Blackwork cuffs: One down, one to go

Sometime earlier this year, possibly around May/June, I decided to have a go at blackwork as a diversional A&S project*

I've never really gone in for embroidery as all that fine attention to detail is usually beyond my attention span. I decided to have a go at blackwork because it looked interesting, particularly the whole reversible concept. A long time ago I'd printed off some blackwork patterns so I had a flick through and found a strawberry motif. Knowing that Miss D was about to become a venerable Duchess and there would be cause from strawberries, I decided to give that one a go. If I turned out not to be completely inept, it would become a pair of blackwork cuffs to go with that Elizabethan frock Miss D keeps swearing she's going to make, any reign now.

As it turned out, blackwork is one of the easiest things out there to pick up. Even the reversible thing is simple once you read the explanatory notes and diagrams. The motif I'd chosen isn't complete reversible as I decided to make the strawberries red and the seeds on the strawberries are not connected to the rest of the pattern (the reversible thing relying on an unbroken line).

Though after about 6 months of doing blackwork on and off (while watching tv, at events etc..) I finally have one cuffs worth completed. The completed length is about 53cm and is worked with black and red silk thread on white linen (which was an off-cut from a smock). The pattern was from the Blackwork Embroidery Archives website and was designed by Paula Kate Marmor based on period style (i.e. this is not a period pattern, just periodesque). The pattern is shown below.

Now on the pictures:

Full length of blackwork with measuring tape.


Close up shot of the front side.


And a close up of the reverse side. As you can see, not quite reversible. Still need a bit of practice at getting the ends of the threads nice and neat.


So that's one cuff finished. Now to start on the second one.I'm aiming to have the next one completed by July. Then Miss D gets the fun task of making the frock to go with the cuffs.


*Diversional A&S Projects: The projects you start because you're sick of your current projects. In this case I was sick of doing button holes on my watchcoat and certainly didn't want to face starting to make the covered buttons. Still have one more button hole to go and haven't even started on the covered buttons.

Revised Four Winds A&S Competition

Well I promised to post the revised competition information as soon as I'd figured it out and not even the wrath of the gods (via a Rowany Baronial pavilion pole*) is going to delay this any further, so here it is!

Four Winds A&S Competition - 2007

New entry and scoring criteria, plus more prizes!

The goal of the competition is still to produce a head-to-toe costume, a complete "look" for your choice of style.

Entry requirements

At least 75% of the entry must not have been previously entered in a Four Winds competition. So if you made something this year, but didn't enter it, you can enter it next year. This should give people a bit more time to get pieces together and include items they've made previously.

There is no restriction on the amount of the entry that is your own work, but you must indicate which items have been purchased or otherwise created by someone else. You will not receive as many points, but it will still contribute to your overall score.

Scoring system

- Components of the outfit /50
o Undergarments (chemise, smock, hose, brays etc..) /10
o Outer garments (Gown, tunic, coat, etc..) /10
o Footwear (shoes, boots, sandals etc..) /10
o Headwear (head coverings, hair styles, adornments etc..) /10
o Accessojewelryellery, belts, partlets etc..) /10
- Documentation /10
- Authenticity /10
- Creativity / Presentation /10
- Complexity /10
- Workmanship /10
Total score: /100

Entrants will also be asked to indicate whether they are 'beginners' or 'experienced'. Beginners are those who are making their first attempt at a particular style or technique, whereas experienced entrants are those who already have a good level of skill. You decide what level you're at and the judges will take this into consideration when scoring your entry.

The prizes (that's right, more than one now)

- First prize - for the overall best entry the prize is still an SCA membership or a Rowany Festival ticket. The winner will also receive a bell (the traditional prize for and A&S competition)
- Encouragement prize - To encourage more beginners to have a go, the prize for the best entry from a beginner will be a subscription to the Lochac A&S magazine 'Cockatrice'.

As putting together an entire outfit is a big effort, all entrants will receive a token to keep.

Good luck and I hope to see your entry at the Feast of the Four Winds in 2007

*Rowany Yule Tournament yesterday. A freak gust of wind flapped the Rowany baronial pavilion enough that one of the centre poles came free and landed on my noggin. Stories of huge gaping wounds, gushing blood, wailing & gnashing of teeth, rushing to hospital with severe head trauma are all true**

** For the given values of true as follows:
"huge gaping wounds" = a small cut about 1cm long by 1mm deep
"gushing blood" = slightly oozing
"wailing & gnashing of teeth" - a bit of blubbering from shock and surprise
"rushing to hospital" - a medium paced trip to Canterbury Hospital casualty in our Elantra while trying to balance ice pack and map.
"severe hconcussion - a bit of concussionn, some bruising and lumps, and a small cut. No stitches, just a handful of painkillers and instructions of "take it easy". Unfortunately this happened before the tourney started so I missed the entire thing.

