Seems like not long ago I was at Kingdom A&S presenting my research into period leather dyes, but here we are only a few months out from the next Queen's Prize Tourney. So, time to great cracking if I'm finally going to have something to show for all of my research into the stick-purse.
Incidentally, I actually finally found some leather that should work for the final project. It isn't chamois like the original, but it's pretty darn close and completely period appropriate. It's 3/4 oz milled veg tan which means its much softer and more flexible than the 3/4 oz stuff I've found to date. Should work just fine, and its tool-able and dye-able if I want.
But before I go there I'm going to do up a full-size, complete mock up for QPT to get input on the design and construction. I'm going to use my garment weight pig skin (green since that's what I had the most of). I'll use veg tan on the handle and draw strings, and test out my period dyes to make sure they don't bleed on each other when I weave the handle braid, and I'll use my linen thread to make sure its strong enough for the project.
If you haven't been following the saga of the stick purse, I've been blogging about it for a couple of years now, ever since I pegged to the idea of making one after reading Purses in Pieces. Here's a link to the keyword so you can read back about the various starts and stops of the project. (warning, there's almost 40 posts over the years, so budget some time). :)
Ideally I'll be able to get some tips on the construction from some experts at QPT and then apply it to the finished bag, using the good materials, for A&S in the spring.
Where I am on the work:
This weekend I did a bit of prep work. I cut out the main body pieces for the four pouches and started attaching one of them to a bottom round made of veg tan. Then I remembered that I should probably attach the pouchlet first, so I put that on hold and will try to cut out the pouchlet pieces this week in a different colour (probably brown).
I have the wooden handle piece measured and cut out so can probably start working on that any time, although I'll have to decide what colours to use and make up some small batches of those dyes. Maybe yellow and black, or green and yellow?
Monday, 18 August 2014
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
Research into who did leather dyeing
Trying to flesh out (haha, get it) my understanding of who was responsible for the dyeing of leather.
The period leather dye recipes are found in books with a mix of other skills. The manuals include fabric dyeing recipes but also recipes for how to tan leather, make parchment and a variety of other skills.
So, who did the actual dying? Was it done by the people who processed the skins (the tanner or currier), was there someone else in the process (dyers guild or a leather dyer) once the leather had been prepared, or was the leatherseller or end craftsman the one who dyed the skins?
Based on the way the recipes work, it seems like they would be used on whole skins, not just painted on smaller pieces of leather for a specific project. Given the nature of the recipes and how they are documented, I suspect it wouldn't be the seller or end craftsman, but rather would have been delivered already dyed for their use - really not that much different from how we get our leather today.
It probably varied by region but I'll start my research with London given their structured guild system and reasonably good records (despite the 1666 fire).
Some research links:
English industries of the Middle Ages, being an introduction to the Industrial history of mediaeval England
https://archive.org/stream/englishindustrie00salzuoft/englishindustrie00salzuoft_djvu.txt
Contains a reference to "leather-dyers" as an industry as it indicates they were banned from dyeing certain types of low quality skins.
History and antiquities of the Worshipful company of leathersellers, of the city of London: with facsimiles of charters, and other illustrations
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=2zVOAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-2zVOAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1
e-Book copy of a resource about the leathersellers company in London. Could have useful information about how the industry was structured. May reference dyeing of leather. Will need to look through it carefully.
The Art and Mysterie of the Currier
http://www.curriers.co.uk/Art%20&%20Mystery.pdf
Information on the historical role of the currier/leather dresser, which mentions that once curried the leather could be dyed or stained. No mention of who did the dyeing.
Craft Guilds in the Early Modern Low Countries
http://books.google.ca/books?id=r27gwgLydGoC
A book on the structure and impact of craft guilds in Neatherlands as early as the 11th century. For when I expand my research beyond London.
Craft-guilds of the thirteeth century in Paris
https://archive.org/details/craftguildsofthi00millrich
A book from 1915 on the craft guilds in Paris in the 13th century. It mentions the tanners, the leather dressers and the curriers as three separate guilds in Paris as early as 1160.
York’s Guild’s Names in the 15th Century and their Translation into Spanish
http://www.ual.es/odisea/Odisea05_Mouron.pdf
Section 2.1 discusses the translation of the names of guilds that dealt with leather. This gives some ideas of the leather-related guilds that were operating in York. Also a list of names at the end of the document.
