SCA: Goofy Little Tent Flag

 Last month I showed you my new heraldry which was passed in June: 

I used to have a little cloth flag that I would put up in front of my tent to say, "this is my tent," but since I changed my heraldry this summer, I needed a new flag. 

Rather than try to replicate the entire device on a 12x14" flag, I decided to make one of those little "weathervane" style flags like you see on Norse banner poles (like this).  (No, it doesn’t look remotely Norse now that it’s finished). 

There's a blue background and a gold pomegranate on one side: 

And a black raven rising on the other side: 

(If you're curious, the cloth is white cotton sheeting; and the paints I used are plain old artists' acrylic paints mixed with a little bit of Tacky Glue and some liquid matte medium. The glue keeps the colors from running in the rain, and the matte medium is just to water down the paint and make the finish the same across the different colors).  

Just a small fun project which will absolutely NOT make up for the fact that I have a big, blue, modern tent, LOL.  (I would love to build myself a real Viking tent, but I don't have the time or the money, or the space in my workshop to do all that carving!) 

SCA: Heraldic Table Runner For the New Sprezzatura Table

 Once the table for Sprezzatura's camp was complete I wanted a nice bit of something to go over the top of it.  I briefly considered painting the household's heraldry onto the top of the table, but the table will be covered with food and drink and all sorts of other stuff at events, so I decided to do make a fabric table runner - it will be easier to see, make the table look nicer, and be washable in case of spills.  

The fabric is cotton broadcloth, with cotton/poly bias tape edging. The appliqué is quilting cotton, backed with fusible interfacing, and the whole thing is backed with more blue broadcloth so that the back of the appliqué is hidden and protected. 

I haven't done appliqué in about 8 years, and I've never done it on my current sewing machine.  The machine did NOT want to cooperate. It's not perfect - I've done better in the past - but for not having done it in so long and having to practically alligator-wrestle this sewing machine into doing what I wanted, I think it came out pretty well.  I'm satisfied with it. 

SCA: Table For Sprezzatura

I refinished a table! 

Earlier this year, I had grand ideas about building some sort of Medieval-ish wooden table for my household's camp.  Until now, we have used a plastic folding table in the center of our pavilion for people to gather around and eat and hang out; but I wanted to make something nicer and somewhat period-ish. Unfortunately, budget and lumber prices kept me from starting the project I had in mind. 

But then, at the beginning of August, I found this little wooden table for free on the curb in my neighborhood: 

It's in great shape construction-wise, a perfect size for our camp (48" x 32", a little shorter than our plastic table, but wider), and the design, though a bit generically Pottery Barn-farmhouse-y, is sort of vaguely Medieval in style and resembles many trestle tables I've seen in artwork from the 1300-1400s, so I think it works.  Ten-foot rule, right? Or as my friend Kate says, it'll look just fine when seen from a galloping horse.    

The only problem with it was that the previous owner (?) stained it with black stain...and they did a horrible job of it. The stain was applied unevenly and not wiped off in between coats, so there are visible brush marks and places where the brush marks overlap, and even areas where it's obvious the stain pooled on the wood and just congealed there.  Also, they sanded off the original finish before staining it, and the sanding was done with a sandpaper that was so heavy and coarse that it marred the wood in places, and half the sanding marks are against the grain.  Ugh! 

Left: uneven and blotchy stain; 
right: sanding and brush marks against the grain

Enter: two cans of Easy Off oven cleaner.  

That's right, oven cleaner.  I saw this trick on Instagram, and then read some blogs about the process and watched some videos, and then tried it out on this table.  You basically spray the entire piece down with oven cleaner, let it sit for about half an hour, scrub it down thoroughly with soap and water, and then hose it off with water.  (The soap and water neutralize the cleaner chemicals so that you're not washing anything harmful into your yard, just dirty water).  Et voila: most of the stain came right off!  

this was after the first treatment; after the 
second pass it came almost completely clean! 

 

The rest of it came off pretty easily with the sander, and I was able to smooth out the rough sanding marks the previous DIYer left behind.  After it was all sanded, I cleaned off the entire piece and coated it with wood conditioner to prep the wood for staining.  

