#sca projects

[aangussca]

Class/tech exercises: Art of the Title (lesson on 22.8.23, animation completed on 29.8.23)

#studio exercises #SCA projects

[foldingfittedsheets]

My betrotheds mom is big in the SCA and does tons of hand sewing and period accurate clothes, she’s got several custom made outfits and enters competitions with her special projects.

One of them she meticulously researched and created a custom glove. I have no idea how much work goes into such a thing other than A Lot but whenever she tells us stories about these competitions she’s always slighted in favor of flashier offerings.

Her most recent endeavor was some kind of stiff collar. I’m not going to embarrass myself pretending to know the specifics but the original ones back in the day used layers of fabric and whale baleen to get a nice strong silhouette. She researched the crap out of it and wrote up a report to go along with the item.

At the judging one of the judges commented, “Well, it’s alright, but it’s so disappointing that it’s not fully authentic, why didn’t you use whale baleen?”

She sputtered out, “Well, if you’d read my report you’d know it’s because it’s illegal!”

#ramblies #sca #like imagine someone being like ‘why didn’t you use ivory to construct this?’ #it is a bit hard to tell with her sometimes cause she’s a very unreliable narrator and has a tendency to feel slighted #but in this case I’m 1000% sure the judge just cattily asked why she didn’t use illegally source whale parts for her crafting project #funny #story #ffs foibles

[jaraxles]

Skull pukko

Blade: 3 1/2" 1095 high carbon steel with decorative jimping

Handle: 4 1/2" with aluminum bolster on claro walnut with carved skull pommel

Overall: 8"

#sca #projects #me #blacksmithing #knife #society for creative anachronism #wood carving #woodworking #skull

[thejoyofseax]

The Irish Porridge Project

We know that cereal grains were in use in pre-Norman Ireland. We also know that yeast baking doesn't work very well in Ireland's climate, such that soda bread is the traditional Irish loaf, rather than the yeast breads and sourdoughs that most other European cuisines have. But bread soda wasn't available in period, so the bread of the medieval era seems mostly to have been flatbreads and some kind of biscuits or crackers, with yeast bread only really available to the rich and in (some) monasteries. Everyone else seems to have gotten along with porridges as the main use for grain. There's even mention of wheat porridges being the appropriate food for royal fosterlings.

"Porridge" in modern English mostly means that it's made from oatmeal, and indeed, it's called just "oatmeal" in some places. But it's possible to make porridge from any grain. The Southern US dish called grits is a maize porridge, for one example. So what I want to do over the next while is try out every kind of porridge that pre-Norman Irish people could have gotten hold of.

There is the issue that we don't actually know what all the grains were. We have a list from the 8th century Bretha Déin Chécht: bread-wheat, rye, spelt-wheat, two-row barley, emmer wheat, six-row barley, and oats, but we don't really know what some of those are, and the translations are dubious in some cases. In this case, I'm going to go for emmer, einkorn, durum, barley, rye and oats. That list may be adjusted if I find more or that some (durum, perhaps) were not available in period. I'll also look at grain-like stuffs like pendulous sedge and fat hen, and see what can be done with those.

Next, there are multiple forms of grain that can make porridge. The full grain "berry", the slightly trimmed groat, various crushed and rolled forms, and coarse and fine flours. In addition, there are malted, roasted, and fermented options for each, and different grains might be mixed. This is adding up to a lot of different porridges!

As I try them, I'll add links here and describe what results I get, including other people's opinions of them, when I get those. I have a couple of co-conspirators on this project, and as they send me the results of their trials, I'll add them here too.

I'd also like to credit Magister Galefridus Peregrinus, whose class in non-baking use of Fertile Crescent grains at Pennsic 50 jumped my initial research and thinking on this particular project by years.

Standard (Rolled) Oatmeal Porridge Steel-cut Oat Porridge Fermented Oatmeal Porridge

#irish food #medieval cooking #medieval food #sca #irish medieval food #the porridge project #medieval grains

[daisycinnimon]

#prosekai #project sekai meme #ooc screenshot #asahina mafuyu #tsukasa tenma #i should just post funny ooc sca #wxs #wonderland x showtime #25 ji nightcord de #nightcord at 25:00

[whennnow]

Two T-Tunics

September 19, 2023

[Image ID: the bodice and sleeves of two basic medieval tunics - one pink and one blue.]

