Tudor MercWench Smith

Progress report; none

Just kidding...plenty of progress in the brain, just not much physically yet. 

Trunk update: 

Handles have been picked, purchased and received. I'm pleased with the choice. A little more ornate then the originals I was trying to match, but general shape and color, and wide enough set that grip concerns are negligible.

I just now need to get up the guts to drill holes in my trunk or wait til the manfolk gets home from his work trip to do the power tool thing. After I get those on I will see how I feel about adding corner brackets and strapping. 

On fabric side, after a fun discussion on discord last week about bags, I'm planning a canvas bag project. I've got a roll of cotton canvas, not great for much but would suit this point well, if not the most accurate fiber for the use in period. Pics below are proof of concept....ignore the weird size, shape, cuts, angles, seams and straps. It was literally a quick and dirty practice round with a scrap I had used to test for shrinkage. But a simple rectangle with two seams (I'll probably do French seams for  strength and fray prevention) with a little flap and a simple strap to sling it various ways seems keeping within period "bag theory". Final version will be wider (and with straighter seams and ironed fabric). I will detail construction once I'm actually working on the final.

Third concurrent project is hemming this flipping purple petticoat. I'm trying to decide between stitch counting concerns should I just break down and do it on my machine and the executive dysfunction that is preventing me from getting cracking on it by hand

If I wanted to be extra fancy I could get the wide format file at that and print it on the wide format at work so.....pirate some of their toner and paper lol

20 hours ago, madPete said:

Reconstructing History RH704 is a versatile pattern. I believe it has instructions for short sailor waistcoat, long waistcoat and sleeved waistcoats. I think she's in Europe now, but when I ordered last time it arrived quickly. There are some resellers too, might even find on eBay.

https://reconstructinghistory.com/products/rh704-1700s-1730s-waistcoats

You know I've looked at this pattern about a dozen times and somehow never actually read the note that it's got the sleeveless and short options lol

18 hours ago, madPete said:

The bedroll was something I had been thinking about for a while. When William said, lets show them our crew coming in with our kit on our backs, I had to make it. But this ole back needs some cush, thus the self inflating mattress. Its really just a cover for the mattress, but at least it hides the modern stuff. Either a wool blanket or the cloak on top and a linen bag stuffed with clothes for a pillow.

I puts the cover I have for my little inflatable mattress to shame! It's making me wonder if I need to put an upgrade to my bedroll on my to do list lol

6 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

FIGHT!

I'm so jealous of you guys making cool stuff. I usually take over the dinning room table in mid Winter until sometime in Spring. But we've had an almost constant stream of (family) visitors since November and it hasn't stopped. 

Really, I think my project is wining the fight, but I didn't hear no bell yet.

Honestly, I've mostly been faffing about with little bits of nothing. I need to buckle down and find a good pattern for, most importantly, a waistcoat, and decide if I want to use any of the questionable fabrics I already have in my stash or try to source something better for one. That's the item I am going to most need. Everything else from Gaines is serviceable, but that was the item that I most wished I had.

Any reccs on patterns now gladly being accepted.

17 hours ago, madPete said:

I put rope handles on all my boxes. After helping carry someone elses box with too small, steel handles that pinched fingers, I said never again.

2 holes with the rope knotted on the inside. Look at sailor chests online, there are other period ways to do this, but rope is easy and comfortable on the hands. Just make sure it extends above the lid with enough room for the hands, or it crushes your hands against the side of the box if theres a lot of weight.

A Balemark? I can bring the Mercury block to the event...

"- a fabric lining, to both help keep my clothes from snagging but also to cover up the scratches on the inside that I can't help but think they are finger nail marks 🤨"

EEGADS, someone was locked in your trunk???!?? hmmmpf... damn... hmmmphhphh... pyra... tes...

I did contemplate this as in my collection of reference photos I saw that and thought it looked the most "pirate", but based off the style of the trunk, and the provenance of where my person would have gotten it, some fancier trunk hardware I think would make the most sense. But to avoid that exact hand pinch-y-ness I am making sure that I am checkin dimensions on it and looking for something that's at least a 5-6 inch diameter so it's not hard to fit a hand through. For reference, below is a comparison between an extant (earlier period, but again correct for provenance) trunk I found photos of online and the trunk I'm refinishing. I picked this particular reference as the example to model off of based off similarity of shape etc

The handles on the period example also look like the drop "hinged" style too, which should also help with grip for lifting. I am sold on those. I am pretty certain I will grab some of the corner backets, but not sure I will shell out the money for the front strapping or faux locks. The existing lock is broken and has no plate on the front.

