The March of Progress; or, Life Is A Bowl Of Sour Cherries

I bought about this many.

The Bocksten tunic looks like
the T-tunics of yore, except that
it makes the shape with gores and
gussets, so it's not wasteful of fabric.

Since our last visit, we have had yet another jiggering of priorities, though minor in nature.  I had a long colloquy with my dashing consort, and he expressed his concerns about comfort in the light of the OMG DEATH BY FIRE climate that's being predicted for this summer, particularly since we are going for two full weeks (it being his first time for that[1], and only his second time going at all).  He's very worried that, even if made of the lightest materials and not fashionably tight, he'll be too hot in full Tudor glory.  So, we're de-prioritizing late-period shirts and doublets, raising the quota of T-tunics (well, probably they'll be Bocksten Man tunics, just so I don't twitch), and adding one pair of Standard Early Period Pants.  I'd still like to try my hand at a working-class Elizabethan doublet, to see if he's more comfortable in that, but it will be further down the food chain.  (It's also a higher-effort item.  Not only do I have to figure it out in the first place, but even the po' folks had interlining and stuff, so construction is more complicated and more time-consuming.)

Example of a
not-plaid bog dress

In the spirit of hitting the low-hanging fruit, I got the five camp sheet walls done, hooray.  It was a nice place to start the terrifying list, because although time-consuming and vaguely tedious, they aren't difficult.  Then, last night, I finished mending my existing bog schmata and finally--FINALLY--fit and finished the 2nd one I cut out three years ago.  (What's a bog dress?  As the term is used in these parts, it is a peplos-like garment made out of the loudest damn plaid you can find.  I am not clear if they are called such because examples have been pulled out of bogs, or because people down in the bog at Pennsic wear them, or because it is easy to throw on if you have to go to the bog in the middle of the night.  They are probably not period, at least as we make 'em, and they're definitely not right for any of the stuff I'm doing, but Goddamn are they convenient, particularly for early morning coffee time / going to the swimming hole / doing scut work / when it's stupid hot and you just can't face lacing up a gown.)  The acute reader will notice that my priority list nowhere mentioned bog dresses, and this is true, but a) I was also running a little bit scared about the OMG DEATH BY FIRE long-term forecast and b) it got one more thing that's been hanging around for ages out of Bucknard's Everfull Sewing Basket.  Also, it must be admitted, having a quick win is a good confidence booster.

I also spent a little time yesterday digging around the intarwubs for a free(ish) cloud application that can do Gantt charts and/or project plans with task dependencies.  This was insanely helpful during Colossus: The 19th Century Project[2], and I'm hoping that employing these tools will help control the brain-bees that are buzzing around in the back of my psyche waiting to strike.  It makes you feel like you've got a handle on the situation (whether you do or not, *ahem*), and also it's great for those overwhelmed moments when you are dithering/overwhelmed about what to do next--it shows you what tasks you have available, and you just pick one.  So, I'm giving Gantter a try.

The next several days are a whirlwind of social activity, and I have to spend some time in the kitchen because I have bought All The Sour Cherries In The World (since we're in the two weeks of the year where they're available) and I need to employ them before they go off; so there's not going to be much time for advancing the quest list.  But I hope to knock out the last two Queen's Favors, and maybe coax the weekly sewing circle into helping me assemble my tablet-weaving class kits.  *shifty look*  I may also be able to abuse the big oul' copiers at work to make a copy of the pourpoint pattern from the seminal work on the topic, so I'll be ready to start diddling it based on the client's measurements, from which I can then cut out a muslin.  (See?  Task dependencies!)

[1] Candidly, this will only be the 3rd time I've gone for two weeks.
[2] I wanted to upload my project plan for that, for the edification of others, but it looks like it got deleted off the project management tool at work.  Someone may have noticed it was there.  -_-;;;;;;

Of Banners and Re-Prioritizations

Saturday, we had us a wee local event that we've run for the past couple of years.  (Well, I say "we"; mostly Beth, but I halp!)  The idea is to have a sewing-themed event at just the right period before Pennsic, so people can get help with their projects and/or learn new stuff with enough lead time to implement.  This year was more than usually chaotic, as everyone is covered in bees, but the immediate[1] matter[2] for me was to put together a class on history and styles of banners (with emphasis on what's useful / relevant in an SCA context).  As previously implied, I struggled with focus on this one, as I kept coming across interesting references that I wanted to track down; which in most cases to describe it as "falling down a rabbit hole" dramatically understates the nature of the transaction.

One of the many cool banners
lost by Charles the Bold in 1472.
It's a tiny tiny standard, really,
though I don't know why it doesn't
have his usual motto ("Je lay
emprins") on it.

Ahem.  Anyways.  I produced a thing, and the feedback I got is that it's pretty good, and that I should teach it at Pennsic too.  I'm too late to get it in the hard copy course catalog, but a lot of people are using the online one in preference anyways, so...?  And we've decided, jobs willing, that we're definitely going to go for both weeks, so I could schedule this for the first week and not go completely batshit.   In all honesty, just as with the Elizabethan working clothes class, I feel as if I'm not doing anything super-genius, just collating and processing and contextualizing a whole bunch of data that's already out there, and couldn't anyone do this?  But on the other hand, it doesn't seem like Mister Anyone is, and the core idea is to make good information accessible to as many people as possible.  Maybe my business card should read "I Troll Through Garbage References On Pinterest So You Don't Have To". 

