Thanks to all for a very interesting conversation on a topic I hadn't
thought of :)

Cheers!

Marianne


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello all!

Does anyone have any suggestions on where I might look for good source material
on folly bells?  So far, I've managed to find one article on-line and a mention
of bells in the Museum of London Accessories book, and that's about it.  Might
there be another term that's used?  I'm particularly interested in the baldric
style bells, and am trying to figure out what the baldric itself might have been
made of (cloth, tablet weaving, chain, etc?)


-Oda

Oda asked:

> Does anyone have any suggestions on where I might look for good
> source material on folly bells?

I'd suggest looking for "crotal bells" -- this is a term (used by
archaeologists, among others) for this general shape of small bell.

A couple of resources:
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/pages/crotal-bells.html
http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/B/bells.htm
http://www.finds.org.uk/database (use this site to find crotal bells found in
England -- though it can find A LOT of things) ;-)

FWIW, I don't know of any resources that have specific examples of what the
baldric or belt were _definitely_ made of, but there are other medieval belts
and other accessories that might inspire avenues for re-creation; see
http://larsdatter.com/belts.htm or http://larsdatter.com/wide-belts.htm for
example.


Karen Larsdatter
www.larsdatter.com

On 10/23/2010 4:56 PM, Karen wrote:
> There's also the patches in a garment worn by the beggar in the story of St.
> Martin, on an altarpiece painted in 1496, now at the Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum
> in Austria:
> http://tarvos.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/server/images/7003321.JPG
>
>
> Karen Larsdatter
> www.larsdatter.com
Beggars are well known--very reasonably--for exaggerating and
emphasizing their bodily deformities and lacks, so I wouldn't be
surprised if the very obvious patching here were part of a similar pattern.

--George/Gerard

Hi Asfridhr,

the tunic of St Francis of Assisi that can be seen in the basilica at Assisi has
been patched multiple times, and I think different stitches were used. I
remember reading that some of the pieces seem to have come from the tunic of St
Clare, and that these patches are sewn on with a special stitch, but I can't
find the reference at the moment.

With a multiple-layer garment (e.g. an Elizabethan doublet) you will only have
to stitch the patch on the outside if the inner layers are intact. The doublet
of Don Garzia de' Medici (a young man from one of the wealthiest families in
Europe) has a patch on one elbow, which indicates that patching and repairing
garments was not restricted to the lower classes.

Best regards,

Christina



--- In Authentic_SCA@yahoogroups.com, "Quokkaqueen" <quokkaqueen@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> It's reached that stage in my garb wardrobe, where I need to start repairing
things, mostly patching holes and tears in seams. I *know* that there are
garments out there with patches (the Y-piece on the Bocksten hood springs to
mind), but what I'm having trouble is finding information on *how* garments were
patched.
>
> I'm guessing that patches were sewn to the outside of the garment, but what
happened on the inside? Were the edges of the repair hemmed facing inside the
garment, or outside towards the patch? Were any special patching stitches used?
>
> Any help would be appreciated,
> ~Asfridhr
>

On Oct 28, 2010, at 3:48 AM, xina007eu wrote:

> Hi Asfridhr,
>
> the tunic of St Francis of Assisi that can be seen in the basilica at Assisi
has been patched multiple times, and I think different stitches were used. I
remember reading that some of the pieces seem to have come from the tunic of St
Clare, and that these patches are sewn on with a special stitch, but I can't
find the reference at the moment

You're probably thinking of the article on those garments in:

Flury-Lemberg, Mechthild.  1988.  Textile Conservation and Research.  Schriften
der Abegg-Stiftung, Bern.

Tangwystyl

Isn't there a story that Francis wished his robe to be made of patches,
as a token of humility?

Or am I confused with someone else?

Arlys

--- In Authentic_SCA@yahoogroups.com, CLEY <cley56@...> wrote:
>
> Isn't there a story that Francis wished his robe to be made of patches,
> as a token of humility?
>
> Or am I confused with someone else?

Buddhist priests wear a patchwork mantle called a kesa (Japanese), jiasha
(Chinese) or kasaya (Sanskrit). Originally pieced from dirty rags, they
eventually became far more opulent as donors gifted temples with silks belonging
to deceased relatives. At least one description I've read seems to indicate that
the act of constructing a kesa from many small pieces was considered a
devotional exercise.

