The biggest event of my SCA calendar, and of Lochac in general, is Rowany Festival held every Easter long weekend and hosted by my Barony. It starts Easter Thursday and goes through until Easter Tuesday. Not surprisingly it brings with it a lot of prep work and some hard deadlines.

So that’s been my focus for the last month – ensuring my partner and my kit is up to scratch, that my newly formed household is equipped to get through 6 days of camping together, and that the new people in my Barony have had a chance to be clothed. Hence the lack of posting (oh, and a new job. Feb/March has been busy!).

In the list of items that relate to the types of things I blog about on Clothing the Low Countries I have done the following:

  • Built a black cotton bonnet based on a pattern in the Queen’s Servants, mostly to test the pattern for a class I am running at Festival, as well as to be an item of headwear for my gold linen gown.
  • Helped my partner finished his first ever piece of garb – a doublet suitable for wear in the early 1500s. This was my (serendipitous, not planned) entry for HSF#4: Bodices as I mentored him through the making of it via a class I ran at Sydney University last year.
  • Mended stuff so it could be worn. The red kirtle needed a bar re-attached and placket opening mended. The gold gown needed it’s placket opening mended (detecting a theme here), my partner’s watchcoat needed its closures changed and the back waist seam mended.
  • Started work on the Heuke (hoik, huik, heuk) based on Durer’s pattern that I plan to enter in the Laurel Prize Tourney. And by “started work” I mean I put a 2 metre length of light black wool on my head to see what it did (promptly slid off my head), then gathered a bunch of it in front of my forehead and secured it with an elastic band to check the difference in drape and ability to stay on my head. It’s looking promising, so this weekend will be the time of cutting and hemming.

Left to do (in 4 weeks…):

  • 1-2 new smocks for me, and lengthening the arms on one of my existing smocks.
  • A pair of hose or shorts for my partner from the remainder of the brown wool used in the wrap  gown, length will depend on how much fabric I have left – I have the Tudor tailor pattern, so will be starting there.
  • Pattern and cut out knee length hose for me, probably as a hand stitching project during Festival (and then a late entry to HSF#6: Tops and Toes)
  • Finish my research paper on the Heuke.
  • Finish my class notes for the hats class I am running, and make sure I have the various items available for people to look at and play with. (come along if you’re at Festival)

Not insurmountable, but will take steady work and planning.

I’ll let you know how I go!