kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
2024 07 21 23.24.39

[ A rectangular piece of embroidery; the background is deep forest green, with two simple crossed trumpets in yellow. In blazon: Vert, two straight trumpets in saltire, bells in chief, Or. ]

So I’ve barely been able to really be _in_ the SCA in … a long while. It’s been five years since I lived close enough to a local group to be able to so much as go to fighter practice, & even before then, in Dragonsspine & Hartshorndale, I was too busy just surviving to be able to really be _involved_. I got to plenty of events, but always as a merchant. Not that merchants aren’t ever part of the community that makes up the SCA — most of us _are_ — but there’s still a gap there, especially when you’re the only one running the booth & can’t make it to classes. Or go watch the fencing. Or go to court to watch a friend get an award, especially when they put court up against the local version of Midnight Madness. & I’ve been missing all of that, a LOT.

So when it was announced that a friend would be getting her Pelican at Pennsic, & that a bunch of embroidery would need to be done, I JUMPED on that. I think I was the first one who asked, actually, which gave me my pick of what to embroider, so of COURSE I picked the heralds’ badge.

(& then it took me forEVer to actually get it done, because of Things & also I volunteered to sew a tunic for her as well, but I got it all done in time, if barely)

The SCA, despite the presence of merchants, runs on something much closer to a gift economy than on it does on anything like capitalism. I didn’t get paid for my work, either in money or in anything else. Eventually the energy I put into the embroidery (& the tunic) will make its way back around to me — & yes, that sounds pretty woo, but I mean it in a pretty literal sense here — & in the meantime, while I haven’t benefited financially, I’ve definitely gained some esteem in the eyes of those who know that I did the work (although that miiiight be a bit less than it would have been had I gotten everything done sooner!).

I really do prefer a gift economy — I’d love to be able to set up my booth & just leave it there, secure in the knowledge that people wouldn’t take more than was reasonable, & that I could, in turn, access the necessities of living as I needed them, & the small luxuries as I wanted them, within reason. But … here we are.

(I’m not looking for arguments about the perceived benefits and/or necessity of capitalism; take that somewhere else. I _will_ say that plenty of human societies have run just fine on gift economies, & if we’ve done it before, I don’t see why we can’t do it again)


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
20220223_153601

[A messenger bag made from reclaimed denim — back pockets in various shades of blue and grey line the bottom edge, the flap is made of grey denim, and the strap is made from pieces of old waistband.

Back in December, more or less, a Discord friend was destashing a bunch of stuff, & I took one look at this messenger bag & said MINE. I’ve been feeling uncomfortable with purses for a while, but haven’t been able to find a messenger bag I actually liked for less than A LOT of money, & I really do prefer to get things used when I can. It’s not like I can’t mend them if they need it.

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originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
20210222_155405

[ A pair of thick socks, mottled in shades of dark pink. Blue stitching is visible at the balls & heels of the soles. ]

I didn’t spend the week doing nothing, have you MET me. (Although I did take several naps, go me.)

I spent a lot of time flopped on the couch, reading, & also got some sewing done. As witness!

… okay, yes, strictly speaking this is darning, not sewing.

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originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
2015-07-18 11.11.08

 not that I’m remotely done with the sewing, mind you

I think a lot of you are familiar with what my booth usually looks like. For those of you who haven’t seen it, the top picture is what I’ve been running with for the last several years. It’s a pretty standard wedge tent, with one long side held up on poles instead of staked to the ground. It’s sturdy, not terrible to put up, & it works.

I got the idea a year or two back to use the bits that hang down from the side of the roof — you can just see one on the left side of the tent; they’d be part of the door if I were using it as a wedge tent — to extend the space the tent overs out to the side a bit. This spring I finally got the chance to try it out.

 

It works! I mean, I knew that I could add a couple of poles & _do_ it; what I didn’t know was if it would make enough extra space to be worth the effort. Once I had the thing up? Yeah. SO worth it.

I’ve _also_ needed new sidewalls for years. I’ve been using too-small pieces of canvas, extra tablecloths, & even a random spare shower curtain for that, & it. Hasn’t LOOKED good. It looks like crap, to be honest, & I’m lucky I haven’t had to deal with serious wind. I couldn’t do anything about it until I tried the thing with the flaps, though, so I’ve been waiting to get that started, too.

I still have to sew a bunch of ties & loops to the side walls, but they’re cut, they’re hemmed, & they more-or-less fit.

…they also still need some adjustment, but I’ll be putting another pole on the side that’s drooping, & shifting some things around, & I think they’ll be in pretty good shape by Battlemoor.

Y’all, it’s gonna look SO good, & I am SO excited that I’m finally in a place where I can work on this project.


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
2019-05-12 15.13.18

I’ve got SO MUCH going on but I _am_ getting through it. Little by little.

Check out my new banner! I am SO HAPPY with it. I’ve got to sew ties to the corners & it’s ready to go.

Tent sewing continues. And continues. And continues.

Plus I got to do custom soap for a client — Earl Grey Tea! Yes, all the obvious names for it have already been used. Alas.


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
2019-05-11_22.08.47

… it’s been An Effort. Because: cats.

Sometimes I can sew around them. Sometimes, not so much.

… next time I’m getting HAMSTERS.


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

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