A&S display at Pennsic 42

I really wanted to post about this right after it happened because I was afraid I wouldn't remember much of the experience. It is almost 1 year later and I still so happy about he experience. I have always been very hesitant to do any kind of A&S display or completion. Like so many other artisans I take the negative comments I receive too much to heart. I didn't think I would have the strength to sit there and take negative reviews of my work. I was pleasantly surprised to have only received encouragement and constructive suggestions on my project. I had some really awesome conversations with people I would have never met if I had not displayed my work. I think I spent the entire time talking to people about my project.

This past winter some friends and I went to the East Kingdom Kings and Queens A&S champions event in Dragonship Haven and I was really inspired. While most of the displayed seemed so beyond what I was capable of, I was extremely interested in the artisan who eventually became the Queens champion. She had done a study of how the spinning and plying direction changes the appearance of the final fabric. I was able to understand everything she was talking to me about, and even though her spinning and weaving skill far exceeded my own, I thought that the work I was doing on the fleece to frock project was something I could easily share with others. It wasn't long after this that I decided to do the A&S display at Pennsic.

The biggest highlight for me was talking to the King of Artemisia for some time about spinning. He is quite a spinner himself and showed me the fantastic items he was wearing from his own home spun. Some of which was done with Navajo Churro sheep which are native to his lands. After our conversation he presented me with his coin and I treasure it.

Another highlight was having my display featured in the Pennsic Independent. It was a real honor. When I initially talked to the reporter I did not realize they were from the Independent and she came back later after seeing all the rest of the displays and said she thought my project was a great representation of what we do as medievalist.

The greatest thing about this whole experience is getting to meet all the fantastic weavers from the Middle kingdom. I am really a very novice weaver and learned to weave to be able to do this project. Not knowing anyone else who has done this type of project before has been difficult for me, since I have made a lot of mistakes and hit a lot of dead ends. It was really great to talk to some people who knew about weaving and who were very encouraging of the project I was undertaking.

I also have a new perspective on A&S displays and competitions after being involved in it. I always thought the "science" part of "Arts and Science" was what we would think of today as science (chemistry, astronomy, alchemy etc) but now I see the science a little different. My display I think falls under "science" because it is a study of how a dress is made. My display was not about how nicely I spin, or how beautiful my embroidery is. It is what has to be done to take a raw sheep fleece and make it into a dress. I initially felt self conscious about my display because I thought it wasn't "pretty" and now I see that my contribution is not about the "art" of dress making but the science. I never really made the distinction before and it actually came after receiving the only really negative response I got, which was that my spinning wasn't very nice.

That comment really hurt, but I totally agree, this spinning is not even close to my best spinning and it has everything to do with my incompetence with picking a good fleece. It is one of the most important lessons that came out of my project. The quality of the fleece will directly effect the quality of the spinning and the final woven fabric. It seems like something I should have realized before, but I didn't realize HOW much the spinning would be effected until I got a second batch of raw wool that was in much better condition. The second batch made such better yarn than the first.

If there was someone who walked away from my display and their only thought was how crappy my spinning was, then I feel like I didn't present what my project was really about, and when I put this display together I didn't really think about this. I will definitely change my approach the next time I display.

 

 

my very brown display :) on the left is the 1st 4 yards of woven fabric. The little swatches in the middle are samples of : 1)woven fabric, 2) fulled fabric, 3)fulled fabric that was then stretched, 4) sample had nap raised with brushed and cut down to add softness. On the right side is the hand cards I used to prep fiber, washed wool and spun fiber.

I demonstrated spinning on a period spindle to help illustrate just how much work it takes to get 4 yards of fabric. 

what I do best: talk!

I don't think I stopped smiling all day.

Showing the finished fiber sample to the Pennsic Independent reporter.

 

Actually my next display will be very different in many ways. The biggest difference is that this is not longer a fleece to frock project. When I displayed this at Pennsic 42 I only had 4 yards of finished fabric and hoped to get another 4 yards to finish the dress. I had not yet spun up the second fleece I had bought, so I didn't realize how dramatic difference the quality of the fleece would make in the spinning. I continued and spun it all up and then when I wove it I only got 1 yard more since I messed up when I warped the loom. I didn't want to get a third batch of wool and then have 3 different quality fiber in one dress. When I started I thought 1 fleece would be enough for 1 dress for a very short person like myself. Another great lesson I learned from this project. When you use more than one fleece in a project you should mix up the raw wool and mix up the singles before plying so that the final fabric is more homogenous. 

I plan to use the fabric I have made so far will most likely be made into a hood and I am currently spinning some Shetland wool to be embroidery floss that I will dye to decorate the plain brown wool hood. I was very sad to have to give up on the dress, but I learned SO VERY MUCH in doing this project and in displaying at the A and S at Pennsic 42. The next dress will be much more awesome. Maybe it will be there at Pennsic 44. 

Needle book and pin cushion

This year at the Settmour Swamp's annual Mudthaw event I received a very special gift during baronial court. Baroness Jehannine and Baron Erec brought me and my friend Lydia into court to recognize and thank us for making their garb for them for this year and last years Mudthaw. It was very sweet of them and they also presented us with handmade period sewing needles. I decided that I could no longer put off the needle book project I have been thinking about for a few years.

The embroidery designs are taken out of different cross stitch books that I have and are not documented medieval designs.

I just thought they were pretty, and sometimes that is enough for me :)

 

I drew out the border lines for the needle book and pin cushions on aida cloth that I had lying around. I did all the embroidery first before cutting them pieces out so I could use a bigger embroidery hoop when working with the motifs.

