Second Escallop Flacket

While my first attempt at an escallop flacket was drying, I tracked down a more symmetrical escallop pattern and printed it out. Then I traced it onto ten-ounce, vegetable-tanned leather and cut it out with an Xacto knife. For the record, escalloped symmetrical shapes are just as frustrating to cut out as non-symmetrical ones!

Once it was cut out, I flipped it over and traced it onto the side of leather. Cutting that out as well created a mirror-image piece to be the back of the flacket.

Then I tooled the details into the front piece with a beveled hand stamp and a wooden mallet. As with the first flacket, I left the back unadorned.

When I was done with the tooling, I marked the seams on the front piece (in the photo to the left, you can see the gouges from the seam marker following the contours of the shell design). Holding the front and back together, I drilled the stitching holes along the marked seams. I had to eyeball the spacing of the holes because the tool I use to mark straight seams just doesn't work in tight, curved patterns.

Then, using waxed linen thread, I stitched the seams all the way around the flacket. Like the experimental project, this flacket has a relatively small opening. This again made it very tedious to sand-pack the flacket. I persevered, though. When I could stuff no more sand inside, I wedged a Sharpie marker in the opening to hold it open and round set it aside to dry.

Three days later, I poured the sand out of it. I stuck a thin pen inside the hole and scraped and banged it around inside as best I could to loosen any particles that were still clinging to the leather.

Next, it was time to apply the outside coating of wax. I warmed the oven and turned on the crock pot full of beeswax.  I put the flacket in the oven to warm the leather while I waited for the wax to melt. Then, using a pastry brush, I applied wax to the entire exterior of the flacket. After letting it cool back down to room temperature, I applied an additional thick coating of wax along the seams and edges to prevent the inner sealant from seeping out when it came time to pour.

When the wax had completely cooled, I mixed up about a quarter cup of Envirotex Lite and carefully poured it into the flacket. I tilted and tipped it around for a good twenty minutes, trying to ensure that the inside was completely coated. The extra wax along the edges and seams did the trick--no seepage occurred! Then I up-ended the flacket over a piece of scrap cardboard and allowed most of the excess to drip out. When that was done, I set it aside for twenty four hours to dry.

When it had dried, I poured in the second coat of sealant, which was also allowed to dry for twenty four hours. Then a third coat was applied. When that coat had dried, I heated the oven to 200 degrees and placed the flacket inside to melt off the excess wax. When the wax was liquefied, I pulled the flacket out of the oven and used a paper towel to wipe the last stubborn bits of wax from its surface. I noticed that there were places where I hadn't been careful enough in the application of the wax, and I had gotten it in areas where it wound up under the coat of sealant. This is problematic because it causes the sealant to not bond correctly with the leather, and it leads to chipping.

After allowing the flacket to cool back to room temperature, I filled the it with water and set it aside for several minutes. I then inspected it for any sign of water seepage. Finding none, I poured the water out (despite the size difference, it also holds 1/3c). It was done!

First on the left, second on the right.

Flacket Experiment

I've been wanting to make a flacket for a long time now. Then, last week I was looking for items or largesse to include on my 50 States quest and I was trying to decide how to include a small container of honey. I initially thought of a pottery jar, but I don't have any of the tools or materials to make those yet (that's an after-I-buy-a-house project). The it occurred to me that I could make small flackets and fill those with honey.

I have the Creative Anachronist issue that includes directions for a flacket, but I like to look at multiple sources before undertaking a project I've never made before. As I was looking at one blog in particular, something about the shape of the flacket clicked in my mind and I realized I could modify its design a bit and make escallop-shaped flackets!

I went straight to the Pennsic Traceable Art project and browsed their selection of escallop designs. Option number three was the closest to the shape I wanted for the flacket. I used MS Paint to stretch the image vertically a bit. I printed it with two-inch margins to achieve the size I wanted for the flacket.

I traced the outline of the escallop onto ten-ounce, vegetable-tanned leather and then cut it out with an Xacto knife. Then I flipped the cutout over and traced it onto the side of leather and cut that piece out as well, creating two pieces that were mirror-images of each other and would therefore theoretically line up better when put together for sewing.

