LARPCon 2020

What to say about LARPCon 2020?

Firstly, I arrived in a bit of a tizzy, but the old kit seemed to draw attention, and some of it sold, and on their way to new lives and purposes.

I found some leather skins that're ideal for the warskirt project, so whatever I made from selling off the old kit went to getting new bits.

I bought some of Steph's beautiful art and got to talk a bit with her and Alex, to smooth some of my anxieties.

Later, to quote Steph:

"...How cool is that to have something that you've gained actual worth on adventures."

I was writing about the brass chainmail rings that I acquired from Armchair Armoury and wanted to add said brass rings to an anchor wire chainmail collar an ex made for me about thirty years ago.

I thought at the time that she meant that I ought to wait on decorating Seppa and gain worthy things in play at Anvil.

Yet writing it now, I wonder if she meant that my thirty year old chainmail was an authentic relic of worth.

'Tis something to think about.

My haul

A black goatskin, some hairless sheepskins with felt very nice, even though they're greyish-brown/soil colour, and two brown remnants. They're destined for the warskirt, if I can figure it out.

Chainmail on old suede leather.

I found the photo I recently took of the chainmail collar. Perhaps once it's remounted onto something better, I can use it for the neck cover.

The brass rings, a Wintermark Rune, and a pin from Steph.

I have yet to try the brass rings with the galvanised anchor wire. I will need to remount the collar onto something a bit better, as the suede is a bit stiff and showing its age.

The Wintermark Rune is 'Sular' the rune of discovery and is affiliated with the Day realm.

Yes, that pin is inspired by Studio Ghibli and Princess Mononoke.

Other stuff

I'm continuing my sewing efforts with Seppa's panel coat. I'll discuss it in another post.

Warskirts

Warskirt

I've been unsuccessfully tossing ideas back and forth for months, with no leads, no brilliant ideas, nothing. Then, a few weeks ago, someone else asked about them and someone else posted a picture of a section of their warskirt.

*heavy breathing intensifies*

This thing, this right here...

Inspiration! Not my picture, not my warskirt.

I asked them about the metal and how they did it. Tin snips and sheet metal and a drill for the holes.

I feel like a fool, they make it sound so...obvious.

Fast forward to the past seven days or so, and I've picked up some sheet metal, got some new sheet metal cutting attachments for my Dremel, because my grip strength just isn't what it once was, and a workbench that's awaiting construction... yeah, side note on that, the manufacturer didn't tap the holes used for the tightening screws, so said holes are stripping the screws as I attempt to install them. *grump*

But I'm hoping that once we get the workbench sorted out, that I can clamp the metal onto it and play with the Dremel attachments, and hey, if I don't cut straight, it's ok, it'll add character to the plates. Bonus is that I learn how to do it for myself, and if some future moment, that I do need to cut straight, I'll be better equipped than just going at it cold.

Plans:

Bash the cut pieces to dent them, also grind off the rough and raw edges, gouge the plates a little, then stain with some corrosion agent and maybe a wash of nearly-black paint, then rivet or stitch to a piece of cow leather.

What's Your Game?

I attended this kit fair, and Armchair Armoury was there, I did get ten of those half-circle plates from them. Shortly after that, Galla showed me how I might layer them. So I might have two pieces of plates to wear; one for the belt, the other might end up on a shin or forearm.

Remember these?

We'll see what happens.

It serves no purpose... except...

In a way, it does have a purpose because it securely holds and displays an item-of-worth that my character either found or inherited (I haven't yet decided).

Still playing with ideas for placement.

One might recognise a similar picture to the one above, as I played with ideas for use of the three-decades-old silvery dome buttons that were originally on a black leather strap by Daedalus. I wanted to give them function and purpose again, but I didn't want the black strap. However, the black strap was instructive for securing the buttons that didn't bulge the leather in odd ways; thank you, Daedalus.

Before and after polishing.

Months ago, I ordered these 'vintage' stamped and domed buttons from Shaila.de I liked the pattern and had no idea what to do with them at that time. I also under-utilise my Dremel, so I equipped it with a buffing head and some rouge, and went at these buttons. The shiny one was after the buffing, the dull one is how they were originally. I lack experience, so I'm sure I made mistakes with buffing, but I was satisfied with my results.

I ended up using only one of them for this project, but I'm sure I can find purpose for the other button somewhere else.

I applied the domed buttons, both the embossed and the shiny ones, onto the strap, along with some rivets to help hold it together. A bit of latigo leather lacing...

Visual testing of concept.

I had some small stamped, pronged oval discs in my stash; I've had these probably for thirty years as well, waiting for a purpose. So I gave one of them a purpose.

I am satisfied with how the sheepskin strap turned out, and I will be getting two more to go with it, so I can place more of the silvery domed buttons, and maybe that second Shaila button somewhere on display.

They won't be crammed together like this when it's time.

One will notice the antler needle case, I still haven't added the felt plug for needles.

I need to figure out a better method of securing the wooden beads tie-back from John Lewis and the charity shop restrung beaded necklace, the pewter coloured rings are a bit too modern. I suspect the tie-back and necklace will end up with leather lacing or artificial sinew fixing them to their D-ring straps.