While my ultimate goal with SCA garb is to create a 14th century capsule wardrobe, I know it will be a while before I have the money to buy all the wool and linen I'd need and the time to make anything out of it.

So I'm starting with something more basic. The uniform of SCA-dians everywhere - the T-tunic!

The basic pattern can be adapted to fit many eras, whether as a base layer or fashion layer, as a shirt or a dress.

The Fabric

You can make t-tunics out of basically any fabric. Linen and wool are the most historically-accurate, and silk probably is too.

Unfortunately, that's not really in my budget right now, so I used two thrifted cotton bed sheets, which I think are queen sized. I got two tunics for $5 of fabric!

The Pattern

These tunics are made out of simple geometric shapes - rectangles for the body and sleeve gussets, triangular skirt gores, and either rectangles or trapezoids for sleeves.

To make things easier on myself, I used this "Custom Smock Pattern Generator" from elizabethancostume.net to make the pattern, then cut out the shapes it gave me with added seam allowance.

Assembly

Instructions for assembling a t-tunic have been written probably hundreds of times, so I'll direct you back to elizabethancostume.net to spare you another explanation.

I usually flat-fell seams on things like this, but I wanted to minimize the amount of hand sewing I had to do while also not having any visible machine stitching, so I french seamed everything.

I used a facing for the neckline instead of a binding and hand-sewed the edges of that down.

The sleeve and skirt hems were also hand-sewn.

A Note on Fitting

The smock generator pattern I used takes into account your shoulder width, and seems to direct to instructions on how to measure that, but it wouldn't show up for me. As a result, I suspect my measurement was too narrow.

While the resulting shapes fit well over my bust and waist, I almost couldn't get it on over my shoulders!

Thankfully, I had suspected this issue, so my first smock was a few inches wider than the generated pattern called for. I added a bit more width to my second tunic.

Looking Forward

I'm glad to have a base for my medieval/SCA wardrobe, but I can't wait to expand! I want to do some basic accessories next, like linen veils.

I already have a few other accessories - a thrifted straw hat, one of those long fantasy/ren faire/sorta medieval belts, and a mug.

I also have decent-sized leftovers from these bed sheets - I'll save most of it to line wool hoods, but I'll use some small pieces to make drawstring bags to hang from my belt.

Stay tuned for a post on plotting out my plans for garb! In the meantime,

Stay warm, stay safe, and stay healthy.

[Image ID: a photo of Alex in a blue tunic with a dark belt, holding a mug as if raising a toast.]

#wnn projects #wnn sca #medieval wardrobe

[the-merry-otter]

Finished a garb project two weeks before the event I wanted to have it done by… this feels illegal

#now I have to find a different project to panic about it being done on time #hmmm maybe I should put those laces in the front of my dress 🤔 #sca #lochac #medieval reenactment #medieval #merry words indeed

[skylark-whaleshark]

I'm really proud of how my spinning's going !!

I went to an sca event for the first time over the weekend and got a few compliments on it

#spinning #fiber arts #sca #not pictured: the sewing project i'm currently procrastinating on #i'll probably end up dyeing this thread with something #i have tons of dye i've been meaning to try out sometime

[connorchen-saddog8]

What Happened To Chair Porn?

Above notes are some initial brainstorms about this idea and some feedback from Harry.

Inspiration

The phenomena of the internet "lolcow" and act of extensive pervasive documentation of one persona only made possible by the rapidness of contemporary / technology. Resulting in internet archival histories and documentations, almost to an obsessive point, of a specific persona, engraining their legacy into internet culture which reverberate through the public internet consciousness.