While the black stain that was originally on the table was nice, I wanted something lighter and warmer.  I have an "espresso" stain that is way too dark, and a "Jacobean" that is a nice dark brown but it's got weird green undertones.  I love my walnut stain, but I wanted darker, so I ended up putting two coats of the walnut on the wood, and it came out really nicely, I think: 

After the staining was complete, I coated the whole table in polyurethane to protect the finish.  

Tada!  New table.  The whole project took me about a month and a half, working on weekend mornings before it got too hot outside, and a little bit here and there during the week in my spare time. 

always wear your PPEs, people. 

SCA: Event Recap, and Looking Forward

I went to my first Steppes Warlord a couple of weeks ago!  I'd never gone because I always thought it was "just" a fighting event, but it turns out, it's SO much more.  All the fighting, all the A&S, tons of vendors, lots of competitions, lots of parties, and all kinds of stuff - there were even snow cones for sale, LOL.  I had a a lot of fun.  

Oops

Sadly, one of the strands of beads in my Viking "festoon" necklaces broke, so I only had one to wear pinned between my brooches.  Thankfully, all the beads fell out on my bed while I was getting dressed, so I was able to collect them all and save them to re-string them at a later date.  I'll probably do that this week. 

Also, my gray linen serk "sprung a leak" - a hole opened up in one of the arm seams.  Since the sleeves are tight enough that I can't just take it in to cover the break, I'll have to dig around in my stash to see if I have any more of that fabric so that I can make a patch for the hole.  

Nope!

I was traveling with a friend this event, so to save space I opted not to tote my clothes hamper with me, instead carrying my clothing and EVERYTHING else in my black chest to save space in the truck.  It did NOT work out very well at all - everything was so crammed in there that I had to unload the entire chest to find anything, my clothes got terribly wrinkled, and it was a huge pain in the ass.  I'm definitely not going to do that again - especially since I mostly travel alone, and can pack anything I want in my nice, big truck.  As much as I fantasize about one day building myself a new, period tent; I really like the way I have everything packed and arranged with all my baskets and wooden boxes.  

Yay! 

I spent the mornings at the event working in the kitchen at the Antsteorran Longship Association's omelette breakfasts.  The Longship allowed me to camp with them for the weekend, since my household wasn't going to be there; and so to give back I pitched in in the kitchen, and I had SO MUCH FUN.  It was hard work, but I really enjoyed it.  They set up a full kitchen with camp stoves right there in camp under a huge pavilion, and serve up omelettes made to order - the proceeds go to fund the group's efforts in - get this - building actual wooden Viking longship replicas.  That's so cool!  I look forward to working with them again.   

Next

I hear some kingdoms have indoor events in the cold of winter.  You'd think Ansteorra would do the same thing in the summer, but people down here have some weird tough-guy thing about being able to withstand the Texas sun - we have no indoor events during the hot summers at all.  There are a couple of events over the next two months, but they're outdoors, and they're at least five hours away by car, so I won't be going to anything until the fall brings cooler weather and local events again.  

Plenty of time to work on new projects, fix up my existing wardrobe as needed, and plan for A&S in the fall.  I'm looking forward to the break for a while (I have lots of new Regency stuff planned to keep me busy), but I also already can't wait for September! 

More soon.  

SCA: Camp Furniture Makeover

 So, this folding camp chair was pretty cool.  I bought  a regular old nylon camp chair at Walmart in 2019, removed the nylon covers, spray-painted the frame and the tray, and replaced the covers with pretty fabric, to make it look a little less modern and make it blend in with the wooden camp furniture a little better. Brown spray paint isn't going to fool anyone; but when you place the chair amongst all the wooden furniture, it at least looks a little less plastic-y.  

However, in March, the stitching on one corner of the back piece on this chair gave out and nearly dropped me on the ground at an event - I ended up shoring it up with safety pins in order to keep using it.  

Time for a new cover!  This time it's made from some dark green cotton damask upholstery fabric I had in my stash: 

(the back is the same as the seat and arms; the light is just making it look weird)

Hopefully this will hold me at least another four years.  Maybe by then I'll have built myself a wooden folding chair.  HA!  Yeah, right.  