I decided to tool the details of the escallop into one side, which would be the front of the flacket when it was complete. The back I left plain. As I tooled, I began to worry about how the stitching would work. The flacket is relatively small, and I was supposed to get two rows of stitches around the curvy edges without messing up the tooling. Yikes! I was loathe to even try, and ruin the pretty tooled shell I had created.

Alas, nothing was ever accomplished by being timid. Holding my breath, I grabbed a seam marker. Just as I was about to begin marking, however, it dawned on me in the nick of time that it would be MUCH easier to mark the seams on the untooled back piece. Plus, if I messed it up, I wouldn't have to redo all that tooling.

As I traced the seam lines, I realized that I would have to cut off the pointy top of the shell if I wanted it to actually function as a bottle. So I grabbed the Xacto knife again and cut them off the front and back pieces.

It wasn't long into the drilling of the holes that I realized this was not a good plan. The seam lines didn't run neatly with the tooled lines, and drilling from back to front made it exceedingly difficult to keep a nice, neat line of stitches on the front of the project. I abandoned that tactic in favor of marking and drilling from the front, following the natural contour of the design rather than the marked seams on the back.

It also became readily apparent that there was no way to do a double seam and maintain and semblance of the tooled design at all. I resigned myself to a single seam, but I fretted about the problems that might arise when it came time to pour the sealant inside the flacket.

The opening at the top of the flacket will be small even with the modifications I will make to the seams on the next project, but on this one it's positively tiny. This made it very tedious to sand-pack the flacket. I persevered, though. When I could stuff no more sand inside, I wedged a highlighter in the opening to hold it open and round set it aside to dry.

Three days later, I poured the sand out of it. I was surprised by how easily the sand came out--guess I worried about that for naught. I stuck a thin pen inside the hole and scraped and banged it around inside as best I could to loosen any particles that were still clinging to the leather.

Next, it was time to apply the outside coating of wax. I warmed the oven and turned on the crock pot full of beeswax.  I put the flacket in the oven to warm the leather while I waited for the wax to melt. Then, using a pastry brush, I applied wax to the entire exterior of the flacket. After letting it cool back down to room temperature, I applied an additional thick coating of wax along the seams and edges to prevent the inner sealant from seeping out when it came time to pour.

I mixed up about a quarter cup of Envirotex Lite and carefully poured it into the flacket. I tilted and tipped it around for a good twenty minutes, trying to ensure that the inside was completely coated. The extra wax along the edges and seams did the trick--no seepage occurred! Then I up-ended the flacket over a piece of scrap cardboard and allowed most of the excess to drip out. When that was done, I set it aside for twenty four hours to dry.

When it had dried, I poured in the second coat of sealant, which was also allowed to dry for twenty four hours. Then a third coat was applied.When that coat had dried, I heated the oven to 200 degrees and placed the flacket inside to melt off the excess wax. When the wax was liquefied, I pulled the flacket out of the oven and used a paper towel to wipe the last stubborn bits of wax from its surface.

After allowing it to cool back to room temperature, I filled the flacket with water and set it aside for several minutes. I then inspected it for any sign of water seepage. Finding none, I poured the water out (as a point of interest, it holds 1/3c). It was done!

Cutting out the swoopy scallop edges was a task that quickly tested my patience. I initially thought that I would not do it on future projects. Rather, I would do a traditionally-shaped flacket and tool the escallop into the front. However, I think the frustration is worth it in the end--it's a really cute little bottle. And it'll be even better when I get those seams right! I'm also going to look for a more symmetrical escallop pattern. This one is actually pretty lopsided.

Largesse for the New Kingdom of Avacal

A friend of mine from my former Barony in Alaska (Barony of Eskalya, West Kingdom) announced that she would be attending the coronation of the first King and Queen of the new Kingdom of Avacal. She had received permission from Their Highnesses of Oertha to make a presentation of largesse on behalf of the principality, and put out a call to aritisans of the Principality to contribute. I asked if she'd like items from *former* members of the principality, and she told me that would be grand.

Double-weave in progress.