Ok the cooking utensils are swoon inducing!

Bed roll looks super nice too.

Ok...image heavy post incoming!

First project (while fabric is washing and I search for good patterns) is my FB free-score chest!!!

Here it is in all it's "glory". Definitely antique. Probably late 1800s so we'll out of period. But dove tail joints and square nails and a simple style that is similar enough to extant 17/18th cent chests I've seen pics of. 

As you can see, there are definitely damages. Big crack in the top, chipping at the corners, splinter base frame bar.  Finish-wise, the top is all torn up and if I had to guess it was sitting in water at some point cause there is a clear line around the bottom. 

So now I have choices to make....

- Do I repair the actual damage? If so what techniques are period or at least won't look obvi modern. 

- do I strip/sand/refinish?

- do I add decorative metal strapping/faux hinges/locks/handles etc to make it look more correct period 

ooooorrr...do I leave it pretty much as is except for a good scrub with Murphy's oil to maintain the weathered look as would be befitting a chest that made two laps around the continent, a trans Atlantic journey and eventual life bouncing around on various pirate ships? (And thereby also maintaining whatever historical integrity the piece has in its own right? 

things I'm pretty certain will happen no matter what:

- include chain on the inside to keep the lid from falling too far back and stressing the hinges

- handles of some kind. Based on holes/damage on the side, it looks like it might have once had some.

- a fabric lining, to both help keep my clothes from snagging but also to cover up the scratches on the inside that I can't help but think they are finger nail marks 🤨

So what is the thoughts of the crew?

On 1/21/2024 at 9:56 PM, madPete said:

If you would like to try stiffening your hat with shellac flakes, I can send you some. I have a big baggie full and it only takes a couple tablespoons per can of denatured alcohol, then all you need is a spray bottle. LMK.

I'm gonna start another thread for my kit rather than hijack your thread 😀

I probably should stiffen it....I just loved the floppy hat aesthetic for some reason.

And honestly I don't mind the thread hijack but your own thread will probably get better attention for your projects 🙂

*Ding ding ding*

Round two!!!

Three months out till the next event and here's my project list for my own kit, in no particular order

Mend

- hem and buttons on the last minute shirt I was working on at Gaines ✅ (finished before I even posted the list so I could feel like I was ahead of the curve)

- hem the purple petticoat from Gaines

- mend the grey short slops, probably put in a gusset 

- possibly alter the black booties I have to make them look more period

- possibly re-pleat red petticoat

- reinforce some weak points on my stays

- reshape hat, find new pin

Make

- waist coat (top priority)

- scarves, head and neck

- 3rd skirt

- 3rd pair of slops

- under drawers

- Mantua, possibly

- apron

- knapsack 

- women's shift

- bum roll

Shop for

- more stockings

- frail/grass basket

Gear

- Chest/trunk refinish (possibly my next project, found one for free, antique but not period, needs a few repairs and refinishings and I have to decide if I want to add hardware to make it look more period)

- better/more dishes and cookware

On 11/24/2023 at 1:00 PM, madPete said:

 We're waiting til the next event is four months out to announce it.

Then you can start all over again!😁😁😁

Probably what I need for motivation! 

I ended up phoning in Halloween due to personal issues so another year with store bought costumes

and then we finally ran out of bed sheets with neck holes and bathrobes that would suit for the annual st Nicholas day play at church, so last week and this week have been dedicated to five quick n' dirty byzantine tunics. 

so maybe by Christmas I can find time to do my mending from ft Gaines and start on all the additional kit I want. But by then....

will definitely need motivation!!!

8 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

What are you talking about, I just arrived home yesterday... 😜

What....you need more then 24 hours?? Bounce back faster! Lol jk jk

Glad you made it home safe finally 

2 hours ago, madPete said:

And didnt have Miranda's Navigation skills!

Am I going to have to actually learn about nautical navigation now, to lean into this joke? I feel like I have to learn nautical navigation lol...

I suppose I should finally sign the muster officially at this point rather then just considering myself a stow-away.....

Ok.....so it's been almost a month since Massacre Island, so I have to ask......what's next!?!?

4 hours ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Yes.

One of us! One of us! 

Is this where we all start to chant "one of us! One of us"

40 minutes ago, Stynky Tudor said:

SCORE!!! Just rescued this from Lisa's donation pile.

