This is Just to Say.

I am freaking awesome at putting gores into slashes. Seriously you have never seen such perfectly smooth gore points as my gore points.

It seems to me that there is some inter-period tension. Specifically, people with Renaissance personas tend to look down upon--even scoff at--people with early period personas, under the belief that the only reason a person would choose an early period persona is because they suck at sewing, and early-period garb is easy to make.

AND YET: these are the very same people who endlessly complain about the impossibility of creating a smooth gore point and the difficulty of putting in sleeve gussets. Now, early-period garb without gores and gussets is really not garb at all. Gores and gussets are essential for early period garb, and rarely even appear in Renaissance garb (or at least the Renaissance personas would rather do without them).

Obviously, these people are people with issues. Frustrated at their incompetence with gores and gussets, they just scoff and say, "Why would I want garb like that anyway? Leave it to the barbarians! My persona is civilized." (Civil as an orange, or something of that jealous complexion.)

I've even tried to be nice and explain my method to them, but they just stare at me like I'm crazy. It's so simple. Seam allowances. Their grandmothers would smack them for leaving the seam allowances off any other pattern piece.

I know that I've written a post like this before. I know that for some people, early-period really is a cop out for not knowing how to sew very well. But what bothers me is the assumption that that's the case for everyone with an early-period persona. If they're going to assume that, then I'll just assume that every Renaissance persona is a high-strung princess-wannabe with daddy issues. There, I said it. Why else would you wear such ostentatiously fancy crap?

Tent 1.0

Couldn't sleep, and I started thinking about my tent. Should have blogged about it long ago, but this is just how it happens.

Here are some kinda crappy photos:





The Halloween festival about which I blogged previously was a really good test run for the tent. Because of that, I know exactly what I need to do to finish it.

1. Install grommets at the points indicated with red arrows in the second photo. In the top crossbeam, install thick (but not too thick to go through the grommets) nails at the point corresponding to the grommets. (If the nails prove too weak, I can remove them later, drill a hole into the beam, and glue in pegs.) This is for the purpose of helping keep the canvas tight across the whole tent, even when the side is being put up and down every day.

2. Create and install a flap with a pocket in the end, to go over the grommeted seam. This serves the dual purpose of having a more complete and autonomous place to put the canopy crosspole, as well as covering more extensively the hole/seam where the grommets and ties are in the side of the tent. As you can see in the top photo, the canopy crosspole was attached by spiraling a rope around it through the grommets. I didn't really like that.

3. Install better ties that go with the grommets. (the "ribbon" I used is weak and frays like crazy, and many of the ties were too short).

4. Install ties on the door flaps.

5. Carve Viking design in the pole heads. Maybe... eventually... whatever.

I'm confident that I could get most of this done the next time I have to use the tent. The first would take only a few minutes to do just before erecting the tent. I would have to create the flap in the second beforehand, but using a fat, sharp needle and strong, thick thread (like crochet thread), it wouldn't take long to sew onto the tent after it was put up. Sewing on the ties in 3 and 4 would take longer, but it's not as urgent as the other steps, so I could just do it on a have-time basis while the tent is set up.

So there you go. Tent 1.0.

We'll probably use this tent for some purpose or other at next year's ren faire, so the above changes won't happen until May or thereabouts. Unless there's some camping SCA event I could go to before that, but given the emptiness of my coffers, that doesn't seem likely.

Ideas that didn't make it:

Hammock: The tent, as conceived, wouldn't be structurally sound enough to support the weight, and I didn't want to make all the necessary changes after having sewn the canvas. However, I guess it's still possible to build separate hammock supports if I really wanted to.

Tent floor/canopy roof: Stupid idea. I bought a tarp for the floor. If I feel like the canopy really needs to be longer, I can do something about that in the future. (Just make a piece of fabric the appropriate size, with ties to attach to the grommeted edge of the tent, and a pocket to put the canopy crosspole in. Not difficult, but not really necessary, and it would complicate putting the side of the tent up and down because I'd have to attach and unattach the extra canopy each time. Not so good if I have to suddenly put it down due to foul weather or something.)

Stuff I'd have to bring to finish the tent:

Hammer, fat nails, grommets, grommet tools, fat needle, fat thread, finished pocket flap, ribbon/cording for ties.

I am also now the owner of two propane lanterns. Yessss. I am hardcore. Just need to make sure I have plenty of mantles on hand because those things always break.

Sort of lyrics I guess.

Be alert, my love
And stand your ground
Against this robot army
It’s just you and me now,
But we will make it out

There was nothing on the news
But lies, for they refuse
To let the people know their lot
Or let the people fight their fight

Be alert, my love
And stand your ground
This war will be over soon
There will be peace on this earth

And why do you love me?
When I could be one of them
Could turn around, betray mankind
Join my mechanical brothers.
But I am made from living flesh
As testified by these scars.

Stand your ground, my love
Be alert and stay inside
It’s just you and me,
But this war will be over soon.

Just a few more moments now
As I step into the mainframe
To give the order
I could kill all humans
But there is no love to be found
With the digital.
I may be one of them
But I am not with them.

Hold still my love.
My brain is full of nanites,
But I have a beating heart.
This war will be over soon,
And we will make it out.


-----


Speaking of writing, I was trying to unofficially write a novel this month. But yesterday was terrible, I couldn't stay awake, was too cold to think, etc.; so now I'm way behind on the word count and still have yet to come up with anything resembling a plot (even though I'm much more advanced on that front now than I was 24 hours ago.) In short, I don't think I'm going to make it in a month, but hopefully I'll have the stamina to continue writing it until I finish (that never happens). If I just force myself to write some every day, maybe it will all come together.

(In order to deflect annoying questions: You can read it here, and you have to have a DA account to leave comments. Not that I expect anyone to actually read it, or want to leave comments. But, in order to deflect annoying whining: You can comment here, or email me, or whatever.)

Comparison.

Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.

