kids at the faire: Introducing Natural Dyeing

We are surrounded by color. Not just by colors we see, but also by the colors that must be discovered. There is a hidden palette in the natural world that we often take for granted. The process of creating natural dyes is a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the secret beauty that surrounds us. Dyeing with natural materials is also an opportunity to teach a lesson to children about the medieval world.

The medieval world was full of color in a way the modern world is not. Not duller colors, or less beautiful ones. They had discovered the secret world of natural colors. They used plants, minerals, and in some cases animals to create vibrant hues in their clothing, paintings, ceramics and homes. All from nature. No petroleum by-products in the batch.

Medieval colors. British Library, Harley 4431, fol. 71v.

Jewel tones like emerald and purple, girly colors like pink and chartreuse, even rich blacks, were all achievable dyes for medieval clothing. Each certainly came with a price, and non-nobles did not always have access to such bold colors, but they made up for that through processes that created teal, purple-gray, magenta, and of course, beautiful ranges of blues, yellows, reds and greens.

Now, I'm kind of odd, but when I was a child, I was always amused when we had beets for dinner and they left a pretty dark pink spot on my plate. I felt the same way about the yellow stain a dandelion left on my arm when we sang the little piggy song and I was the unfortunate recipient of the "wee wee". Then there was the time my mom used brewed tea to stain some crumpled paper to "age" it. With no real exposure to natural dyeing as a child, I still noticed it, and was fascinated by it. Imagine how much my mind would have been blown if I'd seen that a hank of yarn boiled in some mums would turn the yarn almost neon!

For the sake of both safety and attention span, teaching young children about natural dyes is best accomplished through more observational teaching than hands-on practice. Children can get a sense of ownership of the process if you include them in the initial prep stages and then with finalizing your dye results at the end.

Natural dying is an incredibly varied operation. The dye stuff, the item you're dyeing, the fixing agent (called mordant), even the time of year, all play into the color you will get. This is certainly an A&S topic worth considerable study, but if the point is to introduce the secret color world to your children, it shouldn't be complicated or take too much time. Food-based dye stuff is a good option. Good dye-producing foods are easy to pick up at the grocery store. Three food items that produce great dye colors are blackberries (purple), blueberries (pink), and onion skins (golden yellow). I'll show you blackberries below.

Dyeing with food:

The first step is to prepare your materials to be dyed. This will only work with natural materials (which is perfect for medieval A&S, right?). A couple 100% cotton T-Shirts would be great take-aways that your kids can show off. (In the photos below, I'm dyeing a piece of off-white 100% linen.)

Off-white linen before dye (sorry it's a bit of a dark photo)

The item needs mordant to set the dye. Luckily, fruits and vegetables can be set with either salt or vinegar. Place either 1/2 cup salt and 8 cups water (fruits) OR 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water (veggies) into a pan with your item. Make sure the item is completely submerged. Scale the ratio up as needed if your item is too large for the mordant amount.

Linen in the salt water bath, coming up to a boil.

Boil the item for an hour. Let it cool, wring it out and set aside for your dye. (It works out well to actually have your item in the mordant while you're boiling your dye as described below.)

 Blackberries in good condition (not over-ripe).

With your kids' help (as much as you feel they can do), either chop or crush the dye item you've chosen, and measure how much you end up with. You will need 2 parts water to every one part dye stuff.

Cut blackberries in water on the heat.

Put the dye stuff and water into a pan over heat. Boil for an hour. (This is a good stage to talk about medieval colors, so your child is away from the stove.)

After boiling for an hour, the berries were blanched and plump.

Let the pan cool a bit to make it safer to handle, then strain out the dye stuff, keeping the liquid.

The blackberry dye after straining.

Place the mordanted item into to dye (careful- don't splash!), making sure that the dye can work in to all parts of the item. I ended up a bit low on the dye, which means I needed to at least double the dye amount at the start.

Linen in the dye immediately after placing it in and turning it once.

Longer soaking times will result in darker or deeper dyes. Soak until you achieve a color your kids like. I soaked the linen for about 15 minutes, until it looked like it wasn't going to get any darker. The color is likely to fade after the first machine wash, so be sure to explain that beforehand. Stronger mordants (such as alum or iron) hold dyes much better, but all natural dyes are susceptible to fading from their initial colors straight out of the bath.

After about 15 minutes, the dye was a deeper shade on the linen.

Rinse the item in cold water, hang dry, and you're done!

