old, and I am tempted just to buy another.

My skirt project is for Book Club.  We are reading Doctor Zhivago.  I want to wear an Edwardian skirt and blouse ensemble, and I have my eye on an awesome faux fur Russian hat.  More on that in a future post.

Rocking Horse Farm #903 

Edwardian Hobble Skirt

My quilt - circa 1988

My Downton Abbey Dinner

At last I have the blog post of my Downton Abbey Dinner!  It was a lovely evening.  My family was amazing in the help and acting they provided.  Of course, there were a few snafus, but we worked around them, and the evening went smoothly.

I'll start from the beginning, showing how the evening progressed.

The Arrival:

Our "butler" stood outside on the front porch to welcome guests.  We had the American flag on our flagpole above, but we also hung the Union Jack on the porch near the butler.

Paul played Carson.  However, a small snafu detained him from the initial answering of the doorbell. (There was a mistake with our entree - not enough was made as we ordered!  He and Robert ran out to get the revised order right before the evening started.)  However, our butler-in-training, Mini-Me Carson (Tyler) subbed for Carson, and did a brilliant job of it ("Might I take your coat, mum?" and "Here is your champagne punch, mum" in a very authentic-sounding British accent!)

Mini-Me Carson (Ty) and Lady Mary (Julie)

Then it was time for the first game.  I spent a lot of time preparing what I called "Downton Abbey Easter Eggs" or "Hidden in Plain View".  This was where I placed reproductions of items or beings that appeared in the show out in the various rooms, along with other antique-like items.  The guests then needed to figure out which of the many items that were in and around the rooms were actually related to the show.  This was probably the most enjoyable aspect of the planning.  I needed to make some of the reproductions, which really tapped into my creative side.  

Game One:

While the ladies hunted for the objects, I played three harp pieces for them: Adagietto by Damase, Nadir's Song from The Pearl Fishers by Bizet, and an arrangement of Downton Abbey Suite by Lunn that my harp teacher and I adapted for harp.  I am wearing my Downton Abbey Dress that I had made previously for another event.  

This was one of two favorite Easter Eggs that I placed out.  I found instructions for this craft on this website, although we altered the bell to be an actual doorbell (non-functioning, just for show).  Paul made this for me.  I did the spray painting, but he did the rest, carefully pre-drilling holes for the doorbell, the clip, and the nail that went into the wall, and adhering the name plate to the wood.  It is still hanging on the wall, and I think I will keep it there, periodically changing the note to the butler as the occasion suggests.  

Here were some other Easter Eggs, see if you know which episode they are from and what was going on in the show around them: a bar of soap, a (reproduction) painting by Piero Della Francesca, a telegram (see below for text), a letter opener, a syringe, some letters, a train ticket (also see below), a fan, and a poster about a vaudeville act.  

Telegram

Train Ticket.  

This was my second favorite Easter Egg.  I made it using Word, and it was not easy!  I only had the photo below to go on, but it was really fun trying to duplicate it.  

This telephone was not originally intended to be an Easter Egg; I bought it to add to the ambiance, but many ladies guessed it, and it did appear in the show after all.  

Isis.  Tyler inherited her once the party was over. 

Baby Marigold.  

My doll is always in my parlor, but I added a silk marigold bouquet to hint at her identity.

Then it was time for dinner.  My faithful staff (Paul, Kristin, Robert, and Tyler) worked behind the scenes.  Lady Mary (Julie) dined with us, amusing us Violets and Isobels with her youthful company.  We played another game between the first course (split pea soup) and the second (Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette, recipe here) called Match the Quote (link here).

The Dinner:

The dinner table.  Julie had rescued me from the wrong tablecloth. (I discovered that day that I had ordered the wrong size; she ran out that afternoon and bought me one that would fit our table with both leaves in.)

A brass servant's bell brought our staff to our table.  We had pesto ravioli (Maggiano's, who made good on the whoops regarding mistake on the size tray we wanted in a most generous way) and Walnut Carrots with Honey Glaze (recipe here).

Between dinner and dessert we played our last game, Downton Abbey Trivia (link here).  Our dessert was Chocolate Toffee Mini-Trifles (recipe here).   And then it was time to depart.  

The Ending:

My wonderful "staff".  Tyler, Robert (the footman Albert), and Carson (who also acted as a footman during dinner - gasp! and poured the wine).  Mrs. Patmore (Kristin) was too shy for a photo.  

The Aristocratic Ladies (Violets, Isobels, and Lady Mary).  Note the hats and tiaras.

And one more with Mini-Me Carson.

We all had so much fun with this.  It was a lovely evening, and in spite of the effort, I am looking forward to our next big event.  It was just so nice to travel into the past!

Adjusting the Dining Table (With Nods to a Bible Study and Downton Abbey)

Our dining table is an antique that my mother gave to us.  It is oak, and it is lovely.  The one problem with it was that it had wheel casters under the four legs, which were not original to the design.  Now, this was very convenient, because it is a heavy table and the casters helped it move.  But it also lifted the table at least 2" higher than it should be.  I had been aware of this, and sometimes it bothered me.  But it really started bothering me once Tyler came along, because the extra height made it even harder for a child to be comfortable at.