Two stories about girls (in blue dresses) who accidentally get transported to some magical (drug-induced) world and spend the rest of the story wandering about, trying to get home.

Two stories that everyone else seems to love and obsess over. Two stories that I can't stand.

Just thought I'd get that out there.

Unfinished.

I've had this in my "drafts" folder in my email since 2003. (That's 6 years, for everyone who doesn't want to do the math.) It was a story I was writing for my friend Annie. Well it's too late for that now, so here it is . . .



It was a day like any other. Only this day, was different. It was late Friday night. I was keeping shop with my partner, Annie. It was about time to close. See, we run a little side business when cases aren't cropping up like they should be. We run a bakery, and part of the duties of running a bakery is ensuring that the customer always has fresh, sour lemon slices to put in their drinks. That was my job. Well, like I said, it was about time to close. I went to go check on the lemon slices, but to my horror I found that there were six, instead of the original eight. Could this be the work of some innocent customer, who wanted to add zest to their drink with the bright, tangy taste of lemon juice? I doubted it. I had a different culprit in mind, one so heinous that he added the proverbial insult to injury by replacing the ice cubes that kept the lemon slices fresh with a warm, tepid water. There was only one person so diabolical, so utterly feindish as to accomplish such a thing: Mr. Sunson, or, as they call him, Mr. Golden Sun.

Tent.

My Viking tent is nearly finished. We've been working on the wood on and off for about 3 weeks. I was going to have a bunch of photos about that, but my camera died the very day we started working on the wood. Suffice to say that it's mostly been my dad doing a lot of stuff with saws, planers, drills, chisels and files. I helped a little.

Today we put up the tent and I saw that the doors didn't really work out like they mathematically should have (seriously, I don't understand it), so now I'm doing more sewing to reshape the doors. Also I'll be sewing on some more fabric (plaid wool I've had laying around for a while) to serve dual function as the tent floor and the canopy roof. My main concern there is that it's completely not waterproof, and therefore an issue if I'm camping and it rains . . . but hopefully at that point I'll have something to sleep on that elevates me enough off the ground that a wet floor won't be a problem.

As for the hardware, we just need to make the pegs that hold it together, and probably some stakes, and figure out exactly the best configuration for the canopy. The tent will be functional in 4 days so we can use it at Sleepy Millcreek Hollow. I'll have to add more stuff later, like ties for the doors, but it will be functional.

Sorry I didn't get a photo of the tent when it was up. Coming soon, I swear.

Triangulation.

For those of you (Rachel, Liz, etc.) who have asked about the color/triangle thing I reference without explanation, here's some stuff for you to read.

Semiotics Lecture 1 by Arwen (basics)

Semiotics Lecture 2 by Arwen (character structures)

A quick breakdown of personalities by Brozy

Star Wars analysis by Manning (character structures)

Brain Crack.

The Curse of the Rotten Thread

It was late one lonely night
When she sat down to sew;
She wound her bobbin not too tight
The thread was all set up to go;
With expert fingers and keen eye
The fabric joined into a seam;
But that bobbin thread, it broke;
Cut thread, pull out, rewind, and scream

As that thread broke once again--
Not once but twice and thrice again.
It broke in inches, it broke from stitches
It broke with every needle's cut.
She sewed, it broke. She pulled, it broke.
She tried the thread until she died, somewhat . . .

And now she wanders crowded rooms
Where crafters cut and toil
Moaning out her message from
Beyond the mortal coil
The unliving dead, she haunts them,
With her tidings thus to share:
"Beware of buying vintage thread!
Beware! Beware! Beware!"

A New Sewing Experience.

I had a sewing machine/repair store look at my broken machine. The pedal is fine, so they figure it's a problem with the motor or the circuit board on the motor. That's all they could tell me without totally taking it apart (and charging for the labor). They estimate that it would cost $100-250 to fix, IF they can even get the parts for it (that's a pretty hefty if, I think).

For now I am using one of my mom's old machines, a Bernina Favorit. It was apparently given to us by a great-aunt of mine who had some kind of sewing and/or fabric business. It was actually the machine that I learned to sew on. Back then, I was under the impression that the machine barely worked. Seemed like it was constantly skipping stitches or getting the thread all jammed up. It works fine now, so I guess the truth is that I was incompetent. And it comes with all these nifty feet that I've never used before. I certainly don't think they're necessary--I've put in plenty of nice-looking zippers without a zipper foot, for example. But I'm excited to see if they make some things a little easier.

However, there are a lot of things I don't like about this machine. It's the kind that's built into a table (I said it was old). That's annoying because I can't take it anywhere else, and it's set farther back on the table than I like to work with, so I have to lean forward uncomfortably the entire time I'm sewing. It's made of white-painted metal with a very shiny needleplate. Of itself, that's not a crime, but the light from the bulb just above the needle glares horribly off the metal and gives me a bad headache if I spend too many hours sewing. Plus it's in a very small and crowded room, with about two square feet of space for the bulk of the thing being sewn to be on while it's being sewn. If I'm sewing something huge, I don't know how I will manage the large masses of fabric that simply won't fit into the tiny bit of space to the left of and behind the machine. (Don't even ask why I couldn't put it to the right of the machine. Due to the configuration of how it all works, that's an idiotic question.) There are some other things too, but this is enough complaining.

Basically, I guess I will use this machine for the duration of my undetermined stay with my parents. If my life ever stops sucking and I get to live on my own again, I guess at that point I will buy a new machine. (But honestly I think the world will end before that happens.)

Nålbinding.

Why I like nålbinding more than knitting:

Every time I've tried to knit, I've ended up spending hours upon hours to produce small, useless, and flaw-filled scraps of textile; or it was so disastrous that I simply gave up within the first five rows.

I taught myself how to nålbind yesterday, and in the course of my very first try, I produced something real and useful--a pair of socks.

Now the astute readers of my blog will notice that they don't exactly match. I'm not overly concerned on this point because it was a learning experience, and I'm just happy that they're the same size.