Here are the pieces cut out along with the purple fabric I am using for lining. The embroidery floss will be used to connect the pin cushion to the scissors.

The pin cushion with right sides of the fabric together ready to get a seam sewn around the edge.

The needle book with right sides together. The side seams on the purple lining were sewn over before attaching them to the outside cover of the needle book so that It could easily be turned right side out again. Since the side pieces of the cover will be folded over to make inside sleeves in the book it is not necessary to sew the lining seam down.

pinning before sewing.

more pinning

The edges sewn and the corners clipped to make it look better when turned inside out.

I used wool roving and a small knitting needle to stuff the pin cushion.

using a whip stitch to close up the piece I left open for stuffing.

The needle book turned right side out and ironed.

The front view.

Button hole stitch used on edge to keep the edges from fraying and also as a decorative edge.

whip stitching the bottom edge of sleeves.

added "pages" of felt to the book. These pages will be used to hold the needles and pins. I also added green ribbon that will tie the book closed.

Using the purple floss to give it a decorative touch.

I got a tip from an embroider at artisans row at Pennsic to use the plastic from milk containers as thread holders in needle books.

Cutting out using my hard working "misc. craft" scissors. NEVER use your sewing scissors for this type of job.

I made one for the back sleeve and one for the front sleeve.

Used my cropodile tool to punch half circle holes to give a place for the thread to rest.

The finished front of the needle book.

The back of the needle book, with a "V" for Vivian.

inside front cover with thread holder and the 2 needles on the left were the 2 that were gifted to me at Mudthaw.

Center of book with modern store bought needles.

Inside back sleeve with more thread and safety pins.

The final products.

Day-board cooler

This is one of the most useful projects I have made for myself so far. I have food allergies that make it difficult at best to eat at events. I usually bring my own food rather than drive the feast o crat nuts trying to accommodate my food restrictions. I also try to only bring containers that don't need to be hidden at an event. I have a lovely basket man basket that we keep all our feast gear in. My husband built a wooden box that had insulation foam and a plastic bin to use as a cooler but the plastic broke and the box was way too heavy for me to bring to an event by myself. I needed a small cooler that was big enough to carry all my food and drink for myself and still be small enough for me to easily carry to an event that I was going to by myself.

I found these great little coolers that I thought would work out for me just fine. I decided that if I was going to make a fabric cover for the cooler, why not add pockets that could hold the feast gear for 1 person as well. Below is the result of dayboard cooler experiment. I really like how it turned out. They only thing I might do differently is that the cooler tends to peak out at the top, so I would either need to make the cooler bag taller or make the top wrap around more to cover the cooler better.

 

This is the cooler and all the feast gear I wanted to be able to carry with me to an event.

This is the outer fabric of the cooler cover. I have this weird addiction to quilting fabric so you see it here on batting so that I can quilt it using a simple diamond pattern.

this is the lining of the cooler cover which was also the initial pattern pieces I cut out to make sure it would cover the cooler completely.

Sewing the mug holder strap. The camouflage tape you see on my sewing machine is a guide like I use for when I am quilting. It keeps me from having to draw diagonal lines in chalk over the whole piece I am working on.  

Side panel with 2 pockets. One for silverware and another for napkins and other miscellaneous items. 

The front piece connected to the side piece.

completed mug strap with button hole.

side piece that is under bowl pocket.

I put little gathers on the bottom of the bowl pocket so that it would be wide enough to carry a bowl.

checking the fit.

pining the lining to the outer fabric at the top cover.

final pining and placement of straps.

mug strap pinned in place.

the finished cover. This is the side panel with the bowl pocket

front view.

side view with silverware pocket and mug holder.

 

back panel with plate pocket.

Pattens

I have wanted a pair of Pattens for a few years now. A few years ago at Pennsic, I saw my good friend Gwynd wearing a pair and she told my her husband had made them for her. Thus it was put at the top of my "honey do list". 3 years later they are almost done :)

While at Pennsic I purchased the book "Shoes and Pattens" by Francis Grew and Margrethe de Neergaard. The book has some great information. It gives both period examples and diagrams for how they would have been made. I picked a style that did not have a lot of height on the bottom because I am sure they are going to take some getting used to. I plan on the future to do a pair of Ottoman style that have the platform on it.

As I said these are not yet done, but the design seems to be simple enough so I really hope they will work out.

 

 

The purple paper is the pattern we drew using the outline of my foot. We traced my bare foot onto a piece of paper then I used that as the basis of the design for the wood bottom.

 We then used the paper pattern to draw the outline on the wood.

 

Frederick using the jigsaw to cut out my shapes

Sanding down the edges

Sanding with the finer grit

getting the pointy toe nice and smooth.

He then cut across the line drawn where the foot usually bends. This will get a piece of leather put there so that the Patten can bend when I walk and thus not be like I have a block of wood strapped to my foot.

They look pretty good. Now for the hand work

I get the sandpaper job.

and I am so happy to finally be working on my Pattens.

So far so good.

Frederick is going to use this hand knife/saw to carve in a recess that the leather strap can be put in so that foot bed will still remain relatively flat. I won't have shoes with a hard sole on them when I am wearing the Pattens.

more carving pictures 

Getting in close to the edge with another tool.

and yet another tool.

Making sure both sides of the foot bed recess are even.

And now the sanding.

This is the pattern for the leather strap that will attach to the back of the patten and tie around my ankle

Like so.

 

Stay tuned. More to come!!!