Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Hand Stitched Split Finger Wool Mittens
While digging around in my basement looking for some wool for a Friar's outfit, I came across a bin of scrap material I had kept. Some years ago I created a hand stitched wool tunic. I washed the tunic one too many times while eating one too many dinners and I soon found the tunic no longer fit. I cut it apart and reused some of the wool for a mantle. The rest of the scrap sat in a bin in my basement. I decided to make a pair of three fingered mittens based on a pattern from the book Medieval Taylors Assistant. Each mitten was made from three pieces of wool and completely hand stitched using a combination of stab stitches and back stitching with 100% linen thread.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Hand Stitched Plaid Wool Cap
This wool cap was based on pattern from the book "Medieval Taylors Assistant". This project was a complete after thought. I used a plaid wool blanket to mock up a cassock for a Friar's robe I was making. After I finished the hood, I fell in love with the wool material and didn't want to waste any of it. I kept the scraps and had to create a project so that I could use the cabbage and not let it go to waste. The hat was made from four pieces of wool and completely hand stitched using a combination of stab stitches and back stitching with 100% linen thread.
This wool cap was based on pattern from the book "Medieval Taylors Assistant". This project was a complete after thought. I used a plaid wool blanket to mock up a cassock for a Friar's robe I was making. After I finished the hood, I fell in love with the wool material and didn't want to waste any of it. I kept the scraps and had to create a project so that I could use the cabbage and not let it go to waste. The hat was made from four pieces of wool and completely hand stitched using a combination of stab stitches and back stitching with 100% linen thread.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Good and bad dice
Date: 2010-10: Wooden dice - Loaded (Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at a local event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. To further that corruption, while running various games of chance I wanted to create a few sets of actual dice as well as these sets of "loaded" dice. I created 4 sets of corrupt dice. One set of dice has 2 fives on each die increasing the chance of rolling fives. The fives were drilled on opposite sides so as to decrease the chance that anyone would notice. Two other sets were made with a similar notion. One set only has 4s, 5s, and 6s and the other set rolls only 1s, 2s and 3s. Since at any one time onlty three sides are visible to any one person I put the matching numbers on opposite sides. The final set of dice was created by drilling out the number 1. I placed a 1/8th ounce lead weight in the 1 and then repainted it so that it would not be visible. The extra weight reduces the radomness and significantly reduces the occurance of a 1 being rolled.
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Date: 2010-10: Wooden dice - Regular (not loaded) (Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at a local event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. To further that corruption, while running various games of chance I created a few sets of "loaded" dice. I also created this set of "correct" dice which look the same. I plan on using my large sleeves to hide the extra dice and occasionally swap between the loaded and regular dice so as to reducde detection.
[[ insert image later ]]
As part of a role that I intend to play at a local event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. To further that corruption, while running various games of chance I wanted to create a few sets of actual dice as well as these sets of "loaded" dice. I created 4 sets of corrupt dice. One set of dice has 2 fives on each die increasing the chance of rolling fives. The fives were drilled on opposite sides so as to decrease the chance that anyone would notice. Two other sets were made with a similar notion. One set only has 4s, 5s, and 6s and the other set rolls only 1s, 2s and 3s. Since at any one time onlty three sides are visible to any one person I put the matching numbers on opposite sides. The final set of dice was created by drilling out the number 1. I placed a 1/8th ounce lead weight in the 1 and then repainted it so that it would not be visible. The extra weight reduces the radomness and significantly reduces the occurance of a 1 being rolled.
[[ insert image later ]]
Date: 2010-10: Wooden dice - Regular (not loaded) (Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at a local event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. To further that corruption, while running various games of chance I created a few sets of "loaded" dice. I also created this set of "correct" dice which look the same. I plan on using my large sleeves to hide the extra dice and occasionally swap between the loaded and regular dice so as to reducde detection.
[[ insert image later ]]
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wooden Cross (Breadth)
Date: 2010-10: Wooden Cross (Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. This wooden cross was cut from a square dowel purchased from Home Depot. I cut a lap joint in two pieces and hand finished the joint with carving knives. I glued the cross and then stained it with some of my homemade black walnut stain. The cross is strung on a line of finger loop braded cotton string.
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. This wooden cross was cut from a square dowel purchased from Home Depot. I cut a lap joint in two pieces and hand finished the joint with carving knives. I glued the cross and then stained it with some of my homemade black walnut stain. The cross is strung on a line of finger loop braded cotton string.
