In a little over a week's time, I'll be running my first SCA event. Production has been in full swing, and I've just gotten started on something that I've wanted to do for a while.

When I attended an event last year, perhaps my second event since my return to the SCA, I was struck that my own shire, that of Dun in Mara, was the only one of those gathered not represented by banners and hanging. And that made me sad. So I was determined to do something about it.

First things first. My drawing skills, they are not great. So I printed off the arms and photocopied the image, increasing the size until I got something that would be a decent banner size.I taped the sections of the copy together, then secured it to my drawing board. Next, the issue of lifting the silk I was using from the paper so the outliner or paint wouldn't bleed.

This I solved with the use of corkboard inserts that I bought from my local DIY store. They're usually used for filling in the gaps at the edges of wooden flooring, but they're just high enough to make a frame for a silk banner. I secured these with more tape so make sure they wouldn't move about on me after I'd started.


To fix the silk, I very gently pulled the fabric taut and secured it with drawing pins, starting with the top and bottom edges. Before I started applying gutta outliner, I thought that the number of pins I had on the right was sufficent. In reality, it wasn't nearly enough. Lesson: if you think you have enough pins, apply some more, just to be on the safe side.

And there we have it. The gutta has a two hour recommened drying time, so I think that's all I'll get done for this evening. So yes, it's messy and no, it's not perfect. But it is recognisable the arms of Dun in Mara, and will be more so when the colours are completed.