Ironically, when I started looking for images to post, I discovered that the
Kyoto National Museum currently has an exhibition on kesa:
http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/tokubetsu/101009/tokubetsu.html
If you scroll down, the kesa shown at the bottom of the article is pieced from
silk and gold brocade.

(Pieced garments also became fashionable in 16th century Japan. A number of
surviving robes from that period are either pieced or decorated to look as if
they are pieced from alternating blocks of fabric. There's also at least one
example that bears an uncanny resemblance to a "crazy quilt.")

Saionji no Hana
West Kingdom

<<snip>>
My first response, upon reading
> Asfridhr's speculation was to say, "no, on the inside!" because that is the
> most common method I learned for darning/patching frayed fabric.
<<snip>>

I found a mention of an item patched on the inside-- one of the hoods from
Viking Age Dublin.
E. Wincott Heckett. 2003. "Viking Age Headcoverings from Dublin" (Dublin: Royal
Irish Academy")
pp. 44, 46:
"In wool cap DHC32 (Pl. VII, Fig. 52) a large patch has been sewn to the inside
of the right-hand part. The sides of the patch have been turned under and it has
been slip-stitched to the inside of the cap. If the patch had been put on to
over a hole, placing it like this on the inside would leave the rough edges of
the tear exposed to view on the outside, which is contrary to usual sewing
practice. Placing the patch as it is means that the smooth surface would have
been against the wearer's ear.  This may suggest that the patch was put on to
provide extra protection and warmth, or to strengthen a threadbare rather than a
torn area. It may also be that it was unimportant that ragged edges were left on
the outside. This would be true if the cap was worn under another headcovering
or indeed as a nightcap."

There are other patches in there, too, but I thought this particular one on the
inside might be interesting as a possible exception to the rule. :)

~Asfridhr

This page says the site should go live in 2010, but it's still in the
beta version. It's a great idea!

"The Bibliographica Textilia Historiae database is a free, open-access,
searchable database based on the research library and documentation of
the Center For Social Research on Old Textiles [CSROT], a project of the
Stichting Egress Foundation, Amsterdam. "

<http://egressfoundation.net/egress/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id\
=72&Itemid=345>

Samia

I was pointed to a YouTube video page I'd never seen before and some of
these are just too good not to share.

"Beowulf": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiBaSqO7n9U

"The Vikings" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIvJ2P0giVc

"William the Conqueror": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ8A5gRe_Dw


(Be very careful - the other videos from the group about other historical
topics are *highly* addictive and have already eaten more than a couple of
hours of my morning.)


Hrothny
--
'Many are chosen few are Pict.' - Gail Whitehouse

MODERATOR NOTE: As a courtesy to our many members who receive their list-mail in
digest form, we request that you not top post and delete any portion of a
previous message that does not require repetition. Thank you. Saionji no Hana,
Pacific Timezone Moderator.

REPEATED MESSAGE DELETED
They are additive...after you watch William the Conqueror, here is the test:
What year was the Battle of Hastings?  You will now know it forever......'Sew
it, girl'.

Cheers,
Madame du Pont
Shire de Tymberhavene  (Southern Oregon on the coast where it is snowing...this
is not a snow place, everything is cancelled today.)
Kingdom d'An Tir

Evening, all!

I have just finished a large commission for a client and would like to analyze
the parts that went well and the parts that could have gone better for your
input.

The criteria for the gown was that it needed to be relatively light, with ease
of movement since the client is a dancer and musician.  She wanted to be able to
dress herself and she wanted something from the mid 16th century but with slim
sleeves, a soft body and no farthingale.  We narrowed it down to Italian and
mainly used a 1560 Maroni and the 1560 Crimson Pisa dress for a starting place. 
(I have posted the painting and a photo of the Pisa dress in a folder called
Analysis of a 16th Century Italian Gown.)

Starting on the inside, I used Drea Lead's smock generator and made a linen
chemise using 3.2 oz. linen from fabric.com.  It is good fabric, but I find it a
bit too sheer and tending to pull out of square.  (I posted a picture of the
chemise in the folder.)

