Yet Another Project Completed !

This is an War of 1812 era British Regulation Haversack for a common soldier.  Its 20 inches wide and 14 inches high with a 2 inch wide strap that 34 inches long.  The originals were made of  heavy  linen or cotton canvas, this one is made of Sun Forager canvas.  I had a piece of Sun Forager exactly the right size to make the bag & the strap, so the goddesses of sewing obviously wished it to be so!  And yes, its totally hand sewn, not a machine stitch anywhere. 

I still need to add a Broad Arrow over GR stencil that marks this as property of the King.  Research as to the proper design of the 1812 era Broad Arrow & GR has yet to give me a good model to work from.  Few original haversacks exist & they’re usually in very poor physical condition.  So I’m still hunting a decent picture of an original stencil to work from.  

I plan to use it to hold my oilcloth rain poncho & my red matchcote.  It’s a snug fit but they both go in.   Its much nicer to have them hung up in a haversack in my lodge rather than in a clothing box or laying on top of my bedding.  Easier to find in the dark too.  Things on my cot have as way of ending up on the ground. 

The Ladies of an OVPR–October 2010

October found me in Surry VA for another 4 days of fun & shining times.  It rained a bit Wednesday on the way down & during camp set-up, but the rest of the event was dry.  Warm-ish during the day, cool-ish at night but the weather gods were surely smiling on us.  Sunday & time to return to modern life came all too soon !

Some of the Colonial period ladies from the better classes.

Four more Colonial Ladies at the Saturday Ladies Tea.  Except the cups didn’t smell much like tea !

There were of course a few women of the Lower Classes present.   Even a few local Native Woman came to the affair.

I just don’t know what the Colonies are coming to – Ladies of the Better Sort openly consorting with Women of the Lower Classes.  What will happen next, rejecting the Rule of the King !

Wife of an Itinerate Musician & an Young Indentured Lass with her Son.

French Trapper with his Plains Native Wife & a Colonial Woman who owns Her Own Shop. (Not sure why the right hand picture won’t load right – it shows up fine on the ‘puter).

This Lass Clearly Had a Bit Too Much Hard Cider !

The next Vous is scheduled for the end of March, so keep your powder dry & come on for some shining times.

Projects Projects Projects

It got nasty cold in November & didn’t improve much in December, so I decided it was time to tackle various projects related to my rendezvous hobby.

Here’s the almost completed 1812 Virginia Militia canteen. Almost because I need to add a leather strap & buckle. Currently I’ve got a woven jute strap on it so I can hang it up & use it while I’m hunting down the proper leather strap & buckle.

These cotton haversacks & wood “canteens” are Christmas Tree ornaments I sent various folks as presents. The haversacks are 3x3.5 inches & the canteens are just under 2 inches. The paint is acrylic Santa Red & Holly Green & the haversacks are cotton. The haversacks open but the canteens are a solid circle of wood.

This is my shooting supply box from my 2ndRIV Co. F days. Its been cleaned, re-stained Colonial Maple & given a coat of mineral oil. The first time I stained it many years ago I used walnut stain, so the maple over walnut gave me a lovely warm final color. It still needs a Kings Broad Arrow & “GR” painted on the top.

These is my pine folding table & stools for my camp. I took them apart, sanded them, stained them Colonial Maple & then treated them with several coats of mineral oil. I’ll give them one more mineral oil treatment once its warm enough outside to have the oil soak in really well.

This box is just like my old Civil War box. I bought it off a blanket at the last fall OVPR. Its been sanded (to remove the deer stencil), stained Colonial Maple & treated with mineral oil. Its going to hold all my small personal items – toilet items, belt, sash, leg ties & the like.

I had one extra Civil War Shelter Half that I used as a ground cloth during my time with the 2nd RIV Co. F.  Bridget has chewed 2 holes in it so I couldn’t really sell it – so I unstitched it, cut off the brass grommets, squared up the 2 pieces of canvas, patched Bridget’s handiwork & made them up as covers for firewood.  They’ve been dyed Rit Tan & sprayed with water repellant.  The cover on the right was dyed first so it came out a bit darker.

This is the back of my Canyon, which is not exactly a hobby related project but still it’s a project. The last ice storm was no fun at all in my 2 wheel rear wheel drive pickup. So I cut some 2x6s to fit into the bed of my truck – GMC has molded in places to hold the wood. The pine wood is compliments of my friends Nick & Katherine. Poof ! Traction.

I had a whole lot of fun doing this stuff, although sanding wood in the house with an electric sander was rather messy.