The period leather dye recipes are found in books with a mix of other skills. The manuals include fabric dyeing recipes but also recipes for how to tan leather, make parchment and a variety of other skills.
So, who did the actual dying? Was it done by the people who processed the skins (the tanner or currier), was there someone else in the process (dyers guild or a leather dyer) once the leather had been prepared, or was the leatherseller or end craftsman the one who dyed the skins?
Based on the way the recipes work, it seems like they would be used on whole skins, not just painted on smaller pieces of leather for a specific project. Given the nature of the recipes and how they are documented, I suspect it wouldn't be the seller or end craftsman, but rather would have been delivered already dyed for their use - really not that much different from how we get our leather today.
It probably varied by region but I'll start my research with London given their structured guild system and reasonably good records (despite the 1666 fire).
Some research links:
English industries of the Middle Ages, being an introduction to the Industrial history of mediaeval England
https://archive.org/stream/englishindustrie00salzuoft/englishindustrie00salzuoft_djvu.txt
Contains a reference to "leather-dyers" as an industry as it indicates they were banned from dyeing certain types of low quality skins.
History and antiquities of the Worshipful company of leathersellers, of the city of London: with facsimiles of charters, and other illustrations
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=2zVOAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-2zVOAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1
e-Book copy of a resource about the leathersellers company in London. Could have useful information about how the industry was structured. May reference dyeing of leather. Will need to look through it carefully.
The Art and Mysterie of the Currier
http://www.curriers.co.uk/Art%20&%20Mystery.pdf
Information on the historical role of the currier/leather dresser, which mentions that once curried the leather could be dyed or stained. No mention of who did the dyeing.
Craft Guilds in the Early Modern Low Countries
http://books.google.ca/books?id=r27gwgLydGoC
A book on the structure and impact of craft guilds in Neatherlands as early as the 11th century. For when I expand my research beyond London.
Craft-guilds of the thirteeth century in Paris
https://archive.org/details/craftguildsofthi00millrich
A book from 1915 on the craft guilds in Paris in the 13th century. It mentions the tanners, the leather dressers and the curriers as three separate guilds in Paris as early as 1160.
York’s Guild’s Names in the 15th Century and their Translation into Spanish
http://www.ual.es/odisea/Odisea05_Mouron.pdf
Section 2.1 discusses the translation of the names of guilds that dealt with leather. This gives some ideas of the leather-related guilds that were operating in York. Also a list of names at the end of the document.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
How the SCA teaches us things (AKA I just totally had a brainstorm)
One of the common things you hear about the SCA is that at its hearts it's an education organization. In fact, that's really the entire basis for the organization's non-profit status.
And while it's true that many local groups do educational demos at schools and such to talk about history, I'm not really sure that's the bulk of the education that we do. We do lots of learning all the time as we research new projects or skills. A lot of that is self directed, but it's learning and education none-the-less.
Since becoming our Barony's Arts and Sciences Minister, I've been part of the process for filing quarterly arts and sciences reports. I've always wondered what the purpose of these reports was, and figured they probably just got dropped into a box somewhere as a piece of paperwork that was mandatory but never really used (although I do know that at the baronial level Their Excellencies do use these reports to flag people who might be worthy of awards). A comment from our Kingdom MOAS did bring it home though when she said that these reports are what actually shows that we are learning new things and meeting our educational requirements.
All of that to say not only did I learn a new thing, but just today I figured out a way to improve another project thanks to that new skill.
Let me go back:
Over the past few months I've been working on my first pair of turnshoes (as you'll see from previous posts on this blog). To make the turnshoes I had to learn a new leather stitch, called the tunnel stitch or the edge-flesh stitch. Here's a link to what the stitch looks like, but it basically means the needle goes only partially through the thickness of the leather before coming out the edge, so that it keeps the skin side of the leather un-damaged.
I finished the shoes about a month ago and didn't really think much about it other than I learned to make shoes, yay me.
But today Thor's hammer clearly smucked me upside the head because it finally occurred to me that the tunnel stitch is the answer to one of my construction questions about my stick-purse project!
The design of the stick-purse I'm trying to replicate is different from most, in that the pouches have round flat bottoms with a tube of leather sewn to them to make the pouch. Here's a previous post with a good view of how I was doing the bottom before (ignore the rest, I've since updated my design).