So, there's that job jobbed; but with only five weeks to go it's time to have a long hard think about my previously-expressed priority list.  I need to pare it down more than somewhat, particularly since some new elements are in play.  Without further ado, then, the revised edition, cast in the lingo of my workplace's Project Management Office:

ESSENTIAL

• Kits for tablet-woven edge class
• Handout for Elizabethan working clothes class
• For my dashing consort:
• 1-2 more shirts 
• 1 grub-able T-tunic
• 1 working (i.e., not form-fitted) Elizabethan doublet
• Hem the five sheet walls for the camp
• Hem the last two Queen's Favors and hand them the $*@& off
• Redo the lining on the Big Damn Banner, so I can a) display it and b) send it back to the owner who has been remarkably kind about the whole thing

IMPORTANT

• Muslin of a pourpoint for the commission I have alluded to
• For my dashing consort:
• Finish the wee flat cap
• Ensmallen the 2 prs. Venetians that are too big
• It's possible that I should frob one of them to sit at his hips, not at his waist, so he can wear it with just a jerkin.  It isn't Historically Accurate, but it'll be a lot more comfy for him if it's a stupid hot year.
• Put lacing holes in all prs. Venetians
• Many many lacing cords

NICE TO HAVE

• For me:
• 2-3 extra lacing cords (finger-looped or lucet)
• Tablet-woven headband with fake braids 
• Embiggen eyelets on some of my older gowns
• an apron or two
• A 16th-century working-class petticoat & smock
• For S.:
• Falling collar that can be pinned to shirts
• More shirts
• (He should have more clothes but I want to see how all the other stuff works out before planning the next round.)
• Canvas-work butt-cushions for our X-chairs
• SOME DAMN BANNERS.

I think I can do all of the Essential, maybe a couple of the Important, and I am pretty sure it drops off precipitately after that.

[1] I also ended up with five sheet walls for the Baronial encampment to hem, but never mind.
[2] And I registered two badges for myself!  I'm kinda smug about that, because it means I don't have to sketch hawks displayed on everything I want to heraldically pee on.  Dear Past Me: I hate you (even if your aesthetic taste is pretty good).

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Le Palais des Papes in Avignon, the largest intact Gothic palace in the world.
Which, alas, only refers to the buildings, not anything in them

The previous three weeks of radio silence have been the result of a) preparing for vacation, b) being on vacation, and c) recovering from vacation.  Said vacation was in Provence, a place I had never been; and it was lovely and magical and I didn't want to come home.  It was also chock-full of medieval architecture, including an entire abandoned village you can freely wander around, though regrettably no textiles or dec-arts remain anywhere (everything that may have survived the passage of time has been snarfed by bigger museums elsewhere).    Much to my sorrow, I could not diddle the travel plans in a workable way that permitted a stop at the endangered Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs in Lyon, which holds a lot of Clothing's Greatest Hits.  We did travel right past it, but it was not practical to jump out of the train going 100+ MPH. I may yet live to regret not trying it. 

But I can present a working reconstruction
of a 15th-century paper mill that's in
Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

I did get three more Queen's Favors embroidered on the plane, at least.  Should have been four, but that's the problem with watching superhero movies when you're trying to work; you just have to look at the really impressive bits (IYKWIM, AITYD!)

So, best vacation ever; also, point of self-aggrandizement, we did so much walking and climbing that I lost a pound and a half; but my re-entry into ordinary life and the realization of just how few weeks it is til Pennsic was rather like being thrown into a vat of icy water.  Which is mixed with angry bees.  During a lightning storm. In a spirit of complete candor, I will admit that back in April, I started waking up in the middle of the night with what I have since learned are panic attacks, and though they disappeared during vacation and I was all "hurray!  Is fixed!", they returned with a vengeance afterwards.  I have taken advice (medical and otherwise), and mitigation is in place, but the point of this is that I am permitting my hobby to have far too much of an emotional impact on my well-being...an issue that, by my observation, is far too common among us.  Please, take the time to think about this, and practice some self-care if you feel you might be doing the same.  IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

[end PSA]

I had previously taken some pains to reduce the nebulous cloud of All The Work into actionable items; the problem is, that list is still a very long one, and not one I felt the least bit comfortable in my ability to finish.  Or even to start. Yesterday, I hacked on it yet further; for the upcoming week, the only thing I think about is Stuff That Has To Be Done For Next Saturday, which is:

• Create my class (essential)
• Figure out something to bring to the potluck (essential) (but could be delegated)
• Hem the favors I've embroidered (important) 
• (better still if I can do by Thurs and drop off to the local canton meeting, since they're batching delivery)
• Redo the Tiny Tiny Flat Cap (nice to have, probably won't happen)

I started working on the class last night, and once again fell down the rabbit hole of trying to make it super-scholarly and documented.  No, stupid, that's not what this is. This is a brief survey of banners so people who have never done one before feel prepared to go out and make one of their own.  Stop chasing references to Charles the Bold's lost treasures and when the French Crown started hanging banners in Notre-Dame.  STAAAHHP.