Back to work...

on the Pavillion!

Maybe it's the fall weather but I'm getting the itch to get back to work and finish my pavilion before the next SCA Camping season. It seems like forever since I worked on it but the break has been good for me. I thought my way through the quandry caused by finding the roof panels which I had misplaced.

I'd re-envisioned the sections I had at hand into a completely different style of pavillion (a Bell Wedge instead of round) and finished enough of the hand work on the rest of the pavillion that I really didn't want to go back...but I don't have too! I've been wanting to make detachable walls to convert one of the awnings into a bedroom and I think I can dismantle the extra roof to use for some of the parts of the bedroom walls.

Yippee! Now to implement the plan....

The doorways are finished! Well, almost.

As you know, I have been working on the black outlining for the top and sides of the back doorway of the pavilion, and the blue-green band on the bottom--or leading, depending on your point of view--edge of the awning flaps, front and back. I'm trying to get all the work I can done on each seperate section *before* I put them all together because each part will get *much* more difficult to work with as the other huge chunks of canvas get attached. (It's one of the basic rules of sewing: Finish what you can *before* assembly*) And I'm happy to report, success! By which I mean that the prep work is done...now I just have to remember how it is supposed to go together

hmmmm.....

I'm thinking no pictures today , sorry.

Hmmm.....

The Plan















So I'd been thinking it would be nice to upload my sketchup version of the Pavilion so that people can see where I am going...of course it was at home and I was at work but I uploaded a draft version (too tall, not wide enough, etc) so that I could see if I can get it to work...

and...

Ooo! Success!

Then I went home and figured out how to capture an image of the project, as well as uploading the real deal into Google sketchup 3d. if you follow the link by clicking on the picture you can download my plan and tinker with it to your hearts content--though I warn you that I am still learing how to use sketchup and I tend to just keep adding planes until the thing looks right when I've gotten things a bit...off.

Thoughts...OK, questions really...on Pavillion poles

First let me say that I believe that the most common structure for holding up a double belled wedge pavilion (in period) was very likely two poles, one at each end of the center section.

That being said, I'm pretty invested in making a "swing set" style structure because I like the flexibility of having all that open space. I'm also pretty sure I want to go with bamboo for my support poles. Mostly for the "green" characteristics of bamboo, but also for their strength, lightness, non-conductivity (in case of lightning!) and proportions similar to a classic pavilion pole.

I see lots of indications that bamboo tent poles are(or were) common in India, and I've seen some very interesting sites about the use of thinner bamboo poles in place of the shock-corded fiberglass poles common in modern tentage, but unfortunately I've yet to find any suppliers of *just* the bamboo poles for a pavilion, or any pictures of the connectors used for larger dimension bamboo tent poles, or anything which compares the strength of bamboo to a wood I am more familiar with (like say, pine) etc, etc.

I'm just a flood of questions.

Wow. Actual content. I'm working on my Pavilion!

Lately I've been obsessively working on a pavilion. Make that a Pavilion!

In my fantasies it is all gloriously banded, appliqued and embroidered; it has mottoes and banners and a heraldic full inner liner based on our devices; it's fully furnished--in period appropriate furniture, of course--and makes quite a splash at events. (Ah, vanity, your name is Aurora...)

Of course, what I have right now is a rather large and heavy pile of chunks of fabric in various stages of construction. And pictures. I have pictures!

(Oh, and I also have very sore hands which are slowly forming pavilion-making-callouses, thank goodness!)

My doorway panels: In progress

Anyway, long, long ago in a land far, far away (2000-ish in Northern California) I started reading about the SCA on the internet and formed a desire to a) go to Pennsic, b) make a pavilion, and c) uphold my belief that the stripes and other decorations on period tents were more likely sewn than painted by doing just that. On to e-bay for canvas and I was shortly the proud owner of about 60 yards of flame retardant canvas in a lovely off-white and another chunk of canvas in a lovely blue-green and so I started work cutting 8 1/5' long oblongs of canvas into 2 triangles, attaching a band of the blue-green to the cut edge for support (thus making those colored stripes I saw on period illustrations) and assembling the triangles together.

Which worked just great until I tried to sew two of my assembled pairs of triangles together and discovered that my machine *really* didn't like trying to make 3 flat-felled seams in the same place. Hmmmm....

Now I know why people use semi-circles at the very tip.

Of course, I then decided that I wasn't sure what style/size of pavilion I wanted...or how I was going to make those roof panels work...and I've been carting around around a partially finished tent ever since!

****

This winter seems to be the year of the pavilion.

I've decided to convert the pieces I originally made for the roof of a circular single pole pavilion into the cone-shaped end pieces of a double belled wedge. the finished wedge is going to be about 10' tall so I'm going to have to add additional length to the original pieces. I still haven't figured out how I am going to do *that* so right now I'm working on the center section.

It will be a panel which is 11' high by 9' wide (finished dimensions) on each side. The bottom section of each side will have a 7' high by 6' wide doorway opening bordered by 7' high x1 1/5' wide panels. they will connect to an 1' high by 9, wide panel which forms the top of the doorway, which will connect to a 8' x 9' day shade flap and the remaining 3'high by 9' wide roof piece.

I hope that description makes sense, but it will all be clear in the photos as it starts coming together.

Which brings me to the pictures!

Inspired by many lovely examples of late-period ornamentation I am going for a highly-embellished pavilion. the pilasters on each side of the doorway seemed a natural place for such embellishment and accommodate the candelabrum form well. There will need to be four such panels so, naturally, I am making a panel for each of the four elements. You can see all four panels in their various stages of applique above.

I've finished stitching down the entire "fire" panel and am well on the way with "water" but, as you can see, the other two elements are still in the thinking stages. The fire panel took me a week (hand stitching) so if I can keep up the pace I could have all 4 attached by the end of February. Wish me luck!

I'm pretty sure that they will need additional embroidery to add detailing and make them look less modern. One thing at a time.

This is a detail of the Fire panel. you can see I still need to remove all the stay-stitching from the pieces