0409, 2023

Award of Arms Scroll- Part Two

Kerocaro/ September 4, 2023/ Illumination, Project/ 0 comments

When we last left off I had been re-doing the layout after discovering I had only put in half the text and only had a PDF version of the original. The image on the left was the original I drafted and on the right the correct one with all the words. Starting from scratch was probably for the best as it took a good deal of fiddling with the text to get things to line up. I also got the chance to make the images less muddy and easy to trace. By this time the joke was I was going to get this thing done by the time my kids left for college. Once I had the image traced out and the calligraphy done I took a short break to

1703, 2022

Garb for Kids

Kerocaro/ March 17, 2022/ Clothing, Project/ 0 comments

One of the things I am constantly fighting against is just how quickly my older one grows out of clothing. We are talking new pants every three months, not easy on the pocketbook. So it is no surprise after almost 2 years of being out of SCA events that the only thing left that fit him was a tunic I had bought 3 sizes too big! With 12th Night for Carethe on the books, I realized I was going to need to get him re-outfitted with something ASAP. Feeling like some fancy garb was in order I asked if he would like a Tudor outfit to match the gown I planned to wear. After some thought, he said yes and I set about figuring out how to make it. My

2009, 2021

Hedeby Bag

Kerocaro/ September 20, 2021/ A&S, Project/ 0 comments

I am sure some of you had seen my teasing of a pair of Hedeby bag handles on Instagram back in May. I had received them from Champagne Faire as part of my Medieval ReCreationist Box last year and just never got to doing anything with them. I pulled them out when I was reorganizing my supplies and decided I should make the bag as most outfits are on hold. I started with some quick research to see if anyone had a good method. While most people who had made one did a decent write-up, I couldn’t find a tutorial with a step-by-step. So I decided to just wing it. I wanted the bag to have space and not just be two pieces slapped together. So I had to do

1309, 2021

A Quick Dye

Kerocaro/ September 13, 2021/ A&S, Dye, Project/ 0 comments

It has been a busy last few months! Between my pregnancy, kiddo starting school, and SCA stuff resuming in person I feel like getting time to work on projects has been limited. However, the first week of school presented a “need to do now project”. Kiddo’s class was doing color days to help them learn their colors. Basically every day he would get to wear a different color. Not a problem till we got to yellow. I myself have several yellow pieces of clothing but seeing as my latest yellow chiton wasn’t going to fly for the school day I had to come up with a plan b. Dye. To be more exact Tumeric dye. This is one you have probably seen around on Pinterest or any other natural dye

2707, 2021

Summer Sew Along!

Kerocaro/ July 27, 2021/ A&S, Project/ 0 comments

The lovely Maridith had highlighted in her Instagram stories that Emilee from Our Shield Maiden was hosting a summer sew-along. 18th-century pockets! For those who remember I had a pair of 16th-century ones started from C3 that got shelved. I decided; why not? I have been feeling a little bit down about getting sewing projects done and have been needing some easy-win goals to help get over it. The kick-off was June 4th! Armed with the instructions, the template Emilee sent out, and the encouragement on the discord group I was ready to go! I chose some brown linen I had leftover and then a green velvet brocade and gold brocade both samples of upholstery fabrics I had picked up long ago. The thread came out of my embroidery stash.

0912, 2020

Week Something? Calontir Clothing Challenge

Kerocaro/ December 9, 2020/ Calontir Clothing Challenge, Project/ 0 comments

With Halloween over and the first check-in on Nov 1st completed, I realized I am way behind on my timeline. At this point, the weeks also seemed to blur together as we raced for Thanksgiving and then the December check in. But not to be discouraged I managed to forge ahead and get more done then I realized. The Drawers Seeing other people hand sewing their projects I had a moment of delusion and thought I may be able to as well. Reality kicked back in and I deiced to compromise on the sewing style. I ran the seams on the machine and hand-finished the shorter raw edges by hand. Once together I had to actually add the bottom cuff I had cut last minute. I hadn’t worked them up

1611, 2020

Thimble Time

Kerocaro/ November 16, 2020/ A&S, Project/ 0 comments

So one of the things I hate is poking myself with any sort of pins or needles. Not ideal as a seamstress but alas here I am. I am normally careful and use fewer pins than I need. Prior to delving into historical sewing I also didn’t hand sew much. However, with more and more projects needing the control hand sewing provides it became clear I needed finger protection. Having left Joann’s at least three times without buying a leather thimble I decided I would just make one. I had a lovely scrap of leather that would work for a thimble and a second loop for maximum finger safety. I did some quick research and came across this tutorial on youtube. It seemed pretty straight forward so I gathered up

0410, 2020

Week 1 & 2 Calontir Clothing Challenge

Kerocaro/ October 4, 2020/ Calontir Clothing Challenge, Project/ 0 comments

Week one really wasn’t a week as it started on a Thursday, but none the less it was productive. When last I had worn my Camicia I had finished the neckline quickly with a little gather along the top. It did the job up until I really started to move and clean things at the end of 12th Night. The single line of stitching over the gathering gave and thankfully at a moment I had a free hand to keep it on me. So step one was get the Camicia wearable. I still wanted the cute ruffle, not a historical choice as far as my quick research can tell. But aside from the fact it will not be judged, I have a practical need for the neckline to expand and

0509, 2020

Now with Video Part 2

Kerocaro/ September 5, 2020/ Illumination, Project/ 0 comments

When we last left off I was waiting for packages to appear and provide me with the needed pieces for my overhead rig. I was not disappointed and by Tuesday night I had a camera in the air! Using my new-found knowledge I set the camera video settings feeling proud I could get a better-looking shot. However, lighting continued to be an issue. The LED I had picked up was in a different light color from the other two lights I was using. I also had a light glare. Some fussing with options and I finally gave up. I will sort out later on how to get less of a light reflection and fix the mix-matched lights. Worst case I just got a bed side lamp. The AC adapter did

0209, 2020

Now with Video!

Kerocaro/ September 2, 2020/ Illumination, Project/ 0 comments

This little project is 100% a quarantine project. You stay home long enough you start to get crazy ideas. Then, you get some friends who inspire you and well before you know it is bad idea time. I decided to branch out to video. I had been playing with streaming what I was working on for A&S with little success as I found out my camera only will film for 30 minutes. So why not film several segments of me painting and post them up later? Or some basic tutorials! Or a class! Simple right? Well. No. First I needed to get a better workspace together. The folding table set up I had been using wasn’t cutting it. The table was sitting in front of half my storage and developing