I decided to do a handful of Viking knit chains that Their Majesties would be able to use for award medallions. Avacal's colors are red, silver and gold, so I decided to make two chains of each color.

I was nervous about the gold chains, though. After all, a gold chain is a mark of Knighthood. I sought the advice of several artisans from across the Knowne Worlde, and it was suggested that I include a note with the chains, stating that the intended purpose was for displaying award medallions. An *unadorned* gold chain is a mark of Knighthood; once it has a pendant, it's no longer regalia of the Order.

Single-weave silver chain.

I made one chain of each color in a six-loop, single-weave pattern out of 26-gauge enameled copper wire. For a mandrel, I used a Tide-to-Go pen. The cone findings were purchased from Michael's. The connecting ring is constructed of 20-gauge enameled copper wire, following instructions in Ancient Wire: An Illustrated Guide to Making Intricate Jewelry in the Manner of the Vikings and Other Ancient Cultures by Helene Jacobs.

Double-weave chains in red and gold.

For the second set of three chains, I used the same materials and again made one of each color, but this time I used a six-loop, double-weave pattern.

Experiment in progress.

I didn't stop at six chains, though: I experimented with a new single-weave pattern that alternates colors. My theory was that it would create vertical stripes after it was drawn. I think my theory was correct, but the chain needs to be woven around something much thinner than a Tide-to-Go pen. Or maybe it needs to be double-weave. In any case, it still made a pretty chain, so I included it in this lot for largesse.






Because I have a lot of down time at work, I made a couple more chains as well. All-in-all, I had nine of them finished and ready to mail.

Nine chains in assorted weaves and colors.

With a deadline of June 24, I still had some time to round out my contribution to the largesse pool. I decided to do a handful of fingerloop-braid cords, which could also be used for award medallions. Using my favorite pattern--"A Grene Dorge of vj Bowes"--I made six red-and-gold and red-and-silver cords.

Red and gold fingerloop braids.

Nobelese Largesse Swap #9: Heraldry!

I recently learned about the Nobelese Largesse group on Facebook and joined right away--I love A&S swaps! I was sad to see that I had *just* missed my opportunity to get in on Swap #9, which had a heraldry theme. So I emailed the coordinator and volunteered as a "Swap Angel" in case any of the participants dropped out. Lo and behold, one did and I got a spot!

My recipient is the Honorable Lady Fina MacGrioghair from An Tir. Browsing through her responses to the questionnaire for the swap, I took note of her arms, An Tir's arms, and her awards. I intended to make her a black jack, and was confident I could do a visually-pleasing design with those elements.

Design: Fina's arms on the An Tir background.

I needed a good pattern for the shape of the mug--the one I contrived for Two Bears' project left a lot to be desired. I began by measuring various aspects of my own completed mug (diameter at the top and bottom, height, dimensions of the handle). The dimensions were larger than my graph paper, so I sketched a scaled-down version (1cm of actual measurement = 1 square on the graph paper). This scaled-down version was tiny. I didn't have any larger paper handy, but then I remembered that I had a roll of parchment paper for baking! This actually worked very well, as it is semi-transparent and therefore easy to trace patterns. It also repels water, so it was less inclined to tear when I traced it onto the wet leather.

My own mug is *huge* (it holds two full bottles of beer with room to spare), so I calculated the measurements for Fina's mug at 3/4 the measurements of mine. I traced the outline of the mug onto a side of vegetable-tanned leather with a ball-point stylus tool, then cut it from the side with an Xacto knife.

It was going to be smaller than I anticipated. I could tell that as soon as I had it cut out. Still, smaller was what I was going for, and it looked like it would still hold a can of soda with room to spare, so I wasn't overly concerned.

Tooling in progress.

Next I began the tooling. I don't know *why* I thought that the checky background of the An Tir device was a good idea. Talk about tedious tooling! And hard to get it straight and even, too. For Fina's device, I tooled only around the edges of the shield to give it a raised effect. I knew the detail work of the dragon in particular would be too fine for my abilities and tools, and so I reluctantly decided to render it in paint only.

Maker's mark.

On the bottom piece, I tooled in my maker's mark--a stylized shamrock.