You know you're an SCA costumer when...

...you look at paintings and all you see is the fantastic detail of the seams of that doublet and completely fail to notice the severed head.

I had a folder of paintings from Rogier van der Weyden with me at our A&S gathering last night. One of our members had her 5 year old daughter with her, who was a bit bored so we passed her some folders to "look at the pretty pictures", failing to think about the fact that most of them were allegorical. Fortunately she has the attention span of a goldfish so any slight distress at the graphic violence displayed in the pictures was replaced by the next shiny thing on her radar.

So the evenings serious discussions about various types of gown construction were punctuated by the following:

"'scuse me"
"Yes Amber"
"Why is that man's head cut off"
"Because he was a bad man sweetie, how about you look at some other pictures"

--
"'scuse me"
"Yes Amber"
"What are they doing to that man?"
"They're taking Jesus off the cross sweetie"
"Is he dead?"
"Yes he's dead dear."
"Why has he got holes in him"
"Because they nailed him to the cross"
"That's not very nice"
"No it isn't very nice"
"That would hurt"
"It probably did"
"I like that ladies dress"
"Yes its very pretty."

Feast of the Four Winds A&S Competition

I ran my usual Feast of the Four Winds A&S Competitions on the weekend. The competition is for a complete outfit from head to toe, of which 80% must be your own work and 80% new since the last Feast of the Four Winds. The prize is a choice of an SCA membership or Rowany Festival ticket.

I also ensure that I submit an entry myself, to show that I can put my money where my mouth is so to speak.

Last year I had 8 entries, this year I only had 4. On the plus side, although there were less entries, they were far more "complete" than some of the entries from the previous year. Many thanks to Duchess D and Lady Maeve who volunteered to be judges.

The entries were:
Zanobia Adimari - 10th century Norse costume
Eadie Porterose - 16th Century working class hollandish
Eadie Porterose - 1st century Roman
Bleddyn ap Guyver - 1st century Roman military costume

Zanobia's entry was the winner with a beautifully complete outift, well executed in construction and good documentation. Eadie's outfits were both quite complete, but her documentation and execution were not as well done. Bleddyn didn't have any documentation, but is still good to see some guys giving costuming a go.

The main thing that impressed me was that every entry had shoes! Check them out:

Zanobia's Felt Boots

Eadie's Hollandish shoes

Eadie's Roman Shoes
Bleddyn's Calligae

I am so impressed. Despite having a thing for period shoes, they really do make an outfit and I am amazed that people who are quite competent costumers don't try their hand at shoes. As I'm sure these entrants discovered, making shoes is not really that difficult.

I'm thinking about what to do for next year to encourage more people to enter. I was disappointed that a number of people who I thought were going to enter, didn't. I think they may have been confused about the competition as the reasons for not entering were "I couldn't document all of it". Documentation certainly got you bonus points, but it wasn't essential.

Though some options I'm playing with for next year are:

• Lower the percentage of own work (bonus points for if more than 80% is your own work) and maybe drop the "new since last year" or change to "not previously submitted for this competition".
• Consider "grades" of competition. Keep beginner level basic to encourage entrants. Have an intermediate/advanced level that requires min. 80% own work with documentation. That way those who are new to costuming or a particular style can still enter and get feedback and those who are more experienced will be challenged appropriately.

I'll have a chat to the group and see what I can do to get more entries next year.

November Crown Tournament Results

As usual, I kept track of the list for Crown (mainly so that finals cannot sneak up unexpected). Sadly, Team B (as we have been dubbed) was not successful, but it was still a fantastic event and a list to be proud to have been a part of. So, on to the list and the results. I'm still missing the names of some of the consorts (if anyone knows, please let me know).