SCA: Heraldic Chest: Refit

 I built this little chest in 2014, I think, and it’s undergone a lot of different finishes.  It was stained, then painted about six times - the last time I painted it with my heraldry (2019), as you can see in this pic: 

Sadly, the polyurethane I used to seal it turned really yellow really quickly, and it looked just awful. I could have just painted it black again, but some of the paint edges and detail would have shown through the paint, so I decided to strip it back to the wood and start over. 

I stripped all the paint off and then sanded it clean, then re-stained the whole thing and clear-coated it, this time using Polycrylic, which doesn’t yellow like Polyurethane does. I also gave the inside a fresh coat of black paint, and painted the handles with gilding paint to cover up the crappy gold spray paint job they had before.  

I have no idea what kind of wood that is, by the way. It’s plywood from a wooden shipping crate I picked up for free a million years ago - the whole thing looked like that. 

I may still throw some heraldry onto it, but I haven’t yet decided what exactly to do.  For now, this little chest will return to duty holding my camping supplies - mallets, stakes, flashlights, etc.  I’m trying to weed out all the plastics from my camping gear: wood boxes instead of Rubbermaid tubs, baskets and canvas bags instead of plastic sacks and Ikea bags.  

Getting Back To the SCA For A Moment...

 In May of last year, when I made that new Viking coat, I fell head over heels in love with the fabric I used for the outside of the coat.  It's "Agave" linen from Fabric-Store.com. I just couldn't get enough of it.  But it went out of stock, for 7 months I couldn't find it again.  Finally they got it back in stock, about a month ago, and I ordered 4 yards to make a new Viking apron dress.    

I got that dress on there all kinds of sideways,
didn't I?  Slow down, me.  

It's the same as all my other apron dresses recently:  three panels, long looped straps, long hem.  FS' linen is so nice to work with, and I love wearing it.  I adore this color - that makes sewing it even nicer.  The new machine helps, hehe.  

This time, to trim out the top of the dress, I did something new.  I didn't have any more sari bits to use, and I couldn't find a woven trim I liked that would set off the color of this linen.  So I ordered some 1-1/4" silk ribbon from Burnley & Trowbridge., in apple and teal.  I was worried about the colors being right - it's SO hard to gauge colors over the internet - but I'm really pleased with them, and with the way they look on the dress.  Plus, this stuff is SO soft, I keep dropping it because I can barely feel it in my hands!  I'd admired this ribbon look (and/or strips of silk cloth) for years when I saw it on other people, but I'd never tried it myself until now.  

It looks all frumply because of the way everything 
hangs on the dummy.  I really need to fix it! 

So that's my new apron dress.  I can't wait to wear it - and all the other Viking stuff I've made over the past year out of COVID-induced boredom.  (Click the "Viking" tag below to see it all).  I've basically re-made my entire wardrob while we've been sequestered at home this past year.  From what I understand, we *might* begin to have in-person events as early as this summer - I imagine that depends on how this whole vaccine thing goes.  I'm so excited!  I miss the SCA and my friends so much!  

In that vein, I did something else:  I ordered an adjustable garment rack from Amazon to hang all my clothes on in my tent.  No more getting dressed out of plastic boxes and bending over the whole time I'm getting dressed, hurting my back!  I only hope it fits in my tent with my mattress and all my stuff.  I may set up the tent in the backyard over the weekend and give it a try.  

Nice rack!

See you soon.  

Making Over A Camp Chair

There's a big push in the barony lately to reduce the appearance of mundanity.  That means finding ways to obscure the modern and blend it with the historical - things like phones, coolers, tents, chairs, mugs, tennis shoes, etc.  In one of those things I found an opportunity to do my part:

BEFORE

This is my camp chair.  It's brand new, really comfy, and even has a little table that flips up from the side, with a cup holder in it.  Neat!  It is, however, glaringly modern with its metal frame and nylon upholstery.  Fortunately, I've solved this problem before.

The first order of business was to remove the upholstery from the chair and spray paint the frame.  I wiped down the frame to clean off any dust, then sprayed it with an automotive self-etching metal primer (2 colors, not that it matters).  Once that was dry, I sprayed it with a brown spray paint.

PRIMING THE FRAME

I painted the plastic flip-up tray with dark gray all-purpose primer, then the same brown spray paint. I clearcoated the entire tray with Polycrylic to seal the plastic.  With the metal primer, the paint won't flake off the frame, but the plastic might flake or chip if not protected.