With the tooling done, I sanded down the edges a bit with coarse sandpaper to even out some of the glaring imperfections of my unsteady Xacto knife. Then I prepared to drill the lacing holes, only to discover that my drill bits had all gone missing! A trip to the nearby Home Depot remedied that problem, and I set to it with my Dremel tool while King Arthur played on my television in the background.

I began with the double row of holes at the bottom of the mug. Then I had a decision to make: would I do a single seam through the handle, or a double? My own mug is a double, but the handle is considerably wider than on this smaller mug. In the end, I opted for the single seam, and I cut and sanded the handle to a thinner width so that the single seam would sufficiently hold it.

Handle sewn.

Then came the sewing. On my bottell project, I had used a 3/32-gauge bit, and while it was easy to sew it allowed some of the Envirotex to seep out through the stitching holes. For this project, I opted for 1/16-gauge. This proved very tedious for sewing, and I wound up using one of my hand tools to widen the holes anyway. In the future, I will stick with 3/32!

Sand-packed.

Once the jack was stitched together, I soaked it thoroughly in water and sand-packed it to obtain an even, round shape that's just slightly wider in the "hips" than at the neck. I set it aside to dry for three full days.

On the fourth day, I poured out the sand and painted the device. I used acrylic paints in red, white, blue and black. That dragon was an exercise in patience! I'm pleased with how it came out, though.

After the paint had completely dried, I set my oven to 200 degrees and placed the mug inside for a few minutes to warm the leather. Then I covered the exterior of the mug with wax--melted in a crock pot--using a pastry brush. I applied an extra-thick coat of wax along all the seams in an effort to keep the Envirotex sealant from seeping out.

Sealed inside.

Once the wax cooled, I took a paper towel tube and knocked out as much of the sand clinging to the inside as I could. Then I carefully measured and mixed the Envirotex and poured it into the mug. I coated the inside completely by tilting and turning the jack and allowing the sealant to flow over the leather. My precautions with the extra wax paid off in all instances except at the very bottom where the handle meets the base--the sealant dripped freely from there. Trying to stem the flow, I found a tiny piece of scrap leather on my worktable and jammed it into the opening. That seemed to work. In the future, I want to try letting the mug cool off and then applying extra wax in this trouble spot. With the mug cooler, the wax will harden faster and that should make it easier to cover the opening.

Twenty-four hours later, I sanded down the extremely rough inside of the mug and completed the second coat of Envirotex. Twenty-four hours later, I did the same for the third coat.

Finished, side view.

After the third coat had hardened, I noticed that the section where the cup joins the handle wasn't smooth and glossy inside. It was rough and sharp. I decided to try one more smaller pour, keeping the mug horizontal instead of vertical as it dried, in an effort to seal over the roughness. I had never done something like this before, so it was a bit nerve-wracking. In particular, I was worried that the sealant would run down the top of the handle (darn you, gravity!!!) while it was sitting to dry. In an effort to prevent this, I added an extra, thick coat of wax to act as a sort of dam.

Finished, front view.

When that had dried, the handle seam was much smoother inside. I decided the time had come to melt off the excess wax and perform the final touch-ups. I put the mug in a disposable tin tray in my oven, heated once again to 200 degrees. Once the wax began to liquefy and drip off, I took the mug out and wiped the excess wax from its surface with an old work shirt. Getting it out of all those nooks and crannies in the checkered background was tedious!

This mug holds fourteen ounces (for comparison, my mug holds thirty four). Just enough room for a can of soda! It's crazy to me that a 25% reduction in dimensions resulted in a 60% drop in capacity! I wonder if I miscalculated something somewhere along the way...

I mailed this mug out to Lady Fina on May first, and anxiously awaited news of its arrival. As it drew near the end of May with no word, I contacted the swap coordinator to inquire. She informed me that she had not received notice that it was received, and that she would ask (we aren't supposed to have direct contact with our recipients ourselves; all communication is supposed to go through the coordinator). In the meantime, I tracked down the receipt from the post office and checked the tracking number, which indicated that the package was delivered on May 4th. I began to fear that someone had stolen it out of her mailbox or off her porch.

