Sunday, May 31, 2009

Middle Eastern

So the next event I plan on attending is Midnight at the Oasis. It's a 2 hour drive, and sounds fun. Since it will still be hot as heck here, I really didn't want to go in heavy Tudor/Ren garb. So I talked to Layla and Saffiya and they are helping me out with ME garb.

I've already created the pants, called Salwar, from the black linen I was planning on using for my overkirtle. (Ask me about why the plan changed for that sometime.) Anyway, they turned out VERY comfortable.

Now all I have to do is make a Choli, which is like a long, tight sleeved bra (open back), a light, gauzy shirt to go underneath it (with sleeves that dip to my knees), an over vest for extra cleave support, and a circle skirt over the whole thing.

Since I have plenty of time, and the Salwar are already made, I'm confident that this will all be completed well in time.

HA!!
So I bought a floor stand from E-bay for $15 and things are progressing nicely on the "beast". I will work on it most of the day today, and should finish it.

I'm coming into a busy few weeks where I won't have time to work on it, but after things calm down, I plan to place two butterflies, in boxes framed by interlaced borders, on the next row. The butterflies will be an experiment in fillwork of all different types, and this is when I'm going to start working on the Holbein stitch, which up to now I haven't been using.

I want to center them on the piece, which means I'm going to have to count the width of my workable area on the fabric, then count the width of the butterfly + border, multiply by 2, then add a center clear space. Then divide by two, then count that number of stitches into the middle, mark the border lines, then stitch from the middle to the right, then from the middle backwards to the left.

Did you get that?

Yeah. And I suck at math. Pray for me.



Thursday, May 7, 2009

oooh lookie!




And it's RED!

And now for something entirely different...

My dream camp at Pennsic will include:

My "tent", which is completely screened in, and has walls that convert to awnings in daytime. Optionally covered in sheet-weight fabric, to make it look more period, of course.

Inside the tent you have the painters tarp on the ground, followed by wall to wall rugs. Then you have a wooden pallet with fabric over the top of it, which serves as a box spring for the queen size air mattress. That has a large sheet over it, and then many blankets and things so I'm toasty warm at night.



Deluxe Camp Kitchen

with additional:





And a campfire grill thing.

And of course, I'll need a truck to haul all this crap in....

Hey...I said DREAM!

More Italian Ren Dresses I Like


NEROCCIO DE' LANDI, Portrait of a Lady, 1480s
National Gallery of Art, Washington








Dress cropped from:
GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico, Resurrection of the Boy (detail), 1482-85
Santa Trinità, Florence

I love the pattern on the dress (damask? jaquard?) and the layering effect, plus the low neckline and the poofy dress which hides fat. The lower sleeves are tight (they look laced on to the upper sleeve over a thin chemise).








Different Dress, same Fresco.
GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico, Resurrection of the Boy (detail), 1482-85
Santa Trinità, Florence

This looks simpler, but essentially the same style. The sleeves are obviously laced over a chemise here.

Italian Ren

So since my name is going Italian, (and my persona remains Czech), I get to use both Bohemian and Italian garb elements.

This means I get to wear Italian Ren!! Can you say...cleavage?? I knew you could!!

Some pictures of dresses I like (not what I can make, mind...) so I can get an idea of what I'm looking for.



Girolamo di Benvenuto: Portrait of a Young Woman, 1508
National Gallery of Art, Washington


This dress I like because the chemise looks thin (can we see shadow cleave?) and it laces up the front (extra support) and the sleeves come off in hot (NC) weather.





Paolo Veronese: Portrait of a Lady,
Musée du Louvre, Paris


This is a bigger girl, and we definetly get some bosom here, and it looks velvety in appearance, so this might be a good winter dress.


More to come.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

AER: Spring Crown

After Event Review: Spring Crown Tournament
May 2, 2009
4H Center, Swansboro, NC

Being a list of notes and thoughts on how to make travel/site/eventing an easier/cheaper/less stressful happening.



  1. Setting the Tone of the Day:

    • We had a departure goal of 6:30am. We awoke at 5:30am.

    • Packed chairs in back of the trunk first, then the living room end table (it folds up) then gazebo then cooler. Packed all fabric covers and feast gear in the upholstery "bags" in the empty spaces. Got all that in plus Justin's sword.

    • The cooler did *not* get ice until we stopped for breakfast in Vanceboro, at the Bojangles next to the Hess. Got BF at the Bojangles and Ice/travel drinks and 2liters at the Hess. The cooler being in the front made it easy to fill it with drinks/ice.




  2. Maps:

    • I printed out maps there and back from Google Maps. I found them to be accurate and Good To Use™.

    • Bryan was a better navigator than Jerot. Go figure.




  3. Health/Well Being:

    • We brought sunscreen, the spray on kind, and used it BEFORE Baroness Morwenna came over. I was proud of myself.

    • Ticks. I hate ticks. ACTION ITEM: (1)Find Tick repellent and apply liberally to all portions of body prior to dressing in the morning. (2) There is enough time between now and the next planned event to make a coif. Do that, and get the hair COVERED!!!




  4. Comfort:

    • The walls I bought for the gazebo were brilliant. I'd still like to get some banners for Cathanar and eventually my device to hang up.

    • Still have to get the sheets done for the chairs.

    • That break down table with the fabric was great. Really helped alot from last time.




  5. We did not attend feast, but we did have a light board with Masina and Sebastian which was lovely. We brought plates n stuff and that was nice. Well done!


  6. Actually use the camera!!



  • Heraldry

    So I submitted my name and device at Crown last weekend.
    -v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v
    What I intended to submit: Name

    Eleonora z Praha (Czech for Helen of Prague)

    Problem: Can't document Eleonora in any language other than Italian, even though I can prove that 5 Slavic countries use Eleonora for Eleanor and Helen in modern day usage.

    Since it can only be documented in Italian (Via Eleonora di Toledo and Duchess Eleonora of Sicily), I can use it, but the remainder of my name must be in Italian or Latin to match.

    Options: Change "Eleonora" to "Elena" or change "z Praha" to "Pragensis" or "di Praga"

    So I submitted as "Eleonora Pragensis". Although I'm wondering if "Eleonora di Praga" would have been cooler.
    -v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-

    What I intended to submit: Device

    Sable, a three tailed lion rampant guardant Or, in chief argent a trikelion of spirals gules.

    (In non Heraldry speak, that's a black shield with a gold three tailed lion with his legs up like he's attacking, but his head is facing the viewer with it's tongue hangin out. On the top 1/3rd of the shield is a white strip with a celtic spiral in red.)

    Problem:

    A triskelion of spirals is considered "thin line heraldry", because it's hard to distinguish it from other things at a distance.

    So I asked them to just drop the chief off (the white strip part). We tried that, but the black shiled + lion are the coat of arms for Belgium. So I had to put something else on it.

    I put the white chief back on, and was advised that once passed, I can use artistic license to draw the charge on the chief, so I used red crescent moons. So my blazon, if approved will be:

    Sable, a three tailed lion rampant gaurdant Or, in chief argent a triskelion of crescents gules.

    I'm wondering now if I should have used the Triskeles instead of crescents, but we'll see if it passes as is. If not, I'll have to change the whole thing. Dangit.



    I'm going to keep my email address the same until I get the confirmation that Eleonora Pragensis has registered, then I'll change. Who knows, I might end up Eleonora di Praga.

    I wonder if I have to remove Dáma (Czech for Lady) or if I have to use Signora (Italian for Lady).


    Signed, Dáma Eleonora z Praha ((Signora Eleonora Pragensis))