It's That Time of Year Again

Boo!  Welcome back, me.  

Well, it's nearing the end of June.  This is the time of year when I always say, "I should really get x, y, and z finished this Summer at a nice, leisurely pace, so that it's all ready for event season this fall," but then I don't do a damned thing until two weeks before Fall Baronial.  Where did you say that path paved with good intentions was headed?  Oh, right. 

Still, hope is never a bad thing to have.  I don't actually have a whole lot on my plate this summer; it's just that all the projects I have are BIG ones.  The SCA projects, the home/DIY projects, landscaping projects, even a bunch of mundane sewing that I really should get to.  For the purposes of this blog, however, here's a short list of some of the stuff I'm actually excited about getting done this summer: 

• a 6-panel wooden chest.  Two, actually: one I'd like to build from scratch, and one is a wooden toy box makeover that I'm actually halfway through.  Well begun is half done! 
• a sun shade from a pretty tablecloth and some salvaged bunk leg legs 
• a medieval market stall to replace my EZ-Up pavilion.  Remember all that work I did making a canvas cover for it?  The second time I set it up after that, one of the metal struts broke, and I can't get a replacement part for it - I would have to buy a new one.  So why bother, when I can just build a period one?  
• A small leather-seated tripod stool, like this one, because I like it. 
• A new, wooden bed for my tent, made out of the old wooden bed that I built for my bedroom at home several years ago
• Some upgrades for my modern-almost-period pointy tent:  new guide ropes, mosquito netting for the inside, a curtain/drape to cover up the zippered door, and possibly 
• A new cooler cover for a cube cooler 
• A beautiful new 12th-century outfit for a couple of very cool, early medieval-themed events coming up in October and December

Not, mind you, that a thing being ON this list means that it's going to get done.  These are just things that have been on my mind since last year, mostly geared towards having a more period-feeling presence at events.  

I've got a list about this same size for the house - painting walls, repairing flooring joints, hanging light fixtures, etc. -  as well as a mundane mending pile as high as my hip, a roommate moving out, a 10-year checkup and repair list on my home...yeesh.  Suffice to say, it will either be a very busy summer for me, or a summer in which I say F* it to everything and just play video games for three months. 

See you soon...

Plastic No More: Priceless

How does one turn this....

encampment of Le Chateau Rose,
of theWest Kingdom, via Pinterest

Into this? 

Well, for starters, we get rid of the blue plastic cover on that EZ-Up shade canopy.  It makes a great gathering space at events for me and my

friends, but it was awfully...well...plastic. 

This is a 9x12' untreated canvas painters' tarp.   In this picture, Daisy is helping me cut out the side pieces, by folding one corner of the tarp over to make a 9' square, and cutting it into triangles.  The leftovers were divided into 8" strips to use as the apron/sides of the cover.  

I sewed the four triangles together, then flipped over the resulting square, and sewed the apron pieces on, so that the raw seam edges were on the opposite side from the raw seams that attach the triangles.

Note:  all of your cats and dogs will think you're insane for setting up an 8' pavilion in your living room.    

This is my first attempt at doing this, so it took a little adjustment; the biggest being un-sewing all four corners and adding a 4x18" gusset to each one to widen the fit around the sides.  The legs go out an an angle, they're not 90º!  Derp. 

The next time I make one of these, I'll use this cover as my pattern, and hopefully I'll have large enough fabric that I can cut the triangular pieces and the apron pieces all as one piece each, instead of attaching the apron separately as I did this time. 

I finished the edges of the seams inside, then wrapped the outside seams with red bias tape  to add a bit of bling, and to help protect the seams.

It's ready for use, although in the future I'll be doing more to it - waterproofing it, for one thing, which I'll do at the event in Bjornsborg this coming weekend.  Eventually I'd like to make side walls for it, a second apron to attach with red dags, and something decorative to hide the legs as well. 

9x12' untreated canvas painters' tarp:  $25

8 3y packages of red bias tape (extra wide, double fold;  I used a total of aout 22y):  $10

1y package white velcro: $2

1 spool white heavy upholstery thread: $3

Total:  $40, and two days' sewing. 

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Sleeve-ity Doo Dah*

Tonight I am overjoyed about two things.:

1.  The pavilion came in!  It's awesome! It's brown and rectangular and...oh, that's the box.  More news as the situation develops.

2.  I tried on my SCA LBD (Little Black Dress, lol) for Caerleon uniform purposes, as I'd mentioned the other day, and IT FITS!!!  Oh, I was sooo sure it was going to be about fifteen sizes too small by now, but it still fits beautifully!  No alterations needed! :D


Well, okay, a few more things:

3.  I finished my Caerleon sleeves - painted the company motto around the shoulders like I was thinking of doing.

4.  The yellow-gold snood I ordered from Etsy came in this week, and it's lovely, comfy, and exactly the right shade of yellow (also the seller was very nice and shipping was fast, and I'll definitely order more from this shop).

5.  While I still have no yellow belt (argh, you Pelicans! KIDDING love you), I do have some gold and faux-citrine jewelry that I made to go with the LBD for the last Queen's Champion...not that I ever got around to taking pictures of it (fail).

Pics of the full outfit soon!   Meantime...

sleebs

* What?  At no point in this blog have I claimed to be good at thinking up titles.

Abode a La Mode

Ice cream on your house!  Wait...

Look what I ordered this week!

That's a Guide Gear Single Wigwam Tent.  A fully modern tent - made of nylon, with screen windows and doors that zip, fiberglass poles, a vented roof, and a tarp bathtub floor...that just happens to basically look exactly like the round bells by SoulPad that are so popular in the SCA.  And for a fraction of the price, at only ninety bucks!

It's 12'x12' (it's round, so I was expecting a diameter measurement?), and 8'10" high - my current [Coleman] tent is 8'x14'.  It sets up with only a single center pole, stakes and guide lines around the edge.   I photoshopped a picture of me from another photograph into this promotional shot of the tent from the website, based on a 13-14" average height on those little folding campstools like you see in the picture - my kneecap is about 16" from the floor.

image from soulpad.com

My new tent is much smaller than a "real" canvas bell, but for what basically amounts to a starter pavilion, it ain't half bad!  I think it's safe to say that it passes "the ten foot rule"  (looks period and looks good from ten feet away to the passing observer).  And it'll be even better  once I get my hands on it.

First things first:  as soon as I get it, I need to set it up in the backyard at home, both to learn how to set it up, and to hose it down with silicone waterproofing spray.  I know it'll be waterproof because it's new, but I always double up on the waterproofing, and I re-spray every single time I use a tent.  In eighteen years I've only gone through three tents, and the only leak I've ever had was during a torrential downpour and flash flood.  I think that's a pretty good track record.


Anyhow, past that, here are some ideas I've had for sprucing this thing up and making it look even more period:

• Add a door flap to cover the zippered front door, since that's the most obviously modern part
• replace the nylon ropes with hemp, or with colored, woven cord;  I could make little flags to hang on the rope, too! 
• Paint or cover the center pole with something bright and pretty (or replace it). 
• I may or may not paint designs on the walls of the tent.  You can, with ripstop nylon; but I won't have time to do it for several months.  Maybe someday. 

There are lots of decorative things I need to get in gear on for this season - furnishings and hangings and covers and accessories - but that'll be another post.