Joining the SCA?

[Meganjo23]

So, inspired by the SCA thread, I went and looked it up, and became very interested. Turns out there's a group right in my area (Malagentia). So I've been looking up various tidbits, and I think I'm going to join, or try it out at the very least.

So here's my question to all you SCA-ers. What's it like joining, or what was it like when you joined? I'm worried that my group will my really tight-knit, and it'll be hard to work my way in, or that they'll be snobby and look down on me. I'm super shy (which is one of the reasons I want to join, so that I can make friends and meet new people), so I tend to blow these things out of proportion.

And to the girls: Does anyone know where I can find a nice, easy pattern for a dress? One that someone with little to no experience with a sewing machine could make with minimal screw-ups? I'm planning on getting into embroidery a bit, with handkerchiefs and coifs and whatnot, which I have some experience with (by that I mean, I know the basics of stitching) but machine sewing... yikes. As it is, I have to figure out some way to let my Mum let me borrow her sewing machine. I do want to make my own clothes, the idea excites me, but I'm worried that all I'll be able to make is a potato sack with my skills.

Lastly, does anyone here know anyone from the Province of Malagentia? It would be awesome if someone could tell me, "Oh, don't worry, they're all super nice!", but I think that's probably reaching a bit. I am planning on e-mailing the Chatelaine for the group, as soon as I work up the nerve (agian, super shy).

Even more lastly, any hints or tips? I've read a bunchof whats out there, including the 'SCA without breaking the bank' bits on the wiki, but if there's anything you think I should know...

Thanks!

[shankyknitter]

The best advice I can possibly give you? Ask questions of your local group. Be interested. Even if they're tight knit most groups are accepting of new people, hell my group has an excited 'yay new people!' dance. I don't know your group so I can't tell you if they're going to be snobby or not, some groups are its just human nature. Look on the website for events and demos and stuff like that.As for SCA without breaking the bank, I'll pass on to Pocket Bard that you found it helpful, that's what she was going for.

For basic dresses, I wear sleeveless surcoats and chemises. They're great, basic, beginner and don't look out of place at an event. Wonderful placeholders until you know what period you want to get into.

[AccountingDrone]

So, inspired by the SCA thread, I went and looked it up, and became very interested. Turns out there's a group right in my area (Malagentia). So I've been looking up various tidbits, and I think I'm going to join, or try it out at the very least.

So here's my question to all you SCA-ers. What's it like joining, or what was it like when you joined? I'm worried that my group will my really tight-knit, and it'll be hard to work my way in, or that they'll be snobby and look down on me. I'm super shy (which is one of the reasons I want to join, so that I can make friends and meet new people), so I tend to blow these things out of proportion.

And to the girls: Does anyone know where I can find a nice, easy pattern for a dress? One that someone with little to no experience with a sewing machine could make with minimal screw-ups? I'm planning on getting into embroidery a bit, with handkerchiefs and coifs and whatnot, which I have some experience with (by that I mean, I know the basics of stitching) but machine sewing... yikes. As it is, I have to figure out some way to let my Mum let me borrow her sewing machine. I do want to make my own clothes, the idea excites me, but I'm worried that all I'll be able to make is a potato sack with my skills.

Lastly, does anyone here know anyone from the Province of Malagentia? It would be awesome if someone could tell me, "Oh, don't worry, they're all super nice!", but I think that's probably reaching a bit. I am planning on e-mailing the Chatelaine for the group, as soon as I work up the nerve (agian, super shy).

Even more lastly, any hints or tips? I've read a bunchof whats out there, including the 'SCA without breaking the bank' bits on the wiki, but if there's anything you think I should know...

Thanks!

oOOooo our very own life sized barbie <squee>

OK when it comes to clothing, might I suggest starting with roman on a sort of budget. You can use inexpensive muslin sheeting. It properly should be linen and wool, but cotton works fine [anachronism part] This with a plain pair of sandals will get you dressed for now [fairly inexpensively, and in a manner that will let you blend in until you get a chance to decide what you want to be when you grow up] Please do NOT get these gladiator sandals. VERY inappropriate. Actual ladies shoes are about halfway down this page. I have seen people in the SCA sub in irish dance ghillies.

Now ... what type of clothing do you dream of? Roman/Greek? Celtic? Viking? Anglo-Saxon? Norman? Italian Renn? German Renn? Elizabethan? Presian? Chinese Court? Mongolian? Maori? What historical period and location draws your interest? Although I do know women who pick a dress style to suit their body type instead of going with an area they fancy ...