Eroticism and its evolution caused by the advancements in technology and communication. (looking to Gene Youngblood's Synaesthetic Cinema and Polymorphus Eroticism). It talks about how with the invention of video and tape? porn? more easily accessible porn i guess - Erotica and sex is being depicted in a less sinful light in cinema, as well as its manifestations within art. Thinking about this in the lens of contemporary technology in social media. Both the insane accessibility of porn at the click of a button (which obviously has worrying implications in terms of exploitation etc) but also the "chronically online" side of things? Fetish art, rule 34, the ms paint home made obscure kind of "porn" made by a forum user about their never-before-heard of fetish about their favourite character buying wonderbread.

The exponential growth of the internet and the digital landscape. It's all so new, but the internet 10 years ago is a completely different animal than it is now. Something from 2016 is historical because of just how fast and everything it is.

Performance and the visceral real being an impossibility on the current digital landscape. The thin veil of performance and suspension of disbelief anyone must have to encounter anything on the internet. It's so unreal! its so real!

Objects

The archival resources and rabbit holes of internet "theorists". Old blog posts and forums of early internet, the exponentially growing mound of media in the form of TikTok, YouTube, Instagram. Specifically the video essay farm on YouTube - media analysis or "tea" reporters. Horrible YouTube thumbnails. MS paint fetish art.

Idea summary

The work will consist of 3 layers of media focused on performance and the screen in a hyper-online shape. This passage will be written like I am describing fictional personas, and they are at once fictional, real, strangers, and all me. 0.5. Chair porn. i intend to recreate a corny porno with chairs. No voice over but just silence, wood creaking, subtitles of furniture delight. 1. This chair porn will have a chair porn creator, dedicated to the point of obsession to creating and documenting the process of creating chair porn. This person becomes an internet staple, akin to Chris Chan and her creation of sonichu. Art born of chronically online shaky mspaint lines and divine magnum opus of a not so sane creator in a constantly exposed online environment. This is genuine. 2. This internet persona and his craft will become a sort of lolcow. A spectacle to watch, analyse and document. Video essays and archives spawn from internet "theorists". Forums discussing this person, informal documentaries (youtube videos), essays. They are now a piece of internet history by no means of their own actions. They may not have been monumental, but they have become a part of the public internet consciousness. One specific video essay is made, going through the entire history of chair porn maker, analysing their practice and work, proposing theories and conspiracies. 3. I, Connor Chen, have strong opinions on this video essay discussing chair porn maker and the legacy of chair porn. I will present my opinion in a lecture theatre, playing the video essay on the screen and pause intermittently to voice my thoughts and objections. 3.5 I will record this and submit it as the final version.

After talking with Harry and figuring most of the stuff above out, he asked me what I was critiquing and I realised not much. I'm not so much critiquing these themes, (the pervasiveness of contemporary social media due to technological advances, or the over exposure of the common man as a result of this, or the fast paced nature of information and media, or the so called internet "theorists" and the archives of information created in the exponentially expanding yet short history of the internet.) as much as I am simply fascinated by them. I cannot really separate myself from this enough to condemn it.

some thoughts below that I can't quite place right now.

Materiality

Performance / Immersion / Suspension of Disbelief / fiction

Irony and humor of the chronically online

absurdist theatre

chair porn - commodity fetishism - what can be fetishized?

exponential lore of the internet

authorship and authority in performance

inspirations / references:

Expanded Cinema essay - Synaesthetic Cinema and Polymorphous Eroticism

Chris Chan and Sonichu

Erik bunger

video essayists (more so tea channels than art analysists)

#project 2 #studio #SCA #research #process #ideas #the expanded field

[carthachcraft]

one day i will learn to make clothes for myself that aren't stupidly oversized, but that day is clearly not today

#if you saw me or worse yet interacted with me at castle wars. i'm so sorry #i would say i'm usually not so awkward and tongue tied but at this point that's probably not true #my projects #sca

[the-viking-scribe]

If my partner isn't willing to make me archery bracer, then I'm gonna steal his leather and make my own.

#viking #bracer #archery #leather #sca #projects

[aangussca]

Final Work: Internal Reflections (2023)

#internalreflectionsinstallation #SCA projects

[gallusrostromegalus]

do you have any advice for a novice crochet-er? was planning to make a blanket for a friend and you know A Lot of old ladies/quilt guilds so i was hoping you had some Secret Trade Tips

My advice for a novice crocheter is to find someone who actually knows how to crochet, because I do not.