I think if I used something sturdy, like thick hemp cord, I could actually make shoes.

Sleepy Millcreek Hollow.

Sleepy Millcreek Hollow is the Halloween/autumn version of the Utah ren faire. (Put on by the same people at the same location). Naturally, Alyssa wants us to have a booth at it.

So now I'm attempting to think up some halloweeny/autumny things I can make to sell. Sure, I still have the vast majority of my garb and jewelry left over from the ren faire, but for this my mind is taking a less historical, more pagan bent.

So here are ideas I've had:

lots of cloaks/robes/capes
wooden wands
rune casting sets (using the elder futhark)
witch hats
hoods


Problems with these:

Would people actually buy them? The cloaks are a probable yes, the wands would depend on the price, but the other things I feel pretty sketchy about.

I don't know how to make witch hats that have everything all stiff and standing up, unless I use really thick wool, to the point that I'm basically doing millinery to felt it into shape, and I just don't have the skills or equipment for that kind of millinery. Alyssa can knit witch hats, though.

I also thought of making lotions as I mentioned previously on Facebook, but I don't really want to buy the special ingredients until I have money.


I asked on Facebook what people would expect to buy at a Halloween/autumn festival, and the results were rather different than the above list, which leads me to doubt even more that people would buy that stuff.

(Why doesn't anyone want to buy my stuff? Why is everyone so much more comfortable with mass-produced polyester crap?)

Anyway, there's always Plan B, where everything that doesn't sell in real life gets stuck on the internet where I assume that someone, sometime will find it and buy it.

Curioser and Curioser.

I visited my parents this weekend and I brought my sewing machine. I had my dad look at it and tried a few things on it myself, but long story short, it worked. Without us really doing anything to fix it. When I got to my apartment I plugged it in and tried it again, and it didn't work. So apparently the machine is fine, it just doesn't work in my apartment. (And for the record I tried it in different outlets in different rooms just to be sure.) That's annoying because I'll be living here for another 3 weeks and I have 4 commissioned pieces to make, but having a machine that doesn't work where I live is definitely better than having one that doesn't work at all.

I find this especially strange because all my other machines and electronics are working fine. But whatever. If it's a problem with the wiring or whatever in the apartment, that will be someone else's problem soon. I'm just glad to know that my machine is not yet gone forever, even though I can't use it right now.

Stormy Weather.

I actually wanted to talk about my tent. I've thought up a way to install a floor in it that can be moved out as part of the canopy. I'm guessing that sentence didn't make much sense to anyone but me. Anyway, I don't have the money to buy more canvas to make the floor of the tent, so that is really more theoretical at this point. Hopefully I won't have forgotten the idea by the time I am able to do it. The second idea I had is making a hammock which I can suspend from the top pole. That would basically be the best camping bed ever. And if the tent floods, it's not a problem because I'm not on the ground. The only reason I didn't think of that sooner is because for a while I was thinking that it would be prudent to have space for two people to stay in the tent. There's room for two people on the ground, but not in mid-air. But at this point, it's just going to be me in the tent, and probably never anyone else. And I love hammocks. So that settles it. I still have yet to make the frame of the tent. There is some camping event in September (I've already forgotten what it is) that I think I should aim for having the tent usable (meaning I probably won't have the floor, hammock, or other canopy parts done, but it will be a tent). I haven't been to a camping SCA event before, and a pretty big reason is because I didn't have a tent. Anyway, it's just a matter of cornering my dad when he has free time to get to work on it.

Hosen.

Today I spent a lot of time trying to draft a pattern for hosen, which are basically socks that are sewn with woven fabric (medieval, of course). I drew a pattern several months ago, but didn't get around to testing it until today, for lack of desire to do anything. Here's the original pattern:



And 5 socks later, I ended up with this pattern:



The big piece needs to be cut on the bias, the other pieces don't really matter for bias or grain.

Here's a bad photo of the final one:



Obviously needs to be worn with a garter (cross gartered!*), and it's a little baggy in the foot, but it's the best I have patience for today.

Someday I'll make a pair with wool like it should be done. Guess I'll have to weave garters too.


*If you don't get this joke, you should read more Shakespeare.

Tent Part 1.

Okay, here is the canvas for my tent which I have finished sewing. I finished it last week.







This is over 14 yards of heavy-weight, waterproofed cotton canvas. The trim is for reinforcing the seams, as I've mentioned. I still need to sew the ties on the doors. I'm waiting until I can set it up so I can get the proper amount of overlap on the doors. I've also thought of a way to put in a floor that will be a part of the canopy when that is set up, like the magical transforming tent. I just don't have fabric that I think will work for it, and I can't really afford at this point to buy more canvas. Anyway I'll get that done eventually.

Tent.

I'm almost done sewing the tent. It actually went really fast once I finished the first, really long seam. All I have left is to sew on the door flaps, put on a few grommets, and put on all the ties. I would love to get a photo, but as before, it just looks like a huge lump of fabric crumpled on my floor. I'll have to take it to my parents' house to get a photo of it all spread out because my apartment is too small.



Here's my pattern and instructions, which I came up with. It seems to be working out pretty well, but we'll see once we build the skeleton. On the grommet flap and the door flaps, I didn't have to hem because I used the selvedge.

I could have finished it today, but I started staring into space too much so I realized I needed a break. I took a shower, and didn't want to work on it again after that because of how the fabric gets green stuff all over me. I'll probably finish it in the next few days because I don't want it taking up all my floor space for too long.

It feels so backwards to me to sew something and then build the body to fit the sewn thing.

In Tent 2.0 I'll sew in a floor. That will be later when I can afford more fabric.

Ideas.8

One time I was hanging out with my sisters and we started coming up with ideas for the best ice cream flavors that don't exist (to our knowledge). A few of these have been mentioned before, and a few do exist in some abstruse way. Here is the list. Sarah named most of these. You can probably guess which ones I named.

