OHAI LOOK I...never mind.

So, I ordered this fabric a few weeks ago.  It was a rayon challis jacquard, and while I knew the design had paisleys in it, from the pic on the website, they looked pretty hidden in the design.  In fact, the design looked so subtle, I didn't think you'd notice there WAS a design until you got right up close.

But then this (finally) came in the mail today:

Don't get me wrong, it's GORGEOUS.  But the fabric is insanely shiny, and both the paisleys and the giant roses that I somehow had either not noticed or forgotten were there catch the like like crazy and it's basically all you can see.

Soooo not SCA-able.  Into the stash of "WTF do I make with this?" it goes.  My roommate suggested a cocktail dress, but, when the heck do I ever need anything like that?  I don't go anywhere I'd need a cocktail dress.  But I have no clue what else I'd do with it.  I'll figure it out someday.


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Oops...again.

I am *terrible* at keeping up with my Month In Review posts, you guys.  They're mostly just for record-keeping purposes, anyway - makes it easier to find things six months from now, you know?  So anyway, here's 2013 so far:

January: 

• couple of plastic masks for a masked ball that I ended up not attending, lol
• was on a cruise, so not much else happened :) 

February: 

• made some stamps!
• learned to crochet snoods
• made over an old Burgundian into my new red velvet Italian 
• hanging candle plate
• painted a blue wooden box (ended up keeping my sewing/embroidery/art supplies in it)
• embroidered (badly) little red needle case
• altered my red linen dress
• more period underwear
• another purse
• Made a cover for my metal EZ-Up canopy (the frame broke in April, by the way)
• finished my blue belt
• 
  

March: 

• another mask  - once again, I ended up not going to the ball, lol
• "period cigarette case" (and I quit smoking in May, lol)
• two embroidered purses finished
• GULF WAR! 

April: 

• started work on my first silk banner for me
• another snood
• brown linen Italian
• paper fan

So far, for the month of May, I've been working solely on projects for my house, which you can see over on that blog.  I haven't been eventing, and I probably won't be eventing throughout the coming summer, or working on much, SCA-wise, as I'm about to be astounding low on funds until this coming fall when my financial situation will right itself again (long story, though not a huge deal in the long run).  

I will, however, be working on a new bliaut for myself, for the Fall Baronial event in October;  and I'll likely be crocheting more stuff, making more jewelry, and doing other small accessory-type projects with materials I already have on hand.  So, while posting may be sporadic, and likely not all that impressive, I'll be *here*.  See you all soon. :) 

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Silk Banner 1.0, Part 2

The banner is finished!  Okay, well, more of a flag...and there's actually a proper, period term for this kind of flag, but I can't remember it for the life of me. But HERE IT IS:

That's:

• one yard of 45" white silk charmeuse
• Dye-na-flow paints
• black Pebeo gutta (resist)                              ...all from Dharma Trading Co. 
• a tapestry hanger that I think is actually Balinese; I've had it forever
• a scrap length of gold trim that I just pinned in place on the hanger

The finished flag is 20"x25";  you can see in the picture above that I set it up in the corner of the fabric.  The extra space around it got painted, too:  I'm not ready to show it off yet, but I painted part of the extra silk red, and other parts black, and made both a small pennant to fly from the top of my tent, and a long, thin, silk belt to wear with my leather ones.  :)  More on those later. 

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Silk Banner 1.0, Part 1

Sunday night:

• Cartoon plotted out and sketched
• Silk sketched

Monday night: 

• stretching frame built, from lumber given to me by a friend (it was meant to become a raised bed for my vegetable garden, but it's Yellawood - which means chemically treated, so no good for my organic gardening efforts)
• Silk stretched onto frame (with thumbtacks and a hammer, and remind me next time to go and buy the three-pronged flat tacks that you're supposed to use with these.  I like those much better). 
• Outlines of device drawn in black, water-based gutta

Eee!  I can't wait to start painting it!  The color scheme is simple: black, white, red, and green.  I know the black and red, and probably the green, are going to take at least two coats each, if not three.  I have to remember to start with the white field on the left first, as I was taught (because accidental bleedover is easy to cover up when white gets onto what will eventually be a red field, for example).  

