So I was at an all day training session yesterday for work, and it just happened to be about 15 minutes from our local leather store. Since I can't usually make it there on weekdays before they close at six, I decided to pop over during my lunch break.
I probably spent about 20 minutes combing through the shelves. I was hoping to find some leather that I could use for making pouches. I want to experiment a little bit but don't really want to use the really nice (and expensive) red leather we bought in Hamilton, and the rest of the leather I have at home is either too heavy (bought it for armour making purposes for Avelyn) or much too light for the style of pouch I'm working on (garment weight pig skins that work really well for some pouches but don't provide any structure).
I was struggling to find something that would work when I stumbled on a great find. I found a 23 square foot skin, probably about 5-6 oz, in a nice faded green. It was on consignment, so I was able to pick it up for super cheep, which means I won't worry as much about it if my pouch experiments don't work out. But, if it works, they will still look good.
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Friday 14 October 2011
Kingdom A&S Project complete
So, I managed to find the time the other night to finish off my project to be submitted for Kingdom A&S. It's a fairly basic pouch style, without any real ornamentation. But, it's functional, based on a period style of pouch and completely hand-sewn. Not the complex project I had hoped to do, but at least its something.
I used a pattern from my Period Patterns #93 (Bags, Purses and Pouches (http://www.mediaevalmisc.com/pp-093.htm) as the starting point. I think next time I might enlarge the pattern a bit though, the pouch is pretty small for functional use (although my documentation says they were made in a variety of sizes and shapes depending on the person).
I used some of the really nice red leather that we picked up in Hamilton this summer, probably about 4-5oz. I suspect the tanning process was modern (Chrome tanned) given the colour and softness of the leather, but for a beginner level project that's fine.
I've started pulling together my documentation. So far I have about 6-7 links to online images from period illuminations showing un-ornamented pouches like this one, without a buckle or strap (they most often had a strap to keep them closed from what I can tell but not always).
In addition to my links to period images, which I will print out, I also have Purses in Pieces, which has several pages of information about the history and use of this style of pouch. There's also some illustrations and pictures of archeological finds. I'll also have to check the documentation in the Period Pattern set, they sometimes have relevant information about the patterns (although probably all pulled from Purses in Pieces originally anyway).
I used a pattern from my Period Patterns #93 (Bags, Purses and Pouches (http://www.mediaevalmisc.com/pp-093.htm) as the starting point. I think next time I might enlarge the pattern a bit though, the pouch is pretty small for functional use (although my documentation says they were made in a variety of sizes and shapes depending on the person).
I used some of the really nice red leather that we picked up in Hamilton this summer, probably about 4-5oz. I suspect the tanning process was modern (Chrome tanned) given the colour and softness of the leather, but for a beginner level project that's fine.
I've started pulling together my documentation. So far I have about 6-7 links to online images from period illuminations showing un-ornamented pouches like this one, without a buckle or strap (they most often had a strap to keep them closed from what I can tell but not always).
In addition to my links to period images, which I will print out, I also have Purses in Pieces, which has several pages of information about the history and use of this style of pouch. There's also some illustrations and pictures of archeological finds. I'll also have to check the documentation in the Period Pattern set, they sometimes have relevant information about the patterns (although probably all pulled from Purses in Pieces originally anyway).
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Latest News - Kingdom A&S
Well, it still looks unlikely that I'll have anything ready to submit for Kingdom A&S in November, but I've at least started work on a project that I could enter in either the beginner/intermediate category. It's much simpler than the other projects I was considering, but it's practical and I can maybe get it done in time.
I've cut out the pattern I need to use, chosen the leather (I would have preferred to use a couple of different colours but I don't have any pieces that would match that are the right type of leather - oh well), and just have to start cutting out the various leather bits and start hand sewing. Maybe I'll have a bit of time over the long-weekend, we'll see how things play out.
Otherwise, the Kingdom A&S site is up and running, the fall issue of the Chronicle is out and I've been spending most of my A&S time lately working with Emelote trying to plan future feasts and event food. I've bought so many period cookbooks lately, it's taking some time to go through all of the possible recipes and pick out ones to try.
I've cut out the pattern I need to use, chosen the leather (I would have preferred to use a couple of different colours but I don't have any pieces that would match that are the right type of leather - oh well), and just have to start cutting out the various leather bits and start hand sewing. Maybe I'll have a bit of time over the long-weekend, we'll see how things play out.
Otherwise, the Kingdom A&S site is up and running, the fall issue of the Chronicle is out and I've been spending most of my A&S time lately working with Emelote trying to plan future feasts and event food. I've bought so many period cookbooks lately, it's taking some time to go through all of the possible recipes and pick out ones to try.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)