I edged the neck with a handkerchief hem.  Because the neckline of the gown is
so close to the shoulders, I felt the chemise slipped off her shoulders too
much.  She did not want the chemise to show and this may be the problem because
so many of them did show in this time period, hence being a smaller
circumference neckline.

I used pearl buttons on the cuffs with ribbon loops.  They were not authentic
for the time period but I knew she would not want to deal with ties.

All seams were French seams, which can work on gores and gussets if planned
carefully.

So my first questions are 1) Do you have a favorite place to purchase good
chemise linen?  What kind do you like best?
2) Is there a way to deal with a chemise neckline that slips down too much?
3) Do you have any other wrist closure suggestions that are easy to use.

Thanks for all your help!  I will post about the partlet next.

Jennifer

On Dec 10, 2010, at 8:20 PM, Jennifer wrote:
> I used Drea Lead's smock generator


I've not heard of this. It sounds quite useful. Is this an
application? A website? A technique you learned in a class? Is this
something which can be shared with the others of us who perhaps have
not heard of it? Or am I the only one who hadn't? Thanks!
--
                                     Auf wiedersehen!
Michael
    ______________________________________________________
    "..Um..Something strange happened to me this morning."

    "Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort
    of Sun God robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked
    women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"

    "..No."

    "Why am I the only person that has that dream?"

                                     -Real Genius

On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 10:09 AM, Michael Hurley <mephit@...> wrote:

>    On Dec 10, 2010, at 8:20 PM, Jennifer wrote:
> > I used Drea Lead's smock generator
>
> I've not heard of this. It sounds quite useful. Is this an
> application? A website? A technique you learned in a class? Is this
> something which can be shared with the others of us who perhaps have
> not heard of it? Or am I the only one who hadn't? Thanks!
>

I hadn't either, but I found this:

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/

Is that what is being referred to?

-Ii


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 12/13/2010 11:09 PM, Michael Hurley wrote:
> On Dec 10, 2010, at 8:20 PM, Jennifer wrote:
>> I used Drea Lead's smock generator

It's much easier to give you the URL and let you explore for yourself,
so here it is:

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/


--
Cathy Raymond
cathy@...

"I'm a little bit disappointed that cat plus Internet doesn't equal
YouTube."— Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

On Dec 13, 2010, at 9:11 PM, Catherine Olanich Raymond wrote:
> On 12/13/2010 11:09 PM, Michael Hurley wrote:
>> On Dec 10, 2010, at 8:20 PM, Jennifer wrote:
>>> I used Drea Lead's smock generator
>
> It's much easier to give you the URL and let you explore for yourself,
> so here it is:
>
> http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/


Thanks muchly to both yourself and JL Badgley for pointing me to it.
Excellent!
--
                                     Auf wiedersehen!
Michael
    ______________________________________________________
    "..Um..Something strange happened to me this morning."

    "Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort
    of Sun God robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked
    women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"

    "..No."

    "Why am I the only person that has that dream?"

                                     -Real Genius

--- In Authentic_SCA@yahoogroups.com, Michael Hurley <mephit@...> wrote:
>
> On Dec 10, 2010, at 8:20 PM, Jennifer wrote:
> > I used Drea Lead's smock generator
>
>
> I've not heard of this. It sounds quite useful. Is this an
> application? A website? A technique you learned in a class? Is this
> something which can be shared with the others of us who perhaps have
> not heard of it? Or am I the only one who hadn't? Thanks!
> --
>                                     Auf wiedersehen!
> Michael
>    ______________________________________________________


I apologize for not posting the site but others on this group got it exactly
right.  Drea has put up a pattern generator for smocks
(http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/), for a set of bodies
(http://www.elizabethancostume.net/custompat/index.html) and a corded
farthingale (http://www.elizabethancostume.net/cordpett.html) among other
things.  Her site (http://www.elizabethancostume.net/) is, in my humble opinion,
one of the best places to start when studying Elizabethan costuming.

Anybody have any thoughts on my questions in my original post?  I have many more
pictures and questions to post but wanted to start small.  Thanks!

Jennifer

Since the topic of Elizabethan costuming has come up, I thought you
might like to se this
http://www.archnews.co.uk/latest-news/4145-an-amazing-find-of-an-elizabethan-%E2\
%80%98visard-mask.html

Beth Matney

MODERATOR NOTE - As a courtesy to our members who receive their list-mail in
digest form, we request that you not top post. Please snip any part of the
previous message that does not require repetition. Thank you. Saionji no Hana,
Pacific Time Zone Moderator.