The newly dye, still wet linen hanging to dry.

My 2 cups of blackberries produced a pale, berry purple dye. The photo is a bit pink, but it's more of a rose color, with definite purple undertones.

The final, dry linen- a pretty berry-toned lavender.

For more in-depth information on period dyeing, check out Drea Leed's Medieval Dyeing Resources.

modern medieval family : a medieval doll

One of my biggest concerns with having three sons and only one daughter is that K will have a hard time understanding the importance of being a lady- even when she may end up becoming a heavy weapons fighter. It's important to me that she know and appreciate that being properly dressed is always the best course of action, whatever path she chooses to take in the SCA.

So I thought it would be fun and a good idea to make a medieval dress-up doll for her, to give her a tool for learning how medieval outfits go together while she's still young. The long-term hope here is that she'll develop an appreciation for medieval clothing so that when she's kicking butt as a heavy weapons fighter in her teens, it will be a given that when the fighting is over, it's time to dress like the lady she is. That's the hope at least!

As luck would have it, my mom located an old doll of mine when we were cleaning out the garage. She was still in good condition, but she had a "prairie" style that I didn't care for. I saw the potential for converting her to the medieval doll I was planning to make.

The original doll.

In order to convert her to a more "blank" doll, I removed all the lacy pieces. Then I removed her skirt and used pieces of it to cover the printed area around her chest and neck. It's not perfect, since you can still see the printing through the off-white fabric, but it's not overly noticeable. I also removed all the original hair, which was a thin crochet cotton and had not held up as well. I also took the "laces" off the boots. I couldn't really do anything about the embroidery on the chest (since there was a printed design underneath that it covered).

After initial modifications and with most of her new hair and hose.

 I located a fuzzy brown yarn that had a really soft feel to it, Though it looks kind of ratty up close, it was actually perfectly suited to being the dolls new locks. I cut a length and sewed the center into place one at a time until the hair was sufficiently full.

Close-up of the embroidered garter with "buckle".

 I made new linen hose (which didn't end up as tall as they should have been) to cover her old boots, and used some pearl cotton the stitch them into place around the top. I used two rows of chain stitch to create faux garters and used some gold cotton to make "buckles". the embroidery prevents the hose from being pulled off.

Hair completed and trimmed and the fixed smock in place.

In order to cover the remaining portions of the original doll that I couldn't alter otherwise, I decided that the linen smock would also be a fixed piece. In this way, with the smock and hose, she'll never be completely undressed. The smock in stitched directly onto the doll at he wrists and neckline, as well as along her shoulders.

Embroidery around the smock neckline.

 To fancy her up a bit (like the Lady she is), I used some linen embroidery thread for a line of herringbone stitch around the neckline. I'm really happy with that little inclusion, not just because it looks good, but also because it's another way the smock is attached to the doll.

German-style kerchief headdress with tassels and braided hair loops.

I had planned to do a huvet, but when I got into it, I ended up having an easier time folding the linen into a kerchief style. It's stitched on in several places so that it can't be easily pulled out. The braided loops are also secured so they can't be pulled out. I used some cotton yarn to create the tassels.

Almost done with a teal linen kirtle.

I made a really simple, 4-panel kirtle (without gores), and used some pearl cotton the "lace" it closed. I was going to leave it here, since Christmas was fast approaching, but I decided that she needed one more item.

Final doll front.

 I made a really simple apron which is actually more 15th century French in nature, but is really just an added accessory. I'm glad I added it, though, because she looked a bit more complete with it.

Final doll back.

I did all the sewing by hand, including all the garments, since the original doll had also been sewn by hand, and it seemed to be the right way to do about it. All the materials came out of my scrap stash, so there was no cost involved.

I hope that she serves my daughter well, and that she's able to adapt to K's changing interests and moods over then next several years. I also hope that she serves her covert, intended purpose of teaching her that there's no excuse to be under-dressed!

modern medieval family : Activity Hunt Follow Up

Since I last posted, we've had an opportunity to try my Event Activity Hunt twice, first with my 2-year old daughter, then with my 4-year old son. The second time we also had my baby in tow, though he's still too young to get much out of the premise behind it- he just enjoyed the walks and the new sights and sounds.

It took a few tries before she got the hang of pulling just one card from the bag.

