tashabear

You're thinking of acetone. Madmax means like rubbing alcohol, which you can get at a pharmacy or grocery store, though I like denatured alcohol, which I get at a home improvement store.

He is doing Viking helmets. Or did you mean the football team, with the horns? Real Viking helmets didn't have horns. :-D

They only carry black and OD green, though. If you want a variety of colors, I like Vermont Army Navy; they have >30 colors available in their 450 cord, and 8 in their 550 cord.

If you're in NYC, why not look north and go to the store in Hartford, CT? Or west to Allentown PA? They're each 100 miles or so away, but they're closer than Syracuse. There's nothing that says you have to stay in-state. You can always call ahead, see what their class schedule is like, make a day of it.

You're right about the need for a tax ID, but I just looked at my paper catalog, and it says that the minimum order is $30.

I've recently been converted to using Golden Acrylics for painting. They're very fluid (noticeably thinner than Liquitex or Ceramcoat), go on without brushstrokes, cover beautifully, and come in a jillion colors. They're sold at Michael's Arts & Crafts, but they're pricey there. I think that moving forward, it's going to be cheaper (and more fun) for me to go to Dick Blick's in Boston (they also do web sales). I generally paint small detailed things, so I like the fact that the bottles make it easy to dispense a very small drop into my palette; it'll make the paint go farther. Now I just need to find an easy way to set them up at a con so I can find and use what I want without knocking everything else over. I may end up building something...

Can you post a pic so maybe we can see where things went wrong?

Not really. I regularly beat myself up riding them when I was a kid, and I have spent most of my life in Massachusetts. I think what's meant is these: http://www.supremehardware.com/servlet/the-31680/Paricon-Flying-Carpet-Sled/Detail

Portmanteau, and more like 19th c. (at least, according to Wikipedia). (18th c is the 1700s, the 19th c is the 1800s -- that always confuses me.)

It's easier to sew before it's molded. Also, you don't have any problems with fitting together two pieces that have been stretched separately, nor do you need to find a 3D object to mold around. You sew the bottel, *then* wet and stretch it by filling it with whatever (sand, unpopped popcorn, plastic bags, what have you). And in the end, it's quicker to stretch two pieces at once, after they're sewn, than to stretch one, then the other, then pull one off the mold, then the other, then sew them together, hoping that they match.

Well, they're not line drawings, but there are some lovely drawings and photos on Google Images. If I want to use things like this, I print it out on printer's vellum and then go over the lines I want to use with a felt tip pen. Then you can either use the vellum to scribe your image (photocopy it or scan it before using if you want to use it again!) or trace it AGAIN onto tracing film... or whatever method you use. :-)

Aw... you know I'm all cuddly-wuddly. I guess it's just that I've been researching Viking York lately and all the talk of conquest and Danegeld has me thirsty.

*More* rake for better handling? Not sure I see where you're going there... seems to me more rake would make cornering less easy, not more. I've only been riding a couple of years, though. This is my baby, Boudicca, named after the Icenian warrior queen. She's a 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan 500, my second bike, and the one I'll be keeping for a good long while. I've added a sissy bar, luggage rack, and windshield since I took this pictures. Golly those pipes are shiny... I should give her a bath one of these days, but I'm having too much fun riding!

So is this where I point out that that whole great kilt thing is post-period for both Ren Faires and the SCA anyway, or is that too blunt for this crowd?

Is the canvas the same color as the leather? If so, I'd just use leather dye.

I wasn't. If you thought that was high and mighty, you clearly misread me.

Hi, I'm Tasha, and I am a Blunt Object. Hopefully a somewhat polite one, but still... Blunt Object. :-D

Why in the world would he need a last when he's essentially making spats? Besides, 98% of modern lasts won't work if you want to make historically accurate medieval shoes, as they're shaped for a heel lift and medieval shoes (pre-Tudor, anyway) didn't have heels as we know them. Nor did they have steel shanks or arch support, and you don't need them, if you can get real wool felt -- heck, you can make it easily enough, and 1/2" of wool felt makes a lovely cushy insole that conforms to your foot. I bow to your superior knowledge of modern shoe manufacture, but medieval shoe-making is my latest research obsession, and a big part of my Reasonable Competence Project: two full sets of 10th century Viking clothing as worn in the Danelaw. One male, one female, skin-out, completely handmade down to spinning the yarn for trim and embroidery, including footwear, accessories, and outerwear. I call it the Reasonable Competence Project because for the most part, any reasonably competent Viking housewife would be able to make everything I'm making. A great reference book on the subject is called "Stepping Through Time: Archaeological Footwear from Prehistoric Times until 1800" by Olaf Goubitz. It's a bit spendy, but it's practically the bible for making medieval shoes.

Most of us buy our leather already split to the thickness we want.

I'd just try thinning it.

Have you looked at Purses In Pieces by Olaf Goubitz? Lots of good stuff in there, though the purses with flaps instead of hidden slits are more Northern European than Continental. You might also want to look at Rus and Birka finds.

I wouldn't do it, unless you're not interested in staying married. Or you're super-interested in buying her a new machine after you strip the gears on that one.

The fabric piping I've used just has a soft polyester cord, but you might want something with more body for leather piping. Don't know what you're using it for; if you want to take it around tight corners a softer cord will probably be better.

Thank you, and good luck! That case is a quickie, too; I've made one in a couple of hours.

The Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Leathercrafter's and Saddler's Journal has a really nice pattern; I've made it several times. That issue is still available for purchase: http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/2008.html Here are pics of the one I use: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashabear/tag...sinesscardcase/