EEEEC: Astrid Sudreying’s Courier Satchel Collaboration
Entered under Inspiration, Collaboration, Preparation
At Canterbury Faire ’23 there was a discussion about the couriers needing proper sashes so that people could easily see who was actively being a courier. In consultation with the post master Lord Zoltan, we hatched a plan for satchels. They needed to be green with yellow trim, and adjustable so that many different sized children could wear them.
We started out making a pattern for the bags. This was a little different, as the straps were to be unattached at the top. The fabric we found was a bit floppy. We couldn’t get a decent canvas in the right green, but we made the bags more structurally sound by having double layers. In all we managed to make 8 bags total. Bennet being a speed weaver of kumihimo cords, managed to get one bag completely decorated by Canterbury Faire this year, but finished the rest after.
Outcome: The original idea was to fit the bag straps to each child and stitch them down, but the children quickly nixed this idea by tying the ends in a knot. A practical and speedy solution. We also received feedback that we were thinking about the decoration too much like adults, and they would like more ribbons and tassels for next year please. The sashes, being made out of too floppy a material, tended to fold over rather than sit flat. If more are made in future, it might be better if they are made in a sturdy canvas.
Ailith Ward, Astrid Sudreying, Bennet Vernon, Zoltan di Magnifico
Having made an orange brocade Swabian gown for the CF feast last year, I was inspired to make a similar gown for wearing about on the tourney field.
I’m very fond of Roman clothing to cope with the warm summer weather at CF, but I am ever in search of late period clothing that can be worn on hot days. The Swabian gowns with the wide neck line, and shorter cut away sleeves are definitely a good solution. And the gefrens (the fringe at the back of the head) provides some useful protection from the sun. This gown was inspired by a similar coloured dress in ‘The Dance of Salome” by the Master of the Carnation, c 1490.
EEEEC: Astrid Sudeying’s Scuola and Mariegola for the Gildenwick Society of Infusers, Distillers, Brewers, Quaffers, and Other Professional Drinking Persons.
Entered in Imitation, Preparation, Participation, Exploration, Collaboration and Inspiration, this multi-faceted entry is ably described by Astrid:
“The Gildenwick Mead Society came about from the need for a group salutation after a tipsy missive was sent to one of our lovely Baronesses. A year later (at Canterbury Faire 2023) and we had started making up silly rules for our society. After a delicate nudge/inspiration from Her Excellency katherine kerr, I began exploring the possibility of using our ragtag bunch to create an informal, yet cohesive group based on the guild scuolas of Italy, around the mid 1500’s. The idea being that we would, like the various guilds that made up each scuola in period, include the mead makers, tea infusers, distillers, poisoners, alchemists or any other liquid arte that the members of Gildenwick were experimenting with. The long-suffering members of Gildenwick participated in and put up with many votes and discussions on what we did and didn’t want to be and how we would govern ourselves as a functioning scuola.
“By this time our Mistress had become Quene katherine, and so I used choice phrases from a letter to Queen Elizabeth on the subject to write her a letter of request for permission to start a scuola. My goal had originally been to have our scuola prepared for next Canterbury Faire, but the timeframe moved up so that we might be given permission for existence from “Our Quene”. She responded with a parchment decree, handwritten and sealed by both their Majesties.
“One of the key artifacts of any good Scuola is it’s Mariegola. A book within which is held all the rules, regulations, punishments, patrons, and participants of the Scuola. I decided that the book itself would be made to Imitate one from the mid 1500’s Italy, and so I consulted “The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding” to make sure I was constructing it correctly. I found rather quickly that the rag paper I could get was not useful for handwriting, only printing, so I had to compromise and use a good quality paper instead. I half sewed the book, with the extra pages that would be used in future, and then tacit collated (with cord, not parchment) the front pages, so that the book could be brought to Faire ’24 and presented for ratifying to the new Queen, while still being able to be deconstructed so I can illuminate it in future.
“I chose Rotunda style hand to learn for the writing as this was the style I could find being used within Mariegola from the time period and place especially the Mariegola della Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. As I am new at the scribal arts, and I had what felt like a very short amount of time to get comfortable with writing and the specific hand, I am aware of many mistakes within the Mariegola, (and the original letters to the Quene) but am glad the bulk of the writing was done in time. It will have to suffice – warts and all. Eventually I will finish the formal part of the writing and illumination of the book and leave the rest of it to be filled with recipes, new members, mead tastings and miscellanea of the scuola.
“In collaboration with: Mistress Katherine Kerr, Master Bartholomew Baskin, Lady Ailith Ward, Lady Eryl the Beehyrde, Lord Emrys Grenelef, Lord Baldwin the Wanderer, Lord Zoltan di Magnifico, Lord Kevin Ost, Benet Vernon, Harold Brewster, Oberon, Louise, Rosemary, Levi and Helena of Gildenwick.”