Next I made copies of the seat and back pieces that I removed from the chair in a blue polyester upholstery fabric with a swirly Italianate design on it.  I made these double-thickness, the seams reinforced with two rows of stitching on the inside, and the seat 5" longer than the original, so that the ends could be wrapped around the frame and sewn in by hand (which was a big pain in the butt!)


This chair had armrest pads, too, which I copied, and used the velcro and interior padding harvested from the original pads to close.  And yes, the cloth seat and back will be just as strong as the original nylon pieces - the red chair I made over in 2013 held up just fine until the frame itself broke.

AFTER

Now, does that look like a period piece of furniture?  HELL no.  But it looks less modern, and when placed under a tent with wooden poles, next to wooden chairs, it kind of blends in because of the frame color.  It's by no means going to fool anyone, but every little effort helps the overall ambiance.  I do need to re-do the back piece:  see how it looks all twisted?  I tried to cut my fabric as straight as I could, but I was cutting it out of an old dress, and I think I got this piece a little on the bias.  I'll fix it. 

What's Next?  

I'm working on a little painted wooden box right now, and on some embroidery on a new Viking apron dress that I made last month.  Show you soon!

In Which Our Heroine Awakens From Her Post-War Nap

It's been a few weeks, but I finally feel rested.  It always helps me, after an event - especially one I've been working full-time preparing for - to center myself with non-SCA stuff when I get back.  So, I've been gardening, and riding my bike, and sewing some mundane clothing. 

I have a bunch of pics from war this year, and I'm working on getting them all into a Flickr album (or something) that I can share here.  Here are a very few, for now:

Sunday night, after a day of camp setup, I
helped serve feast! I'd never done that before;
and it was SO MUCH FUN.

AND I BURNED THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF MY ARM
ON ONE OF THE OVENS! I took really good care of it all
week, and ever since, and thankfully, it's already mostly
healed, and it looks like there won't even be much of a scar.

So here's a thing: 

I FINALLY got some pictures of the flag ropeline around our campsite, you guys!! You've seen the flags in a couple of posts before. They're made of heavy-weight cotton (originally Ikea RITVA curtain panels, purchased second-hand from my old dance studio when it went out of business a few years ago).  They're each 9x12", double-sided, serged closed on the edges, with a rod-pocket in the top to slip over the ropes.  The fence stakes started life as 8' long 1x2" sleepers from the hardware store - $1.50 each; each cut in half, cut to a point on one end, sanded smooth, and stained/sealed.  There's a 1/2" copper tube strap (5pk/$2 at the hardware store, in the plumbing section) attached to the top of each stake for the rope to go through.  So far the entire fenceline has cost me a whopping $30; and I've got plenty more materials on hand to expand as our camp gets bigger. 

The entrance to our camp.  We often use the ropeline as traffic
control; this year we used it for safety, too, by placing it in
front of a tent-rope trap that kept tripping pople before
we got the whole camp set up.

Looking down the outside of camp, with the silk banners we
all helped to paint in 2012. 

A painted cotton banner I made in 2011.

From the opening ceremonies on Tuesday mornings, all kingdoms lining up to begin negotiating the war treaty. 
This is the most SCA picture ever. 

Me carrying the banner in the procession
to the castle (with my dress falling off my
shoulders and the surcote too low in the
front, because by the time I got to war,
they were too big already! ARGH!)

Caerleon

Just Vikin' around. 

Sadly, I did not manage to get pics of me in that purple men's Viking outfit. I promise you some, though, because...well, because I promised you some, and the entire ensemble looks pretty damned spiffy, if I do say so myself.  (In fact, a friend of mine liked it so much he's commissioned one for himself!) I didn't get to wear most of my cotehardies, because they were all too big again by the time I got to war (ARGH!); nor any of my pretty, fancy court things, because all the fancy court-type stuff was called on account of ...

