No, really - staying home

Well that's final - we'll not be attending Estrella this year.

Staying home

Currently seriously considering staying home from Estrella this year.

Cooling my heels

Time and finances have conspired. I haven't gotten any of the sewing done that I intended to do this week for Estrella, and I'm not going to be able to purchase the power tool nor the lumber needed to do the carpentry that I had planned. Well, probably not.

Feeling frustrated; lacking motivation to push through this period of inactivity. *sigh*

Gambesons

Since today is payday, I'll be ordering linen for Robert's gambeson, which will serve as his body armor. There is a blue linen canvas at fabrics-store.com for the shell, as well as some white for the lining.

I'm using a gambeson which showed up at Straight and Narrow in Dragonsspine several weeks ago as my model. I believe it's from Revival Clothing. I will also be looking at some other examples of Gothic gambesons and jupons, since the jupon seems to have been initially a military garment. The plan is to secure pauldrons to the shoulders, and to fit ABS plastic into pockets in the kidney and chest areas for protection. Sir Sterling seems to have a supplier for ABS sheet.

I plan to pad it with cotton "wool" (batting) which is one of the uses for cotton in period. It's available from any fabric store. I figure that if I cut out the lining and the shell at the same time, but construct the lining first, I can sew in the pockets for the ABS to insure correct and comfortable placement. I can then assembe the lining, padding, and the shell, and quilt the gambeson inside the pockets. I might even get crazy and install some eyelets under the arms for ventilation. It depends how the eyelets for the pauldrons go.

Pictures will be available soon.

Another plan for the kingpole

For the large round pavilion (what we've called the NorthStar) Chris suggests that we might use two 4x4s, with a steel pole sunk deeply into one end of both of them, to create a joint. This would have the advantage of reducing the overall length and weight of individual parts.

Would this reduce the integrity of the kingpole? Can we drill a 1" or 1.25" hole deep and straight enough into a 4x4 to make this viable?

Late night discussions with myself (section of a post on The Out Box)

Estrella: Use 10 oz. cotton duck for the top of the 16" round pavilion. Use trigger for the appliqued estoile on the top; the dye in trigger doesn't run. Waterproof with Thompson's to fill all the little holes from the applique. May make the estoile red and gold, rather than blue. See if I can purchase a 4x4 at 16' long for the kingpole. Advantages - strength, looks better than Rick's steel kingpole, not so efficient at transmitting lightening. Disadvantages - length (must fit on top of minivan without too much overlap), weight (although I plan to rip it into an octagon), may not be able to get one that long, and if I can, how much is it likely to cost? Cotton duck is available from Dharma at $3.83 per 60" wide yard in bolts of 30 yards. This is a bargain; I can get Sunforger at $5.25 per 56"-58" yard from Hamilton Dry Goods, and they require 50 yard bolts. I might be able to use 60 yards, but not 100, not this season anyway. So I'm going with the plain canvas. There might even be enough left over from the Companie pavilion to do that dining fly.

The structure of the dining fly is also something that I have been ruminating upon. I have seen one I like a lot from some German re-enactors (right). I'm trying to figure out how those heavy beams are held up by the canvas. It would be easy enough to do, but I'm thinking about using lighter poles, which have a copper "T" centered in the horizontals to add an additional vertical supporting pole. Maybe I will test it with 4x4s.

The cover is simple, and has the advantage of running from the roof line to the ground. Extra protection from the elements. This would make a nicer kitchen fly, too. It wouldn't be difficult to retrofit my kitchen fly with walls.

Next, all the rest of the Estrella projects:

Furniture - a bed for Robert and me, and tables for the kitchen and dining fly, and benches for dining. We have a few power tools, but need to get a drill press with a mortiser attachement. I expect to spend quite a few evenings in the workshop this winter. The construction is simple; with my limited woodworking skills, I hope I can make a sucess of it.

Clothing - I need a couple more kirtles and shifts. I have two jaquettes in process for Robert, but having cut the neckline on them too wide, I have some piecing to do, which I am avoiding. His green cotton flannel jaquette is still quite servicable, but the wool ones have shrunk in the wash. He needs at least 4 jaquettes, so I need to make one more, and finish the two that are in process. He needs at least two more linen shifts. He also needs a couple more pairs of chausses and braies, and I thought that a couple Bocksten man tunics would come in handy. Evan has grown out of all his every-day clothing. He has two fancy jacquettes, but these aren't going to be good for Estrella. I have a celadon green jaquette cut out for him, and 1 3/4 yds of green worsted that I planned to use for him. In addition, I can cut more jaquettes or Bocksten man tunics out of the leftovers of my kirtles, or Robert's new jaquette. That's the nice thing about period clothes for little folks. He needs all new smocks, so at least five of those. And new leg coverings - I put him in cheap tights from Wal-Mart, since he is a little boy and needs to have something managable.

Bedding - with a new bed comes the need for good bedding. I did find a featherbed at Saver's months ago. I should have bought it, but I didn't. For camping, the $20 was a bargain. I'd like to make linen or hemp sheets and pillow covers, and to get a down comforter (thrifting again) to cover in a period fabric. I also have some fleece that is a good color, and not immediately distinguishable from wool flannel, which I'd like to use as covers. Estrella is cold; we'll need the modern fibers for warmth. I prefer to use foam for a mattress rather than an air matress. It takes up more room, but is more reliable and warmer.

Kitchen - My kitchen wish list is pretty short nowdays. I'd like to have some ceramic mixing bowls in period shapes, and a large (17") cast-iron skillet.

Ok, now that it's all down in writing, maybe I can sleep.