Message order reversed:

On 12/20/2010 8:08 AM, Beth and Bob Matney wrote:
>
> Since the topic of Elizabethan costuming has come up, I thought you
> might like to se this
>
http://www.archnews.co.uk/latest-news/4145-an-amazing-find-of-an-elizabethan-%E2\
%80%98visard-mask.html

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing!

Arlys

Greetings.  Hoping to tap the collective wisdom of the group.

I have pulled the standard exploded diagram of the Kragelund tunic

here,

http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/garments/Kragelund/Kragelund.html

and here,

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/kraglund.html

and printed it onto graph paper, and then planned to put it to fabric.

The problem is that I fear that the diagram is not to scale.  In order to get a
chest circumfrence of 48", I have a garment that dangles mid-shin on my friend
who has requested it.  We're pretty sure that's a bit too long, but I'd like to
hear from the experts.   In any case, trimming it to length is easy enough, but
scaling it to fit a 48" chest also results with armhole openings of nearly 30
inches around!

The other issue plaguing me is the huge amount of wasted fabric that results, no
matter how many cutting configurations I've attempted.  The historical logic of
making the most efficient use of the yardage is not turning up.

So, I am your student; what Kragelund tunic info can be shared?

Kindest Regards,
thl Z.

Firstly, there is nothing to indicate that those drawings are to scale.  I would
hope that if they were, they'd say so.  Secondly, as you've seen, even if they
*were* to scale, your friend clearly does not have the same proportions as for
whom the original was made.  These are bespoke garments we're talking about, not
off the rack or made from commercial patterns.  There's nothing even to indicate
where those trapezoidal sleeve bits fell on the arm.  Adjust the proportions of
the pattern pieces to reflect reality, since you obviously can't do it the other
way around.

Use those diagrams as an indication of shape, bearing in mind that those are the
shapes of the pieces as they were found, not their shape as they were cut.  For
example: those triangular gussets under the arm could be the corners cut off the
trapezoidal parts -- it also makes sense to me that there was a triangle on
either side of the arm, else you'd have a very weird shape to that underarm
seam.  The gores on the "skirt" part didn't start out with those curved edges;
those are rectangles cut diagonally.

Make what I call "paper dolls": small scale models of the pattern pieces (I
usually use 2mm:1").  Draw a representation of the fabric at the same scale, and
then move the pieces around, bearing in mind that you may have to unfold the
fabric and lay it flat to get the most efficient cut.  Don't forget to add seam
allowance or ease, and mark your pattern pieces, else you might end up using a
sleeve for gores.  Learn from my mistakes. (I pin on a slip of paper with the
name of the piece.  That way I can do mass cutting sessions and put the pieces
in giant ziploc bags, then do assembly later.)

Hope that helps!

Tasha

--- In Authentic_SCA@yahoogroups.com, "Zhara" <zhara8@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings.  Hoping to tap the collective wisdom of the group.
>
> I have pulled the standard exploded diagram of the Kragelund tunic
>
> here,
>
> http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/garments/Kragelund/Kragelund.html
>
> and here,
>
> http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/kraglund.html
>
> and printed it onto graph paper, and then planned to put it to fabric.
>
> The problem is that I fear that the diagram is not to scale.  In order to get
a chest circumfrence of 48", I have a garment that dangles mid-shin on my friend
who has requested it.  We're pretty sure that's a bit too long, but I'd like to
hear from the experts.   In any case, trimming it to length is easy enough, but
scaling it to fit a 48" chest also results with armhole openings of nearly 30
inches around!
>
> The other issue plaguing me is the huge amount of wasted fabric that results,
no matter how many cutting configurations I've attempted.  The historical logic
of making the most efficient use of the yardage is not turning up.
>
> So, I am your student; what Kragelund tunic info can be shared?
>
> Kindest Regards,
> thl Z.
>

Some thoughts based on both reconstruction of this garment and some comparative
studies.

