• Name: Righ-Tuatha Cailte MacScandal, OSB
• Project Title: A Mästermyr Chest Inspired Replacement for Missing Provincial Regalia: How to Pull a Box Out of a Log
• Local Group: Province of Malagentia 
• East Kingdom Wiki:  https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Cailte_Crobdurg_Mac_Scandal

The champion’s regalia for the Artisan Prime of the Province of Malagentia, a box for each outgoing champion to pass along their artform, was lost a number of years back.  When planning to replace it I decided to challenge myself.  My idea was building the replacement using only hand tools and with boards riven from an oak tree that we had professionals take down in the back yard.  Due to time restraints, and a miscalculation about the size of board that would be required for the base, I did have to sub out the base for a piece of oak plywood cut on the table saw, which itself presented different, fortunately faster solved, difficulties.

After deciding to enter the box into the King & Queen’s Arts & Sciences Championship I cut a display piece to demonstrate how the base was intended to join to the sides using a pegged through tenon and played around with making some closer to period finish. On the box I had used a modern salad bowl finish to protect any random animals or small children that may feel the need to maw on it. Of the three boards in the display piece one is left raw, one is finished with a combination of beeswax and linseed oil, and one is finished with a combination of beeswax and fish oil.

Link to Documentation:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GHtyf5y4sXGfROBvo-DOqipOMYJaN9gIfPYUs4TOZQg/edit?usp=drivesdk

• Your Name and Prefered Title: Lady Catherine Ruggeley
  Title of your Project: Linen Most Useful – Reconstructing a 1530’s English Smock
  Location: Barony of Stonemarche
  East Kingdom Wiki Link: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/wiki/Catherine_Ruggeley

Reconstructing historical garments using documented techniques can be challenging due to differences between historic and modern materials. This study examines the reconstruction of a linen smock suitable for a 1530s English merchant’s wife in order to identify modern materials, tools, and hand-sewing techniques that best replicate the smock and fulfill its role. This project evaluates the historical role of the smock as a washable, skin-layer garment intended to support hygiene, comfort, and the preservation of outer clothing. This study also considers changes in linen cultivation and the characteristics of sewing needles in the period.

Four modern fabrics (pre-softened linen, a linen/cotton blend, and two long-staple linens of differing thread counts) were tested by hemming to evaluate different qualities when creating a double fold hem. Based on the research and those findings, two full smocks were constructed using long-staple linen and a hem-and-whip construction method. Results demonstrate that modern pre-softened and blended linens make fine, stable hems more challenging while unsoftened, long-staple linen more closely supports documented sixteenth-century sewing practices.  No functional difference was found between modern steel needles and the steel needles available in the mid-sixteenth century in England.

The study concludes that long-staple, unsoftened linen of approximately 55 threads per inch and five-ounce weight, paired with hem-and-whip construction and fine linen thread, provides the most effective reconstruction of a functional and historically plausible 1530s English smock. While the 122 thread count linen was more stable and supported finer sewing, its prohibitive cost makes it less appropriate for reenactment.

Additional Links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kLlGdDTDbXMg5cyphh-xMf62tiIF1IuRp5D7gPl1RSI/edit?usp=sharing