A few short days later, though, my fears were assuaged: I heard back from the swap coordinator, who said that Fina had returned from traveling and received her package this past weekend! Hoooooooray!!!

Four-Panel Leather Ball

I've been trying to come up with projects that use the lighter pigskin leather I have, because I have enough of it to make twelve Norwegian-style coin purses ... and who needs *twelve* purses?! I still plan to make a girdle book, but in the meantime I thought I'd try my hand at making a ball.

Leather balls of various construction have been recovered in York, dating to both the Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval periods. Generally they were made of repurposed leather--commonly from shoes--and stuffed with scraps of fabric and leather or, in some cases, moss. A tenth-century example with stitching partially intact was made of sheepsking and sewn with a whip stitch.

Because I've never attempted this sort of sewing project before, I wanted to do a test run before I began cutting my expensive leather. I grabbed an old work shirt and cut four elliptical panels from the fabric. Then, using a needle and thread, I sewed the seams together one by one. I had to leave a gap at the top of the fourth seam so that I could flip the ball from inside-out to rightside-in. I then cut up more scraps from the same shift and stuffed the ball through this same opening.

Then came the challenging part. I had no idea how to go about closing up that opening. I remembered a project in home economics class in eighth grade where we made and stuffed a pillow, but I didn't recall how we finished closing that seam. Fortunately, in this modern age you can find a how-to for just about *anything* online! I found a very helpful set of directions for closing a pillow and knew that it would adapt well to this project.

Now feeling at least mildly confident, I decided to take a stab at the leather. I again cut out the four elliptical panels, saving the scraps of leather that I created in the process. Using the same waxed linen thread that I have on hand for my other leather projects, I threaded a sewing needle and began to whip stitch.

Well, I tried to, anyway. I discovered immediately that even leather as thin as this pig skin is too tough to simply pierce a needle through. I grabbed my awl and set to it, creating the stitching holes one by tedious one. It took well over an hour to bore all the holes and stitch the pieces together.

I decided to leave the center of a seam open for rightsiding and stuffing instead of the top, because I thought it might be easier to stitch closed afterwards. After I flipped the leather rightside-out, I stuffed the ball with the saved scraps of leather and strips of an old work shirt. When it was firmly stuffed, I used the blind stitch I found online to sew the seam closed.

At the start of the project, I hadn't realized that the stitches would be visible on the outside of the ball. Fortunately, my sewing was fairly even (there's a reason I don't make my own garb!). For my next project, I may use the same stitch I use on the blackjacks instead.

The ball is surprisingly weighty for being stuffed primarily with scraps of my old uniform shirt! I was initially worried that it would be too light, and wouldn't be hefty enough to actually toss around. I'm glad to learn that worry was unfounded!

Order of the Valiance

Although this blog focuses primarily on my "craft" trades, I am also an archer by trade and, as such, the movement to create an Omnibus Peerage for archery, thrown weapons, equestrian and siege is near and dear to my heart (you may recall the bracer I crafted as a show of support for the movement). A proposal is before the BoD this month to create just such a Peerage, called the Order of the Valiance.

I beseech each of you reading this, if you support the creation of such a Peerage, to *please* write to the BoD this week and express your thoughts. As my own form of incentive, if you do write and comment below that you did, I will enter your name into a raffle to win a custom leather item (mug, bottell, or bracer) made by my hand.

Here is the letter I wrote to the BoD on the subject:

Greetings unto the Board of Directors of the Society for Creative Anachronism!

I am writing to you today to speak of the matter of the Valiance Peerage proposal and to express to you my unwavering support for the creation of such an Order.

Though I am not a fencer, I was overjoyed when earlier this year you created the Order of Defense, allowing a whole new segment of the populace access to this path of higher service to their Kingdoms and the Society as a whole.

Others have no doubt written to you that participants in the remaining martial activities--Archery, Thrown Weapons, Equestrian and Siege--are overdue this recognition and honor of their skills and devotion. While it remains true that to be recognized as a Peer *is* the highest honor an individual can attain, I would put forth that to be a Peer is not about personal recognition. Rather, to be a Peer is to serve the Kingdom and the Populace on a whole new level, and lack of access to that path for these martial activities only limits the greatness that we as a Society can truly achieve.

