I’ve made all the lacerations on the top half of the chest piece as well as the helmet. I’ll be trying to finish both of those + the floating shoulders before Ides, but we’ll see how it goes. I’ll have at least the helmet done so there’ll be more updates I’m sure.
You can see here where I’ve been tooling around the lacerations and where I have not, as well as the wet part of the leather vs the dry (although it may have been too saturated today).
So these demigauntlets belong to one of the Rangers, Cable. He was over at the Atlantean Temple cutting, beveling, assembeling, etc, and when he started painting, putting down his base-coats of paint, I was like
“Woah there buddy, you need to slow down.”
He’s a pretty cool guy but the poor boy has no finesse in terms of finer motor movements.
That’s not a bad thing because he’s never needed them and likely won’t.
I offered to help clean up his painting, and so here they are, done (unless he forgot to seal them? I have no idea, I wasn’t around when he finished).
Not my best painting job ever, but a great fix especially compared to how they started.
I’ll be posting more Leather for Bron before Ides of March so heads up on that.
And maybe some garb too?
General Update
In the next 2 weeks this blog will be recieving posts about:
-The Ranger Logo Project
-The garb that I made (and how I fixed the issues I had with it)
-A post about the Bloodied Downs and how AWESOME it was (is going to be)
-possibly the Gift for Gethin project but I will likely be buying a sword instead of the rivets to finish it this week.
-possibly a post about the other logo i am designing
a warning about the ranger logo project:
it will be a few posts that are purely comprised of reference pictures, but I will break them up and queue them so that you only get one a day
Garb Prelude
Okay so I wanted to just say some things that will pertain to any/all garb projects.
I don’t sew using patterns.
I learned how to sew from watching my mother sew when I was younger, the same way the basis of my leatherworking comes from watching my father do that.
So what this means is that the way I sew requires an extra set of hands. I HAVE to have someone holding my fabric and helping me to mark/pin it to the right spots for sewing the correct size/shape.
You may benefit from this method but you may prefer using patterns. Neither method is better, it’s completely a personal choice. There’s no right or wrong here.
You can also combine the two and look at patterns to get ideas on how to make the shape of the thing you want.
I don’t recommend sewing garb by hand.
It is possible, yes! Totally possible! But it takes forever and if you’ve got stupid weak fingers like I do and you use heavy fabric it can hurt your hands/fingers. it’s also frustrating as hell in comparison to using a sewing machine.
A middle-quality beginner sewing machine will run you between $100-$200 at Walmart, I haven’t looked at Jo Anns or any other craft store that might carry such an apparatus. Considering your time/sanity (and if you’ve got shaky hands the quality of your work) if you plan on doing multiple projects or sets of garb or making garb for others it is likely in your best interest to obtain a sewing machine. But it’s not imperative.
Please be sure to use good quality thread. Cheap thread will snap and all of your hard work will be for naught.
It’s always a good idea to carry a mending kit with you to events, including some patches if you can. I’ve been hearing mostly about pants ripping in the crotch area lmao but seams can rip and all. Plus with the running and leaping and falling and such, it’s not a bad idea to be prepared as well as to be prepared to help out others.
So, when you buy your fabric (i always try to use coupons or sales because holy moly is fabric expensive I mean DANG), before you use it you need to prepare it.
In the case of field-garb this means washing your fabric on the HOTTEST setting possible. This is because when you wear it on the field you get all sweaty and gross, so you’ll be needing to actually wash it with warm/hot water after you wear it to get rid of the bacteria (which I am fairly certain but not 100% sure is one of the main reasons why sweat smells gross anyways?) and you don’t want it to shrink AFTER you’ve sewn it to fit you! So, take care of the shrinking beforehand. As a plus, washing fabric helps to get rid of any dye that hasn’t set into the fabric (it won’t get on you or the rest of your stuff now!) as well as any gross/harmful chemicals (formaldehyde is commonly used as a color preservative).
Also, when the fabric is done being washed and dried you’ll need to iron it to be able to measure/cut/mark it accurately. I would like to put some emphasis on ironing if you’re not sewing from a pattern! You’ll need to iron the fabric REALLY good before beginning (should be done even if using a pattern) and you’ll be doing a lot of ironing along the way, whenever you sew a seam, if you’re sewing a collar, etc!
Ranger Logo I
Ahhh, nothing like the smell of new projects beginning the Dagorhir year.
These two logo projects are actually really exciting for me because I’ve been given more creative space than with my last commissioned Dagorhir project (Leather for Bron).
(Also I bought fabric for garb today and will be working on it this weekend!)
So, I happen to be doing these two logo projects for free, but tbh all of my commission work (2d art) is $1 right now anyway, so it’s not like I’m losing anything (and I really like to help my friends out!!!)
So!