For now, though, while the gutta is drying, I'm off to make some small adjustments to the brown Italian dress so that I can wear it this weekend, and throw a bunch of my other dresses into a gentle wash with a whole bunch of hair conditioner to soften up the linen.  It works great. :) 

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In Which Our Heroine Masking-Tapes Fabric To Her Worktable...

Not that I remembered to take a picture, but tonight I finally sat down and started work on my "first" silk banner.  I've done them before, but they were all company projects for Caerleon, and done in a group of people working together.

This one is for me, and I'm the only one working on it, and it's the first of that kind.  Tonight I drew the cartoon, and sketched out the silk fabric.  All that's left is to build the frame I need.  I have the wood for it already, and it won't take much to get it put together, but as it's nearly midnight at the moment, that'll have to wait for another day.  Stay tuned!

Will a pic of my supplies work? 

Yay, another snood!

Big whoop, right?

It's my second one, and honestly, I'm not too wild about it.  I'm okay with the pink, but I want something fancier than just a diamond (or square, if you turn it) pattern.  I think I'm going to try another one in a Celtic Love Knot stitch.  I've been wanting to learn that one.  For now, though:

Working on finishing up a fancy cotehardie for a friend right now, and tons of mundane projects.  Got some more accessories for this blog coming up soon, though, as well as a big project for this year's Fall Baronial event.


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The Brown Italian

Whipped this up at the last minute before Elfsea Defender, a couple of weeks ago, with the brown linen I purchased at Gulf Wars in March:

The sleeves are too loose, and hang all weird, and the camicia I wore with this isn't poofy enough in the sleeves to come through the slits and openings in the sleeves;  but I love the way the body came out.

Minor adjustments to the sleeves have already been made; I'll likely wear this again at Coronation in two weeks.

I tried something with this fabric that I saw on Pinterest; when I washed up the linen to pre-shrink it, I also added a cup of plain, white vinegar, as well as about an eight of a cup of hair conditioner to the wash.  It came out SO SOFT!  I've used this linen before, from the same manufacturer and vendor, and it's usually scratchy and stiff, but the vinegar/conditioner combo worked like a dream!

This is Hank. Hank wants more peppermints. 

And here we have Madylyne the Horsey Person!

I've been longing to meet the horses and equestrian folks at SCA events, but for a long time I was afraid to just walk up and speak to people I didn't know.  At Elfsea Defender, a friend escorted and introduced me, and not only did I get to meet, pet, and feed the horses, I also had some very nice chats with the equestrian crowd about getting involved and helping out!

I contacted a local barn as soon as I got back, about some riding lessons;  I actually need to call them back today and get something scheduled, since today's payday, hehe.

YAY HORSIES!

I need a Boy Outfit for riding.  Whee!




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My Fandom Is Made of Hot Glue and Paper

Apologies for the lack of posts recently;  I've been having issues with Blogger and Dropbox not speaking to each other.  I think I have it fixed, though...



So, you know all those pins on Pinterest you think you're going to make and then you really do?  And those ones you see and HAVE to jump up and do right away, and then you do, and it's awesome?

Yeah, me neither.

Except for this time.  I was bopping around on Pinterest (coincidentally, waiting for the glue to dry on another project, and wondering what to do in the meantime), when I came across the tutorial for the Harry Potter wands made from chopsticks and hot glue for the hundredth time.   And for the hundredth time, it was adorable, and I really wanted to make it, but I'm not into Harry Potter enough to make one for myself, and I don't have kids.

But then I remembered this:

16thC Venetian fans; one parchment and one plant fiber

And my brain did about fourteen double-takes.   I searched high and low for a chopstick, a hair stick, pencils (too short), anything - then I remembered that I had about a frillion wooden dowels in the garage, in different sizes.

I grabbed one, and chopped it to length with a bolt cutter (it was out on the work bench), and sanded the end smooth.

And then I hot-glued the crap out of it:

Later, I spray painted it black, and then wood-grained it with various brown and yellow paints.  Lastly, I had to try to figure out how to make the fan part.  In the end, I went with a thick watercolor art paper just inked and hand-colored (mostly with Sharpie marker, actually):

(apologies for the photo quality;  I'm using my phone again until I get whatever #%^!# is wrong with my
camera now fixed)  

Yup, that's my device.  The shield, not the border stuff.
I laced the paper onto the stick of the fan with fake sinew; then applied a line of
glue over the lacing for extra insurance against ripping and slipping.  

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