August 2024: Feeling Reinvigorated
August Goals
Garb:
Work on the facing embroidery for Juana’s camisa
Work on the garment analysis of Juana’s outfit
Classes:
Re-record my Persona Pentathlon class.
Prep my new Fall University class on commonplace books.
I have officially Pennsic’d. I had a lovely time, including celebrating the success of some friends and my 30th birthday and would Pennsic again in the future. I think it’s going to be an every other year thing for me, between needing to move next summer and wanting to balance Pennsic time with time with my family but despite the torrential downpours and occasional hail, the event went as well as I could have wanted it to.
Me at my first (in person) Known World A&S Display. Photo credit: Llwyd Aldrydd
Classes
Classes were by far the highlight of my Pennsic experience. I spent the lion’s share of my time up at University, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My own class went well! I had 15 students and we had a really lively class with some fantastic discussion and questions. It was truly such a pleasurable teaching experience. I tried out a new method this time of bringing in a series of QR codes that got passed around at strategic points as I was lecturing since I didn’t a) print handouts or b) arrange to show my slideshow. These seemed to go over well. I intended and completely forgot to bring a list for people to sign in on so that I could email them materials afterward, but that’s a good learning moment for next time. I hope to teach again next time I go to Pennsic and maybe volunteer at University Point.
Commonplace Books: This class was very focused on mundane applications of commonplace books and a modern way of approaching them, but was enjoyable nonetheless. This and the bookbinding class I took inspired me to teach my fall University commonplace books class.
Medieval Food Myths: This was a pretty entry level class, but enjoyable nonetheless. The energy was really good and I had some great take-aways for better teaching my Iberian cuisine class to an audience with diverse levels of background knowledge.
Food in Medieval Sicily: I was really excited for this class for the overlap Sicilian food has with Spain and I was not disappointed. The class covered a lot of the things I was interested in for cuisine styles and balanced recipe inclusion well.
Designing Blocks: This class was very busy so I only stayed for the lecture part as I arrived too late to get materials. It was on block printing and this class gave me the idea to use carved block stamps to help transfer my embroidery patterns for future projects.
Pursuing Peerage: Ethically Sourced Laurels: This class came highly recommended and I was glad I went. It covered a variety of the “rules as written” vs the expectations of Peers from around the Known World and how different people might approach Peerage as a concept.
Consent in A&S: This is part of a two part series of classes that the East Kingdom does for their certified A&S judges program. I think it’s got some really powerful messaging and I’m glad I had an opportunity to take it. Consent in feedback and A&S participation is crucial to the success of A&S on an individual and organization level and it’s a very positive thing to see it so well addressed.
Tying Two On: This class was on tied on sleeves and I had such a good time. The instructor had a variety of example attachments she explored and I loved seeing the examples of the different ways sleeves could be attached and the art that corroborated them. I got some great pictures too that can be found here.
Being Your Persona: This was a nice quiet class that was very much on introspection about persona and persona as a performance concept. I don’t think I’ve ever thought too hard about it in that sense but it was still interesting to think about.
My twisty “stoat” badge!
Other Fun Pennsic Doings
I submitted my badge! I have wanted to get a badge submitted for about a year and a half. It’s a “twisty ermine,” harkening back to an inside joke on my Pearl scroll and I am super stoked to see if it goes through.
Also heraldry related, I am finally swapping my names around so my Spanish name is my primary SCA name instead of my original English name.
I bought a brand new pretty chair and I love it so much.
I also have a new basket and also love it so much.
I did NOT buy any fabric, and am incredibly proud of myself.
Bartertown was so much fun! I got to offload some things that have built up over the years and that I had no use for, and come home with some items that are going to be much more versatile for my own SCA purposes.
My favorite display at KWAS on Roman cosmetics.
I was incredibly happy with how my Known World A&S display went. My “Ask Me About My Spreadsheets” sign did exactly what it was supposed to and I got some fantastic engagement with the actual research aspects of the Pentathlon outfit projects. I will absolutely need to keep this sign in my arsenal, possibly with a small display board of relevant graphs and charts. I got some great feedback as well from my Laurel consultations on the display and I’m really excited to take that learning to its next stage.
My Pennsic project was working on the first draft of the Juana embroidery design. I did a handful of slightly differently scaled versions of the motif and have picked out my favorites to turn into stamps to transfer the pattern once I’ve finalized my choice. The original as I’ve done it is definitely scaled a bit too big for what it needs to do, but I really like how the pattern looks. One of the classes I took recommended using fabric stamping as a way of transferring the pattern to the facing itself. I tried this out with some testers this month and will be using this technique on the next version of the facing to a) get some more standardized motifs and b) see if I can standardize the scaling better. The big challenge here is not wanting the paint to show a lot afterward, so finding the right paint was a priority. I settled on a white, water soluble tempera paint. While definitely a modern material, tempera paint did exist in period (in the form of egg tempera) and I thought with using white paint, even if it doesn’t fully wash out, it should be subtle enough to not compromise the design. This should at least work for the linen camisa, which can be soaked after embroidery. The sobresaya, being wool, will need a different technique for transferring the pattern.
One of my birthday presents was a gift certificate to Silk Baron and I decided to use it to get some really nice silk for Juana’s verdugado. I got 3 yards of it, with the intent of slicing it into strips to encase the verdugos on the outside of the skirt for some contrast. I’m not sure that I will use all 3 yards, especially since it’s 54” wide, but I think this should amply cover what I’m hoping to do with it. The dress itself will be done in black wool so this should provide not just color contrasts (while still looking good with the sobresaya) but also some textural interest in the fabrics. I have not genuinely started shopping for this project- this purchase is very much a “I know this could sell out and I am committed to this fabric, so I purchased it early.” I still need to shop for some nice linen for the camisa, the black wool base for the saya verdugado, and the interlinings I’m considering for both that and the sobresaya. I would like to look into a more structured bodice, either with buckram or pad stitching, but I have yet to finalize that plan.
The silk is just as pretty in person as it was online.
One aspect of this outfit I am considering if I have leftover silk, is that this is a great opportunity to try out another set of chapines or maybe some lower pantufos (which were substantially shorter and worn indoors instead of outdoors). I’ve been wanting to make another set, more straight sided and a little smaller foot printed, since Pentathlon, and this silk would make a fantastic cover for them. I think I would still do a fitted leather sole like on the last ones for neatness and walkability. If I do this, it’ll probably require a maker space with a saw and belt sander for ease of cutting and building. So far, many of the examples of the verdugados do have either chapines or pantufos worn with them depending on whether the woman in question is inside a home or outside a home.
I did a lot of good work on the Juana Outfit survey this month, mostly focusing on finding and cataloging the verdugados themselves. The other things that I’m going to be analyzing are the split panel dresses and Juana’s own personal style as it evolved overtime and as she moved around throughout her life. I’m up to 22 items for Juana’s personal style, 22 verdugados, and two split panel sobresayas. I have not started combing through Anderson yet, nor have I started on the sobresaya hunting but I’m hoping that’ll be some September work.
The commonplace book class came along great this month. I was worried about how a specific project would translate to a more general class but I think it’s going to turn out to be a fun class to teach. My slides and outline are done and the handout is getting fleshed out as well.
September Goals:
Garb:
Continue work on Juana’s camisa facing.
Order fabric and work on the design of Juana’s camisa
Classes and Research:
Finalize and record the commonplace books class and get that posted to YouTube.
Continue work on the survey for this outfit.