Sweetbreeze: coconut in a strawberry base

Kiwi: kiwi blended into a vanilla base

Tropicalbreeze: pineapple and mango in a strawberry base

Nightmint: gourmet mint ice cream with gourmet dark chocolate shavings. I have a mint ice cream recipe made from mint leaves, and I'm thinking of those really awesome dark chocolate bars with like, chili powder or dried cherries in them.

Slug: fried bananas coated with cinnamon sugar mixed into a vanilla base

Candyorange: orange juice and cinnamon blended into a vanilla base

Chocolate orange: orange juice blended into a chocolate base

Ginger dough: vanilla with chunks of gingersnap dough. The really good kind with fresh ginger root and molasses.

Cold chocolate: cinnamon and marshmallows blended into a chocolate base

Pumpkin pie: vanilla with chunks of pumpkin cookie dough.

Apple scrapple: baked apples, cinnamon, and pie crust in vanilla base.

Raspy: raspberries and pie crust in vanilla base.

Strhub: cooked rhubarb in strawberry base.

Black Chalk: blackberries in chocolate base.

Banana: bananas blended into vanilla.

Raspberry: raspberries blended into vanilla.

Mojito: lime juice (or zest?) in mint base.

Cough: ground coffee and ladyfinger-type cookies in vanilla, with a bit of cocoa powder as well for extra bitterness.

Brains: caramel swirls, marshmallow creme swirls, a few black cherries in a base flavored and colored with black licorice.

Passion: passionfruit blended into vanilla base.

Banana split: Vanilla with chunks of bananas, chocolate fudge swirl, caramel swirl, strawberries, nuts, and a few maraschino cherries.

Crownberry: Brownie chunks and cranberries. Can't decide if this should be in chocolate or vanilla.

Nightman: chocolate base with extra cocoa and bits of those dark chocolate bars.

Chocolate slug: bananas and nuts in chocolate base.

Peachy Oaty Cream: peaches, cooked sugary oats, cinnamon and ginger in vanilla base.

Purple: vanilla flavored with lavender

Rose: vanilla flavored with rose

unnamed: marshmallow creme mixed into vanilla, with warm/melted peanut butter mixedin just before freezing.

Tent.

I started sewing my tent today (finally!) because I finished the jester outfit and wanted to do something for myself before moving on to the next commission. I had a few hours spare today and that's just what I felt like doing to fill those hours.

It's not difficult to sew, as far as getting the needle and thread through the fabric. It is difficult to handle such huge pieces of heavy fabric. The fabric also smells nasty and turns my hands green.

I'm not sure about finishing the seams. The strongest and probably most waterproof way to finish them, I've decided, is to flat-fell them (this is my favorite seam finishing technique on anything I make). But folding them over that much is too much fabric to get the needle through, so I decided to just sew the seam over to the side and cover the raw edge with trim. It's a good idea but hard to implement. A lot of the seams are in the middle and therefore impossible to fit through my machine, due to the huge amount of fabric on either side of the seam. This means that I'll have to finish the seam by hand.

An easier way to finish the seam is to make a mock french seam, but that's just not as strong as flat-felling, and it involves sewing through 4 layers of fabric--fine with most fabrics, but not with this thick canvas. Strength is really important, because the fabric will be stretched out over a tent frame, obviously, and that puts the seam under a lot more strain than a piece of clothing being worn.

The point is that I'm going to have to do hand-sewing on some very long seams, and that sucks. The huge amounts of fabric on either side of the seams mean that hand-sewing will also be difficult, but it will at least be possible. But it will also take forever.

I shouldn't complain though. I didn't choose to make a tent out of the desire for a quick and easy project. That's what clothing is for.

I was going to get an "in progress" photo, but so far it's just a large pile of fabric on the floor, so that's not very interesting.

Weaving.5

And now I have woven a rug. I got a large wooden frame at DI that may have once been a window or something, and put nails all along the short ends to make my weaving frame. From there it just took two days (about 10 hours) and a lot of scrap fabric. As you can see, it's a hideous monster of a rug. The second half (which is the half closer to the camera) is quite a bit better done than the first half, as I rectified several mistakes I eventually realized I had been making. Still, hideous. I got the method from this questionable article. I had to figure some things out for myself, which weren't explained well or at all. I think with proper color scheming, I could make some lovely rugs. And that's all I have to say.

Project: Tent.2

After several days of using the Google product search and mixing and matching search terms in every way I could think of, I finally have found exactly what I've wanted. At mytarp.com I can buy canvas tarp fabric off the bolt for $5/yard! I can't tell you how many crappy online stores I've been to that are nigh unnavigable, and the shipping costs are left a complete mystery. For a while I was looking at buying already-made tarps in various sizes and piecing them together to make my tent, but I didn't want to have to deal with the grommets and the super thick seams and hems. Just imagining how many needles I would break sent shudders all over my body.

So I've purchased the tarp for my tent, even though actual construction is quite a while away still. Also: it's green.

Crafts.

Crafts I can't get out of my brain:

♠Viking tent. I really am going to do this.

♠Tablet-woven dog leashes. I especially want to make one with two ends so that Stacey and Briar Rose can be walked on the same leash. Would reduce the tangling problems, and make it possible (hopefully) for one person to walk them both.

♠Rug weaving. Mostly I want to weave rugs to be the floor in my tent; and it's a good way to use up scrap fabrics--better than that quilt idea I had. I've already made a frame to weave them on and learned how to do it.

♠Viking chairs. You know, the kind that is just two boards stuck through each other.

♠Add-ons/upgrades. Like weaving trims for my garb. Weaving straps for the tent. Other things I can't think of right now.

♠Continous. Even after the Ren Faire, I'll continue making garb to sell online, plus making more stock for next year. That could go on forever. Plus all my regular sewing goings-on. Doing the mending pile.

♠Need to finish. Embroidering the skirt. Binding the scrap quilt. (Wow, only two!)

Project: Tent.