Other pouches with this type of bottom don't have the edge of the leather visible though, and don't have visible stitches on the bottom, so I wasn't sure how to cleanly sew the two pieces together. Now I know, because I can use the same tunnel stitch and basically do a turn-pouch (instead of a turn-shoe).
So, from doing my turnshoes, I certainly learned a bit about how to make shoes, and I learned a new leatherworking technique, but I also learned something about my stick-purse project, which was the last thing I expected.
I'd call that educational.
And while it's true that many local groups do educational demos at schools and such to talk about history, I'm not really sure that's the bulk of the education that we do. We do lots of learning all the time as we research new projects or skills. A lot of that is self directed, but it's learning and education none-the-less.
Since becoming our Barony's Arts and Sciences Minister, I've been part of the process for filing quarterly arts and sciences reports. I've always wondered what the purpose of these reports was, and figured they probably just got dropped into a box somewhere as a piece of paperwork that was mandatory but never really used (although I do know that at the baronial level Their Excellencies do use these reports to flag people who might be worthy of awards). A comment from our Kingdom MOAS did bring it home though when she said that these reports are what actually shows that we are learning new things and meeting our educational requirements.
All of that to say not only did I learn a new thing, but just today I figured out a way to improve another project thanks to that new skill.
Let me go back:
Over the past few months I've been working on my first pair of turnshoes (as you'll see from previous posts on this blog). To make the turnshoes I had to learn a new leather stitch, called the tunnel stitch or the edge-flesh stitch. Here's a link to what the stitch looks like, but it basically means the needle goes only partially through the thickness of the leather before coming out the edge, so that it keeps the skin side of the leather un-damaged.
I finished the shoes about a month ago and didn't really think much about it other than I learned to make shoes, yay me.
But today Thor's hammer clearly smucked me upside the head because it finally occurred to me that the tunnel stitch is the answer to one of my construction questions about my stick-purse project!
The design of the stick-purse I'm trying to replicate is different from most, in that the pouches have round flat bottoms with a tube of leather sewn to them to make the pouch. Here's a previous post with a good view of how I was doing the bottom before (ignore the rest, I've since updated my design).
Other pouches with this type of bottom don't have the edge of the leather visible though, and don't have visible stitches on the bottom, so I wasn't sure how to cleanly sew the two pieces together. Now I know, because I can use the same tunnel stitch and basically do a turn-pouch (instead of a turn-shoe).
So, from doing my turnshoes, I certainly learned a bit about how to make shoes, and I learned a new leatherworking technique, but I also learned something about my stick-purse project, which was the last thing I expected.
I'd call that educational.
Monday, 21 July 2014
Catching up and Planning Ahead
I haven't posted here in a while, largely because I haven't really done much leatherworking lately.
I did manage to finish my pair of leather turnshoes and entered them in the A&S competition at Summer Siege in June, but never did take a picture of the completed set. :) Guess I was too busy taking pictures of the other entries.
Beyond that, I did a little of bit of tooling work on an award badge I'd started a while back, so its ready for dying/painting now.
I did have a bit of a idea on how I can engineer a way to mount my award badges on belt loops without needing to use glue or anything modern, and without punching holes through the actual designs. I need to use thicker leather to do it though so I can't test the idea with my current batch of badges.
For my secret project, I've done some design work and tested the tooling patterns a bit. It's going to test my ability but should be doable. I'm now in a bit of a holding pattern.
Not having done much leatherworking, you know I've been doing something with my time though, right?
Actually, I've been testing a bunch of period recipes for future use. We've always said we wanted to get a good collection of recipes that we've actually made so that we can pull off a feast with less planning needed (see the miracle Kersteken and Sven pulled off at Coronation as reference). I've made a good dent in that for sure, including a couple of recipes I don't think I've ever seen at a feast (probably because they would be hard to pull off in a normal feast kitchen - one needs a rotisserie and the other needs to be steamed, which would be hard to do for a feast of 40-50 people).
I need to start thinking about the QPT, which is coming up again this fall. My original plan was that my secret project might make a good entry but I'm not sure if it will be ready by that point at the rate we're going. I could do another pair of shoes, maybe with a bit more complexity to the design? Or, I could present where I am right now with the stick-purse (with non period-appropriate materials) and get feedback on that? The documentation is in good shape, I've just be stalled while I search out the right leather to use.
I did manage to finish my pair of leather turnshoes and entered them in the A&S competition at Summer Siege in June, but never did take a picture of the completed set. :) Guess I was too busy taking pictures of the other entries.