This really tall and very nice dude named Redbeard (or Wookie; or Patrick if you’re his irl friend) is starting his own Dagorhir group. It’s kinda under-wraps but not like super secret. He’s also recruiting for it pretty damn hard which is cool beacuse it shows some moxxy and the actual will to follow through with the whole deal.
So Dagorhir mythology is heavily entwined with LoTR, which is where a majority of the ‘Ranger’ feel comes from. But, if you’ve read Rangers’ Apprentice, it’s similar to that as well. Rangers in general tend to follow a good archetype.
So Redbeard has asked for a logo that is either a wolf skull or a dragon skull with swords through the eyesockets (preferably greatswords/longswords). Their colors are mostly neutrals and blacks with a mild emphasis on Greens.
So I asked if he wanted horns on the dragon skull, and he said yes, but did not respond with what kind of horns, so I asked Foster, the other founding member of the Rangers, as I understand it (and I may be wrong).
Foster said that he’s getting very dragon-like armor from Burke (see: resources). Also, he knew exactly what he wanted the horns like. He referenced a horned helmet from skyrim (although, he noted, not that stupid iron one, the nordic one) and I nodded, while walking to class, completely oblivious to the fact that haha there is more than one horned nordic helmet (that’s what i get for only getting to level 7 and doing it mostly by collecting cabbages).
So here is where the process begins.
Stipulations:
-Dragon or wolf skull
-Swords through eyesockets
Versions I will include:
-swords in other positions (behind skull parallell and crossed, through skull completely, in jaws of skull)
-skulls from various angles that may be better for composition or recognizeability
-various types horns
-various shaped skulls in the case of the dragon skull (if I can find ample reference)
-one with a ribbon/scroll/text
So this project is going to be very reference heavy (although to be fair, it’s usually a good idea to look for references with any design project as far as I understand it, even if only to peruse typefaces in less complicated cases), as well as preliminary-sketch heavy. Gotta make sure i can draw the skulls well and with consistency before getting down to the nitty-gritty about designing the logo (so I am able to focus more on composition. doing lots of preliminary sketching will also help with understanding the actual shape of these objects and make it easier to do multiple versions of any logo).
So here’s all those Skyrim helmets with horns:
There’s a variety of horns here so I’ll have a few different versions to work with as well as to possibly combine.
(PSA: I’ve decided to break up posts depending upon length, so while the next post will not necessarily be another stage in development for this project, due to the wordiness and picture-heaviness it’ll be however many posts it needs to be)
posts you’ll be seeing in the next week or two:
-the finishing of Gift for Gethin (have to go and buy the right rivets)
-the making of womens’ fighter garb and possibly non-field garb (without the use of a pattern)
-more finished lanterns (simply photosets)
-more work being done on the leather for bron project (will be determined by how much i am able to bring back to Jax from Milton)
-the designing of two dagorhir logos (and the references and thought processes behind them)
-possibly a redesign of the Noble logo (although this redesign will not be done by me)
Second practice of the year!
I will not be making a post after every practice (that’d be one a week every week and twice a week once I get summer fighting garb), but this one does deserve a little update.
I brought the rest of my birthday cake from Thursday (practice was Friday) and luckily it got totally eaten!!! Woo!
I got shield bashed a ton and even grappled which was awesome! I love it when I get beat up because it means that I’m not being treated like a dainty delicate flower! (And I almost never got shield bashed or grappled before. Perhaps I’ve passed the unspoken ‘no-longer-a-noob-it’s-cool-to-bash-her-now’ time-mark??).
I got this sweet bruise!!
It’s a little hard to see in this totally unflattering picture of my knee and upper calf? But the discoloration reaches from just below the knee to pretty far below it (passed my spider-bite-scar even); which is about a good 5 inches!
I don’t know if it’s weird to be proud of a bruise? But to me it just means that I actually got in there and fought.
I had a little bit of trouble being aggressive towards a dude named Picnic, he was using a red when I was facing him and pretty much there you just have to rush (keep your head about you though! Don’t be a stupid berserker! That only works for a lucky select few :( ) and haha I didn’t so he just wrecked my shield and wrecked me because I can’t do anything with a single blue (always a learning process). I was a little hesitant to go for it with him because he was the first person who hit me hard enough for it to hurt, I think. So I just associate him with pain LMAO. Gotta get over that asap because it’s the mark of a weakling. Super nice dude though, currently dating Missus Molly (the Noble Phoenix) and it’s ultra-cute.