The Side of Chivalry (King’s Side):
Duke Sir Aedward Steadfast fighting for Duchess Yolande Kesteven
Jarl Sir Alfar of Attica fighting for Countess Gudrun Bodvarsdottir
Sir Agro Agwesi fighting for Mistress Glynhvar of Riverhaven
Sir Hugh the Little fighting for Baroness Therasa Cummins
Sir Asbjorn Pedersen Marsvin fighting for Mistress Mariena Jensdottir
Viscount Styvyn Longshanks fighting for Lady Elissande de Montrose
Viscount Reynardine de Clfiford fighting for Mistress Glynhvar of Riverhaven
Baron Master Thaddeus Blayney fighting for THL Artemisia da Quieto d’Arzenta
Baron Master Drake Morgan fighting for Baroness Blodeuwedd y Gath

The Side of Honour (Queen’s Side):
Baron Master Bran Torc dubh MacBrude fighting for Baroness Mistress Eleanor of Caithness
Master Steffan Glaube fighting for Branwen (?)
Master Piers of Malmesbury fighting for Katherine (?)
Baron Somerled of Redcliff fighting for Baroness Celia the Fair
Conan MacAindreis fighting for Isíbéal inghean Chorcráin
Eoghann MacAindreis fighting for Angelina Enriques de Torres
Miles de Colwell fighting for Lady Maeve ni Iasachta
Joab Cohen fighting for Lady Jehanne de Finistere
Wulfgar JarnsÞa fighting for Baroness Ascelin d'Ypres

Victor and Crown Prince & Princess of Lochac:
Jarl Sir Alfar of Attica and his consort Countess Gudrun Bodvarsdottir
Wreath of Chivalry:
Sir Hugh the Little and his consort Baroness Therasa Cummins
Wreath of Valour:
Viscount Reynardine de Clifford and his consort Mistress Glynhvar of Riverhaven

Final Standing: Victories
Jarl Sir Alfar of Attica 7
Sir Asbjorn Pedersen Marsvin 6
Sir Hugh the Little 5
Baron Master Thaddeus Blayney 3
Viscount Reynardine de Clfiford 3
Viscount Styvyn Longshanks 3
Sir Agro Agwesi 2
Baron Master Bran Torc dubh MacBrude 2
Duke Sir Aedward Steadfast 1
Baron Master Drake Morgan 1
Wulfgar Jarnsioa 1
Eoghann MacAindreis 1
Conan MacAindreis 0
Miles de Colwell 0
Master Piers of Malmesbury 0
Baron Somerled of Redcliff 0
Master Steffan Glaube 0
Joab Cohen 0

Full Tourney Draw and Results

First Round:
Styvyn def Wulfgar
Aedward der Steffan
Drake def Piers
Eoghann def Agro
Asbjorn def Conan
Hugh def Miles
Blayney def Somerled
Alfar def Bran
Reynardine def Joab

Second Round:
Styvyn def Aedward
Wulfgar def Drake
Agro def Steffan
Asbjorn def Piers
Hugh def Eoghann
Blayney def Conan
Alfar def Miles
Reynardine def Somerled
Bran def Joab
Eliminated: Steffan, Piers, Conan, Miles, Somerled, Joab

Third Round:
Blayney def Styvyn
Alfar def Aedward
Reynardine def Drake
Agro def Wulfgar
Asbjorn def Eoghann
Bran def Hugh
Eliminated: Aedward, Drake, Wulfgar, Eoghann

Fourth Round:
Alfar def Agro
Asbjorn def Reynardine
Hugh def Blayney
Styvyn def Bran
Eliminated: Bran, Agro

Fifth Round:
Asbjorn def Styvyn
Hugh def Reynardine
Alfar def Blayney
Eliminated: Styvyn, Reynardine, Blayney

Sixth Round:
Hugh def Alfar
Bye – Asbjorn

Seventh Round:
Asbjorn def Hugh
Bye – Alfar
Eliminated: Hugh

Final
Alfar def Asbjorn
Alfar def Asbjorn

Jupons and torses and mantles Oh My!

A bit of a delayed update on the jupon here, mainly because I was determined to get past my final exams without resorting to blog procrastination.

The jupon is now finished and got its first formal appearance at the Steel Rose Tourney held by the College of St Malachy recently. Fortunately other people took photos so there are some good action shots. The jupon was made as part of an A&S competition entry for heraldic fighting display. To complete the entry I also made a torse and mantle to make my gaelic helm look a little less out of place with the rest of my mostly 14th century kit.

The tourney was also the first outing of my new leg armour made by Mr B. It appears to work okay. The articulations are a bit sticky and had a tendency to pinch my knee pads and get stuck. Nothing a good smack with a stick didn't fixed. The fluting is nice and I think they will look even better when polished up.