A Faux Relic - Bones Saint Brigid (Breadth)
Date: 2010-10: A Faux Relic - Bones Saint Brigid (Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. While I travel the lands spreading the word of the one true Church I also sell indulgences and display the bones of my Patron Saint. Saint Brigid the patron Saint of blacksmiths as well as many Celts. I created this relic by taking a portion of a pig leg bone and cutting it down. I boiled it and bleached it. After all the flesh was cleaned from the bone and it was dried I aged it with a stain which I made from boiled black walnuts. The container I keep the relic in is a brass box purchsed from Salvation Army. The box is lined with a Burgundy wool pouch which I hand stiched using remnants from a woman's blazer I purchased from Salvation Army as well.
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. While I travel the lands spreading the word of the one true Church I also sell indulgences and display the bones of my Patron Saint. Saint Brigid the patron Saint of blacksmiths as well as many Celts. I created this relic by taking a portion of a pig leg bone and cutting it down. I boiled it and bleached it. After all the flesh was cleaned from the bone and it was dried I aged it with a stain which I made from boiled black walnuts. The container I keep the relic in is a brass box purchsed from Salvation Army. The box is lined with a Burgundy wool pouch which I hand stiched using remnants from a woman's blazer I purchased from Salvation Army as well.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Plaid Wool Mantle (Depth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I needed to make a wool cassock as part of the costume which I was going to create using a grey wool blanket that I purchased at salvation army. I took another wool blanket I had which was a rather ugly plaid and planned to use it as a pattern mockup. After I finished sewing it I rather liked the way it turned out. My kids love it too. It was constructed using a straight stitch on the sewing machine, but all the seams were folded and hand finished so that there are no machine stiches visable inside or out. While the blanket was ugly the new head piece looks rather nice. It is 100% wool. I matched the plaid stripes in the front and it is now one of my favorite looking pieces.
I think it is much cuter on my little girl. She loves cuddling in Daddys stuff.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Monks Robe (Depth and Breadth)
Date: 2010-10: Monks Robe (Depth and Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. While I travel the lands spreading the word of the one true Church I also sell indulgences and display the bones of my Patron Saint. This portion of the costume was created using two grey wool blankets that I purchased at salvation army. As it turns out the blankets are actually 53 years old!!! They were military issue blankets and still had the original tags on them which had date of 1957. The tags indicated that they were 100% virgin wool. After a couple washings the old moth ball smell faded and the wool is wonderfully soft. The pattern is based on an extant monks robe. It was constructed using a straight stitch on the sewing machine, but all the seams were folded and hand finished so that there are no machine stiches visable inside or out. The robe was completed in about 11 hours which includes about 10 hours of hand sewing.
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. While I travel the lands spreading the word of the one true Church I also sell indulgences and display the bones of my Patron Saint. This portion of the costume was created using two grey wool blankets that I purchased at salvation army. As it turns out the blankets are actually 53 years old!!! They were military issue blankets and still had the original tags on them which had date of 1957. The tags indicated that they were 100% virgin wool. After a couple washings the old moth ball smell faded and the wool is wonderfully soft. The pattern is based on an extant monks robe. It was constructed using a straight stitch on the sewing machine, but all the seams were folded and hand finished so that there are no machine stiches visable inside or out. The robe was completed in about 11 hours which includes about 10 hours of hand sewing.
The following are not really related to the robes, but kind of funny. I cut my hair for the event to look more like the part I was playing. I didn't have the guts to go all the way, but the look was prettey effective. That evening when the event was over I simply buzzed the rest of the hair off.
Prayer Beads (Breadth)
Date: 2010-10: Prayer Beads (Breadth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. This portion of the costume was created by using hemp line and wooden beads. I purchased the wooden beads as part of a random lot from Salvation Army. They were in a large clear plastic bag. When I bought them I wasn't sure what I'd do with them. They are about 1.25 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. I put 15 beads on the line with a knot betwen each on. I created a loop at the end to aid in hanging the beads from my belt or my wrist.
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. This portion of the costume was created by using hemp line and wooden beads. I purchased the wooden beads as part of a random lot from Salvation Army. They were in a large clear plastic bag. When I bought them I wasn't sure what I'd do with them. They are about 1.25 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. I put 15 beads on the line with a knot betwen each on. I created a loop at the end to aid in hanging the beads from my belt or my wrist.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Monks Cassock (Breadth and Depth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. While I travel the lands spreading the word of the one true Church I also sell indulgences and display the bones of my Patron Saint. This portion of the costume was created using a grey wool blanket that I purchased at salvation army. As it turns out the blanket is actually 53 years old!!! It was a military issue blanket and still had the original tag on it which had date of 1957. It indicated that it was 100% virgin wool. After a couple washings the old moth ball smell faded and the wool is wonderfully soft. The pattern is based on a simply period mantel which was cut a little larger than normal. I mocked up a trial version using another salvation army blanket. Initial construction was done using a straight stitch on the sewing machine, but all the seams were folded and hand sewn so that there are no machine stiches visable inside or out. In all I believe this item took about 4 hours to make.