On Dec 29, 2010, at 8:47 PM, Zhara wrote:

> Greetings.  Hoping to tap the collective wisdom of the group.
>
> I have pulled the standard exploded diagram of the Kragelund tunic
>
> here,
>
> http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/garments/Kragelund/Kragelund.html
>
> and here,
>
> http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/kraglund.html
>
> and printed it onto graph paper, and then planned to put it to fabric.
>
> The problem is that I fear that the diagram is not to scale.  In order to get
a chest circumfrence of 48", I have a garment that dangles mid-shin on my friend
who has requested it.  We're pretty sure that's a bit too long, but I'd like to
hear from the experts.


Mid-shin is probably about right.  I did some (rather rough) comparative
statistics for various dimensions of geometric-construction tunics (both secular
and ecclesiastical) from the 11-14th centuries in order to try to identify both
some typologies of proportions and a way of identifying stylistic outliers.  The
analysis is here:

http://hrj.livejournal.com/313133.html

Among the Scandinavian secular tunics from Skjoldehamn, Kragelund, Moselund, and
Boksten there's a fair amount of consistency in the ratio of the total armspan
to garment height (roughly 1.45-1.50) suggesting a certain similarity in style. 
The four garments fall into two groups when comparing the ratio of the upper
back height (i.e., shoulder down to the start of the gores) to the total garment
length, with the Moselund and Skjoldehamn garments having a ratio of 0.35 and
the Kragelund and Boksten garments having a ratio of 0.50 indicating a slightly
shorter skirt portion proportionately.  The three other than the Kragelund
garment were found accompanied by human remains for which the height could be
estimated.  Subtracting out a typical head height from those, we can calculation
the ratio of the total garment length to the body height from shoulder to
ground.  The two garments estimated to have slightly longer skirts have a
garment-to-body height ratio of 0.81-0.83 while the Boksten tunic has a slightly
smaller ratio of 0.78.  Taken together, we can guess that the length of the
Kragelund tunic most likely also represented about 78% of the shoulder-to-ground
height of the wearer.  For all four of these garments, that corresponds roughly
to mid-shin.

Assuming that the Kragelund tunic was worn by a man of similar height and
proportions to the other three garments, the sleeves on this garment would be
expected to have been slightly over-long, needing to be pushed back slightly to
keep the hands free.

>   In any case, trimming it to length is easy enough, but scaling it to fit a
48" chest also results with armhole openings of nearly 30 inches around!
>

When I was doing the above analysis, I was primarily interested in getting a
sense of heights and garment lengths, so I didn't gather up the data on armhole
openings.  But many of the arm openings for garments at this period are
relatively large and 30" is not at all outside of the normal range.

> The other issue plaguing me is the huge amount of wasted fabric that results,
no matter how many cutting configurations I've attempted.  The historical logic
of making the most efficient use of the yardage is not turning up.

When I do reproductions of specific historic garments I take two different
approaches.  In general, the first time I work from a garment I'll do an
exact-size reproduction to get a sense of how the proportions of the original
worked.  But after that, I'll try to follow the "strategy" of the garment's
construction but adapt it to both the person I'm trying to clothe and the fabric
I'm working with.  Since modern fabric proportions are almost never identical to
the historic widths, there's always going to be either some adaptation or some
waste.  One of the places I most often adapt is that my gussets may be either
wider or narrower than the original, depending on the fabric layout.

If I were laying out this particular cut on a modern fabric, I'd mark out the
main body part along the length of the fabric then see how the other pieces fit
into the leftover strip,  If the fabric is so narrow that you can't get all the
pieces from that strip, then I think I'd lay out the larger sleeve pieces across
the grain.  But I'd have to know the dimensions of your fabric and your wearer
to be more specific.

Tangwystyl

<<snip>>
> The problem is that I fear that the diagram is not to scale.  In order to get
a chest circumfrence of 48", I have a garment that dangles mid-shin on my friend
who has requested it.  We're pretty sure that's a bit too long, but I'd like to
hear from the experts.   In any case, trimming it to length is easy enough, but
scaling it to fit a 48" chest also results with armhole openings of nearly 30
inches around!
<<snip>>

The diagram on I. Marc Carlson's site is a simplification and evens out a lot of
the rather uneven fabric piecing that seems to have happened on the original.
And the cool-looking pleated gores which are also ignored.