Beyond that, I did a little of bit of tooling work on an award badge I'd started a while back, so its ready for dying/painting now.
I did have a bit of a idea on how I can engineer a way to mount my award badges on belt loops without needing to use glue or anything modern, and without punching holes through the actual designs. I need to use thicker leather to do it though so I can't test the idea with my current batch of badges.
For my secret project, I've done some design work and tested the tooling patterns a bit. It's going to test my ability but should be doable. I'm now in a bit of a holding pattern.
Not having done much leatherworking, you know I've been doing something with my time though, right?
Actually, I've been testing a bunch of period recipes for future use. We've always said we wanted to get a good collection of recipes that we've actually made so that we can pull off a feast with less planning needed (see the miracle Kersteken and Sven pulled off at Coronation as reference). I've made a good dent in that for sure, including a couple of recipes I don't think I've ever seen at a feast (probably because they would be hard to pull off in a normal feast kitchen - one needs a rotisserie and the other needs to be steamed, which would be hard to do for a feast of 40-50 people).
I need to start thinking about the QPT, which is coming up again this fall. My original plan was that my secret project might make a good entry but I'm not sure if it will be ready by that point at the rate we're going. I could do another pair of shoes, maybe with a bit more complexity to the design? Or, I could present where I am right now with the stick-purse (with non period-appropriate materials) and get feedback on that? The documentation is in good shape, I've just be stalled while I search out the right leather to use.
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Completed right turnshoe - With pictures
I got a fair bit of work done this long weekend on the turnshoes. I now have a completed right shoe. It doesn't fit quite right (it's probably a half size too long), so I don't think I could actually wear it, but I definitely learned the process and can tweak the sizes better for next time.
When last you saw the turn shoe I had taken some thick felt and lasted it to check the pattern. I needed to modify it a bit to centre the heel correctly and make sure the side's met up. So this weekend I modified the pattern and cut the leather out. The following two pictures shows the shoe on the last before I started to actually attach it to the sole.
When last you saw the turn shoe I had taken some thick felt and lasted it to check the pattern. I needed to modify it a bit to centre the heel correctly and make sure the side's met up. So this weekend I modified the pattern and cut the leather out. The following two pictures shows the shoe on the last before I started to actually attach it to the sole.
Once I did that I gradually loosened the webbing hold the shoe to the last a bit at a time, sew the loosened section to the sole as I went. That basically took me most of the afternoon on Monday. Once it was attached to the sole, I sewed up the side opening and turned it right-side out (although I may need to use thicker thread for the side seam as it broke when I turned the shoe - something they identified as a problem in the instructions).
Here is the completed right shoe. The leather's not period but I didn't want to start using veg tan until I knew what I was doing. Next up, the left shoe.
Oh, and if anyone's looking for a pair of 9 1/2 -ish turnshoes in red leather, I may have some in the near future. :)
Monday, 12 May 2014
Turnshoe Update - With Pictures
So this weekend I did some more work on my turnshoes. I popped over to Zeli's on Saturday and bought a new curved awl, since that makes punching the holes in the sole of the shoe easier.
I spent most of Saturday punching the holes in the sole with the awl. I had to pace myself because it's an odd motion and I was feeling it in my elbow. Oddly it was my left elbow, just from holding the leather while I punched the holes. I don't know why. It's still sore a couple of days later.
Anyway, after enlarging the pattern a bit I cut it out of some green felt we had in our craft box and then tacked it onto the last as per the instructions. The pictures below show what it looks like partially tacked down.
I discovered a couple of things.
First, I need to adjust the pattern more. The heel piece isn't long enough so it doesn't meet the side of the shoe properly. The heel itself needs to be shifted over a bit as well as it isn't centred properly since I adjusted the pattern previously. Not a huge deal.
I'm also a bit concerned that the shoe is going to be a bit too big. When I put my foot in, there was a fair bit of room on the sole (like an inch) when I pushed my toes to the end. I'm hoping when I actually sew things on it will tighten it up a little bit but I've already cut the sole piece so I may as well keep going. Worst case, I can find someone these will fit and try again.
On the bright side, it certainly looks like a shoe, so that's an improvement over my first attempt a few years ago.
I spent most of Saturday punching the holes in the sole with the awl. I had to pace myself because it's an odd motion and I was feeling it in my elbow. Oddly it was my left elbow, just from holding the leather while I punched the holes. I don't know why. It's still sore a couple of days later.