The robe was based on the extant garment worn by Saint Francis.
Monks white under shirt to wear under Robes (Breadth and Depth)
As part of a role that I intend to play at an upcoming event I will be playing the part of a Monk. I will be serving as a corrupt member of the clergy. While I travel the lands spreading the word of the one true Church I also sell indulgences and display the bones of my Patron Saint. This shirt was based on a period smock. It was entirely machine stitched. The garment was constructed using recycled cotton table cloth which I collected from an SCA event.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Latest blacksmithing projet - Maker's Marks and Gravers
Date: 2010-07: Graver - Engraving Tool - U Gouge (Breadth)
Date: 2010-07: Graver - Engraving Tool - V Gouge (Breadth)
Date: 2010-07: Blacksmithing Touch Mark-Dove (Breadth)
The intent of this item was to be a similar style of an item found in the Mastermyr collection. I wanted to make a touch mark to use for marking leather goods, armor and blacksmithing projects. This maker's mark is a small dove which is part of my heraldic device. I am known as Ercc Glaison, of the Three Doves and so I wanted to be able to stamp my projects with either my initials or three doves. While this project had very little forging work, it was created as part of a blacksmithing class I took.
Another project born of necessity. I took a class on how to make a touch mark. To make the touch mark we first had to make our own engraving tool. I created this U gouge fron an old allen wrench. The wrench was ground down and shaped and then sharpened on a stone wheel. The handle was made from a peg from a coat rack. The brass ring was made from a gas ftting from a hardware store.
Another project born of necessity. I took a class on how to make a touch mark. To make the touch mark we first had to make our own engraving tool. I created this V gouge fron an old metal file. It was ground down and polished and then mounted into a woodent handle.
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Date: 2010-07: Blacksmithing Touch Mark-Dove (Breadth)
The intent of this item was to be a similar style of an item found in the Mastermyr collection. I wanted to make a touch mark to use for marking leather goods, armor and blacksmithing projects. This maker's mark is a small dove which is part of my heraldic device. I am known as Ercc Glaison, of the Three Doves and so I wanted to be able to stamp my projects with either my initials or three doves. While this project had very little forging work, it was created as part of a blacksmithing class I took.
Date: 2010-07: Blacksmithing Touch Mark-Initials (Breadth)
The intent of this item was to be a similar style of an item found in the Mastermyr collection. I wanted to make a touch mark to use for marking leather goods, armor and blacksmithing projects. This maker's mark is a set of initials (EG3D). I am known as Ercc Glaison, of the Three Doves and so I wanted to be able to stamp my projects with either my initials or three doves. While this project had very little forging work, it was created as part of a blacksmithing class I took.
Finally I have period looking shoes
Date: 2010-07: Period Shoes Made From Recycled Modern Shoes (Breadth and Depth)
This is my first attempt at acquiring period shoes. My outfits may look OK, but the shoes seem to kill the whole look. These are period looking shoes which were created using a pair of old shoes purchased from Salvation Army. These shoes seemed perfect for the task. They have all leather uppers stitched to leather and wooden soles. I cut out a section of each of the sides of the shoes to resemble a more period look. I made "laces" from some silk which matched the color of the outfit which they would be worn with.
The shoes were in really good shape when I got them for $3.00 from Salvation Army. I sketched a line on the shoes where I planned to remove some leather. The uppers were made from two layers of leather. After I cut the section out from the sides of the shoes and removed the portion where the laces used to go, I hand stitched the leather back together. I used a button hole stitch around all the raw edges by simply hand stitching with a leather needle. Previously I had never used a leather needle to sew. I've always used a round needle of heavy gauge. One day while browsing at Tandy I came across the leather hand sewing needles. From a distance the look the same, but up close you can see that they have a triangle shaped point which is very sharp along the edges. I had absolutely no problem pushing the needle through rather heavy leather. I never had to even use pliers, which I've always done in the past. Well worth the money for the needles. By the way, the "leather needles" they sell at Wal-mart.... nah. It's not the same thing. They may look similar, but those work better on canvas or pre-punched holes. The small hand sewing leather needle didn't require any pre-punching.
