[Bryn-gwlad] fiber arts demos at Ren Day

[SS ALLEN]

If you need a garage pavillion, mine is  available.
Ilariia
--- Coblaith Mhuimhneach <Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

> We've barely got a week left to prepare for the Ren
> Day demo, so I'm 
> going to jump right in, here.
> 
> Having seen how much attention Vilhiálmr's medieval
> games and Stefan's 
> food-sorting activity drew at last year's Ren Day
> demo and how much 
> trouble Dona Gwynaeth had keeping
> turkey-grease-streaked fingers off 
> her needle lace at the same event, I've come to two
> startling 
> conclusions:  Interactive displays are more exciting
> than static ones, 
> and people like to try things for themselves.  I
> know, I know, they're 
> radical concepts.. . .
> 
> Anyway, I've had three ideas for hands-on displays
> at the Ren Day demo. 
>   If the event stewards are amenable and I can find
> folks ready to help 
> run them, I'd be willing to coordinate preparations
> for these.  I'm not 
> an expert in any of the crafts, and would certainly
> welcome the 
> assistance of someone who was (or a few someones),
> but I think I can 
> manage a basic set-up and a bit of general patter,
> and I've already got 
> documents I can use as hand-outs.  Anybody who's got
> the time should be 
> able to oversee each activity, even if they have
> little or no previous 
> experience with the crafts, with just a few minutes
> of instruction and 
> practice.
> 
> They could all fit under one pavilion, creating a
> nice little 
> fiber-arts corner.  If none of the big white garage
> pavilions is 
> available, we might even be able to put them at one
> end of the MoC 
> pavilion and Vilhiálmr with his games (which is what
> I assume he's 
> planning to do for the kids again this year) at the
> other; it's a big 
> tent.
> 
> 
> 1)  Tablet Weaving
> 
> The support poles of a pavilion (without sides, or
> with that side 
> rolled up) would make a perfect place to set up a
> warp.  Visitors could 
> experiment with turning the cards back and forth and
> flipping them to 
> make diagonal stripes and chevrons.
> 
> I can supply crochet cotton and some tablets and a
> shuttle to which I'm 
> not emotionally attached, warp up, and if need be
> start the band 
> (though that last might better be accomplished by
> someone with more 
> experience).  I have some manuscript images of women
> weaving between 
> columns we can display.  I'd love to have some
> samples of nicely-done 
> tablet weaving in various widths to show off, too,
> if anybody has some 
> they'd share.  And an experienced weaver who could
> chat with visitors 
> about techniques and the history of the art would be
> a great boon.
> 
> 
> 2)  Embroidery
> 
> A large picture frame (or a few medium-sized ones,
> depending on what I 
> can find cheap) could be dressed as a slate frame
> and put on short 
> supports on top of a table.  If the fabric was
> pre-marked with cartoons 
> of period motifs, all we would have to do is
> demonstrate one simple 
> stitch--chain stitch seems like a good choice, to
> me, since it's easy, 
> documentable, and fast--and let visitors try their
> hand at following 
> the lines.
> 
> I can supply frame, fabric, needles and thread, one
> or more pics from 
> period art of people using similar frames, and
> close-up photos of some 
> period pieces made using whichever stitch(es) we
> decide to feature.  I 
> can also draw (well, trace, really) the cartoons and
> dress the 
> frame(s).  I'd love to have some samples of
> nicely-done embroidery 
> using various documented stitches to show off, too,
> if anybody has some 
> they'd share.  And an experienced broiderer who
> could chat with 
> visitors about techniques and the history of the art
> would be a great 
> boon.
> 
> 
> 3)  Bobbin Braiding
> 
> I've heard that this is a very popular activity at
> demos.  String is 
> wound on bobbins, then the ends are tied to
> something overhead (like a 
> tree branch) and participants make braid by tossing
> the bobbins 
> back-and-forth in a particular pattern 
> <http://genvieve.net/sca/interlocking.pdf> 
> <http://genvieve.net/sca/whipcording-howto.html>. 
> All we'd really need 
> (other than volunteers) is bobbins and thread.
> 
> I might be able to find something we could use for
> bobbins ready-made 
> at a craft store.  (Michael's had some miniature
> baseball bats last 
> time I was there, for instance, and Hobby Lobby had
> some miniature 
> bowling pins not long ago.  They don't look much
> like the bobbins from 
> _Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials_, but
> they're feasible 
> shapes, in my opinion.)  If I couldn't, I don't
> think it'd be hard for 
> an experienced wood-worker to make a set 
>
<http://www.willadsenfamily.org/sca/danr_as/bobbins/bobbins.htm>.
>  As a 
> last resort, we could use half-full water-bottles.
> 
> I think crochet cotton would suffice for this.  I
> could bring some; 
> it'd be nice if somebody else could bring more.  I'd
> love to have some 
> samples of nicely-done braid of various types to
> show off, too, if 
> anybody has some they'd share.  And an experienced
> braider who could 
> chat with visitors about techniques and the history
> of the art would be 
> a great boon.
> 
> 
> Coblaith Mhuimhneach
> <mailto:Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Bryn-gwlad mailing list
> Bryn-gwlad at lists.ansteorra.org
>
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/bryn-gwlad-ansteorra.org
> 



       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC