Fabric, Fiber, Fighting, Fencing and Fishing (etc) XI

Preliminary Class List

Full announcement

The eleventh annual FFF will be held Nov 22-24 in Lamar, PA.

New: draft schedule


Thorsberg Trousers: Pants That Last!
Mistress Alicia Langland Tired of repairing pants that rip in unmentionable places? Then you’ll love these pants, based on trousers from an Iron Age burial! Learn what you’ll need to make them yourself: Lecture/Demo will cover historical background, fabrics, seams, construction, and how to create a pattern. Cameras (still or video) are welcome if students wish to record the process.
Following the class, the instructor will be available to assist anyone wishing to create a pattern. Interested? Bring the person who will wear the pants and an OLD pair of chinos that still fits the wearer; 3 yards of inexpensive, checked or plaid cloth for a preliminary pattern (4 yards if wearer is XXL); a flexible tape measure, a pair of scissors, and needle and thread. Some chinos will be available for purchase.
Don't want to miss out on the other great classes but still want to make pants? Instructor will happily work with interested students after classes end. Feel free to email her ( hutchnsn at bucknell dot edu ) before 9 p.m. Thursday if you have questions about what to bring.
2 hours; no limit; no fee

Detached button hole embroidery stitch
Antoinette Delorraine
A class on how to complete the detached buttonhole stitch as used in period embroidery. Please bring a embroidery hoop if you have one/use one.
1 hour; no limit; $1 for handout

Creating Anglo-Norse stone whorls: Hand techniques for spinners
Master Bedwyr Danwyn
By far, the most common spindle whorls found in the Coppergate dig were made of soft stone of various types. They were flat circles with a tapered center hole. Few were decorated and many weighed between 1/2 and 1 ounce. Come and learn how to make your own from inexpensive materials and simple hand tools. Learn how to draft circles, hand drill and taper holes, saw and file rock into these shapes. Easier than you might think: only requires common tools.
1 hour; no limit; bibliography included in handout for Viking and Anglo-Norse Spindles

Tablet Weaving as an Edge Technique
Cori Gora Simple, easy to use tablet weaving method that can be used as an edge finish on both clothing and accessories. This class will show you how to edge fabric artifacts and how to tablet weave cording. Students will receive a kit to make a small pouch with tablet woven edge and cord.
Available one-on-one as instructor has time: see Cori; handouts available on line after the event

Pleatwork
Felicity Flussmuellnerin
CANCELLED

Bumlerin: Female Landsknecht
Felicity Flussmuellnerin
CANCELLED

Color Sense: A Roundtable Discussion
THLady Fiadnata o Gleann Alainn
Let's sit down and talk about the colors we most like to play with in our spinning and weaving. I want to get a sense for the colors everyone sees as beautiful, and why one mix of colors might work for one person, but not another. We'll have a short discussion of colors, and which ones go together (in our eyes), and I'll try to bring in some information concerning the medieval color sense, and then we'll get some hands-on work with color samples.
1 hour; limit 10; no fee

Plying Your Handspun Yarn
Lady Genevieve de Chaumont
Now that you have a drop spindle full of yarn singles - what next? Learn how to easily remove your spinning from the spindle, and wrap it into a period-style plying ball. You will then see how to create a balanced, 2-ply yarn on the same spindle.
1 hour; limit 10; no fee; Students should have a drop spindle of any style with a spun single on it.

Lady Genevieve's Spinning Salon
Lady Genevieve de Chaumont
This will be an open session where any spinner can bring their drop spindles and spinning wheels to sit and spin with others. Lady Genevieve will serve as moderator, and along with the input of other experienced attendees, will help spinners to troubleshoot any problems they might have with their spinning. The higher purpose of this Salon will be the opportunity for SCAdian spinners to meet and greet others in the Society who spin, and help to support and encourage spinning and the fiber arts within the Current Middle Ages.
Basic drop spinning instruction available throughout the day as well.
Saturday evening after dinner; all welcome

Feasting in Style
Janos Mezzaros and Bronwyn MacFhionghuin
Display and open discussion about tablesetting and ambience for the medieval feast. Not a formal class: please stop by at any time.
2+ hours; no limit; no fee

An Introduction to Tablet Weaving
Janos Mezzaros and Cori Gora
This class is for people who have never tried Tablet Weaving before, or who have not kept it up and need a refresher on the methods. We will begin with the basics: what is card weaving, where can I use this and how do I get started. As the class progresses, we will add in a sprinkling of history, and a lot of hands-on instruction. You will leave with a set of cards that have been warped to a basic pattern. They will be on loom, so you can continue after the class without the inevitable tangle that plagues some beginners when you try to move your weaving from place to place.
2 hour; limit 7; fee $10 for all materials, handout, cards, and a loom

Couching, The Medieval-est Embroidery Stitch of Them All
Lady Jaqueline de Molieres
Class attendees will learn the simple couching stitch, it's many variations from the Bayeaux Tapestry to underside-couched gold, and how it's use changed throughout the Medieval time period. Bring embroidery supplies if you have them - I will have supplies available for those who don't have everything they need.
1.5 hour; no limit; no fee

Opus-Anglicanum Portrait
Lady Jaqueline de Molieres
Bring a wallet-sized photo of a loved one and come to the lightbox station to begin planning your own embroidery project. Jaqueline will guide you through a step-by-step process so that you will leave with a plan on paper and the knowledge to complete the project on your own. Station will be open throughout the day and evening, whenever Jaqueline is free. Materials will be provided. If you don't have a photo with you, you can just do a generic Medieval face.
Available one-on-one as instructor has time

Kute-uchi: Japanese hand-held loop braiding
Phiala O'Ceallaigh
Two-part class on the medieval Japanese braiding technique. Part 1 will be hands-on. Part 2 will be theory, comparison with kumihimo, and the dreaded track plans. Parts may be taken independently.
1 hour each; limit and fee TBA

10th-14th C. Viking and Anglo-Norse Spindles Hands On
Mistress Rhiannon y Bwa
Hands on spinning experiments with a selection of re-created Anglo Norse spindles from Coppergate (The Small Finds) and some other Viking Norse settlements from 10th-14th C. Instructor is particularly interested in surviving spindle sticks with a 'bump' on the tapered shaft and how they spin when supplied with separate spindle whorls. Students will spin wool on these recreations in class and learn to 'tune' the shaft to the whorl. All levels welcome, though this is not a beginners' class. Wool provided or bring your own.
1 hour; Students can purchase a recreated spindle (double nock, Coppergate) for $15.00, or use a loaner spindle and whorl. Handout separate- $1.00

Using Twist to Pattern in Tablet Weaving
Rosalind Ashworthe
This is a great beginner to intermediate tablet waving technique to add patterns to single color tablet woven bands. We will briefly discuss period examples, and how this technique works with the tablet weaving structure. then do some hands on weaving.
1 hour; limit 5; fee for materials TBA

Beginning Cross Stitch
Vivienne of Yardley
This will be a hands on class without much history. By the end of class students will have a (nearly) finished project that can be used as a bookmark, favour, or turned into a scissors holder.
2 hour; limit TBA; fee $5 for all supplies

Beginning Knitting
Vivienne of Yardley
Supplies and basic instruction available informally throughout the day.