This is my first attempt at acquiring period shoes. My outfits may look OK, but the shoes seem to kill the whole look. These are period looking shoes which were created using a pair of old shoes purchased from Salvation Army. These shoes seemed perfect for the task. They have all leather uppers stitched to leather and wooden soles. I cut out a section of each of the sides of the shoes to resemble a more period look. I made "laces" from some silk which matched the color of the outfit which they would be worn with.
The shoes were in really good shape when I got them for $3.00 from Salvation Army. I sketched a line on the shoes where I planned to remove some leather. The uppers were made from two layers of leather. After I cut the section out from the sides of the shoes and removed the portion where the laces used to go, I hand stitched the leather back together. I used a button hole stitch around all the raw edges by simply hand stitching with a leather needle. Previously I had never used a leather needle to sew. I've always used a round needle of heavy gauge. One day while browsing at Tandy I came across the leather hand sewing needles. From a distance the look the same, but up close you can see that they have a triangle shaped point which is very sharp along the edges. I had absolutely no problem pushing the needle through rather heavy leather. I never had to even use pliers, which I've always done in the past. Well worth the money for the needles. By the way, the "leather needles" they sell at Wal-mart.... nah. It's not the same thing. They may look similar, but those work better on canvas or pre-punched holes. The small hand sewing leather needle didn't require any pre-punching.
New skirts and shirts done for the girls.
Finally completed my girls new outfits for this year.
The completed outfit consists of a hat, linen shirt, linen reversible bodice and skirt. I used handmade hooks and eyes for the skirt closures and bras rings for all the lacing. the skirts have brass rings which allow me to lace the skirt to the bodice which make the outfit more durable for 8 year old use. Now that Mommy has seen the girls in their cute outfits, she'd like one to match too. Well, that wasn't on the list of projects... yet.
Date: 2010-07: Child's Linen Lace Trimmed Shirt with no Collar (Mimi) (Depth)
This item is designed for use by an eight year old girl. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not function or period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. The shirt was constructed of an embroidered linen and cotton lace. It was machine sewn.
Date: 2010-07: Child's Linen Lace Trimmed Shirt with no Collar (Nao) (Depth)
This item is designed for use by an eight year old girl. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not function or period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. The shirt was constructed of an embroidered linen and cotton lace. It was machine sewn.
Date: 2010-07: Child's Skirt Blue Skirt (Depth)
This item is designed for use by an eight year old girl. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not function or period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. The skirt was constructed of a medium weight linen and machine sewn.
Date: 2010-07: Child's Skirt Green Skirt (Depth)
This item is designed for use by an eight year old girl. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not function or period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. The skirt was constructed of a medium weight linen and machine sewn.
The completed outfit consists of a hat, linen shirt, linen reversible bodice and skirt. I used handmade hooks and eyes for the skirt closures and bras rings for all the lacing. the skirts have brass rings which allow me to lace the skirt to the bodice which make the outfit more durable for 8 year old use. Now that Mommy has seen the girls in their cute outfits, she'd like one to match too. Well, that wasn't on the list of projects... yet.
Date: 2010-07: Child's Linen Lace Trimmed Shirt with no Collar (Mimi) (Depth)
Date: 2010-07: Child's Linen Lace Trimmed Shirt with no Collar (Nao) (Depth)
Date: 2010-07: Child's Skirt Blue Skirt (Depth)
Date: 2010-07: Child's Skirt Green Skirt (Depth)
This item is designed for use by an eight year old girl. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not function or period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. The skirt was constructed of a medium weight linen and machine sewn.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Bodices done
Been a big week. I've gotten quite a few projects comple in the last 10 days or so.
I haven't had time to write them all up, and will get to it later next week I hope. I'm planning on going to an event this Saturday and to the Ren Faire on Sunday so I have a ton of stuff I wanted done.
Here's the details on the two bodices I finished last night at 3:00 AM!
Date: 2010-07Child's Reversable Bodice (Pink, Yellow and Green)
This item is designed for use by a child. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. I made this bodice to be reversible since I have twin girls. Sometimes they like to dress alike and sometimes they don't. The bodice is pink on one side and yellow on the other. It was constructed with small rings on the sides so that I could tie it to the skirt. The bodice has a laced back and all the gromet holes were hand stitched.