We started in the morning once we began hearing the noises from the list fields and noticed more people moving about the site. The first time, I had forgotten to pull out the cards I knew we weren't going to find that day, so the first couple she pulled were actually duds. I corrected this the second time with my son. In his case, there was one that had been pulled (the Scribe's Room card) that my mom decided to skip because of where it was located.

With my daughter, when we got to the activity, we had a hard time getting the card back to read the little blurb, but it didn't really seem to matter anyway. Just pointing out the activity and getting her to see why it was unique seemed to work. For my son, we interacted more, particularly when we found the Rapier List. He wanted to see their swords and armor and the fencers were gracious enough to let him touch them.

For both "runs", when we pulled the Royalty card, we spoke with the Queen. Interestingly, there was a Coronation between the two events, so we didn't talk with the same Queen twice! I was teaching a class when my son found the Queen, but my mom tells me she was very welcoming and open to talking with him, and even let him touch her crown as he counted the dragons and roses.

She liked seeing the pictures on each, even if she didn't understand them.

I've decided to remove two of the cards from the deck, the Troll card and the Scribes Room card. Finding these "activities" is a little awkward, and the kids don't get much of a chance to really see and understand what's going on with them.

She insisted on carrying the card as we walked to find it.

We discovered that the cards really helped up get out and see the event. We were always on the move, as we moved from one activity to the next, but we lingered long enough at each to see what was going on and share that with the kids. At the end of the day it was a lot of walking, but it was truly worth it.  In the second run, the cards were used up fairly quickly, even with a break for lunch, and when there was no more hunt, my son began to act up in the same manner he always did. He did not, however, act up while the hunt was still going on, which is very telling. Adding in shape and color cards will help extend the hunt for him, and I may even brainstorm some mini games that we can play when their card is pulled that allow us to take a break from walking, but don't stop the hunt.

Overall, I say the Event Activity Hunt is a success, and I'm excited about how adaptable it was to the two different ages and temperaments. It will be interesting to try it in the winter at an indoor event to see if it still works.

Oh, and make sure you have something handy to put the cards you pull into as you do your hunt!

modern medieval family: getting kids interested at a young age

My children are all still considered quite young, so my view on kids at SCA events is currently aimed at how preschoolers and toddlers interact with the Society. If you read my last post, you'll know now that, while that's where my head is at, I've come to realize how wrong I've been about actually getting my kids interested.

And that's just not acceptable.

When I began attending SCA events, I was 16 and had the mental capacity to know what was going on (mostly). I came to the SCA with an understanding and interest in medieval culture already, as well as a desire to participate in the Society's unique culture. It's extremely easy to take for granted the ease all that came to me.

But what about a way to make learning all that stuff fun, interesting and exciting for a toddler? What if there was a tradition that could be built into the act of going to events with young kids that, with repetition and time, taught them about events, the SCA, and helped them to feel included?

How about my Event Activity Hunt?

I picked 20 items that happen at our local events. These include "typical" activities, such as Heavy Weapons fighting and Archery, as well as special activities that happen rarely, like Coursing. Then there are items that aren't so much activities, but rather things that are at many events, namely the merchants, but also the feast kitchen and scribe's room. I also included the royalty and our local group barony.

I also threw in two "wild" cards, "Most Authentic Garb" and "Most Impressive Encampment".  These two are not activities, but are ways to encourage the kids to recognize when people at events are doing a good job at something and provides a unique opportunity to interact with those people.  I'll be making some bead tokens for the kids to give to the people they pick for these cards.

 I created cards with images on the front to represent the items, then named each and included a short "definition" on the back. I had my local print shop print them on heavy card stock, then finish them with rounded corners and lamination. I could have done them on my own at home, but I want them to be sturdy and kid-proof. It cost under $20 to have the printer do it. 

Here's the idea:

Before attending the event, we determine if any of the "special" activities or items will be there, and we make sure to include them in a grab bag. We remove cards for items we know will not be available.

Throughout the event, the kids get to draw a card at random. Then we "hunt" for the activity. Once we find it, we read off our definition, then spend a few minutes at that activity, either watching and explaining what's happening, or interacting with the people doing the activity.

I color coded the cards to easily separate the special cards and the cards that you may not actually get to interact with or even get into (like the Feast Kitchen).

There are several ways to adapt the game, depending on the kids, the nature of the event, and the items drawn. For instance, let's say that the kids pull the Royalty card, and at that particular event, the Royalty is very accessible. The "hunt" for the Royalty that day could mean finding them, approaching them, and introducing the kids to them (while explaining what you're doing). The next event, though, perhaps the royalty is less accessible. So instead of interacting with them, you simply find them or point them out, or maybe just look for the thrones.