Medium to heavy weight, I figure it'll make good slops and waistcoats. The light weight lining is linen too, looks good enough for shirts.

Omg! What a good find!

1 hour ago, Stynky Tudor said:

Well some of us (me) are still in recovery mode - I'll head back to Utah in another week or so to drop off Mercury Camp stuffs, probably won't get back to Oregon mid/late October.

I'd like my to bring my (adult 30 year old) daughters and their partners to our next event. I need to move them out of their ren garb and into proper pirate garb. That's 4 sets of waistcoats and slops at the minimum. Plus when I was on Bald Head Island, I got a couple firm hat commissions and a couple unconfirmed. So it's looking like I'm going to be busy over winter and on into spring...

You have barely even STARTED recovery mode! Lol.

You do remind me that waistcoat needs to be on my agenda.....I like the jacket made but let's be honest did not wear it for more then five minutes......

10 hours ago, madPete said:

OK. Breather is over. Whacha working on now?

Halfpint is up to her bottleneck in shirts.

I discovered I need an extra pair of slops after lending the GF a couple pair for events. So maybe a batch of slops?

Working on planning phase for Halloween costumes....made difficult by the tiny mutineers not wanting to commit to a costume theme.....maybe I can convince them to be pirates and then at least my outfit is done lol!!!

After that, agenda is mend the slops I popped seams on, finish the hems on the last minute shirt and petticoat. 

After that is the shirt I owe Stynky then after Christmas I might take a stab at stays. I might also wait on those til I can get a custom measured pattern. We shall see....

12 hours ago, William Brand said:

But what I actually said was... "I just want to make it out alive".

And from Michael...  "I'll take the two ladies (or was it 'girls'?) and one other."

I believe it was something akin to "I'll take the two women and one other"......now if only he'd say it in bad French lol

Despite the mostly sleepless night, Tudor arose with something tantamount to her usual vigor. Groggy, with aches and pains that would not let her even pretend to forget what had happened, but in the turmoil of the night, she had fathomed new depths of herself. Hardships had always acted as a chrysalis for her, a way to take herself down to the very essence and rebuild herself into something both the same, yet new. The events of the day before did not break her, did not change her position on this crew or even tarnish the uncommon trust she had started to build amongst her crew mates. As such, she could not and would not continue to lay a-bed and wallow, even if she was technically still confined to the cabin, by the Captain's orders

Stretching as she walked over to the chipped shaving bowl, she made a mental note that they would have to procure a new one, or seek a skilled tradesman to see it repaired. A silly small thing, perhaps when the ship itself still was far more damaged, but she could not right the ship. This she could.  There was a recipe for a paste like substance floating around in her memory - perhaps even a temporary repair could suffice.

Before she could manage to summon it however, she realized the water in the bowl was still a murky copper color, fouled from cleaning her face the night before, and would not do so well at the task now this morning. Instead she walked it over to the window, opened the hinges pane and dumped it, using a deep breath of the fresh wind and salt spray to energize her, where splashing her face would not.

Turning back into the room, she took note of Ajay. She had not so much forgotten that he was in the room, but rather, they had spent the night in the same room but yet in different worlds. Those two realities had now returned to one, and she smiled at his presence. The sense of security his presence had given was one of the things that had let her march through that parallel existence with no fear of assault from the other.

She noticed the tooth, clearly spat from where he sat, and wished there was anything she could do to help him, but at a loss for where to even begin, she instead just shot him a smile. "Thank you for sitting watch last night. I apologize, I am sure it was not very restful."

Knowing there was a very little chance of him fully understanding the words she had said, she hoped at least the sentiment would carry through. Rather then waiting for an answer she set about gathering up the oilskins and waistcoat the Captain had left in a heap on the floor, laying them out better to finish drying, and finding joy and solace in the mundanities of otherwise righting the room, all the while listening to the voices that carried down faintly from the deck, to see if she could gather any update on the ship's situation.

So I didn't get any pre pack photos and some of these will be posted in the event page but here's some shots of the results of effort in action for those that didn't get to see it in person.

Notes to self....

re-enforce seams even if it seems tedious

linen drawers wouldn't be a bad idea,

slightly heavier weight shirts might seem too hot but won't be as bad as having to wear multiple layers over the hankie weight,

custom sized stays pattern is in my future 

Taking a breather for a week or so, then focusing on Halloween....then will probably be back to projects come November 

Technically at Fort Conde; "OY!!!! I NEED MAN HANDS!"

Have raided the spoils of New Orleans airport.....