madPete

This shellac mixture will make the floppiest hat hold its shape. It may take several applications, but I'm sold on this stuff. You can always mix it stiffer than the recipe calls for too.

fyi, I think we got the exact same hat!

I just want to add that Capt Richard is a hard but caring man. He has saved my life on several occasions, and put himself between the pyrate hunters and myself on many more occasions. He is always quick to offer aid to those in need on sea or land.  I suspect our Pyrate ways have made him a bit wary, which might be the reason he is off on  "errands" much of the time. But as we all know, what he brings back serves to enrich everyone in the crew.

signed on this Sabbath, 22nd May 1718

On 4/10/2023 at 3:36 PM, Mary Diamond said:

Once upon a time I read about a tailors bench that had been flipped upside down to provide a surface for buttonhole chisel work… perhaps I need to bring my buttonhole chisels? 😊

Put a chisel and hammer in my hand... Best stand back while the chips fly.

I'm definitely learning!

The hat is for Glo, I already have one I did in a similar fashion. It  had to be stretched cause she has a large head (like me), and removed the liner. I'll put a linen lining in it once we have the shape done. We'll put a braided somethign or other around the outside. But we all need something to keep the sun off our faces... The shellac flakes are a couple years old and tend to bunch up, so I had to mash them with a hammer to get them small enough to go in the can.

when its dark, no one is gonna notice the modern features, just put it in the tent during the day (unlit of course)

I think you will be surprised!

I've done it before, its worked great every time.

Here's where I got the information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHma3dpYqRw

basically I bought a can of denatured alcohol at homedepot, dumped the shellac flakes into the can (measured per the video). Then you have to let the denatured alcohol break down the shellac for a couples days. Shake it up, transfer to a spray bottle and good to go. You can spray several times depending how stiff you need it. it takes a while to evaporate and dry, so I use rubber bands or whatever I can scrounge to keep its shape while it dries.

You have to make sure the wool soaks in the mixture. If it just sits on the surface, you have some other coating on yer hat that needs to be removed!

I found a similar one. In the process of stretching it to a larger size. I removed the inside lining, soaked it in water and put a couple of hat stretchers inside to open it up.

Next will be shaping it and spraying with combination of shellac flakes and denatured alcohol to keep its shape

yup - he was in a lot of movies/tv that I saw. he will be missed

This simply a fly I'm creating. It will be treated for waterproofing somehow, havent decided how yet.

I have a wedge tent that I made in a similar fashion and its lasted since 2006 when I was playing civil war. The wedge has been waterproofed a number of times. 16 years is a long time for canvas... Needs it about every 5 years or so

An Oar tent was added a few years later but thats very similar to the fly here, just sets up differently.

I decided I might need a fly for Massacre Island and other events.

So started with a 12X8ish piece of home depot paint tarp (or maybe it was lowes). The whole thing was washed and dried on hi heat to shrink it as much as its going to shrink. This makes the weave tighter. It shrank to about 11x7 approximately.

Then cut out some 12X12 inch squares of similar material. to strengthen the areas where the grommets are going. Each piece was either folded over the edge or, on the corners was cut in half. Then raw edges were folded over and stitched thru all three layers. A layer on each side of the material and grommets will be added thru all 3 layers. There will be grommets in each corner, plus one in the middle on each of the long sides (11ft side split in the middle) for 6 total. The idea is a pole with a pin will stick thru far enough on each grommet to also wrap some rope tiedowns on the pin to stake the fly. I've done grommets on my wedge tent and oar tents in a similar fashion, and they've held up well so far. 

So this weekend I got the reinforcements on each corner and the middle stitched in with doubled linen thread. The next step is to create the grommets (photo shows earlier grommets I've done)

Next weekend: grommets and poles

July 8-9. Shore Line Aquatic Park in Long Beach CA. This is looking to be a big event with camping over the weekend and crews from all over.

We have a small crew attending with a local group and planning on lots of photos.

This event has really morphed over the years. It seemed to have a slow start after taking over after the beloved Ojai Pirate Festival. Became Belmont Pier Invasion for a while and now is in a large seaside park in Long Beach run by Order of Leviathan..

17 hours ago, Picaroon Lagoon said:

I get the irony of saying ‘the weekend is fast approaching’ what with it being Monday and all, but…. The weekend IS fast approaching, and with this rapidly approaching weekend being ‘Pirate Plunder’ (the Pirate themed weekend at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival) I wonder if any of this august company plans to be in attendance? 

Pyrates are joining back on the forum all the time and many are silent on the forum, so it cant hurt to ask if any are local...

It's a bit of a stretch to attend pirate themed ren fairs when you live in another state.

Being in Arizona, I have to pick and choose carefully. There are 2 events that are within a 6-7 hour drive for me in California. Almost all the rest require a very long drive or a plane flight. I know Stynky is in the same boat er... ship, so to speak

35 minutes ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Still trying to figure out how to attend these events I've committed too.

Stynky,  we have a hemp rope that we'll drop from the plane as we fly by...

hobby lobby has square glass bottles, but I didnt see colored. I'm not sure how period looking they really are but you could certainly get sets there

looks like you could play dice with em or fill em with grog!

I dont pretend to have all events, because I find new ones on a weekly basis.

if an event is not in the Event calendar, please continue to  post or let me know so I can add it if it fits pirate criteria or is closely related

Thanks!

There is an events calendar link on on the home page that is maintained https://pyracy.com/events/ so you can click on a month and see everything scheduled along with contact information, etc...

I've created a master list of events, so I can look them up every year for new dates and mark the the ones that no longer happen.

Looks like you did copy/paste on the quote. that carries whatever formatting from where ye got it.

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome aboard!!!

Some of my favorite things have been found wandering down the rabbit hole, and then trying to find my way back!

Welcome back Cheeky Actress!

My favorite memory of you is dancing the Bees Knees in period garb in front of a pub at PIB.

Priceless...

I found it only works if you right click the image and open in a new tab. just a doubleclick shows a broken image. At least for me...

No way! I thought he disappeared into the Florida Everglades with a silk parachute!

Welcome back Dirty B*****d!

link is broken

doh! hate when that happens...