Other adaptations are to only pull a card when you're sick of being at the sunshade, or to have a specified number of cards that must be pulled at the event.

There's also the possibility of adding prizes or tokens that they receive for each activity they locate.

And it's a great way to gauge interest. If every time a particular activity is drawn, the child goes nuts and immediately wants to find it, it's safe to say that activity is something that interests them. If they stop getting enthusiastic about certain activities, then they probably aren't as interested in them. Instead of dropping that card, though, have the child tell you about the activity- they may not understand it which has caused them to not care for it. If they do understand it, then have them define the activity each time it's pulled, and ask them to tell you why it's included in events. They need to be respectful of other people's interests, after all, so it's important that they never think that it doesn't matter.

I'm excited to try these with my daughter at our next event.  If nothing else, they will give us a good excuse to get out from under the sunshade and actually see the event!

If you would like to start your own Event Activity Hunt tradition, and would like to use my cards, you can download a PDF of the cards here.  Please use them only for personal, non-profit use.

modern medieval family: is event behavior driven by boredom?

This post is something of a follow up to my last post, which I've been thinking a lot about since posting it.

All my kids have been extremely adept at solitary play. Even the twins are very good at finding something to do individually. Yet, in the home environment, we have plenty for them to interact with- toys, books, empty bottles and boxes, endless pieces of paper, and, of course, TV. It's pretty rare that true boredom really ever hits them. There's always something to do.

When we took my oldest to events, we made sure to bring along his diapers, food, blanket, etc. but never gave much thought to what else he might need. He played so well on his own at home with such an a active imagination, we figured that he'd occupy himself in the same manner at events. But instead, he just seemed to want to run off, get into stuff and use his "outside" voice all the time. In other words, events became a breeding ground for misbehavior.

When we added the twins into the event mayhem, O had already established an untrustworthy repertoire at events. We couldn't rely on him to help us out by simply behaving.

Added to his general lack of civil conduct was his total rebellion against taking a nap. We had problems getting him to nap during the day at home, so his resistance to them at events didn't really surprise us, but it was extremely frustrating. Eventually, during the twin's second event (when O was 2), I made the call- trying to force him into taking a nap at an event was a losing battle, one I no longer had the energy or desire to fight.

But then we began seeing the same behavior in the twins. At home, to keep things under control, they spent more time in their play pens than roaming about. Yet at home they behaved, and chattered with each other and chewed on their toys and hugged their teddy bears. At events, however, they whimpered and refused to settle down for naps.

Events, then, started to come with a caveat. If we go, we have to deal with the misbehavior. There have been many times in recent months that we skipped an event simply because we didn't feel we had the patience to deal with all the bad kids.

Now, I'm adult enough to admit when I've made a mistake, but it sometimes takes a while to realize when a mistake has been made. In this case, "a while" has been nearly 4 years. And here's the mistake: believing that the kids could take care of their own entertainment at events the same as they could at home, and not giving them the tools to do that.

I think that we mistakenly believed that the event environment would foster its own brand of interesting opportunities for play. That the list fields, the interesting clothing and the pageantry would all provide entertainment enough for our children. Unfortunately, from the point of view of the kids, we never made the act of going and being at an event a big deal, so there was no need to get excited about it, or be interested in it. Add to it that we rarely let them wander and explore, and almost never provide a fun and comfortable place for them to play as an alternative, and to them, events are actually the worst place ever.

Nothing makes you feel like a goober like realizing that you've completely screwed up the one thing you really wanted your kids to like.

In September, mom and I will be going to a camping event, and I decided that my daughter should go with us. She has not gone to an event without at least one sibling, and she's only been camping twice. She's also more likely to stay close, come when she's called, and keep her voice down. In other words, she's typically the best behaved, and therefore the best guinea pig.

Guinea pig for what? A change of attitude on my part to help her see and understand what makes events special, what there is to do there, and when we're stuck at the sun shade, to make her mood my number one priority.

I've got some ideas of how to accomplish this, including a game that can last the whole event, which I'll share in my next post.

lessons learned: Not involving your kids

A few months ago, we had to make a tough decision, one that greatly changed our participation in SCA events. We had to make the decision to not involve our kids as much in our hobby. Specifically, we decided not to take the kids to camping events, at least until they don't require the high level if supervision they need now.