On to the photos. At home I have some "off the body" shots that are still sitting on the camera. I'll eventually get those up.

Photo taken during the openning salutes. It was a roses tourney and one of the College girls had the great idea of making ribbon roses that people could keep. I had a couple attached to the jupon by this point (the pink streamers you can see in the photo). I really need ot get a new helm, I forget how big that one looks on me until I see photos.

An action shot!

Overall I'm very happy with how the jupon turned out. It fits well, allows for plenty of movement while fighting, and the extra layer did not make me feel like I was over heating (and it was a hot day). The torse and mantle need a bit of work as they are a bit loose and fall off the helm when I take it off. Though hopefully Mr B is going to bring me back a bascinet from the USA so I'll wait till then to adjust the torse and mantle.

The jupon, torse & mantle, and shield won the A&S comp. I have documentation that I should really post somewhere (we have some web space with our optus account, might have to figure out how to use it). I will also have to post a photo of the gorgeous A&S token that I received. The College really does have some creative talent in it at the moment.

Next project: Helping the stunt double make some roman for Crown. Why? Because I don't need to make anything for myself for crown as I've already got a new outfit that was made since last crown (I have a "different outfit for every Crown" goal). Am I organised or what?

Silly shoes!

A quick post to show off a photo from Bunch o' Classes. Blayney, Katje and I all went Roman for the feast in the evening. Katje took this photo of our shoes. The white ones are my mark II calcei. The brown ones are Blayney's calligae. The blue ones are Katje's cut-work calcei.

There was somewhat of a Roman invasion at the Ursulan Feast.

Above is Annabel, Blayney, myself, Katje, Gui and Aelflaed. I'm wearing my new purple peplos. It didn't turn out too bad. I am being rather bloody-minded in making it with the overfolds in the correct places, which has the side-effect of making one look rather blocky, but that is the way it is meant to look.

I taught a class on Roman costume at BOC. By most reports it went well (always a bit hard to tell when you're teaching). I have notes in pdf that I'll probably get around to putting on a website somewhere. This means I've now taught two A&S classes this year (the other being on heraldic display), which I consider part of the whole A&S process (nothing cements understanding in your own mind better than trying to explain it to someone else).

Ermine, why ermine?

As I was not at Spring War this weekend due to my work interfering with the more enjoyable things in life, it did mean I had a couple of days to kick back and work on the jupon.

I make much more progress on things when I'm doing them at home, uninterrupted. I even remember to transfer the jupon pattern to cardboard, and make little cardboard templates for the scalloped edge and the compass stars, which leads into my next comment. My jupon displays my device, which looks like this:

Now when I designed this, I intentionally went for a simple device that I could easily reproduce. Compass stars are nice straight lines. I can't draw beasties to save my life.

However, as I have been putting my device on various banners, shields, and now my jupon, I find myself asking the question "Why on earth did I think ermine was a good idea?"

I was looking at my mostly completed jupon on the weekend thinking "now all I need to put on is the lacing rings down the side" when I looked at it and thought "something is missing". Yep, I had forgotten to put the ermine spots on the bend. I am now in the process of sewing the little bastards on. It will probably take longer to sew on the ermine spots than it took to sew the rest of the jupon. I thought about painting the ermine on with fabric paint, but the fabric is velvet and the pile makes painting look a bit dicky.

Swearing and cursing aside, the jupon is looking very nice. The scallops came out well this time being a bit larger and being well clipped on the curves to help them sit flatter when turned inside out. Once finished I'll post photos. I'm hoping to have it ready for the Steel Rose tourney.

Silly Roman Shoes MkII - the photos

After much ado, here are some photos of the recently completed silly roman shoes mkII. I'm not sure what these are called, possible calcei.

Here is the pattern:

And some shots of the completed shoes (yes they do indeed look like a cross between converse trainers and ballet shoes):




Note that the right shoe, which was completed first sometime last year, fits the best and is quite comfy. The left shoe was completed this year and is not as well fitted and the integral laces are too short (they only just do up, the right ones can wrap around the ankle before being tied). After wearing them around a bit, I think the sole of the left shoe is too small. My left big toe is right on the edge pushing the leather upper out. That may also explain why the front of the upper isn't sitting right. They are generally comfy and have nice ankle support, which I'm noticing as I sprained my left ankle last weekend and it needs all the help it can get.

I will be bringing these along to Bunch o' Classes on the weekend, where I will apparently be teaching "Introduction to Roman Costume". I should really put together some notes or something.

