This past week I had the immense pleasure and privledge of particpating in a very special design transformation. It’s Curtains For Little House.
It’s Curtains For Little House
Last May I attended Prairie Days at the Little House on the Prairie site in Independence, Kansas. The wonderful owners of the site, Jean and Kristin Schodorf, were in the midst of building a fantastic replica of the Little House cabin.
I offered to create the soft goods (curtains, tablecloth, etc.) for the interior. They happily accepted and I measured the various areas before returning home.
Oh Oh Calico!
One thing I truly love about the Little House books is that Laura’s storytelling is so very detailed. She provides a wealth of information on how pioneers actually lived. In the book, On The Banks of Plum Creek, Laura described the curtains Ma made from various muslin and calico.
My dear friend Dartanyan, from the Time Travelers Sewing Guild, gracious donated some lovely vintage cotton calico cloth to the cause. The vintage cotton crochet lace had been in my box of sewing treasures for a considerable amount of time.
Hang Ups
As for hanging the curtains Laura told how “Pa was driving nails to hold the strings for the curtains…” I surmised that the string was perhaps a thin rope. To hold the weight of curtains it would need to be something a bit more sturdy than string. A second thought I had was that nails would not be able to be driven through string. But nails could absolutely be hammered in place between the strands of rope.
I selected a sisal rope and square headed nails. Both items are historically accurate for the time period.
To keep the ends of the rope from fraying I dipped the ends into hot wax and let it harden.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the cabin was set for Friday, August 3rd, 2018.
This was a perfect day to mark such an esteemed occasion as it was also the 148th birthday of Carrie Ingalls Swanzey who was born at the historic site.
The Authentic Install
My son and I arrived the day before the celebration to do the install.
It was a true delight to see the finished cabin.
My new Eagle Scout was able to share skills he had learned while earning the woodworking merit badge.
A very special “thank you” to the delightful John Bass for taking photos of the process.
For a truly fun recreation we wore historically accurate work clothing that I had sewn for the occasion. I have such deep respect for our ancestors. It was about 95 degrees inside the cabin on this hot summer day.
My heart was filled with such deep gratitude for my son who is 16. I am very happy that he is so ready and willing to represent our Ingalls family heritage.
He did a truly fabulous job!
The cabin was on it’s way to becoming truly cozy.
Next, a few pieces of reproduction furniture were added to the cabin. Much more is to come!
Afterwards we spent a bit of time with the lovely animals that live at the site. Kristin lovingly rescued them all from a slaughter sale.
The Little House on the Prairie cabin is located at 2507 3000 Rd, Independence, KS 67301.
Tax deductible donations to support the museum site can be made HERE. There is still a great need to repair/restore the exisiting chimney and firebox.
If you know of any stonemasons in the Kansas area capable of such a task by all means leave a comment or contact the museum.
Just to clarify, I do not profit from the museum in any way, shape or form. I gifted my time, materials, and travel expenses as I strongly believe that preserving history is a truly worthwhile cause.
Calico kisses,
Laura
Other Laura Themed Posts
You can find other Laura themed posts at the top of the page under the Little House tab.
The Homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Hi Laura! I love love love this! What a great project to work on. I absolutely love the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I was in the third grade my class was in a “portable” class room attached to the school due to lack of room. It was a wooden structure that looked like an old school house to me. There was a pot bellied stove for our heat source. The windows were tall, the blackboard was long, the feeling was from a time long ago. My teacher, Mrs Miller, was an older woman (well not old to me now as I age!) and she was a sweet person and so knowledgeable. She wanted us to get our school work done at the end of the day so we didn’t have to take it home. Her “bribe” was that if we were done with our work she would read from the Little House on the Prairie books. She made them come alive! I will never forget the feeling of being in that school room hearing those stories! I loved every detail of Laura’s accounts of life in her era. I’m so impressed with your project Laura! Looking forward to more about your ventures…
Blessings to you & yours!! Edie Marie
Oh wow, you always impress with your sewing skills and your ability to bring all the Little House On The Prairie details come to life. What a loving gift to your heritage and the museum
So great that you could contribute to this project. Those curtains really do cozy up the cabin.
Love this. I adored the books as a child, and later read them to our girls. Glad to see this little piece of history being restored. Always impressed with your sewing skills friend.
Amazingly enough I had curtains of that very same fabric in one of our homes! What a wonderful experience. Thanks for sharing the many photos, I’m currently re-reading the LIW series and enjoying all the little details all over again.
Nice job! I love that you both dressed in period costume for the install.
Laura –
I am a huge LIW fan. I cannot wait to travel to visit this site. If you have not gone you need to take a field trip to see the home of Almanzo Wilder in Malone NY. The sight is amazing. It is about an hour south of Montreal or an hour NW of Lake Placid, NY. Here is as link: https://almanzowilderfarm.com/
It is interesting to see where he grew up. The parts of the town of Malone still resemble the drawings in Farmer Boy. You would enjoy it.
I cannot wait to delve in to the rests of your posts. Thank you so much!
Cathie
Oh, I love seeing the photos and reading about what you are doing to keep the legacy going. It means so much to all of us that grew up loving the stories! Sweet hugs, Diane
What a wonderful project for you and your son to get involved with. Love the curtains and your period costumes.
Laura,
What a wonderful experience for you and your son to share in being a part of your family’s history. Reading about history is just the beginning. Experiencing it by contributing time and skills brings it alive in ways that are never forgotten like reading alone. Your son will always have these memories of his distant past family and his mother.
Judith
I sincerely THANK YOU both, Laura and Ian Charles for coming to hang your beautiful hand-made curtains for the newly rebuilt log cabin home in Independence, Kansas! What a pleasant site they are to hang at the two windows. We treasure you and your family for you doing this, and simply contributing to this rich history here! God bless you!
What a wonderful project for you and your son to get involved with. Love the curtains and your period costumes.
wonderful, wonderful post…i so enjoy your work !!!
What a memorable event and active participation! I love that you & your son were able to do that, Laura!
My heart swelled reading this post. I remembered how much I enjoyed reading the Little House books and your post has inspired me to introduce my youngest daughter to the books. I had totally forgotten how delightful the stories are. She has difficulty with reading but these may be just the stories that she can embrace. I will be sure to show her your photos and explain to her that yes, Laura Ingalls Wilder was a real girl dealing with growing up issues, just like she is. The photos are lovely. Thank you.
The curtains are so beautiful! I love the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
Laura, I’ve alerted my Betsy-Tacy friends to your post! Thank you for your good work and that of SG and Lou in making Laura’s story come alive in so many different places.
WOW!! You are truly amazing!! No doubt your ancestors would be happy and proud of how you and your family have honored them. Thanks for sharing so much of your family history. Joan-My CookieClinic
I so enjoyed this post! I enjoyed it so much that I went back and reread your post about the different home sites around the country. The final photograph of Laura caught my eye. Any chance she had any Native American lineage? Just curious.
Your contribution in keeping your ancestor’s story alive is truly remarkable. Love seeing your different costumes! By the way, I did go to the Cut! Costume in the Cinema exhibit last Sunday and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I could have stayed for hours! And the air conditioning had been fixed — whew!! Please keep us informed of any other exhibit or event involving historic clothing. Thanks! (Wish we could get the Downton Abbey exhibit running in New York right now.)
Laura, I thoroughly enjoyed this post. All so special!
I think it’s so good to see history up close like this!
I love this post more than I can say. What a wonderful and personal project for you — and to have Sweet Guy help even more so. (And I have to say, hats off to him, costuming it up with his mom on such a warm day!)