Date: 2010-07Child's Reversable Bodice (Pink, Yellow and Blue)
This item is designed for use by a child. My primary concern is for comfort and appearance and not period accuracy. My children love to go to renfaires and love to dress up. I needed to make this item look "period" while being as comfortable as possible. I made this bodice to be reversible since I have twin girls. Sometimes they like to dress alike and sometimes they don't. The bodice is pink on one side and yellow on the other. It was constructed with small rings on the sides so that I could tie it to the skirt. The bodice has a laced back and all the gromet holes were hand stitched.
I haven't had time to write them all up, and will get to it later next week I hope. I'm planning on going to an event this Saturday and to the Ren Faire on Sunday so I have a ton of stuff I wanted done.
Here's the details on the two bodices I finished last night at 3:00 AM!
Date: 2010-07Child's Reversable Bodice (Pink, Yellow and Green)
Date: 2010-07Child's Reversable Bodice (Pink, Yellow and Blue)
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Small Leather Draw String Pouch (For Bees Wax)
This is a small leather pouch for my sewing kit, to keep the bees wax from melting all over everything. This pouch was made from lamb skin. This seems rather simple but took quite a bit longer than I would have liked. I made three attempts before coming up with a pouch I liked. I started by cutting some leather into three long thin strips and then braiding them. I was hoping to use a braided leather line for the pouch closure. That's the portion which took the most time. I tried three differant weight leathers before I found the one I liked. When I decided on the weight leather and had the braided line, I simply cut a circle of leather of the same material and then punched holes along the endge of the circle. I wove the braided line through the holes to complete the pouch.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thread Wrapped Buttons
I planned to make at 50 thread covered buttons. Why? Because this it he A&S50... so I have to make 50 right? As part of the challenge and for personal growth I decided to learn a new skill. I really hate the look of modern buttons on period outfits. In general I don't use buttons. I wanted to make at least 50 buttons, not for any specific garment, but simply to develop the skill to required to make quality buttons for future outfits. I made quite a few buttons before I even started to like what I saw. It took a few attempts before I worked out the system. Once I figured out a process I liked, I started experimenting with different styles and types of wrapping. In general I use hooks and eyes for ALL my clothing, but now that I've worked out a way to make nice looking buttons I may use them more often. I've made 30 off-white buttons. Twenty five of the thirty are passable and may be used. Right now I have no idea what I'll use them for. Once I had 35 of the 50 buttons created I decided what I'd use some buttons for. I modified this project as some day I plan on making a pair of sleeves for a hand stitched doublet I have. I'd like to make the sleeves open with buttons on them. I believe I'll need about 12~13 buttons per sleeve and so I planned on making 26 two-tone blue and white buttons. I also made a couple handfuls of other buttons of varying colors as practice. I have no idea what I will do with those buttons. I'll likely never use them but can't seem to throw away. I'll keep them if for no other reason than to document the learning process.
Small bags for gaming pieces
These are simple items, born out of necessity. I purchased a number of glass, wooden and marble pieces which I planned on using for period gaming. I needed some place and manner to store the pieces and so I decided to use up some of my scrap material which I never throw away. These are simply small hand stiched pouches made of felted wool and ornamented with braded cord and tassels.. An additional braded cord was used for the closure. All the bags are made of the same scrap wool. The varying sizes are solely based on the size of the scraps I had. I altered the tassels and cords used so that the contents might be distinguished more easily.
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Ruff is done!
Well I'm pretty sure I won't be doing that again! I finished the ruff finally. Normally I don't keep really good track of the time I spend on projects. I later get asked "how long did that take" and I honestly have no idea. This time I kept a good log. I wrote down start and stop times each time I worked on it. It took 48 hours to hand stitch this period-ish ruff. The ruff was based on a combination of Janet Arnold Pattersn of Fashion 4 ruff numbers 22 and 23. Here are images of those ruffs.
Now that it is near three in the AM, I must off to bed...
Here are some photos of the completed ruff. I am actually very pleased with the way it turned out. It looks as much like the photo of the extant garment as I could have every hoped for.
He'res a photo of the ruff tied closed. I used a copper ring I made from some electrical wire to make the ring. I stitched the ring into the ruff so that it could be tied closed.
Here are some close ups of the copper ring and the wooden awl I used to make the hole. I also took some some cotton string and finger loop braded it. I used the braded string to tie the ruff closed. I also attached loops of the string to the underside of the ruff (similar to the extant garment) which are to be used to fasten the ruff to the high collard doublet.
Now that it is near three in the AM, I must off to bed...
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