This summer I've decided to undertake a massive project. I'm going to make a Viking tent. My dad will help me with the woodworking--but this is an improvement from my former days when I would just tell my dad to make me something. I'm interesting in woodworking, but I don't have power tools or a good workspace for it in my apartment. While tents are fairly large, the construction is simple and it doesn't have to involve hammering or screwing things. (I am crap at hammering.) Plus, when I'm finished, I'll have my own tent, and it will be period! Doesn't get more awesome than that. I've decided on what I think will be a good size of a tent, and it works well with standard lumber sizes and standard fabric sizes.

The worst cost of it will be the canvas. I've found some fabric that's made for making boat covers, which is a thick poly/cotton canvas that has already been treated for water and mildew resistance, and it's only $10/yard which is basically the best price I could get for that stuff. The tent size I'm thinking of would require 15 yards of fabric, which is actually not bad. On the other hand, the shipping cost for that much, that heavy, fabric will be murderous. (The online store which sells that fabric wanted to charge me $12 to ship 4 small metal clips! I killed that order real fast.) So I'll shop around some more online, and see what I can find. I definitely want cotton canvas, at least 10 oz., pretreated to resist water. I really don't want to try to waterproof it myself, and I hate synthetic material (especially not good for period use). I suppose I'll also browse around the decorating sections of local fabric stores and see if they have anything useful, but I find that unlikely.

And then there's a difficult design decision. Traditionally, the upright poles on the tents have animal heads carved into the top, in knotty Viking fashion. The problem is that I don't really like animals, and I'm very wary of associating myself with animal figures. I like a few animals, but not the wolves, bears and foxes that are prominent not only in Viking art and names, but also in furry culture. It's sad that I like these animals less because of furry culture. So basically I want to stay far away from them, even though they are pretty cool on their own. (Bears give birth while they are hibernating! In their sleep! That is the way to do it!)

Anyway, I think I'll come up with some snake design (easy), tree design (harder) or even a snake and tree together (hardest).

Advanced Potion-Making.2

At Collegium I learned how to make bath salts and bath oils. Bath oils are more like massage oils, and bath salts were used in the middle ages more as exfoliant scrubs (not dissolved in the bathwater like we do today). Maybe sometime I'll tell you all about medieval bathhouses and how people weren't nasty dirty all the time.

For bath salts.

1 cup salt (as natural as you can get it, or at least non-iodized)
1 cup epsom salts
1 tsp. essential oil (for these it's best to just go with one flavor rather than mixing them)
3 drops vitamin E oil
1-3 drops of food coloring

Mix the salt together first, then mix in the oils, then mix in the food coloring. Vitamin E oil keeps the essential oil from going rancid.

For bath oils.

about 1 oz. carrier oil (olive, canola, walnut, almond, jojoba, etc)
20 drops essential oil (you can mix them)
3 drops vitamin E oil

Just mix them together.

For both of these it's best to use glass containers, as plastic will absorb the scent of the essential oils. Store the oils in a cool, dark place. Heat and light will destroy the antioxidants in the oil.

How to get salt out of natural salt water.

1. Collect the natural salt water.
2. Strain it though a muslin or cheesecloth several times, to get out the gross stuff.
3. Boil it. Skim the remaining gross stuff off the top. Let boil/simmer for several hours until it starts sounding like popping popcorn.
4. Spread it out onto cloth and let dry in the sunlight.

Face.

How to easily remove makeup without using nasty chemicals.

What you need:

oil.
cotton balls.
washcloth.
warm water.

For oil, I prefer oils that are nutritious and cleansing for the skin. I use part castor oil and part olive oil. If you just have canola oil, it's usable. Other good skin oils are almond, walnut, and jojoba.

Instructions:

Soak a tiny bit of oil onto a cotton ball. Start wiping away the makeup. A lot of it will transfer onto the cotton ball, but some will smear on your face. Just keep going until you have it mostly off. I can do both eyes with one cotton ball, but if you're doing your whole face you'll want to have more.

Get the washcloth damp with warm water and use it to wipe away the oil and the remaining makeup.

Ta-da! At this point I would advise you to splash cold water on your face for the sake of your pores. Or continue with more treatment, such scrubs, masks, or moisturizers.

Test.

Once upon a time, this pin had a gold-colored center with a keyhole, and a tiny gold-colored key dangling off at the end of a gold-colored chain. It was not long before the key and chain broke off. Then, last month or so, I accidentally put the pin through the washer, causing the keyhole part to fall off as well. I found it in the washer, and then put it into my pocket, but never took it out of my pocket, and haven't seen it since. Today I decided that I would never find it, so I decided to fill up the empty center with beads, as a test to my previously-mentioned brooch design.

There are a few problems. The visible holes on the large beads look pretty bad. And there are a lot of clear beads, which appear to be mere globs of glue, like I didn't even bother to fill up the heart-shaped hole correctly. That's no good at all. So simple solution: in the future don't use big beads or clear beads.

This post feels kind of pointless.

Millinery.

This weekend I went to a Re-Enactor's Conference hosted at This is the Place. Aside from TITP people, there were also a lot of people from a Utah Civil War group and from a group that's about the American West. I can't remember their actual names. And some random people like me who aren't technically associated with any of those (even though half of my family is involved with TITP).

One of the classes I took was Millinery. This was less about actually making hats, and more about getting hats and transforming them into different hats (mostly bonnets), which is an easier process when you don't have the equipment/skills to make felt hats or to weave straw hats. This class got my little brain to start churning more than the other classes, and since it was the last class, it stuck around on my brain a lot longer. Of course, the bonnets they were making were circa 1860s, with tons of ribbons, flowers, lace, gathered fabric, etc. A little too opulent for my taste, but it gave me ideas.

Sometime recently, I purchased a hat from a vintage store in Provo (Coal Umbrella). I was a little unsure, because it's very plain, cream colored with a matching ribbon (which was starting to fray), but Jasie managed to convince me. The style of the hat is fabulous; it's felted wool from the 40s, with a large droopy brim. It reminded me of Ilsa's hat. (I'll put up a photo soon.)