Back in the fall, after a VERY long, uncomfortable night in which the non-kid friendly camping atmosphere, and the twins not knowing how to handle sleeping in the tent forced us to sleep in the van Friday night, we packed up the camp and went home Saturday after evening court. We also had a very difficult time getting the kids away from camp during the day, since there only ever seemed to be one adult with the kids for a good chunk of the day.

We left the three older kids home in the spring, and took the baby with us to camp 3 hours away at Coronation. A thunderstorm blew through camp right before we got there, and flooded the camping field. The option presented was to sleep in a large open room (a metal pole building) with everyone else. Because we were with a baby, we decided this was not the choice for us, and went to find the nearest hotel. No dice. We slept in the van again, with A nestled in the back of the van with almost all the blankets. He slept relatively well, but we did not.

We tried again at Border Raids, with all four kids again. Saturday was miserable- it was hot, and the kids were stuck at camp because each of the adults had to take turns with them because of our commitments. The twins were bored, they hated being in the tent to sleep, and they screamed and cried almost the whole time. After dinner, we packed it up and went home, not staying Saturday night. Again.

The next day, we sat down and made the decision. We each (including my mom, who we usually go to events with) have interests and commitments at events, and while we want our children to understand and like our hobby, we can't throw out our commitment as parents just to get in some good SCA time. The comfort and opinion of our children has to come first.

The twins don't like camping in general, O doesn't like being stuck at camp, and A's been put in one too many awkward and slightly dangerous sleeping situations. And stuck at camp with four uncomfortable kids and nothing to be done about it makes me feel like my family is a freak show when our campmates shoot us sidelong, irritated glances.

Along with this choice, we realize that bringing all four kids to a day camp poses the same sorts of challenges. We've realized over the summer that, if we want to continue being involved, we can't create situations in which one of us gets stuck at the day camp with the kids. And if there isn't a plan for what to do with the kids at the event, it's probably not going to end well.

I want my kids to go to events. I want them involved. But I also don't want to be selfish at the expense of the kids' moods. Before each event, we plan. Who will go? How many kids? What will the kids do there? It is worth taking any kids, given the site, the weather and our personal commitments?

We were foolish, in retrospect, to believe that we could continue to attend events with four young kids in the same manner we attended them with one. This has been a learning process for us, and we believe we've made the best choice for us and our family at this time to not involve our kids at the same level we were. It saddens me- I feel like we could do better as a modern medieval family to find a better solution for all of us to camp and enjoy an event- a full event- together. We'll get there eventually, though- we just need to work it all out.

kids at the faire: The Art of Calligraphy

My grandfather often used a dip pen.  I don't ever remember him doing medieval-style calligraphy, or anything truly fancy, but the fact that he knew how to use pen and ink astounded me as a kid.  My mother had learned calligraphy somewhere along the way, citing grandpa's interest in calligraphy as her personal inspiration.  One of the first marks she made (pun intended) in the SCA was as a scribe.  She typically uses cartridge pens, but the principle is the same- wielding a power over ink.

I never learned calligraphy.  I tried several times.  I got a calligraphy kit as a Christmas gift one year, but whether it was lack of dedication on my part, or a skill set that simply does not fall into that category, I really just never got the hang of it.  I can draw with a dip pen- I use a nib and ink for all my illuminations now- but I still look at those who can do calligraphy with awe.

My children are still too young to write, but my peripheral experience with calligraphy puts having them each learn at the top of the A&S list.  It's a useful skill.  Not just in the SCA, but in the "real" world as well.  Just search for "calligrapher" and see how many successful businesses have been built upon the ability to master pen and ink.

In the SCA, the ability to do calligraphy can open up not only the world of the scribes to your child, but can possibly prepare them for a day when...just maybe...they may be required to sign a scroll.  And imagine how beautiful that signature would be if they learned calligraphy now, as a child!

If your child has control of a pen, and knows cursive, introducing calligraphy is a natural next step.  Start with fountain or cartridge pens to avoid ink spills, but encourage them to play with dip pens soon after they get the hang of how a nib is different than a ball point.  Then try out this online lesson when your child gets a better handle on using a nib. 

And remember that, just like me, calligraphy might not be their thing.  It takes practice and patience, and some kids just don't have that.  Some adults don't either.  That's when you introduce them to medieval illumination and the chance to wield power over paint instead!