EEEEC: Joana de Bairros’ Outfit in the Style of 1480-90s Swabia
Entry for Inspiration:
I was inspired by Meisterin Christian’s beautiful red and gold Swabian dress she made for Canterbury Faire 2023. I particularly loved the elegance of this style and it looked cool and comfortable to wear. I did some further research on Swabain dress from this period and fell particularly in love with this image:
I chose to use brocade rather than the velvet that the inspiration image seems to be made from. There are however a number of Swabian dresses from a similar period, as well as some on the same panel as the inspiration image, made from brocade so it did not feel incongruous. I had lovely dark pink brocade in my stash which I thought would be perfect for this project. As we cannot see the front of the bodice I chose to make it front lacing like Meisterin Christian’s as I felt that would work best for my shape and comfort. The figure to the left of my inspiration image had the lacing across the bodice opening that I wanted to use so I went with that along with some hook and eyes at the bottom of the bodice for closure.
While I loved the pearled neckline of the inspiratiion dress I felt that I did not have the time for this. I instead had found a beautiful gold and black trim on a trip to London and used that to trim the neckline. I pearled the trim slightly to allude to the pearls on the inspiration image. I found some narrow gimp trim in gold and the same pink of the fabric and used this to trim the sleeves like the inspiration image.
I chose to do slightly different ties on the sleeves as I wanted the dress to be easy to get in to and felt that having individual ties would help with this. I used velvet ribbon as ties as it stays tied better than satin ribbon. I had some gold aglets in my stash I used to finish off the ties. Another Babenburg dress had the three lacing rings with cross-lacing at the wrist so I chose to incorporate design into mine.
I made a chemise with a 3/4 sleeve to go with the dress and a gefrens made from gold fringe to go with the outfit.
I absolutely love this style and feel it works well for my body shape. It is also far more comfortable than any fancy garb I have made in the past. I have plans to make several more!
EEEEC: Ailith Ward’s Canterbury Faire Message Board
Entered in the category of inspiration.
This is a message board for our encampment I’ve been working on since CF23, inspired by the one at the bottom of the stairs. I still have some improvements to make, but I’m very pleased that it was ready to be used this CF.
This is made mostly out of materials saved from the skips at my husband and my work places, and has been pegged together, rather than screwed or nailed, allowing it to partially flat pack for easier transport.
A chair, with personal heraldry, is shared under the categories of personalisation, preparation, transformation, inspiration, and imitation. (Or should that be approximation?) Isabel Maria describes the project:
“At Canterbury Faire 2023 it became clear my trusty chair was now rickety, having reaching the end of its usable life, and needed to be replaced. In preparation for this day I had purchased a new directors chair some time ago (on sale) and put it aside. Before Canterbury Faire 2024 I brought it out with the intention of transforming it into something that was clearly inspired by 16th century seating, and also recognisably mine, through the use of my personal heraldry
Inspiration
I started a simple embroidery of my arms at CF’23 as a fun time-filler activity. After I finished it I realised that I had really enjoyed the process, but that I did not like the proportions of the finished item. So, I made a pattern changing the angle of the chevron and reducing the height of the eagle and fleur de lys, and made a new one. The vague hope had always been to apply the finished item to my chair in some way.
There are several styles of chair that have the arms on the back, as can be seen on this pinterest board. Most are folding or “hip joint” style chairs, both of which are considerably more complicated and decorative that the chair I used, so any similarities need to come from the fabric and trim.
Materials and Construction
Many of the materials used in this project were items from stash (canvas, wools, fringe, thread) or purchased inexpensively (drill). Much of the construction is completed by machine to save time and keep the project moving. Fringe was sewn on in the placement seen most commonly on the hip joint chairs. The embroidery was basted in place on the back rest, as seen in several hip joint chairs, before being hand sewn to the burgundy drill.
Verdict and Next Steps
After considerable testing at Canterbury Faire 2024, I can declare this previously prepared chair comfortable, and easily recognisable. However it still seems a little, … plain. The next step is to make a fringed cushion, probably with my heraldry on it, to add more luxury and ‘bling’.
Emrys’s entry is in the category of Inspiration. In his words:
“It started at CF22 when I received a prize from the Fighter Auction Tourney, it happened to be a bottle of Limoncello crafted by Bear Bjarnylr.
“Gildenwick consumed most of this bottle at a Meade Society meeting, there must have been a couple of hundred mls left over that was decanted into a small “meade” bottle and was then forgotten about.
“This random bottle made it’s way back to a Meade Society meeting at CF23, once I opened this bottle and poured a little in to my vessel, I then remembered what it was. This Limoncello was delicious and Lord Kevin Ost had brought along a couple of buckets of lemons. With these lemons I decided to make a brew as tasty as Bears’.
“The method was fairly basic:
“Peel the rind from half a bucket of lemons ensuring that no pith is added. Put these rinds into 2 “milk bottles”. Fill the bottles with 80 proof Vodka over the level of the rinds. Leave for 2 months in a dark cupboard, inverting/mixing once a fortnight. After 2 months, strain the rinds from the alcohol and measure the quantity of alcohol (1.25L or 5 cups). Add to a saucepan 5 cups of boiling water and 5 cups unrefined golden caster sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the water then let cool. Once cool, add the infused Vodka and stir. Then pour into bottles and keep chilled in the fridge or freezer.
“This Limoncello was enjoyed at the Gildenwick Collegium during the feast.
“Another brew was made then enjoyed at the Gildenreef event, during the meade tasting and then the potluck dinner.”