I've worn it a few times, and I've always had the intention of getting some pretty ribbon to replace the current band. Now I've decided pretty definitely what I'm going to do with it.

First, I will take my leftover green satin from the 1941 dress and turn it into a wide hat band. At least I think I have some left still. If not, I'll have to get some other shiny dark green fabric or ribbon. Whatever.

Then I will make a fabulous brooch to pin up the brim where it's currently being held by the fraying ribbon. This brooch will start out with a pre-1982 penny. Pennies made previous to 1982 were made with bronze or brass, depending on the year*, and usually with 95% content of copper**. I will hammer this penny out into a thin, larger disk, using the metal-hammering skills I learned from The Golden Goblet, which I read sometime in elementary school (I also learned how to draw wire from this book). Hopefully I'll be able to hammer it out big enough. If not, I'll have to experiment with using more than one. I can file down the edges to make the shape more uniform, if necessary. Then I will put the bronze/brass disk in a solution of vinegar and salt until it turns green. After it dries, I'll glue a pinback on, and then fill the center of the circle on the outside with glue, and dip it into a mound of multi-colored seed beads to make a jewel-looking center on the brooch. I think it will look pretty shiny. If it turns out well, I might eventually make more to sell.

*except the steel pennies from 1943.
**the 100% copper and 88% copper are too old for me to have any of them. I'm not a numismatist, I generally just pick pennies up off the streets. No numismatist would do this kind of thing to their coins.

Weaving.4

And now I have learned how to Norse wire weave (also known as Viking knitting, but I feel that is a misnomer, since the term could also apply to naalbinding. However I have also seen this called wire naalbinding, so it's all related). Unfortunately I don't have any photos of what I've done, since the chains I've made are very small and very shiny, which makes them difficult to photograph. I have been using 28-gauge silver wire. I'm not very good, my chains are all twisty and uneven, but they become pretty and even out when I draw them out (through a drawplate, not like with a pencil).

I'd like to link you to the most helpful tutorial I looked at, but apparently I learned from it just in the nick of time, since the page is now defunct. Sors. So instead I will just post a photo of someone else's weaving so you can appreciate how pretty this craft is.



I want to try this out with thicker wire, just to see the difference. Although I would rather spend my time tablet weaving, at this point this is more useful, since we don't have any chains to make jewelry with. I'd also like to try making a beaded chain, though of course I wouldn't be able to draw it out, so that will have to wait until I'm capable of making my chains looks nice and even (also I don't have any seed beads). I think that would be really pretty, if I could pull it off.

Sachet.

I got some potpourri yesterday. I decided instead of having it sit out in a bowl getting dusty and losing its scent in two days, to do something more useful with it. So I made closet sachets! A sachet is just a small bag of fabric filled with fragrant stuff, traditionally tossed into dresser drawers or linen closets to make stuff smell good. A closet sachet is the same, but with a string attached to hang it with your clothes.



Here you can see the finished sachets with the remaining potpourri to the side and the crochet thread I used (rainbow pastel, my least favorite color). I just grabbed random largish scraps of fabric, fold them in half and sewed down two sides to make a bag, turned them inside out (with the exception of the denim one, because I wasn't paying attention), stuffed them with potpourri, then sewed the top seam with the string sewn into it. I wasn't concerned with making them look pretty. These are obviously super easy to make, and hopefully my clothes will smell like roses for a while. And as you can see I have plenty more potpourri, so I can refill them when necessary. Of course you can use other things too--dried herbs, spices, soap, or anything else that smells nice and won't rot.

Adventures in Gardening.

Sometime ago, I decided I wanted to have a garden on my balcony. I failed at this goal last year, but I'm slowly building up the ability to pull it off this year. I've managed to keep alive a mint plant and a rosemary plant for a few months now. (Actually the rosemary died, but it was a live for a while, so that's something). I'm going to transplant some of the mint into the rosemary's pot to have twice as much.



Today I set up a planter for some bell peppers, the seeds of which I have been harvesting from store-bought peppers for quite a while now. I made the pot out of empty milk cartons. I think it should work. It took me a while to drink two whole cartons of milk, after I realized that I could use them for planting.



When it stops being cold at night I'll move it all outside, probably. My apartment is always pretty warm these days.

Comic.

I got an idea for a comic strip, but I don't feel like drawing so here is the script. It's called "Amazing Merlin's Pants Comic!" (Just to warn you though, I am crap at writing punchlines . . . )

EXT. Hogwarts grounds-Day

MERLIN'S PANTS are practicing.

MERLIN'S PANTS
Poor Winky! She's drinky! The butterbeer's strong!

SNAPE enters.

SNAPE
Stop this. Stop this at once. It is far too silly. Ten points from Ravenclaw for this insipid cacophony!

ALYSSA
But! It was a Slytherin who wrote the song!

SNAPE
Your unsolicited opinion has cost your house another 50 points.

CAMILLA
Ha!

SNAPE
And if I hear this disgraceful excuse for "music" again, it shall be a hundred!

Snape leaves.

ALYSSA
We just got chastised by Snape! By SNAPE! ♥♥♥

BRYNN
Uh, what are you so happy about?

ALYSSA
Snape!

CAMILLA
Now if only we can pull Draco into this somehow.

DUN!

After All.

It's a world of laughter
A world of sin
It's a world of hope and
A world of gin
There's so much that we share
Like a life that's unfair,
It's a small world after all!

Bias.

I made a tutorial. It's not very pretty.

On Sunday I made a ton of bias tape, and I thought about a video or photo tutorial for it, but I didn't have anyone to handle the camera for me.

And now I have to remember that I don't need to buy any more trim. No more fabric either. I'm set for a good long while.



I posted this on deviantART and as a how-to on BurdaStyle. I'm actually very surprised that neither of those sites had anything even close to addressing how to make bias tape.