 

After that was overwith, Caerleon bugged out to a hotel for the night...because hot showers, and because WALLS, y'all.  I admit to being thoroughly unhinged for most of that evening. I've been through several tornadic events in my life - this was actually the least severe of them all, but it brought back some pretty terrible memories, and I was kind of having some epic disaster-flashback issues that evening.   We came back the next morning to clean up and break camp.  I stayed until Saturday to help out the folks I rode with who were working at the merchants' offices.  Friday and Saturday I spent walking around in jeans and a hoodie, because all of my clothes and things were soaked and had been hurriedly crammed into bags into a trailer during a downpour on Friday. I had to laugh - I've made a mask every year for three years now, intending to get to a masked ball at war or some other event, and I never end up making it.  This year I DID make it to the masque at the Known World Party Friday night (which was held inside Beade Hall with donated food and booze from many, many generous people who had such things survive Thursday) - and I showed up wearing jeans, a hoodie, and a generous helping of embarrassment and disappointment.  Oh, well.  Next year?

A flooded pond on site, taken as we GTFO'd on Saturday.
Goodbye, Mississippi.  Please be nicer to us next year.

So, all of that being said, 

I had a FANTASTIC WAR.  Before the tornado I got out and participated in the event in ways I'd never done before.  I met a ton of new people, made some new friends, stepped out of my comfort zone in a constructive way, and had a fabulous time exploring parts of the event I'd always wanted to explore but hadn't.  My health was REALLY nice to me this time around, too, and the freedom was an absolute joy.  I took a HILARIOUS class on ancient-Roman-style swearing that was really interesting and educational as well as lewd and fun - I lost the teacher's card, but if any of you were at the event and know who it was, send me a link to her page! 

Life was really scary and chaotic Thursday; but Friday and Saturday I saw 3,000+ of my fellow SCAdians banding together to help one another in the aftermath of the storms.  Some people lost everything they had, but every single one of us that I could see pitched in to spend the last two days of the event cleaning up, helping each other break down camp and get cars out of the mud in the parking area and on the saturated roads, and make sure that everyone had shelter and food and a way off site.  Everywhere I went those two days, people were full of care and concern for people they didn't even know - and many of us got to know each other through swapping stories of how we all fared during the worst of the storm (shout-out to some of Calontir's heralds, whose names escape me, but whose stories of holding their main pavilion that evening, and whose tale of "How John the Tall Saved the Children" at another event, really made my day on Friday!) 

This is the reason I love the SCA, even when the occasional drama and politics get me down - our love of this game makes us family, and when the chips are down, we are all there for each other, whether we know each other or not.  And whether you, Dear Reader, were at the event or not, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for being family to me and to each other.  If you were there, or if you've had an event that went similarly (I hear Lilies War gets pretty interesting), thank you for caring and helping each other.  Thank you so much.

Gulf Wars!

Only four days left before Gulf Wars, you guys!  And guess what?  I finally got to quit my night job!!!  *DANCES AROUND IN CIRCLES**   I've had time to actually get all of my chores and prep for war done on time, and I'll be taking commissions again once we all get home.  YAY!  So excited.  (In case you couldn't tell).

Completed in the last two weeks:

1.  A man's Viking tunic, embroidered.  There are pants and cloth winingas to go with it;  I'll have pics of the finished outfit after war.

2.  A new Caerleon company surcote, which I made from a black linen cotehardie that I made back in 2012 (I don't have pics of it, sorry).  I closed up the front and cut out the sides, over-dyed the whole thing with a fresh coat of black to spruce up the color; then added the gold binding at the top (cut from some lightweight damask from my scrap pile), the white faux-fur on the sides, and three appliqué'd lions down the front of the skirt.

3.  HOLY CRAP I FIT INTO THIS DRESS FROM 2012 AGAIN:

4.  Seven new flags for the Caerleon campsite ropeline (five pictured) and a new canvas banner/flag to hang outside of my tent (that's the big one on the left):

5.  More canvas bags, this time made from a blue, heavy cotton with a decorative weave and stitch, from which I removed a TON of orange thread in January:

L-R:  finished bag; fabric before thread removal; fabric after

6.  Fixed up this mask for the  Known World Party next Friday night - this year's theme is that of a Venetian-style masque:

L: finished, painted with teal/black nail polish, with dark flowers, star-shaped
spangles, and "raven" feathers (dyed turkey feathers from the craft store);
R:  The mask as purchased in NOLA before Gulf Wars (aside from a bit of nail
polish on the nose - I almost forgot to take a "before" picture), where a few of
us spent a day before heading to the war last year.