The Skarsind axe head medallion... I think I will string some wooden beads on the cord with it, to give it a little something extra.

The wooden bottle is back. It has so many purposes, just as it is.

Things to do:

• Antler case wool plug.
• Tie-back and necklace on a better connection to their D-rings.
• Finish tooling and staining the belt.
• (there are several other things to do as well, but I've listed here the tasks related to this post.)

Belt & straps

I might end up doing several posts in a row, to divide the work that I've been doing for Seppa's costume.

For this post, it's about a belt, particularly this belt...

...and the straps for hanging tat, and maybe even a weapon or two at some point.

Galla helped me by cutting and dyeing/staining the straps; and I did the rest of the work.

I ran the straps under the tap so that I could shape them around the D-rings for a closer fit to the ring, and the belt.

I then used clothes pegs to hold the straps in place so the straps could shape themselves around the D-rings and belt. I don't have to worry about leaving impressions on the leather because... orcs.

I punched the holes with a tool for punching four slits at a time, or the other tool that does two slits at a time. I followed that by using two leather needles at the same time to sew the D-rings and the belt loop. I got two straps finished and then broke the two needles at the eyes. I moved to thicker needles and those survived stitching three more straps. Galla cut six straps, but I needed to rest my fingers and let them heal, so only five are currently completed.

After the stitching, I bashed the stitches with a few strikes from my mallet to help close the holes around the stitching to secure the threads.

OK, so the belt shaping got a little lost during the stitching and bashing. Those straps that got to dry overnight did take some of the belt shaping too.

The slit cutter isn't particularly sharp, so I sometimes eyeballed it and used my awl to make the stitching holes.

Yes, I know the D-rings are damn shiny, but that's the hardware that I had. I'm sure that they'll eventually soften, and if not, I'll try a careful application of some sort of corrosive to remove some of the chrome.

Next post covers another bit of belt-related tat. That post will have a picture of how I'm currently envisaging the potential future presentation.

More kit in progress...

As promised, here's the related post to the previous.

First, those trousers that I mentioned; they're the Folkwear Saroulles and pantaloons pattern, I shortened the leg length. Truth is, I really ought to decrease the pelvic depth of the pattern to raise the crotch by several centimetres so it's not down near my knees. Perhaps with the next pair.

The four pieces of the crotch gusset.

The stripes really do help.

Pinning the crotch gusset to the legs before stitching.

Pinning before pressing the folds for the waistline's drawstring channel.

The crotch gusset and the bottom leg hem that I've turned up. It shows how much I shortened the leg on this pair of pantaloons.

This is where I paused in the sewing; again, before I can finish the waistline or hem the legs, I need to hand-sew buttonholes for the drawstrings. My machine is supposed to be able to do buttonholes automatically, but all it does is pucker the fabric before tearing it. Hand-sewn buttonholes it is.

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Tat

Some of the items that I wore for the Bakers' Ball in November are pictured below.

Tat, it makes the costume into something more.

As you can see, I have restrung some of the necklaces from the pictures taken of them months ago, to make them Seppa's and not Ieri's tat. Some bits I ended up not wearing or bringing to the event.

I did pierce Seppa's ears, to personalise the mask; I might add another earring or two. I will need to do more trimming around the inner eyes and the top lip, I found that both of those areas became problematic the longer I wore the mask. I managed almost four hours on my first wearing before I needed 'face-time' ie to get out of the mask and just be.

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Other items that're 'in progress' is a leather belt that's actually made for Seppa; it's longer to accommodate my fat gain and the bulk of the many garment layers to make me look stouter than I am. I don't yet have a photograph of the belt, but I will see about some progress pictures at some point. Galla's Emporium is cooperating with me to build the belt and the tat pictured next.

The inspiration for this particular bit of tat is a black leather strip that had the smooth buttons that I'm re-purposing onto a brown strip of leather. In the picture, is the same strip of leather, but with the buttons and conchos differently placed before deciding which one we'll go with. I'm in consultation with Galla to maybe craft two more strips to go with this one. It does remind me, and others who have seen it, to some Ancient Roman legion groin armour/decoration.

The "vintage" bronze ring is about twenty years, maybe thirty years, in age. I've had the black strap and its buttons for nearly thirty years too, it was a gift from Daedalus Anteros Fortune of Leatherhead Regalia. Anything that I can recycle or salvage from rotting in a box into something that I can wear as part of a character's ensemble, is good.

The straps will hang from the waist belt that I mentioned above. The ring represents the item-of-worth as an ancestral artefact, which is why I've attached it to the longer strap so that it's presented as important and doesn't get lost amongst the gewgaws hanging directly from my belt.

I will soon need to decide which one to make.

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Last item of Seppa's tat for the moment; I need to add the bit of felted wool for the needles to rest in, in order for this antler and leather needle case that Amber Wolf Workshop crafted to be functional. I asked them to make it, inspired by some of the antler and bone needle cases of similar design found on Pinterest. But using the soothing circles-and-dots patterning that AWW often implements on their creations.