[Meganjo23]

oOOooo our very own life sized barbie <squee>

Man, I am SO not Barbie shaped . Well, maybe, but imagine if Ken dumped Barbie and she went on a binge of ice cream and burritos for a month or two.

I like the idea of the chemise, with a simple surcoat (which my quick research tells me is like an overdress, NOT, as I first thought, an actual coat. I was a little worried there for a second, I didn't want to show up in just undergarments and a coat, yikes.). Roman tunics would be nice and easy, but I like the idea of a dress better. More girly and whatnot. And sleeves scare me, so I guess a sleeveless surcoat would be fantastic! (I figure if a chemise is supposed to be 'billowy', no one's really gonna nitpick me about my sleeve being somewhat awkward under the arm.) I'm going try to dig up a pattern, I remember seeing one somewhere in my travels... I really need to start bookmarking pages.

As far as what period of clothing I would like to get into, that's easy- Tudor England. But the clothes scare me, in a "I have to make that?!" sense. I'd LOVE to get good enough at sewing to do something like a Tudor gown eventually, but that's gonna take a while. I hope you won't all judge me if I confess to loving The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors, I know they're not historically acurrate, but they're so pretty! I love the headwear from that era, the french hoods are so elegant looking to me. I like the more 'corseted' stomach look, too, anything to make my gut less appearent is fine by me.

And now, off to e-mail the chatelaine!

[Evil Queen]

Talk to your local chapter before you start making a costume. A lot of members don't even bother going to the events where you would need it. I certainly don't. But it really depends on the setting the local chapter adhere's to.

Ours is definitely medieval england, not as fancy as Tudor though. But for your little battles, you want to have two costumes; one for fighting and one for Court.

And have fun, it's not really a tight-knit kind of thing and the groups seem to always be looking for new people. With new abilities. Hell, I'm looking into Archery.

[Meganjo23]

Just sent off an e-mail to the chatelaine, I'm so proud of myself for following through!

I'm definetly not going to start sewing right away, at the very least I have to wait to sewing machine access, and I've never gone fabric shopping before, so I'll probably make my mother come with. I just keep getting excited looking at pictures of SCA garb.

As far as fighting goes, I'm not sure if I'll get into that or not. It would be fun, and it would be great exercise (as far as I can tell, anyways), but I think I'm more the kind of girl to sit on the sidelines and hope some cute guy comes up and asks for my favor, as it were. Archery could be more my thing, but I get nervous when it comes to projectiles, I always worry I'll put someones eye out.

[Magpie]

If you're making something with sleeves bear in mind that too-tight cotton sleeves will be just as warm as if you'd made them out of synthetic. Yes, I am learning this the hard way.

[AccountingDrone]

When you do finally go fabric shopping avoid anything with a lot of polyester because it doesn't breathe well at all Cotton/poly broadcloth is usually a safe bet for starter tunics though, even the 60% polyester/40 % cotton blends seem to work well enough. Acetate, rip-stop nylon, 100% polyester, fluorescent colours, and a majority of modern prints are generally a no-no as well...although there are rumours of a landsknecht that had an outfit made entirely of Hawaiian prints...apparently he wore it once and decided that it was even a bit too much for him!

Actually, you can get kickass lime green and hot pink in linen with the right period dyes and mordants =) Lady Katherine de Steele managed it in Atlantia in the mid 80s =) [thinking back, um, 87 if I remember correctly. I would have to try and see if I still have a copy of the newsletter we printed the article in.] Oddly enough, lime green and hot pink were a well liked combination in spanish renn inner garments [under that festive black on black court dress ]

Cynthia Virtue has some decent clothing making articles.

Medieval Miscellaney makes sewing patterns for medieval clothing.

I will make a caveat about these patterns. They come with documentation of the appearance of the clothing that is phenomenal however some of the clothing construction is whacked ... as an example - the italian renn pattern for a v neck, split front skirt that in period was held at the center front by the belt ... they pattern this funky side opening skirt, that hooks to make it look like the proper front opening.

[Moggie]

As for meeting a "tight-knit group", well it depends a little bit on where you are. I started in a group that was so laid back we were almost comatose. Then I moved to a different group and they were much more active, and it was harder for me to get in.
I didn't know who to ask for help or where to go since I sort of fell in the first time. I'd recommend finding your local Gold Key/ Hospitaler/Chatlane /Newbie Wrangler and letting them know you'd like to come to a meeting. That information should be on the local groups website.
Your Newbie Wrangler should be able to steer you towards anything you currently have an interest in and may be able to recommend a few other things you might like. They should also be able to get you some loaner garb. You can wear it to an event and even take a look at how it was put together if you'd like to copy it. Some places even have Sewing Circles just to clothe new members. Again, it depends on where you are.
Eventually I wound up learning to how to politely stop someone wearing an outfit I like or doing a craft I was interested in and ask them "How?" That was the hardest part for me, but I think it was worth it.