According to Else Østergård in "Woven into the Earth" (pp. 124, 125)
p.124
"At the time of the find it was registered that the 1140 mm long Kragelund shirt
reached down to the middle thigh of the male corpse. On the basis of this
measurement the man's height was estimated as c. 190 cm." (Her source for this
is Hald, p. 39.)

p.125 notes that the shoulder width is 630 mm, (about 25 inches?) which would
fit the guy you're sewing for.

<<snip>>
> The other issue plaguing me is the huge amount of wasted fabric that results,
no matter how many cutting configurations I've attempted.  The historical logic
of making the most efficient use of the yardage is not turning up.
<<snip>>

The trapezoid parts of the upper sleeve were probably pieced from a single
rectangle, given they are not a single panel like in Carlson's diagram. The rest
of it is then the more 'standard' piecing of rectangles and triangles.

Track down a copy of "Woven into the Earth' and look at the drawing on page 125,
and the big photo on 126. Really. It makes a lot more sense then.

~Asfridhr

Do you enjoy sewing, costuming, history, fantasy, or designing?

If you said yes, then you will want to know about Costume College®.  This is a
yearly event put on by the Costumer's Guild West Inc.

Costume College® this year is being held at Warner Center Marriott in Woodland
Hills, California, on July 29 - August 1, 2011.

"Hands on" is our primary method of teaching at Costume College. We offer an
extensive selection of lectures, workshops, and demonstrations targeting every
level of costumer (i.e., beginner, amateur, semiprofessional, professional, and
just people who like to dress-up). We offer well over 100 classes presented by
more than 65 teachers and cover every imaginable topic! Mixed into these classes
will be a collection of classes making up our special bonus track on the topic
of Medieval Dress: Glorious Gothic to Artistic Reform

We also feature a Time Traveler's Gala, Fantasy Tea, Costumer's Marketplace and
many other fun events.

For more information please check out our website:

http://costumecollege.org/

Membership prices for all three days are currently:

$110.00* for members of Costumer's Guild West Inc & Sister Guild Members
$165.00* for Non- Guild Members

* Some classes do have an extra charge due to providing supplies, such as fabric
and some events such as the Time Traveler's Gala, which is a sit down dinner,
also cost extra.  You do not attend these extra charge classes or events to
enjoy Costume College.

Do not wait to get your membership! No membership will be sold at the door and
there are a limited number of total memberships.  Costume College has almost
always sold out early!  Again…. DO NOT WAIT in getting your membership!

Also the sooner you get your membership in the better your chances are to get
into one of the limited attendance hands on workshops that you want.

To sign up go to the forms section of the website.

I have created a yahoo group to help work toward the goal of actually running
the 24 hour blacksmiths challenge. If you are interested in participating we are
looking for blacksmiths, blacksmith apprentices, cooks, wood workers, autocrat
staff, chirurgeons, people to carry heavy stuff, brewers, party goers, groupies,
musicians, researchers, really anyone who thinks they have something to offer in
this epic quest.

Here is the link to the yahoo group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blacksmithschallenge/?yguid=29636475

Just to remind people:

The year is 1588, invasion is coming across the seas from Spain. The call has
gone out for all good Englishmen to take up arms in defense of Briton. But these
brave men (and women) will need weapons to fight off the armies of Spain. So out
to the smiths goes the call, help us, arm us, do your part to defend our shores.
So the smiths of England come together for an epic feat, to arm all of Briton
for the coming invasion.

Smiths in period garb, using period tools, eating period food, drinking period
booze (WOO HOO!), bandaging their burns with period medicine (maybe the period
booze was not a good idea), and making period weapons over 24 hours with the
anvils ALWAYS ringing. Breaks for food and sleep but with one smith and several
apprentices ALWAYS working the forge over the 24 hour period.

Perhaps with all the weapons made going to an auction and the proceeds going to
a charity?

I have created a yahoo group to help work toward the goal of actually running
the 24 hour blacksmiths challenge. If you are interested in participating we are
looking for blacksmiths, blacksmith apprentices, cooks, wood workers, autocrat
staff, chirurgeons, people to carry heavy stuff, brewers, party goers, groupies,
musicians, researchers, really anyone who thinks they have something to offer in
this epic quest.