Anyway, after enlarging the pattern a bit I cut it out of some green felt we had in our craft box and then tacked it onto the last as per the instructions. The pictures below show what it looks like partially tacked down.
I discovered a couple of things.
First, I need to adjust the pattern more. The heel piece isn't long enough so it doesn't meet the side of the shoe properly. The heel itself needs to be shifted over a bit as well as it isn't centred properly since I adjusted the pattern previously. Not a huge deal.
I'm also a bit concerned that the shoe is going to be a bit too big. When I put my foot in, there was a fair bit of room on the sole (like an inch) when I pushed my toes to the end. I'm hoping when I actually sew things on it will tighten it up a little bit but I've already cut the sole piece so I may as well keep going. Worst case, I can find someone these will fit and try again.
On the bright side, it certainly looks like a shoe, so that's an improvement over my first attempt a few years ago.
Friday, 9 May 2014
The making of the turnshoe - attempt number 2
It's been a while, with many other projects on the go, but I'm finally getting back to trying to make myself some shoes. I'm tired of wearing my modern black shoes to most events.
I last tried looking at doing turnshoes almost three years ago, but it didn't go well. Needless to say I was less than impressed by the instructions from the Complete Anachronist issue. So, thanks to a Facebook post by Lord Evan Quicktongue (I blame him for me spend more money on books), I found a set of pdf books from Talbot's Fine Accessories for a reasonable price on how to make various types of period shoes.
I also have an added advantage this time in that we bought a set of lasts a few years ago at Pennsic for my size shoe, which means that hopefully I won't have to do the tape my foot method to make a pattern this time.
The E-books from Talbot's cover a number of different shoe types, but I'm going to use their most recent one "Authentic Medieval Turn Shoes" as my guide.
First, I traced the foot shape of my last onto my thick leather (I'm using about 8 oz for the sole). Before cutting it out I put my foot into it to make sure it will work, so fingers crossed. I then printed out the pattern from the uppers traced it onto some scrap garment weight leather that I had lying around from a failed previous project. It looks ok but I'm concerned it's a bit too small and won't meet up properly when I sew it all together, so I've expanded the pattern a bit to give it about an extra 1/2 inch on all sides.
AElfwyn suggested using craft felt for my mock-up instead of fabric or lighter leather because it will replicate the feel of the leather I'll eventually be using for the uppers. I plan on using some nice red leather we bought in Hamilton a few years ago (not entirely period but for my first set of shoes it should work nicely).
This weekend I plan to trace out the new pattern on the felt and see how it works. I'll also probably have to make a stop at Zeli's tomorrow to see about a curved awl so I can properly punch the holes to attach the upper to the sole.
Fingers crossed!
I last tried looking at doing turnshoes almost three years ago, but it didn't go well. Needless to say I was less than impressed by the instructions from the Complete Anachronist issue. So, thanks to a Facebook post by Lord Evan Quicktongue (I blame him for me spend more money on books), I found a set of pdf books from Talbot's Fine Accessories for a reasonable price on how to make various types of period shoes.
I also have an added advantage this time in that we bought a set of lasts a few years ago at Pennsic for my size shoe, which means that hopefully I won't have to do the tape my foot method to make a pattern this time.
The E-books from Talbot's cover a number of different shoe types, but I'm going to use their most recent one "Authentic Medieval Turn Shoes" as my guide.
First, I traced the foot shape of my last onto my thick leather (I'm using about 8 oz for the sole). Before cutting it out I put my foot into it to make sure it will work, so fingers crossed. I then printed out the pattern from the uppers traced it onto some scrap garment weight leather that I had lying around from a failed previous project. It looks ok but I'm concerned it's a bit too small and won't meet up properly when I sew it all together, so I've expanded the pattern a bit to give it about an extra 1/2 inch on all sides.
AElfwyn suggested using craft felt for my mock-up instead of fabric or lighter leather because it will replicate the feel of the leather I'll eventually be using for the uppers. I plan on using some nice red leather we bought in Hamilton a few years ago (not entirely period but for my first set of shoes it should work nicely).
This weekend I plan to trace out the new pattern on the felt and see how it works. I'll also probably have to make a stop at Zeli's tomorrow to see about a curved awl so I can properly punch the holes to attach the upper to the sole.
Fingers crossed!
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