Weaving.3

Forget what I said about stick weaving being faster than tablet weaving. I've been working on this basically all day, and you can see how short it is. I'm sure it's much faster with big sticks and bulky yarn, but I work with what I have (fat needles and size 10 crochet thread). This is the same size of thread I use for tablet weaving, so clearly the difference is in the technique itself. Still, I'm pretty happy that the variegated thread is making those nice stripes instead of looking like crap a la knit and crocheted projects with variegated yarn.

I don't know exactly what I'll end up doing with this. Honestly I was more interested in just weaving, I didn't think of what I would weave. I told myself I would make a headband, but I don't really love that idea. Should I just lengthen it and make a belt? I think this is way too slow for me to want to make a whole belt, but I don't know what to do with a shorter length. The last thing I want is for it to lay around uselessly until I think of what to do with it. But that's probably what will happen.

Weaving.2

Last weekend I learned how to use a needle loom. This is more commonly known as stick weaving. (I learned from an inherited kit, not from the above tutorial, but I've included it for your perusal.) I instructed Sarah to become a master of the art, because she needs things to do. And now I wish I were doing it. It's faster than tablet weaving, though the designs inherit in the method are much more simplistic. In fact I'm not sure how to change color, so I would just make things all one color.

Interesting: A lot of people believe that, while it's possible to knit a piece of fabric into a tube, it is impossible to weave a piece of fabric into a tube. Not so! With stick weaving, woven tubes can be done! (Take that, self-righteous knitters!)

This is mostly used for making belts (or anything else that's long and narrow). Width is easier to obtain than with tablet weaving, so sewing strips together yields usable sizes of fabric. I'm envisioning, now, a rug woven from scraps of fabric cut into long strips.

The other plus: As well as being remarkably easy and somewhat fast, it's also extremely portable. So you know how knitters are always like, "You can knit anywhere, while you're waiting for stuff, on car rides when you're not driving, at church, while watching movies, etc," well now I can do that, if I want, with stick weaving.

(Okay okay I don't hate knitters. They're just so vocal about it. I feel rather outnumbered sometimes. And in the knitters' numbers, there are the belligerent few who seem to insist that knitting is the Art Among Arts, the Holy Fiber Craft, the Device of the Goddesses Themselves. And, well, I just don't think that's true.)

Ideas.7

Movie nights.

By genre:
sci-fi night
noir night
horror night
80s night

by actor: (their entire filmography is viewed chronologically)
Christian Bale
Johnny Depp
Frank Sinatra
Alan Rickman
Helena Bonham Carter
Shia LaBeouf

by theme:
Double features: Originals and remakes. I would focus on horror, sci-fi and noir.
Shakespeare.
Philip K. Dick
Firsts: first films of major actors (their first major role, not necessarily their first film ever).

Characters.

For some reason, when we were kids (and still), my sisters and I liked to assign ourselves and each other to characters from things we frequently watched. Here are a few of my characters I can remember.

Donald Duck. I'm not sure why. Maybe I had temper tantrums.









Cinderella. Not just general Cinderella, specifically Disney's Cinderella. This may have been because our names start with the same letter. Or maybe I thought I did so many more chores than everyone else.





Grumpy. This is pretty self-explanatory, I think.













Chip or Dale. I don't remember which one. Hopefully Chip. And now that I look at it, Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers just MIGHT be where I first started becoming obsessed with the whole PI thing.







Benjamin/Dorcas. This was a simple assignation by age. Seven brothers in the film corresponding to the seven sisters in my family. As the second-oldest, I was thusly correspondent to Benjamin, the second brother. Then at some point later I got all gender-conscious and decided to be Dorcas instead, who is Benjamin's bride. (Dorcas is the one in the all-plaid, short-sleeve dress and Benjamin is behind her.)

Gurkin. This one is much more recent, obviously. Of course I would have to automatically be assigned to this updated version of Grumpy, but it's a fitting match. Angst. Blogging. Dating hot goth chicks (okay wait, NOT that one). Brynn's favorite is how we both say "I made it." (He is the one in the front.) [Nerdy film aside: The director of this film is the guy who made George Lucas in Love. YESSSSSSS. I wonder if I still have that somewhere.]

Snow White. This one is also more recent. It's mostly for the sake of making fun of me, because I like the Snow White fairy tale, but I rather hate Disney's film. Also, I kind of look like her.




This is all I can remember. Hilarious how these are mostly Disney characters. I don't even like Disney. But I didn't know that when I was a kid.

Victory.

It was sour. She felt a little guilty. For the duration of her life she had morally refrained from doing such as this; getting what she wanted at the expense of others. As a result, she was very rarely happy. Eventually, she got sick of being unhappy.

And so she used what power she had. His happiness. Slowly, over time, she wore him down. She needled him with a jab every now and then; just enough to hurt him, just enough to make him worry, just enough to make him feel guilty. She crafted her words cleverly. She knew just what to say to hurt him the most. "I am just trying to be honest," she would write, deferring blame in pursuit of the great idol Communication. He could not become angry at her. He would become angry at himself. He would feel more guilty each time. He would break.

He did break. And that meant she had him now, and she would have him until death. Yes, she felt a little guilty. But that was nothing compared to the peace she felt as she held him in her arms, and the triumph she felt, the sheer victory of having finally gotten what she wanted, in the same way everyone else had always done to her to get what they wanted.

She held him close and inhaled the scent of his hair. Victory. It was sour, but to her, sour had always tasted sweet.

---

This post is part of the Blue-Beta Blog Coordination, a continuing series of content coordinated by theme or motif with posts from Confuzzled of I Keep Wondering, Gromit of The Dancing Newt, Third Mango of Funkadelic Freestylings of Another Sort, Xanthippe of Let’s Save Our Hallmark Moment, and Yarjka of Sour Mayonnaise. This week's theme: 'Victory'.

Favorites.

These are my favorite clothing construction things. I thought about posting photos but I got lazy.