Antler, leather, and wire, needle case.

Another item that isn't yet made, but AWW is playing with, and that I'm eager to acquire is a bone whistle-flute; again, inspired by Pinterest and European Ice Age artefacts. If I needed some animal bones for the shaman's costume and character, I might as well make them functional. Imperial Orcs' music tends to be heavy with drums, but I can easily see a bone whistle-flute making a bit extra to the pounding rhythm of percussion instruments.

Seppa's tat

Tat

The accessories of character costume that help one stand out from one's peers. In daily life, because the majority of native English speakers' garments tend to be mass produced, we have a tendency to look all the same. It isn't as uniform as a company or military uniform, but there's still a certain uniformity to it. Many of us do not personalise our garments with extra stitching or any other customisation.

In LARP, one has an excellent opportunity to personalise one's look so that there's less uniformity. Though in Empire, there is a small amount of uniformity to one's nation so that one's easily identifiable as this or that nation, but one's top or bottom is customised to the character's tastes and whims. The other is by adding tat.

A new character will often lack tat to the extent of that character several games' old. As one plays one's character, and interacts with other characters, and gains story and played history, things change. Empire's rules are that one's kit is in constant improvement. Embellishments, via embroidery or patches or visible repairs (if Imperial Orc) adds to the character's kit development.

With Ieri, who had witnessed the Varushkan Feast of the Loom Zoria parade, gained a silky friendship bracelet from a Varushkan child. It went on Ieri's belt and added to eir tat. Friendship with Antimedes meant Ieri had a jingly beaded token ey wore on eir belt. When Antimedes died, Ieri added his token to eirs and increased tat.

Seppa's tat

The following images show some of what I want Seppa to wear; however, some of this was Ieri's tat, and will need adjusting or altering in order to truly become Seppa's tat. I apologise if any of the following images are repeats from previous blog posts. I don't want to photograph them again until I've altered the items to fit Seppa. (yes, that's on the ever-growing to-do list.)

The other difference between Ieri and Seppa is that whilst much of Ieri's tat had stories attached to them, they weren't ancestral items or items-of-worth; whereas Seppa's tat will need to be worthy, even if it was, 'my parent made this when they were emancipated to celebrate their freedom.' Not as worthy as an ancestral item, but still a worthy reminder for the character.

Speaking of parent's emancipation from slavery, I thought of using the Skarsind axe-head pendant to represent that, but then I realised that the axe-head pendant is to commemorate the Imperial Orcs gaining Skarsind as their region of the Empire, which only happened a few years ago. So this is Seppa's pendant, rather than an inheritance item. Perhaps the metal sausage-like tube in the upper right corner of the above picture could be the parent's emancipation object.

The ring with the bell on it is for one of Seppa's noisy ancestors and will be going onto the warskirt.

I want to pierce Seppa's ears in order to customise the mask. These were on clearance, and they're not quite to the Skywise brief, but I can alter these to better fit into the brief and if I mess them up, I'm not going to feel bad over it.

The steel Sikh kara bracelet isn't obvious that it is a kara, so I will use it as part of Seppa's tat. It had been part of Ieri's tat, but didn't make many appearances, and I doubt that anyone will recognise it from Ieri's kit. The only question is whether or not it'll fit over all the wraps and gloves.

The two brass clasps might get some dangles attached to them to give them some personalisation. I'm considering their use in a similar way to the Viking paired domed brooches, ie attaching a few strings of beads between them and the clasps helping to hold a robe or wrap in place during colder weather events.

These had been Ieri's jewellery. I explained the kara already. The glass "diamonds" bracelet is another that didn't see too much action with Ieri, and like the kara, will need to be tested to see how or if it will fit over all the wrist wraps.

The patinated brass cuffs made occasional appearances on Ieri, but they do barely fit over the wraps; as I have tested those. I also need more brass than silver-coloured stuff, as brass is to the brief.

The brass amulet strung with wooden beads and orange cord, was a Ieri staple, though the beads and orange cord were only a recent expansion on it. I'll need to put it onto some blue cord and change the beads in some way, probably by adding some smaller wooden beads along with the ones currently on the cord.

For the antler-bone-wood-glass-brass necklace, that was Ieri's Dubhtraig loot. I'll need to restring it and change out some of the red beads for blue.

Charity shop for the win!

Back at the start of 2019, some of us went to several charity shops to look for LARP bits. I found this interesting necklace for 50p. It had been strung on some thread and that looked far too fragile to survive the field. So I restrung it with wire in almost exactly the way it came off the thread. I put in crimp beads and joins where the thread had knots. I did add one item to it: the little brass bell in the lower right of the picture; it is otherwise entirely from the original necklace. 

Ieri wore it once or twice around eir neck, but I found it too much around my neck with all the many necklaces I already wore, so it failed for Ieri's tat. It will very likely end up on the warskirt.

Conclusion

Tat is more than jewellery, but this is currently all that I have ready to show that isn't textile tat, which will get its own blog post on another day.