Peers advise the Royalty. They are held up in the eyes of the Populace as being something *more*, a standard to which others are encouraged to strive. They study and attain a level of mastery in their chosen path, and then they impart that knowledge onto others. And I will tell you that we already have members of this caliber in each of the Omnibus activities. These individuals clamor not for individual recognition, but rather to be allowed to serve alongside their peers as the esteemed and recognized authorities that they are.

Moreover, we as supporters of this proposal desire for the newest of newcomers on the archery field to know that their interests and talents matter equally to the Society as those of our heavy fighters, rapier fighters, and artisans. To continue to disallow the participants of these activities to serve in the capacity of a Peer is to announce to the whole of the Knowne Worlde that these activities are less valuable, less important, and held in lower esteem. Is this the message we want to send to those who would serve with all their heart--those who truly possess the vaulted "Peer-like Qualities" we seek?

Thank you for your time and your attention to my letter.

Yours in Service,
Lady Shannon inghaen Bhriain ui Dhuilleain
Companion of the Golden Arrow, Barony of Lochmere, Atlantia

Omnibus Peerage Bracer

After the Board of Directors for the SCA announced the formation of a fourth peerage--the Order of Defense, to recognize prowess on the Rapier field--a movement began for an Omnibus Peerage that would recognize prowess in the other martial activities of the society, namely Archery, Thrown Weapons, Equestrian, and Siege Weapons. A symbol was chosen, to be worn by those who support the movement: on a purple background, a golden O, plain or stylized with an accent to denote the particular activity.

I am an archer, and a leatherworker. As such, I decided to make a leather bracer with the archery O (second, in the image above). I already had on-hand all the supplies I would need, and so I set to work.

First, I traced the outline of a bracer onto the side of leather. Then, using an Xacto knife, I cut the bracer from the side. Then I traced the outline of the O onto the leather using a ball-point stylus.

I began tooling with a flat, textured tool and a wooden mallet. I tapped down the entire interior of the O with this textured tool. Next, I used an angled tool to trace the inner border of the O, creating the raised effect. I used the same tool around the outer border of the O as well.


When the tooling was complete, I sanded the edges of the bracer to soften the corners and eliminate the unevenness from its cutting. Then I soaked the entire bracer in water and then wrapped it around my forearm to give it its final shape. I held it in place with elastic bands and allowed it to dry completely. After it had dried, I pained the O with gold acrylic paint. I also drilled the lacing holes on each side, using a Dremel tool and the widest drill bit I have.

Next, I placed the bracer inside my oven, set to 200 degrees. When the leather was warm, I applied hot wax to the entire face of the bracer. After it was thoroughly coated, I placed it back inside the oven to melt off the excess wax.

This is when something went terribly, terribly wrong. The leather shrank and crumpled across the middle of the bracer, effectively ruining the piece. I was heartbroken--all that work, gone!--and at a loss for an explanation as to what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again in the future. Fortunately my teacher and friend Lord Geoffrey had some insight to share: the oven may have been too hot, or it was possible the leather was still wet internally. Hot water causes leather to shrink and harden--it's how leather armor is made, in fact.

Armed with this new insight, I began again from scratch. The process was entirely the same, so I will not run through it all step-by-step again. I allowed it to dry for twice as long after shaping it to my forearm, and used that time to weave the two purple and yellow fingerloop cords that I would use to lace the finished bracer around my arm.

200 degrees is the lowest possible setting on my oven, so I was more than a little apprehensive as I put the bracer in to melt off the excess wax. I watched it like a hawk, peeking inside every thirty seconds or so to make sure it wasn't crumpling again. This time there was no mishap, and a few minutes later I pulled it out of the heat and used a cloth to wipe away a few stubborn bits of excess wax.

When the bracer cooled back down to room temperature, I threaded the cords through the lacing holes and fastened it around my forearm for the first time. What a feeling!