I did get hit in the neck though, REALLY hard with the shaft of a red (the guy who hit me was new). I like to think I take my hits well and never complain about getting hit too hard (I make a point of never complaining, actually); but not even going to lie I almost passed out. I was kinda worried that it had done something to my spine because the force was so jarring the base of my neck (where it meets the spine) just hurt like a mofo. I’ve got a nice soreness in the left side of my neck (where i got hit) so I mean the pain is there but I seem to be just fine!!! Yay! (and I didn’t want the kid to feel bad or anything so I just told him it was all good and kept on. No sense in letting it slow me down, which I guess is the real indicator of whether or not it’s actually a bad hit that creates the need to sit a few rounds out)
Afterwards a bunch of us cool kids went and hung out at Gorg’s. I finally got my first shield that actually belongs to me! Of course it’s for anyone to use when I’m not; but it’s MINE and that’s what’s important. I feel really proud of it (even though i didn’t make it)!!!!!!!
I’ve updated the resources page to include direct links to Gorg and Gorgess.
I’ll be making some garb soon and finishing the Gift for Gethin project asap because he’s moving???
Hope everyone is well.
-Renata D’Etoile/Glory/Soleil
My Dagorhir allotted money right now is going towards new equipment from Gorg (I need to update the references page!!); I’ve ordered 2 full sets equipment so that i can practice over summer with my brother if I have to move home for summer again.
Beyond this, I’m heavily contemplating what I want my non-armored field-garb to be.
I need field-garb to go to realm practice to become a better fighter. So it only follows that I’ll be needing to make some. I also need this garb to go to events during summer.
I’ll likely have to have a different set for with/without armor, but I on’t plan on getting (read as: making) armor for a while (mostly because it’s pretty expensive).
The problem is coming up with something that I feel good in that doesn’t hinder my fighting ability that is appropriately feminine without screaming ‘I’M A GIRL LOOK AT ME I HAVE BOOBIES AND I CAN HAVE A BABY AND THE MOST OF THE REST OF YOU ARE MEN’.
I read through a thread or two on the Dagorhir forums about womens’ fighter garb. Most of the women seemed to agree and have i spot on; follow the rules, don’t let too much of a sports bra show, use cinching if you want it figure flattering but always remember that some people will treat you differently if you’re very feminine looking. There seemed to be some argument, mostly between men and women, about what female fighting garb is considered sexy. This struck me as odd because it’s not at all about being sexy, and it most certainly is not about what someone ELSE considers sexy.
Wanting to be sexy on the battlefield is fine, I’m cool with that (as long as the logistics work. If tits are hanging out and flopping everywhere I just don’t understand because that HURTS and then yo’re sacrificing comfort for attention and I don’t agree.). But also I think being sexy should be done for ones’ self.
I don’t get dressed in the morning thinking about what everyone ELSE will like to see me wear. I don’t see why it would be different for the field.
And I’ll be double damned if I let someone else dictate my standards of sexiness. Everyone is allowed an opinion, but when it comes to myself, my opinion is the only one that matters.
I guess I’m just confused as to why that was on the discussion thread at all, it seemed sort of out of place.
I find that I am continually confused as to what is passing at any given event, in terms of garb. Some people seem sticklers for historical accuracy, whereas others just seem to be good with ‘medieval fantasy’ type designs???
I’m thinking that a partially opened loose-sleeve (or tight sleeve i guess, idk) dress or top design with a wide-collar (not a scoop neck which would show a sports bra) and either the bottom of the dress with shorts underneath (period underwear would be great I guess??) or pants.
I don’t care much for stressing over field-looks because I’m always a huge mess anyways so whatever (until I get my armor and then i won’t need to preen at all, because my armor will be gorgeous! holla!) but I do care about being generally the best looking I can possibly be at any given time. This sometimes amounts to merely wearing figure flattering clothes; which seems to be the case for the Dag field.
Anyways, not exactly sure about most of this, just thinking aloud so as to update the blog on my Dagorhir going-ons and my tentative project planning process and such.
So we had our first Noble dagorhir practice yesterday! (Realm practice was today I think, but I did not attend.)
Noble practice is the practice that Noble (as a University of North Florida club) hold once a week, open for anyone. We usually get some great Atlantis guys (Bourbon, Chan, Gethin,…
Also:
When I get to 50 or 100 followers (depending upon how long it takes to get to one or the other and how I am monetarily at each, also this is assuming I ever get there LOL), I’ll be doing a Leatherworking and/or Crafting Giveaway.
Like maybe a pair of vambraces or a helmet or a belt or a complex belt-pouch (opens/closes, multiple compartments, maybe hardened?) for the winner (choice of the winner) and sweet mosaic or mason jar lanterns for the two runners up, or something.
Presumably I’ll have had enough practice working on my own items to have enough to put out as a portfolio so that a giveaway would even be wanted!
If you’ve got ideas/suggestions on that feel free to give them. I’ll leave this answerable for that reason.
Or maybe also have one of the options be like…printing on tabbards or shields. I see a lot of painting that looks good but like if you’re going for one design on everything, then printing is best because it gives you soemthing as close to beign exactly the same each time as possible, and usually have really crisp lines even up close.
Obligatory Questionmark?
