Painted House Bayard floor cloth and new tiny pavilion project
Long ago we ended up with a bunch of grey canvas which made a dandy floor cloth for the main House Bayard pavilion. I based it off the walls in one of the rooms in the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence, but with the colours and stylized ermine spot from my soon-to-be re-worked SCA heraldry. I used MS Paint to test different colour configurations, establish the size and placement of the squares to best fit the footprint, and marked the canvas out on the floor of the lobby at work after hours. It ended up ankle-deep in water at its debut event, but even after nearly 20 years the colours are still as vivid as ever. The image below was taken a few days ago.
We had no info about the weight of that canvas or whether or not it was treated, so when I set out to repeat the process for my new tiny pavilion, a period-looking Danchel bell tent, I had no idea what sort of canvas to look for or where. I usually do well with Google, but my search results were messy. I didn't see a lot of info online about painted pavilion floors and not many pictures. I ordered a coloured canvas drop cloth, but it was too flimsy. The available red was too orange-looking and looked like it was already starting to fade, so back it went. I posted in The Merry Rose Facebook group for help and received two great group suggestions within minutes: Printed Textiles in the Middle Ages and Paint All the Things.
Then Valdemar let me know that he still has some of the grey canvas - possibly as much as I'd need, but I'd need to wait for a good day to dig it out of his shed. I was itching to finish the project before Coronation, and starting with grey instead of red would involve more time and paint. Hmm....
OK, so you won't believe this.... Right after our conversation I went to Joanne Fabrics (no other non-boutique fabric shops nearby) to get a small piece of fabric for a houppelande repair ... saw some bolts of canvas ... and guess what ... I touched it ... it was the right weight ... exact colour I was looking for ... and they had EXACTLY the shade of red I was looking for and EXACTLY as much as I needed (expected yardage plus a bit extra) all in a single piece of cloth. After the 60% discount that happened to be in effect that day, it cost way less than the canvas drop cloth. **POW** Mind blown.
Since I've got the black and gold paint, painter's tape, and the block stamp that I made for the ermine spot, I briefly imagined that I'd finish the new floor before Coronation this weekend. Bahahaha! Never mind all the other event prep, even if I did get it measured, cut, sewn, marked, taped, painted and touched up by Friday, it would still need several days to dry and set. A more reaonable goal including extra wiggle room would be Gardens of Thyme & Oakwood in mid-May.
* * IMPORTANT * *
Do NOT Use Valspar paint (found at Lowe's) for any painting project that you expect to last. Crappy coverage, bad finish, flakes/washes off. You'd be better off throwing your money in the trash. Here are some reviews - good and bad, but for me, never again. I've used it on a bedroom and just now on cloth against my better judgement, since the store was in my errand loop and I would only be using it for some touch-ups. Awful. Never again. I've used Glidden (Home Depot) with great results every time. I'll donate the Valspar to a local theatre department with a warning to test it first for temporary projects. Grr.
Painting-related link hoard:
Painted Tents Ideas / More Painted Tent Ideas /
Inspiration: The Half Light Carnival / Sun Peak varied / Sun Peak / ~ Pinterest
SCA Pavilion Notes / (see General Pavilion Painting / Decoration)
Stefan's Florilegium tent floors tips
Greydragon Pavilions ~ Terefan Greydragon
Paint All The Things (Facebook group)
Leather painting tips (for later entry): To get bright color with no paint streaks, paint the yellow and red on unstained, raw leather…after you tool, but before the black. Then dye with black carefully around the edges. Then do a thinned wash of black around the painted edges to make a neat black edge that ends right at the paint. Then fill in the black with black paint. It seems like more fiddling but it actually saves time because your bright colors stay extra bright with only one coat. And it all looks crisp. ~ Andrea Masse
.
We had no info about the weight of that canvas or whether or not it was treated, so when I set out to repeat the process for my new tiny pavilion, a period-looking Danchel bell tent, I had no idea what sort of canvas to look for or where. I usually do well with Google, but my search results were messy. I didn't see a lot of info online about painted pavilion floors and not many pictures. I ordered a coloured canvas drop cloth, but it was too flimsy. The available red was too orange-looking and looked like it was already starting to fade, so back it went. I posted in The Merry Rose Facebook group for help and received two great group suggestions within minutes: Printed Textiles in the Middle Ages and Paint All the Things.
Then Valdemar let me know that he still has some of the grey canvas - possibly as much as I'd need, but I'd need to wait for a good day to dig it out of his shed. I was itching to finish the project before Coronation, and starting with grey instead of red would involve more time and paint. Hmm....
OK, so you won't believe this.... Right after our conversation I went to Joanne Fabrics (no other non-boutique fabric shops nearby) to get a small piece of fabric for a houppelande repair ... saw some bolts of canvas ... and guess what ... I touched it ... it was the right weight ... exact colour I was looking for ... and they had EXACTLY the shade of red I was looking for and EXACTLY as much as I needed (expected yardage plus a bit extra) all in a single piece of cloth. After the 60% discount that happened to be in effect that day, it cost way less than the canvas drop cloth. **POW** Mind blown.
Since I've got the black and gold paint, painter's tape, and the block stamp that I made for the ermine spot, I briefly imagined that I'd finish the new floor before Coronation this weekend. Bahahaha! Never mind all the other event prep, even if I did get it measured, cut, sewn, marked, taped, painted and touched up by Friday, it would still need several days to dry and set. A more reaonable goal including extra wiggle room would be Gardens of Thyme & Oakwood in mid-May.
* * IMPORTANT * *
Do NOT Use Valspar paint (found at Lowe's) for any painting project that you expect to last. Crappy coverage, bad finish, flakes/washes off. You'd be better off throwing your money in the trash. Here are some reviews - good and bad, but for me, never again. I've used it on a bedroom and just now on cloth against my better judgement, since the store was in my errand loop and I would only be using it for some touch-ups. Awful. Never again. I've used Glidden (Home Depot) with great results every time. I'll donate the Valspar to a local theatre department with a warning to test it first for temporary projects. Grr.
Painting-related link hoard:
Painted Tents Ideas / More Painted Tent Ideas /
Inspiration: The Half Light Carnival / Sun Peak varied / Sun Peak / ~ Pinterest
SCA Pavilion Notes / (see General Pavilion Painting / Decoration)
Stefan's Florilegium tent floors tips
Greydragon Pavilions ~ Terefan Greydragon
Paint All The Things (Facebook group)
Leather painting tips (for later entry): To get bright color with no paint streaks, paint the yellow and red on unstained, raw leather…after you tool, but before the black. Then dye with black carefully around the edges. Then do a thinned wash of black around the painted edges to make a neat black edge that ends right at the paint. Then fill in the black with black paint. It seems like more fiddling but it actually saves time because your bright colors stay extra bright with only one coat. And it all looks crisp. ~ Andrea Masse
.