Facetious Jacknapery aside, that's actually my advice. If you've got a local yarn shop, join their maker's circle, or your local fiber arts guild or your local SCA (there's HORDES of fiber people in the SCA. At this point it's basically a fibercrafts guild with an MMA hobby and funny hats), but in general FIND SOME PEOPLE IRL to teach you because so much of this learning is tactile and you really do need to do it in person.

How To Find a Fibercraft Group:

Open facebook. I know, it's like opening the gates to hell, but all the people over 55 are on there.

Type in "(Your Region) Crochet Group" or "Yarn group" or "Knitting Group" because pretty much all yarn people are bilingual these days.

Several groups will appear, within varying commute distances.

Send emails or facebook messages or (the horror) actually call them if they list a phone number.

Someone will respond, probably with tremendous enthusiasm, that a "Young Person" (Read: anyone who can't order off the senior menu yet) wants to join.

Show up.

You will be BESET with affection and free yarn and instruction and free fabric and new project ideas and free craft supplies of all descriptions because nobody here is just into the one craft and they all wish to keep the Craft Materials Shoggoth under control.

Congratulations on your new friends and own personal Craft Materials Shoggoth.

Actually, this is the time of year that people make resolutions, right? Here's an easy one: go to one (1) in-person craft group meeting and see if you like it. Odds are you will, honestly.

[jaraxles]

Working on the jimping (file work) of a new knife and freezing my ass off in the shop

#sca #projects #me #blacksmithing #knife #society for creative anachronism #jimping #file work #filework

[astriiformes]

how do you make chainmail as a hobby in the 21st century, sincerely a bored wannabe medievalist who’s been lurking on your blog since the beginning of your pentiment phase

It depends somewhat on what you want to make!

I've found various articles from The Art of Making Things useful for starting out, particularly the ones on the different types of metal and different weave patterns you can use, as well as their basic "getting started" article. I decided to go with European 4-in-1 style mail for my first project, since it's a good beginner weave and Dungeon Meshi is largely European fantasy-inspired, which also helped me determine the general size my rings ought to be since different sizes and thicknesses are better for different weaves.

I ultimately ordered 16 gauge galvanized steel rings with an inner diameter of 5/16" from The Ring Lord for my Laios armor, because it felt like a good material for my budget and the aesthetic I'm going for, and I did enough research to determine that was about the right size/aspect ratio for my project. But you can also order wire and cut your own rings if you're not as pressed for time.

Since I'm basically making the bottom part of a mail shirt (for now -- I'd eventually like to turn it into a whole shirt, which will take more patterning and planning) it's a fairly simple, modular project. You basically just add more rings or chains of rings to your base until it's the size you want. The 4-1 in the name of the weave I'm using comes from the fact that the basic way you link chains is to join together four closed rings with an open ring in the middle, then close the open ring to fasten them all. On the recommendation of the guy from the SCA who gave me a quick lesson the other day, I've been using two pairs of slip-joint pliers to manipulate the ends of the rings in order to open or close them, which has been working great!

It gets a little more complicated if you're making something with any curvature, like a mail hood, since you have to do reductions to get the shape right (making chainmail, it turns out, is weirdly like knitting), but it's really not too difficult or even too expensive a hobby to start -- just time-consuming, but I've been enjoying it so far.

#it's fun. i'm having fun #also hello! i love when people who have been lurking for a little while come out of the woodwork to chat #autism knight #(it's vaguely about my laios build so it goes in the build tag)

[catwif3]

it's just very sad because i actually really really enjoyed our old production of nutcracker and i really really do Not like the new one, it is the fuckng Nutcracker Prison (literally, the whole set is 20 foot walls on all three sides of the stage, you can't watch thru the wings at all, i don't know what any of the dances look like) and that's just. there's so many design decisions that were made without heart. i hate it. it's cold and modern and projections and cheap. also it's backbreaking and dangerous to put together. genuinely ruining my enthusiasm for a job i love. i wanna quit again and sell shawls and join the sca.

#life with sao #theatre tech woes