I have noted that, because I put the O with its top towards my wrist, it actually appears upside down when my arms hang at my sides. When I do a set of heraldic bracers (my next intended project!) I will position my arms the other way.
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Entered In
Night on the Piazza, Barony of Lochmere, Atlantia: Open Display

16c. Italian Scroll

The theme of the illumination Arts and Sciences competition at Night on the Piazza is “late-period Italian.” With that in mind, I searched for manuscripts from Italy that were produced any time after 1500 A.D. The British Library maintains an online catalog of illuminated manuscripts, and as I browsed their collection I found the “Martyrdom of Sebastian” illuminated miniature, painted by Pietro de Cristoforo Vannucci (b. 1450, d. 1523) in Bologna right around 1500. This appealed to me not only because it fits the theme, but also because it can be easily adapted into a scroll blank for an archery award. Archery is near and dear to my heart, and so I decided that this miniature would be the inspiration for my work.

The original measures 185mm by 135mm and is painted in oils on parchment leaf. I have copied the border and the archers from the original and incorporated the badge of the Order of the Golden Arrow, which is the archery award bestowed by the Barony of Lochmere. I hope someday it will be calligraphed and awarded, and then hang proudly on a fellow archer's wall!

I began the project by sketching out an outline on graph paper to get an idea of the actual size based on the aforementioned measurements of 185mm by 135mm. This is quite a bit smaller than the size of a standard piece of modern paper, and I wanted my work to fill a page. Therefore, I increased the measurements by a factor of 1.4, bringing the final dimensions of my piece to 260mm by 190mm. In the original, the border's width was 16mm. My adjusted measurements bring my border's width to 22.5mm. Likewise, the archers grew from their original height of 65mm to a new height of 90mm.

Using these new measurements, I sketched out a rough draft on graph paper of the border and a few key elements of the design. I then inked over the sketches in heavy, black ink. When the sun rose, I taped the inked-over sketch and a piece of 22.9cm by 30.5cm 100-pound Bristol paper to my sliding glass door, which would function as a makeshift light table. I lightly traced my design onto the Bristol in pencil.

To paint this project, I opted for acrylic instead of oil because it is what I already have on hand for my leatherwork projects. The colors are bright and the paint is durable, making it a desirable choice for an SCA award scroll. For this project, I needed red, green, blue, white, black and gold paint. In all elements of the piece, the red, blue and green were applied first and allowed to dry before the gold, black and white were added.

I am very frustrated and disappointed in the borders--they didn't come out at all as I had envisioned. They don't look like swirly leaves. They don't look like much of anything, really.

I am pleased with the corners of the borders, and with the archers. Especially with the archers. It's funny--going into the project, I had thought that the archers would be so hard and the borders easy. How the opposite proved itself to be true!

This project was very eye-opening for me. In the past, I've looked at scrolls completed by others and noted glaring imperfections. Arrogantly, ignorantly, I've thought to myself, "Even I could do better than that, and I'm no illuminator!" I would never have said that to an artist, but oh, I thought it.

Well ... no. No, I can't do better than that. This is HARD. I have a whole new level of respect and appreciation for beginner scrolls, and so much more so for those pristine, gorgeous works of art that come from hands that have been dedicated to learning and perfecting this skill for so many years.
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Entered In
Night on the Piazza, Barony of Lochmere, Atlantia: Adult Novice Scroll Competition (Winner)

House Rosegate Bottell

My Pelican and the head of my household, Mistress Arianna, challenged us to submit projects to Atlantia's Kingdom A&S display in February 2014. I had seen Geoff's finished bottells and had been wanting to try my hand at one, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity!

I began by drawing up a measured blueprint for the bottell on white printer paper. The blueprint is based on the pattern Cathrin Åhlén provides on her website, but with some adjustments. For instance, her measurements are in centimeters while mine are in inches (the first blueprint I drew up was a 1:1 ratio—the resulting bottell would have been enormous!). Also, I desired a taller neck for my bottell, so I adjusted accordingly.

Next, I laid the blueprint atop the side of leather and traced the outline using a ballpoint stylus. Then, using an X-Acto knife, I cut the bottell from the larger leather.