The kicker was that I am having a fancy dinner party (Downton Abbey themed!) in November, and with the sprucing up of the dining room, I wanted the table to be just right.  Additionally, I have started attending a group bible study (more on that in an upcoming post), and I like to work at the table for this - more room to spread out with the bible and the workbook.  Oh, and a cup of tea of course!  But at the higher table I always felt a little bit like Edith Ann (for the younger folks, Google Edith Ann and Lily Tomlin from Laugh In in the 1960's).

So, Paul endeavored to remove the wheel casters and replace them with glides (a product unavailable when the casters were put on, otherwise I think they might have used them).

Paul, hard at work.

One of the legs with the new glide on it (not visible once the table is upright). 

All done.  Beauty!

A Peculiar Sort Of Echo

The dining room is moving along with the wall replacement.  We also scrubbed and repainted the other walls to refresh them.  Finally we moved the tools out and the furniture back in.  We have not put our shades back up (waiting for the window washers to come and clean all of our windows - so overdue!).  But I noticed that the room was very echo-ey. Surely this cannot only be because of missing shades?  We had moved my sewing machine and drawers upstairs to stay in the new location.   So there was less furniture there.  I couldn't figure out why that would make such a difference.  And it seemed so roomy.  Paul then pointed out that we had also moved our microwave into the kitchen and gotten rid of the wooden storage cart it rested on.  How could I have forgotten that?!  (The trauma of having the microwave in such an awkward location for so many years?)

Well, I do have plans for a narrow telephone/floral arrangement table to go against one wall. Maybe that will help?  Oh, and a plant stand to disguise the transition between the new wall and the old faux wainscoting that a former owner had put up and that I hate.  Perhaps that will do the trick.  Anyway, here are some progress photos:

  

Woodwork Refinishing - Casings, Plinths, and Rosettes

Yesterday I did some work on the woodwork.  Many years ago we had our original pine woodwork reproduced by a lumber company.  We had ordered a lot, intending to replace all of the battered pine woodwork with new oak reproductions. We had gone through a lot of it. When this dining room partial-remodel-mushroom came about, I thought it would be nice to replace the doorway casings, plinth blocks, and rosettes in the dining room with the oak stuff.  We are not going to replace the pine casings around the windows in the dining room, because those windows are going to be replaced some day (drafty, awful).  Paul and I did a woodwork inventory and managed to scrounge up enough to take care of the two doorways. One half-dead plinth will need resuscitation (this time by Paul, not a nurse, but a darned fine woodworker).  Some of the long pieces were formerly window aprons (that go under the windows, with one side flat up against the sill), which he routed the flat edge to match the opposing round one.

I had previously stained them and put one coat of polyurethane on.  Yesterday I did coat two in the early afternoon, and Paul came home and finished them up in the evening.  Also, this past weekend we went out and bought the new door jambs, which have to go on before the casings.  So I will be working feverishly in the next few days to get them stained and polyed so Paul can put them up on the weekend.

Long casings in the yard.

Plinths and rosettes in the basement.  

Note the "patient" plinth mid-left.  He needs to be glued back together.  

When I Got Home From Work

After a very busy evening at the hospital, arriving home after midnight, I discovered that Paul, who had started the wallboard for the north wall of the dining room before I left for work, had completed it.  All it needs is goop and paint.  And the reapplication of the beloved wallpaper border.

With the obligatory cat, of course!  (click on the photo to see creepy cat eyes)

The Hole in the Wall (Mushrooming Project)

There is a saying in any remodeling project, that of "mushrooming".  What this means is that while doing one project, one may uncover (or cause) another project to spring up.  In our case, the work in the kitchen (gutting, hammering, etc.) caused the weakened plaster on the north wall of our dining room (adjacent to the kitchen wall), which was already suffering from a large crack, to begin to fall off.  Thus the "hole in the wall".

Of course, with me being musical, this brought up a piece, one that I have played on harp, but also love in Regency/Vitorian era movies, such as Wives and Daughters.  The music is by Henry Purcell, and it has many names: The Hole in the Wall, Hornpipe from The Moor's Revenge, or Hornpipe from Abdelzar's Suite.  So I have been playing that piece on my harp and hearing it in my head all week. (You can hear the piece here.)

Before we could begin, there was a *small* task, i.e. preserving the wallpaper border that I love. Since we are only re-doing the north wall (the east wall had already been replaced with wallboard prior to the border being applied; we are not touching the south and west walls until a later date - huge mushroom, involving new windows, structural stuff, insulation, etc.), I did not want the border to just end.  So, faithful Paul undertook the painstaking task of removing it.  This is not an easy task.  But he did it, and it is rolled up, waiting to be reapplied once the new wallboard is up.  (More to follow in upcoming post once complete.)

The border - isn't it beautiful?

The Hole in the Wall

Paul starting the tedious process of border removal

He did it in stages - it took three days 

  

Gutted corner with cats

The full view

 

Donnie, on the dropcloth-covered table, looking beauteous