1. Pintucks. I have to confess that I have yet to actually make something with pintucks (nevertheless, the time will come!). I like pintucks because I'm not much for mixing fabrics or colors together. Pintucks are a good source of visual interest on something that could otherwise seem quite plain. They can be easily incorporated into any design. They add that extra couture touch, the extra detail that takes the clothing just a step beyond normal.

pintucks on blouse
pintucks on skirt
pintucks on skirt
pintucks on blouse

2. Gores. For a while I hated them, but that was because I wasn't any good at setting them. Now I'm a master at sewing in gores. In fact, at the Collegium in November, I was taking a class on hand-sewing from Kass Magann. She, and several others attending, started carping on how difficult gores are to put in and how they always get messed up on the tip, and the only way to get it to look good is to very carefully sew it in by hand. I respectfully disagreed, stating that I had figured out a method for putting in gores with a machine which realized very smooth and perfect results. Kass's response: "But that's not period." Well of course it's not period. We weren't discussing if it's period. We were discussing if it's possible. And despite what the hand-sewing purists want to tell you, it is indeed possible. Anyway, I love gores because they can add fullness to any article of clothing, without bulky and sometimes unaesthetic gathering or pleating. Or if gathering and pleating are desired, gores can be used in conjunction, to reduce the amount of bulk where the gathering/pleating is, or even to give more space to be gathered/pleated, without making the rest of the piece bigger. I really like large, full skirts, but am not a fan of making my waist look thicker due to gathering at the waistband. Gores are a perfect solution. Gores are also very fabric conservative, especially if you're able to utilize rectilinear drafting techniques for the entire piece. Gores don't have to be inserted on seams (in fact I prefer to insert them on slashes rather than seams), which means they can be inserted into any design, or a design with gores can be changed around quite easily.

gore inserted in a slash on front of dress
multiple gores inserted in slashes on back of tunic
gore in seam on front of dress and sleeve


3. Plackets. Plackets are another tricky thing to set in if you don't know how, but wonderful once you get the hang of it. Plackets are self-binding, which means I don't have to deal with loose seams and having to do more finishing on the inside. Plackets are the best for introducing more function into a design. I abhor back closures because they are so difficult to do by myself. Using a placket, I can put in a closure on the front, without having to redraft anything. It doesn't even have to correspond to a seam. Plus they can be sewn down several ways, depending on if you want it to be visible or not.

tiny placket on sleeve inserted in a slash
placket at neck inserted into slash

4. Welt pockets. These are a little more advanced, but like gores and plackets, they can be set in a slash, rather than in a seam; like pintucks, they add visual interest; and like plackets they add functionality. There are far too few pockets in women's wear. Using a welt pocket, I can add a pocket anywhere, onto anything. They seem safer to me too--thanks to their vertical orientation, it's less likely that stuff will fall out if you sit down or move around too much. Unless, of course, you make the pockets way too shallow, like I did on my pirate coat, and Lorraine had to follow me around picking up everything that fell out. That was because those were the first welt pockets I'd made, and I did the math wrong. Too many times have I made a skirt or jacket, finished it, and thought, "Crap, I should have put a side pocket into that!" But welt pockets can be put in after the piece is finished, without having to take apart seams (unless it's lined). They're more aesthetic, in my opinion, than patch pockets. They are better suited for vests, jackets, dressy slacks, etc. Occasionally patch pockets or other types of pockets are a better choice. I will add pockets where ever I can, and welt pockets are a good option for the most part.

welt pockets on vest
welt pockets on vest
welt pocket on pants


Honorable mention: I have mad sleeve drafting skills. I can draft sleeves which actually allow me full usage of my arms! Like I can lift them all the way up and everything! This is something that commercial pattern companies have yet to comprehend. Especially Vogue, it's like they want you to stand around being useless all day.

Ideas.6

Variations on a theme. Expanded.

Party>Tea>Costumed

Previous sets:
Mad
Steampunk
Titanic Ghosts
Elegant Gothic Lolita/Elegant Gothic Aristocrat

New sets:
Time traveler
Supervillain (personal supervillain alter-egos, none of this cosplay existent characters crap)
Witch
Superhero (for lame people)
Fairy tales

Party>Tea>Themed (other, ± costumes)

New sets:
Accents
Murder (someone "dies" by the end of the party, rules would have to be figured out)
Speak only in questions
Speak in iambic meter
Original characters
Jane Austen (for even lamer people)
Shakespeare (only for awesome people)


So admittedly most of this is just a clever ruse for roleplaying. But it's interesting to think about the many variations that could occur for a single event. And this is leaving out the more straight generic stuff like "Victorian" or "medieval."

For Liz: I have two etiquette books now, and they both mention tea parties of the formal and informal type. I will try to remember to scan the pages and send them to you.

Lieu.

In lieu of a real post, here's something.

Weaving.

I've woven three belts in the past 2 days and it's great!

First I lay out the thread and cut it to a uniform length. The thread is arranged according to how it will be threaded onto the cards. I use crochet thread.

Then I thread it onto the cards and set up my "loom." I have to be very careful that the cards don't get out of order or flip over, so I keep them together with one of those big pinchy paperclips.

Here it is all set up, ready to weave. One end is tied to a lamp, the other end is tied to a string which is tied to my bed. Most tablet weavers tie one end to something, and the other end to their own belt, because it allows direct control over the tension. I prefer to set it up this way because it's easier and faster, if I have only a little bit of time at a time to work on it. I don't have to take it down every time I stop and set it up every time I start again.

Here you can see the design starting to manifest after a few inches of weaving. It's a kind of crazy diagonal design. Diagonals are really easy to make in tablet weaving so they're the basis of most designs.

I finish the ends with braiding and a tassel. It's fast, it won't come undone, and it utilizes the entire length of the thread. It gets more complicated if I want to add hardware like buckles, rings, points, etc. For now I just want the belts to tie. This particular braid is made with nine strands, but it looks just like any fishbone braid that could be done with five or seven strands.