Stephanie Alexander came to our school today!

Today was the launch of The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation program at my children's school.

There was such a vibe and buzz in the kitchen. The children were so excited and wanted to help out however they could. Many yummy dishes were made and served by them. What an event for them, and so exciting for our school community.

The program is just wonderful, our school has worked so hard to qualify for it.  You could see at the opening that it has been made possible because of the dedication and support of the teachers, parents and community.

It's just so great to see something like this take shape, to be a part of it every time I come along to volunteer does my heart good. 

milking apron

cliché, by various brennemans.

With this ye olde talk going on in my house (and in the last post!) I just had to get out my sewing machine.

I'd gotten enough inspiration to take my "Carefree Clothes for Girls" book down and try my hand at some of the gorgeous patterns in it. It is classically styled clothing: dresses, aprons and all manner of beautiful french provincial looking things. I think that this book is a must-have if your house has girls from three to seven.

In my case I have three girls, but one is ten so I needed to up-size the pattern. Oh, and adapt it to look 1850's-like, for the school's 125th anniversary

I don't really know how to do this. Lucky I waited until the night before the morning of the event to get started.

But when I see the frayed edges and unsewn hems in this book I kinda think, hey you can bend the rules here and all will be fine. It looks good in the book, it will be fine. Right?

Looking at the pictures, and before I opened the pattern envelope, I thought I would take the an apron and a dress and mish-mashed the two. They were all printed on the same page anyway, it turned out, the various pattern pieces parts, in different colours and overlapping. I stood and looked at this for a long time. Aaron was no help. I can never tell if that means he can't figure it out or just doesn't want to.

End the end I just threw my hands up and tried for "pretty close." I used the apron design, adding the sleeves and a thrift-shop doilie from the dress pattern, as well as adding a tie up for the back. I used linen which I think gives this apron/top a french feel. Milk and smelly cheese, green grass.

I'd shown Beatrix the apron before I started mish-mashing, and the next morning when she saw the finished product she said just the right things. "I love the sleeves, mum. Nice touch." Better than fine, you betcha.

She now plans to wear this "anytime." I am so glad. I also made a babushka scarf just to tie in the whole 1880's thing. My son's outfit was mostly thrifted, I love his cap he so looked the part.

When we go to the school (on time!) it was amazing to see. Almost two hundred children dressed in 1880's attire, the teachers as well. After the (pleasantly short) speeches, there were activities: ink writing with quills, paper doll making, hopscotch, and the lunches were all wrapped in paper, or cloth, glass for other stuff, it was great.

There were also displays from the school's whole history, too. Some were really interesting, like the really old letter asking for the hole in the girl's fence to be fixed along with the bill for fixing it, four pounds eighty. Also some more modern stuff, including some readers I think I remember having!

It's been nice, all this thinking about the past. Those 1850's people, they were living in exciting times, and while it sounds a bit strange to say it, to them it was "now." We're part of someone's past right now. Right?

anachronism (2 of 2)

If I could knit, by various brennemans.

After the last post on my visit to Sovereign Hill, I still wanted to show you more!

The Drapery store I am sure I hadn't taken a good look in there my last visit, well before I was all into sewing and all. The quilts, the the bundles of fabric probably all shipped from London and America, the baskets of thread and the amazing gowns, purses, shawls and masks.

Then there was the gentleman's section, top hats, waist coats, my husband nearly purchasing a real top hat but settling for an imitation, still wearing it round the place and almost wearing it out to see Michelle Shocked the other night. Now he's put a long, colorful band on it and is wearing it everywhere.

Our other favorite place on the day was the tiny school building, we sat in this classroom and saw what school was like back then. This was a fantastic experience, we all learned so much, without really noticing it. There were pens and pots of ink at all the little desks, and the kids got to practice writing with a quill pen.

The teacher was in part even when she spoke to the children as they presented their work to be marked. She's chat to them about what they wanted to do or be, and then tell them something about how it was there at that time. One boy said he wanted to be a doctor, and she told him how in "her time" they thought smells caused diseases, and that people would drink from the river that had rotting carcasses in it but would just hold their nose!

Bea was asked how old she was, whether she could sew, knit,cook and look after a baby, because at her age she'd have been doing all those things. She nodded and walked away pretty quiet, I hope thinking I'd better stay in school considering back then a husband was being found and a baby would be on the way by age fourteen.

Eliza waited so patiently with her little square of paper and her letters, I thought she was too cute. When she came away she told us how she would have looked after chickens, and how she would have collected their eggs, and how she'd lock them away at night so the foxes wouldn't get them. I love asking her again and again what her little three year old self would have done in the 1850's, I just want to hear it over and over.

I also was taken by the letters and the alphabet cards hanging from string, funny this could be in a magazine today, how stylishly simple. I am going to take this idea and make some for home I loved it so much.

The signs that hung about the place were absolute gold, like the ones I photographed of No school today, my kids thought that was awesome.

Then there was the simple, soft rounded look to the benches, stools and tables, even the little chalk boards were lovely. I could only think of the philosophy of Steiner, the Shakers and their furniture and the modern local furniture designer Mark Tuckey and of how timeless and beautiful and how thankfully we look to the past for inspiration.

I came away from Sovereign Hill inspired to make my children's outfits for the schools 125th anniversary, and took so much away from our visit there. We have talked all week about life back in the day, that was worth the hefty price of admission. It's really brought us together as a family all through the week. Even if just by seeing Aaron raking leaves in his top hat.

I am a little excited about showing you some pictures of my children and what I came up with for tomorrow!