Picture of shoe from Bruegal

I found a picture of the sort of shoe Eadie and I are making. While this is to go with a Hollandish frock (a la Aertsen), it is really hard to find pictures of shoes in his paintings due to the whole long skirt or sitting behind things issue. However, The Peasant Dance (1568, Pieter Bruegal the Elder) shows a similar sort of shoe.

Here is a section of that painting showing a woman dancing where you can see her shoe. I've played with the brightness so you can see the shoe and hose better. It is just a simple mary jane style shoe, buckled on the outside.

Now all I need to do is get the hang of this turn shoe with a rand thing. I read "Shoes and Pattens" last night and feel not much wiser. I'm guessing it would be a continuous rand (i.e. skinny strip of leather that goes between the sole and the upper to increase the water tightness of the shoe). The problem we may have with Eadie's shoes is that the sole leather is not as thick as we'd like and I'm worried that the edge/flesh seams may just tear through when the shoe is turned out. Might need to get thicker sole leather.

16th century Hollandish shoes

The next shoe project that I've undertaken is as a result of my stunt double, the lovely Lady Eadie, who is determined to have a complete 16th century working class Hollandish outfit for the A&S comp at Feast of the Four Winds. A noble endeavour to be encouraged so I figured I should also have a go at these shoes. They are no where near as silly as Roman shoes. They are more of a clunky mary jane.

No photos yet because I've been forgetful about taking them. We've done the patterns last week at Summer Hill (see note below about duct tape). Eadie has cut out her leather and I just need to go through "Shoes and Pattens" and get a crash course in sewing turn shoes with a rand. I will try to remember to take some photos at some point so watch this space.

Note: If you use duct tape to wrap your feet in for making the pattern and hand your laurel a whiteboard marker, she will then smack both you and your stunt double on the head with said marker. This hurts. In future, use masking tape and bring a sharpie. I'm assured that apprentice abuse is all part of the learning experience.

Update on Blayney's fighting calligae

Blayney has finished the inners for his fighting calligae, which got a trial run at the Rowany Pas d'Arms recently and a few tweakings afterwards.

He asked me to pop up a few photos, so in the spirit of silly shoes, here they are with an action shot of the calligae at the Pas d'Arms:



I'll leave it to Blayney to add comments on his experience in making these.

Calligae for SCA Heavy Combat

Blayney recently made these calligae (Roman military boots) with some modifications to suit SCA heavy combat. They are not as open as normal calligae and he intends to make an insert with a steel cap to protect his toes.

I must say they look way cool and are a great improvement on the army GP look.

Converts to the way of the silly shoes

I have a convert to the way of the silly shoes. The lovely Katje has decided to make some roman to support Mr B and I at November Crown and she's going the whole hog and making a set of calcei.

Photos of her calcei in progress are here. They are cut work calcei similar to my first pair, but with triangular holes instead of round.

In related news, I finished my other set of calcei. I'll get photos up soon. I'm a bit disappointed in the result though. I made the right shoe ages ago and it fits really well. I just finished the left and obviously did something a bit different as it doesn't fit as well, the front seam has gone a bit weird and the integral laces are too short. Moral of the story - cut out both shoes at the same time or write really clear construction and patterning notes, particularly regarding seam allowance.

Purple and gold calcei

Presenting a new entry at the top of my "cool roman shoes" list:


Though it is hard to tell from the picture, these are a pair of womens calcei (shoe boots) from around 2nd-3rd century AD found at archaelogical excavation at Southfleet (Springhead), Kent. Bless that lovely british mud and its preserving properties.They are currently in the British Museum.

The cool factor that sets these apart from other calcei finds is that the museum description says "Originally purple with a pale lining visible through the openwork and gilded metal thread embellishing the pattern"

Purple and gold holey shoes! I am definitely making a set of these.

Silly shoes!

I decided I needed a seperate blog for doing A&S type stuff and it is way easier for me to post pics on blogger than to create my own website.

So here it is - a blog devoted to A&S projects, in particular silly shoes.

To get the ball rolling, here is a pic of my first silly shoes, the Calcei MkI

These are based on calcei from around 3rd century AD Roman Britain. A surviving shoe was found at Vindolanda (a source of many well preserved leather finds). Below is a picture of some of the finds from Vindolanda.


My calcei are starting to wear badly at the heal. The leather I used was a bit thin so it is tearing between the cut outs. I have recently bought some thicker leather to make another set using a square punch (like the top vindolanda example above).