kass

Thanks, Diosa! I'm spending my holidays uploading a ton of articles that have been sitting on my hard drive half-written or mostly-written. I'm revising and revamping and sending all of them live over the next couple weeks. So soon there should be even more stuff to read. Enjoy!

Patrick, you did a wonderful job organising the threads in Twill. However, I really think that because those threads go so far off topic sometimes, they will be very confusing to beginners. There's a high noise-to-signal ratio in those threads. If I were a newbie reading some of them, I'd end up tearing my hair out and still not knowing what to wear! I invite you all to come and read the articles on my website. By the new year, there will be "How-tos" for pirates and seamen that you will likely find interesting.

Cool about the book, Rue. I'm just glad to have it whenever. However stays will not be ready-made. If I made them to standard sizes, they'd fit no one. I make them by custom order and the turn around time is generally 4-6 weeks. I guarantee fit so you can be assured to have something as comfortable as you can imagine.

Done...

I think the most important thing to remember is that the bodice worn by so many Ren Faire-goers was invented in the 1970s and has no basis in history. If you don't want to wear stays, at least don't substitute a modern garment.

Enough of this! I can't take such punishment!

Hee! Bess, this is so COOL!

It's lovely, Bo! Unfortunately I have no idea about the cavalry sling. But I bet the boys will be along shortly...

Pat, if you start such a thread in Twill, I will use my Super Moderator Powers[tm] and sticky it for you.

I am a naughty, naughty girl, Jim... I'm trying to make so many promises that I will be obligated to come to PIP next year. Seriously. I really want to come and sutle at PIP in 2007. To answer your question: As a sutler, having customers post wish lists is a wonderful thing! None of us can take everything we have in stock to every event -- especially the ones far away. If I knew ahead of time that people were going to buy lots of sail cloth, I'd make sure I had bolts of it. And if I knew no one was interested in Renaissance patterns, I could leave them at home.

Hi Morgan, The 1" line weighs about 10lbs. We ship UPS ground but can do other services (USPS, FedEx, DHL) by prior arrangement. If you're interested in a 50' coil, please note that it will be in stock after the holidays. But we can ship it to you as soon as it gets here.

Shameless Plug Alert! Or you can wait until you get there and buy everything from Reconstructing History! If it's hot, we have lovely light linen shirts for you to change into. If it's cold, we have frock coats and sailor's jackets and sleeved waistcoats to keep you from taking a chill. If it's windy, we have canvas watchcoats guaranteed to repel wind and water! We'll even have sweet-smelling herbs to make even Pat smell nice again! This has been a shameless plug by your local neighbourhood textile pimp.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bo. Let's just hope it doesn't take 20 years.

Hi Callenish and Salty, Yeah. Threads here do tend to get lost. That's why I'm hosting a bunch of "How-to" guides on my website. We're just starting, but our own Mr. Foxe and I plan to have something very useful to you in the New Year.

Have you heard?! Reconstructing History has expanded and is now carrying all sorts of stuff for your pirate impression! We've got a new website, new toll-free order line (866-475-3773), and tons of new stuff to buy. We've got frock coats, shirts, breeches, sailor's jackets, and justacorps. We've got ladies' jackets and mantuas and stays. We've got real hemp canvas that matches period sailcloth almost perfectly. And we've got twill and plain weave hemp linen for slops and jackets and trousers and watchcoats. We've got hemp rope and twine and little pieces of string -- all period correct! And of course we've got patterns from every time period from the Middle Ages to the Golden Age of Piracy. (And we're adding more patterns next month!) We've even got how-to articles for beginners and tons of information to help you with your Golden Age of Piracy persona. And that's not all... Just wait to see what we'll have next month! So surf on by. Give us a look. Tell us what you think. We're here to serve you!

Already working on it, Callenish. Already working on it...

Oh Chole! Not you too!!!

Where's the "smacking oneself dumb with a belaying pin" emoticon?

Duuuuuuuude!

Jim, I could provide a special service whereby I pour some coffee down the customer's gullet before he actually wakes up. If he doesn't swat me flat first, he'll awake in a much better mood! If the camp wants to take up a collection...

Chole, I'm so JEALOUS!!!! I wanna reenact the Gatsby period. :)

Pat, Diosa, No worries. I'm a trained linguist!

I was gonna say, Bo -- 10oz isn't very heavy. Well... it's heavy for clothing, but not heavy enough for sails or tents I don't think. We also have 6.5oz, 8oz, 9.5oz and 15oz hemp in twill and plain weaves in stock.

Hi Ed, I'm not a mariner, but it's 17.7 oz canvas. That's rather heavy. If you give this number to a sailmaker, they would be able to tell you. Kass