I've also done a million small alterations on my older cotehardies; the green Burgundian dress which I made last summer and then never wore; re-painted a small wooden chest I made last that had a horrible finish on it; and completed a Sekrit!Projekt! about which I'll post after I'm back from war.

I'll have pics of everything when I'm back. This week I've got to run a thousand errands, and finish packing - which just seems a Danaidean task, at this point, but I'll get there - and then I'm on the road Friday afternoon. Whee!

TO WAR!   

Canvas Bags For Camp

I'm spending this three-day weekend on war prep, which, among other things, includes replacing a couple of the modern bags that I use around camp.   Neither bag is period in style; but at least they're not, you know, plastic.  One day I'd love to have an encampment that is 100% period, but for now, I'm getting rid of modern items where I can, a piece or two at at time. 

Ikea's iconic, blue shopping bag is perfect for carrying all of my camp bedding, but it isn't deep enough to accommodate a pillow, and it's kind of screamingly Ikea. 

I copied the pattern, and added 4" of height to the side pieces.  

Box-bottom tote

This one's just a large tote bag, with a box-bottom and a long strap.  I plan on using this to store/carry all of the table dressing things I made for Caerleon, as well as the flags I made for the campsite fence line. 

Both bags are made of the cotton canvas from the cover I made for my old EZ-Up pavilion, back in 2013 - the frame broke long ago and couldn't be repaired, and the cover has just been sitting around all this time.    

A Quick Camp Makeover

Remember the fold-up camping cot I  bought in November?

Yes, this one: 

I took a page from Pinterest (at which no one was suprised), and made a pillow-mat for it, with a gathered skirt to hide the legs:

That's a bed sheet, a shower curtain, and a couple of bottles of Rit dye, baby.  Can't beat free. ;)

The back is split and edged with some blanket binding ribbon I had lying around; the pillows just pop right out so the cover can be washed.

At BAM in November I threw a sheet over this thing and set it up under the big, company pavilion, and people really enjoyed having a lounge space.  Now they have a comfier and and more attractive one. :)

.

.

Saving A Battered, Old Chair

THIS CHAIR has seen better days:

(all of these pics are halfway through sanding, to show just how much *crud* is in/on this wood)

Don't get me wrong, it's a good chair.  It's extremely well-made, sturdy, and not a joint is out of place, though it looks horrible.  What you're looking at is several years' worth of

• rain/water damage
• sun exposure/oxidation
• corroded varnish
• sweaty fighter butts (ewww)

Not only was the finish shot, but the wood was so swollen with weather and age in places that the chair wouldn't fully open OR close...rendering a really nice chair completely useless. 

I'll be honest, I was dreading the prospect of sanding allllll those pieces individually.  I guess the chair, or the Universe, or the Powers-That-Be heard me - because I could NOT get this thing apart to save my life.  I tried every tool at my disposal, got friends to help me, even tried to grind the hardware out, but it appears to have been made of naquadah-enhanced unobtanium, and sealed with black magic.  @_@  In the end I had to sand and stain this thing WHILE FULLY ASSEMBLED.  I'm here to tell you that was a bitch. 

BUT I got it done: 

(I could no longer feel my hands after this...and it still needed more sanding)

Here's the first coat of stain, applied very, very carefully, with a small brush and a lot of paper towels.  The chair is solid oak, and pretty well weathered and seasoned; still, I didn't want to chance the stain swelling the wood and undoing all the work I put into buffing down the seat pieces so that this thing would move properly again.  Rubbing stain into the wood with paper towels keeps too much stain from soaking in and swelling the wood, and it also gives you a LOT more control over the depth and amount of color.  

(oooh, aahhh)

After two more coats of stain, and several coats of spray poly-acrylic (for a low-tack, matte-sheen clearcoat, rather than a polyurethane which could stick in hot weather), it was finally done:

(The dark area of the back piece was severely stained, deep enough that I couldn't surface clean it out, or even sand it off the wood.  It's the same on the reverse of the piece; in fact, it's worse on the other side.  I have no idea what caused it, but, this was the best I could do with it). 

Sir John's and his lady Bridget's devices painted on the center of the back rest, in acrylic paint, and heavily clear-coated to prevent scratching.

Tada!