Category: Clothing and Equipment

A place to document my kit – things I’ve made or found

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Weather-resistant cloaks

Greet Gijsberts

I’m concerned about being wet and cold at Gulf Wars, so I’m reading up about cloak construction. I’d gotten a recommendation for an oilcloth cloak – but I know I don’t want to use modern vinyl oilcloth – yuck.  I read here on what is apparently a weaver’s bulletin board, that reconstructing period oilcloth isn’t a good idea… On the other hand, you do not want to make an oilcloth cloak. Oilcloth is a serious fire hazard, quite apart from the oil migrating into whatever you are wearing underneath the cloak and ruining in. Instead, she recommends a felted wool … Continue reading Weather-resistant cloaks

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Wheel update

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It works!  It works! I’d overthunk the driveband, and used a leather thong, which turned out to be too much friction.  Substituting a piece of string makes the wheel functional.  I have Franklin Habit and his blog, the Panopticon, to thank for this reminder of Engineering Rule No. 1: Use the least possible object that will carry the force.  EG: If you only need tensile strength, use a skinny wire.  If you need tensile strength+friction, as in my wheel scenario, use a mid-sized piece of cotton yarn.  Don’t jump ahead to preconceived ideas of what "ought" to be used – … Continue reading Wheel update

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Embroidered Herbal

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(You really must click this one – it’s huge.) This is the result of a kit that my mother started before I was born.  I finished it last month. I want to make it into a gear bag – since I find myself shlepping an awful lot of gear to Fighter Practice, A&S meetings, and so forth.  But in the meantime it’s inspired a new banner here, and an ID card for me to give out to people.  The card image looks nice on the glossy perforated cards I use for Front Step Design. Continue reading Embroidered Herbal

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Handspun, handwoven, Part 2

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So here it is, off the loom.  This is not a big item – I think I’ll fold it in half, with the fringys out, and call it a zippered wallet.  That is, after I sew a zipper in it. But it was fun, and didn’t take very long – about 2 hours including the warping of the loom.  I think I could do two of them in three hours time, if I do them on the same warp. Playing with the colors was particularly enjoyable.  No right or wrong here! Continue reading Handspun, handwoven, Part 2

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Meet Maud, my Irish spinning wheel

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(as usual, click to make it bigger) Why yes, I had a good Christmas.  Daan and I had to burn some time in a Wisconsin antiques barn, and they had not one, but about FIFTEEN spinning wheels.  This is, of course, because I stood outside in the rainy parking lot and said, where the fairies could hear, "Wouldn’t it be funny if we found some spinning stuff here?"  So I spent a couple hundred dollars on this wheel, and… a weasel, and a pair of carding paddles. A weasel is a kind of swift, which is doing above what most … Continue reading Meet Maud, my Irish spinning wheel

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Wooden Swords

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I’m probably not going to get a rapier out of this Instructable.  Still very cool. "Why buy your kids a cheap, soon to break toy when you can make them a great hardwood sword that will be durable, fun to play with, and even look good? This should not be considered the only way to make a nice wooden sword, but it definitely makes a nicer one than you can usually find. Most of the work can be done with hand or power tools. The blade itself requires the use of a tablesaw." Don’t these kids look great?  Some of … Continue reading Wooden Swords

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Folding Chairs Through The Ages

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Look here. "the folding stool as a ceremonial chair developed in two ways: one secular, and the other ecclesiastical. the makeup of the roman ‘sella curulis’ assumes, through the longobard ‘sella plicatilis’ in steel, the form of the carolingian ‘faldistorium’. here we notice another typological alteration. the crossed legs are frontal instead of being placed laterally. this was to emphasize the crossing ‘X’ – structure which became a symbol of authority. the most emblematic example is the throne of dagobert I, king of the franconians." Continue reading Folding Chairs Through The Ages

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Cool weather gear

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I bought yarn for this fall’s cold weather knitting project, Roam by Rowan.  Doesn’t it look rather medieval?  Sort of a jerkin.  It has a hood, which I’d like to make long and pointy – with the practical aspect of having more room for my hair.  I got a better yarn than that boring brown, though.  It’s ‘Country’, in 652 Willow. Think that’ll look nice with my Gothic Fitted Dress fabric (hint – it’s the plaid I put on the banner above)? Continue reading Cool weather gear