The first step was making the frame. I have been researching period frames, recently, and have wanted to try making my own *yikes!* It actually was not as difficult as I expected... I am working on a research paper on the actual research I did before making this frame, and I will get that posted as soon as I have something legible...
Here us the sample frame that I made, which is 2'x2'. It is made from pine wood, (and still needs to be stained and sealed...) The corners are not tied in this picture, because I snapped it before I had sinew to bind the corners *sighs*
I have since stretched a new project onto the sample frame and it works very nicely, by the by...
To give you an idea of the size of the actual piece, here is a glimpse of the frame I made for the Bayeaux piece:
As I said, above, its 2' high by 4' in length. I tacked the ends to the frame, as I wound up cutting my linen a wee bit too long : | The top and bottom are both strung to the frame with linen string, to keep it nice and taut.
Due to the size of the frame, it is too big for me to hold and work on, without a base. I did some more research on trestles and period bases, and in the end, decided that it was a bit beyond my beginner woodworking abilities. I turned the base project over to my leading men (my pop, my SO and my son ; ) After an afternoon of sawing and hammering, they made me an awesome trestle style base, that I can take apart and put together, and that cost less than $10 (And even tilts!) Here they are, working in the driveway:
Again, it still needs to be sealed and stained...and there were lots of jokes when I mentioned wanting to stain it in mahogany...well, it has to match my tent poles!!
Next post, I'll explain the motifs and the unending grief of transferring them onto the linen...