Using the same ballpoint stylus, I then traced the design onto the leather. The design is the badge of House Rosegate—(Fieldless) On a Portcullis Sable a Rose Or Barbed Vert—atop the background of the arms of the Kingdom of Atlantia—Per Pale Argent and Azure, a Fess Wavy Cotised Counterchanged.

Next, I began to tool the design. I intended to paint the House Rosegate badge but not the background. Because of this, I hand-tooled only around the edges of the portcullis to give it a slightly raised effect. I chose to texture the sections of the background that would have been blue, while leaving the sections that would have been white smooth. I created this texture using a wooden mallet and a textured background stamp. To create greater emphasis between the “blue” and “white” sections, I then hand-tooled the outlines of the waves, giving the “white” sections a slightly raised effect.

When the design was complete, I turned to the task of piercing the holes through which the bottell would be sewn. I carefully measured and marked the seams, and then used an awl to drill the holes through the leather. That quickly grew tedious, and, recalling my vow to purchase a Dremel tool, I took myself to the hardware store. The tool allowed me to make quick work of the rest of the sewing holes, and soon the bottell was ready to begin being sewn together. For the first time, it began to take the shape of the finished product—an exciting milestone! I stitched the bottell using brown waxed linen thread and a blunt-tipped lacing needle.

Once the top was sewn, it was time to cut, shape and insert the sides of the bottell. For this, I again drew up a blueprint on printer paper, based on my adjusted measurements from the first blueprint. I placed it on the leather side and traced it with the ballpoint stylus, and then I cut it out using the X-Acto knife.

After thoroughly soaking the end piece in water, I flexed and folded and shaped it until, eventually, it fit into the hole at the side of the bottell. While the leather was still wet, I pierced holes into it using the existing holes in the body of the bottell as my guide. I then stitched it together, again using the brown waxed linen thread. When I finished, I repeated the process on the other side.

With both ends securely stitched, it was time to shape the bottell. To accomplish this, I first soaked the entire piece in water, letting it completely saturate the leather. Then, using a funnel and scoop, I poured sand into the bottell until it was completely filled. After that, I used a dowel rod to pack down the sand inside the bottell, forcing it into the nooks and crannies and causing the leather to stretch and bulge. I then poured in more sand, and repeated the process until the bottell reached my desired size and shape. After that, I set it in a warm, dry place for several days to allow it to dry completely.

Once it was dry, I poured all of the sand out of the bottell. It was then time to paint the House Rosegate badge. I used acrylic paint and a fine-tipped paintbrush to decorate the design. While the paint was drying, I began to melt the bee's wax I would use to coat the outside of the bottell. Once it was liquefied, I used a soft-bristled brush to coat the entire exterior surface with wax. I then placed the bottell into a warm oven. The heat combined with the force of gravity melted away the excess wax and left a smooth, even finish.

After the bottell cooled, I applied a large quantity of wax along the seams. This would prevent the resin mixture I used on the inside of the bottell from seeping out until it dried. With the seams thusly sealed, I poured the liquid resin into the bottell and spread it over the interior surfaces by slowly tilting and rotating the bottell. When the inside was coated, I set the bottell aside to allow the resin mixture to dry.

Once the inside of the bottell was dry I repeated the resin process, applying a second coat to the inside of the bottell. When the second coat had dried, I again placed the bottell into the oven for a final melting of the excess wax.

My Technique vs. Medieval Technique
1. I used a sand-packing method instead of a mold to shape the bottell. I am not a woodworker and do not have the skills necessary to create the required mold. Sand packing is a period technique that was used to create leather vessels—it was used to make flasks while the wooden molds were used to make bottles and jacks.

2. I coated the inside with a modern resin compound instead of pitch or wax. I did this for durability and so that my bottle can be used for either hot or cold liquids.

3. I used acrylic paint instead of period paints. I lack the skills and knowledge to create period pigments. Also, acrylic is very durable and stands up to the waxing process.

4. I used modern tools: an X-Acto Knife, a crockpot (to heat the wax), my oven. This was a matter of convenience and what I had available to me. In period they would have used a sharp knife and the heat from a fire.
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Entered In
Kingdom A&S Festival 2014, Atlantia: Open Display