[Meganjo23]

I keep getting impatient for the Chatelain to e-mail me back, and then I remember that I only e-mailed her to days ago, and she's probably got more important things to do before responding to my e-mail (you know, like working, eating, sleeping...) and I have to remind myslf that patience is a virtue. And then two minutes later I'm like, "Better check my e-mail agian!". One of my friends from high school knows someone in this group, I might try talking with him and seeing where that leads me.

I know this group has a weekly Project Circle type thing, I think that's the first thing I'll get into. They've also got a monthly dance class, I think I'll get into that as well.

I got sooo excited yesterday because I found a website detailing how to make a french hood. I keep finding myself planning a whole Tudor outfit, and trying to figure out how one would go about doing the pleating at the front of the hood, and wondering if similar pleating was found on gowns as well, and then I start thinking about what kind of shoes you'd wear (you can't see them in the damn portraits, gosh-darn it!), what colors would look 'right', wondering if a french hood with a colored viel would be too un-period (supposedly they were all black, but I think that would look weird with a light blue/cream gown, both of which I think are authentic colors)... I'm worried I'm going to burn myself out just thinking about it so much!

I did see the Medieval Miscellany patterns in my browsing, and I'm planning on buying the patterns for the early Tudor gowns, hats, and underthings. I like that there's a few patterns to each package, makes it more worth the money, and once I get experience, I could try 'mixing and matching' with bits of the dresses.

[AccountingDrone]

I keep getting impatient for the Chatelain to e-mail me back, and then I remember that I only e-mailed her to days ago, and she's probably got more important things to do before responding to my e-mail (you know, like working, eating, sleeping...) and I have to remind myslf that patience is a virtue. And then two minutes later I'm like, "Better check my e-mail agian!". One of my friends from high school knows someone in this group, I might try talking with him and seeing where that leads me.

I know this group has a weekly Project Circle type thing, I think that's the first thing I'll get into. They've also got a monthly dance class, I think I'll get into that as well.

I got sooo excited yesterday because I found a website detailing how to make a french hood. I keep finding myself planning a whole Tudor outfit, and trying to figure out how one would go about doing the pleating at the front of the hood, and wondering if similar pleating was found on gowns as well, and then I start thinking about what kind of shoes you'd wear (you can't see them in the damn portraits, gosh-darn it!), what colors would look 'right', wondering if a french hood with a colored viel would be too un-period (supposedly they were all black, but I think that would look weird with a light blue/cream gown, both of which I think are authentic colors)... I'm worried I'm going to burn myself out just thinking about it so much!

I did see the Medieval Miscellany patterns in my browsing, and I'm planning on buying the patterns for the early Tudor gowns, hats, and underthings. I like that there's a few patterns to each package, makes it more worth the money, and once I get experience, I could try 'mixing and matching' with bits of the dresses.

If you can hook up with someone linked with the old Gilded Pearl guild [I am lapsed from public life, in a manner of speaking] they specialize in later perod clothing. I am in a a rush right now, but when I get back Ill look for tudor links.

One of the best way to decide on clothing is to search for portraiture of the time in question, for tudor check for Holbein portraits. They are reasonably accurate as people actually posed for many of the portraits. Some portraiture is like american primative where they had stock bodies already painted and they just stuck on heads... but you learn to distinguish those =)

[Meganjo23]

Thought I'd let everyone know that I got a reply back from my e-mail, after I stopped check it every morning, noon and night. I'm going to a meeting later this week, no garb required (yay!). I'm so very excited about it, but also REALLY nervous. I had a friend that mentioned that he'd go with me if I wanted, but I think it's better if I go alone, that way I'll have to talk to people and socialize. Should be fun!

[AccountingDrone]

Thought I'd let everyone know that I got a reply back from my e-mail, after I stopped check it every morning, noon and night. I'm going to a meeting later this week, no garb required (yay!). I'm so very excited about it, but also REALLY nervous. I had a friend that mentioned that he'd go with me if I wanted, but I think it's better if I go alone, that way I'll have to talk to people and socialize. Should be fun!

YAY!

Report back =)

[fireheart]

Not too sure if all groups require you to wear garb at training sessions. NVG encourages it, but it's not a requirement. Most of the group come in street clothes, with those fighting usually changing into just their gambesons and other protective gear.

[Stormraven]

Most of the local group meetings I attended were generally non-garb - including the few fighter practices I attended. You'd armour up, of course, but didn't need to wear garb to the practice.