As we prepare for sew-a-polooza this coming weekend, the end is in sight though there’s still plenty left to do. The good news is the big loom for weaving the belt has been warped. There is no bad news but this loom is a beast to warp (it’s a 5 yard loom and has 79 strands which for a belt, isn’t bad at all but still a lot). Luckily, I am good at finding a groove and, in the past 3 days, managed to weave just under 4 yards of it. I’m stopping there though and am going to warp up the little loom (while the band on the big loom will make a great belt, it’s a bit wide for the hedeby bag strap). Why don’t I just finish the one before starting the other? As our favorite Murder Duchess, Duchess Caoilfhionn, likes to say “always keep in mind the victory conditions!” On the melee field, this means don’t focus on killing everyone if you ignore the flags! In a competition like this though, there are multiple victory conditions.
In any competition- especially one like A&S where there is no direct opponent like fighting and fencing or a universal target like archery and thrown weapons or equestrian- the primary victory condition is to push oneself to new levels and to learn from the work you put forward. In my case, I sew my own tunics already and while I am far from a skilled seamster, my push project for this was the hedeby bag. I’ve never lined a bag before nor have I ever done sewn on handles like this so I wanted to try something new while also doing some fun embroidery. My partner, Lady Gwen, is fairly new to sewing and weaving so the goal is to teach her 1) how to use a sewing machine and not turn white thread red, 2) how to sew together simpler garb (not to say that any garb project is simple but it is not nearly as complicated as late period), 3) learning new skills like applique, garb patterning, inkle weaving, etc and 4) making an outfit that she can be proud of knowing she made it by her own hand. Best case scenario with this whole competition? We end up with a nice, complete outfit, we both learned some new skills and also improved on skills we had previously learned. I won’t get into the worst case scenario (see previous comment about turning white thread red) but so far no one has drawn blood and hopefully we can keep it that way (though you gotta be careful with an inkle loom and those sharp edges).
Sunday will come with lots of pictures and lots of progress! We’re excited to sew and weave and hang out (we’re bubbled and I’m fully vaccinated because of my job) and can’t wait to show you what we made!