Here is the link to the yahoo group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blacksmithschallenge/?yguid=29636475

Just to remind people:

The year is 1588, invasion is coming across the seas from Spain. The call has
gone out for all good Englishmen to take up arms in defense of Briton. But these
brave men (and women) will need weapons to fight off the armies of Spain. So out
to the smiths goes the call, help us, arm us, do your part to defend our shores.
So the smiths of England come together for an epic feat, to arm all of Briton
for the coming invasion.

Smiths in period garb, using period tools, eating period food, drinking period
booze (WOO HOO!), bandaging their burns with period medicine (maybe the period
booze was not a good idea), and making period weapons over 24 hours with the
anvils ALWAYS ringing. Breaks for food and sleep but with one smith and several
apprentices ALWAYS working the forge over the 24 hour period.

Perhaps with all the weapons made going to an auction and the proceeds going to
a charity?

Does anyone have any information on doing appliquing on leather?

Thank you.
Cairistiona

Forwarded from another list.
--- In sca-west@yahoogroups.com, Mineko Murai <mineko.murai@...> wrote:

> Greetings from HL Raven Mayne, Kingdom Of Atenveldt Arts and Sciences
Minister, and Mistress Lijsbet vande Visschereye Laurel Representative to the
Outlands War Council. We have great news! We have a wonderful amount of entries
this year for the Estrella War 27 Arts and sciences Competition!

> Now for the not so good news- we are having a hard time finding Judges who
will be actually traveling to Estrella War This Year. We have called; emailed,
and talked to many face to face and majority of the ones we have contacted are
just not able to make it for any number of reasons. So we have decided to make a
call out to the world to have any that will be attending Estrella War, are very
knowledgeable in any one of the Categories listed below, and have experience
judging to please contact either Mistress Lijsbet munruhbays @ gmail .com
(without the spaces, or myself at-asmin AT atenveldt Dot org. Ideally we would
love to have Judges from all over to lend a hand.
  - Toys—Includes any item used by children in Western Europe during the SCA time
period. Entry may have several pieces but will all be used for the same item
(e.g. wooden blocks).
  -Heraldic Banner, Flag or Standard – Single item may represent any group or
individual within the SCA and will be completed in fabric. Decoration may be
done by any medium documentable to the SCA time period. (ex., painting,
embroidery, appliqué). Heraldry should be based on registered SCA-specific
heraldry.
  -Woven Textiles—Includes card weaving, tapestry weaving, and the production of
woven fabrics (e.g. brocade, damask, plain, satin, tapestry, twill, etc.). Entry
should be complete length of weave of something that is ready to be sewn or
otherwise completed.

> Sincerely,
> HL Raven Mayne, Kingdom of Atenveldt Arts and Sciences Minister

> Mistress Lijsbet vande Visschereye, Laurel Representative to the Outlands War
Council

The museum of London Book "Dress acessories" and the recently free to
download york archeology "Finds from Medieval York" both describe some
simple varieties of English medieval jewelry made from wire by twisting.
Rings, broaches, the odd hair acessory, they all share in common that the
tools and materials required to reproduce them are generally only wire and
pliers, and most are very cheap lower class stuff, some probably childrens'
jewelry, spanning several hundred years of artifacts.

I have a local competition for tudor or elizabethan jewelry, and I was
wondering if anyone had heard of any later finds of simple wire jewelry.
All the resources I can find on the net deal with rather higher class
jewelry (or even middle class), and being well out of my time period, my
books are rather useless.  I can follow up non-obscure books, or research
leads (although I'd hate to make this a major project), but I'm afraid I'm
rather out of my time period, and have no grounding in what is available.
I've already found what photos the British museum has online of the
cheapside hoard (the 16-17th C one, not the 11th C one), but all wire stuff
appears to be enamelled or encrusted with jewels (fake or real), which is
logical if this was a jeweller's hoard.

I'm not expecting the physical artifacts to be the same, but with such a
simple concept as twisting wire, I'd be surprised if this wasn't used in
some simple manner in post medieval England. Has anyone encountered anything
like this? Or any other form of really simple cheap homemade sort of
practically throwaway jewelry from 16th C England?

thanks,
Teffania



--
. ___
  {o,o}           The blog you are not looking for
  |)__)                   is definitely not at
  -"-"-                   http://teffania.blogspot.com


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