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 These banners were made to decorate the halls and tourney fields of Aneala by some people who believe that there can never be enough banners. We made them all as a group project for a specific event, this worked really well to motivate us all to finish them. Being silk, these banners move well outdoors and they add height to hall decorations. Guidons are smaller and less regimented in design than full standards and more appropriate to the status of most of the people making them. Materials: 1 friend (you get 2 banners from one width of silk) 3m 110cm wide silk (we used a very nice, finer than usual, silk dupion; regular silk dupion or raw silk may be a bit heavy and the slubs are difficult to work with; silk habutae works but is more translucent which can make the colours seem faded) Silk paint (we like Setasilk brand Black 29, Buttercup 02, Emerald 18, Gitane Blue 12, Hermes Red 06) Gutta (Black and Clear) Fabric for the pole sleeve All of this should be available from your favourite fabric shop, maybee even the friend. Equipment: Frame (the silk needs to be taut when painted. We bought 1.3m lengths of 20x40mm cheap pine, drilled a banner pole size hole in each end, sawed from the end into this hole and put a bolt through the end to clamp the hole around the end of the banner pole, two of these plus two 3m banner poles makes a working frame). It's kind of a giant tapestry frame.  |
 Instructions: 1. Prewash your silk. 2. Design your banner. Do this on paper or with a computer. We used banner dimensions as shown below.  The bit at the end of each banner can be turned into practice scraps or penants. It is appropriate to place an allegience device in the hoist (the square bit near the pole). This could be your SCA kingdom badge or the device your persona might have used. Try to use the device your persona would have fought under not the arms of the king, eg. the cross of St George for England not the gold lions, the populace badge for Lochac is without the crown. The fly (the bit that flaps in the breeze) should reflect your own device. It may be your livery colours, your main charge, your badge, whatever looks good. Note that if you divide the field horizontally or use horizontal lines (including the horizontal part of a cross) it may look better to slope the line so it bisects the banner rather than running it parrellel to the bottom edge. 3. Draw the design on the banner. We used pencil. Remember that if you plan to go over the line with clear Gutta that line will not wash off so no bright tailor's chalk. 4. Sew your banner to the frame around all four sides so it is taught. 5. Go over the outlines in Gutta. Black gutta seems to flow better and stop the dye running better than clear Gutta. If you used anything heavier than silk habutae then turn the banner over and go over the lines from the other side. Pay particular attention to the ends of lines and to any slubs in the fabric which may need more Gutta. 6. Paint the banner. This is the fun bit. We found that we got better results if we diluted the red paint 3 parts red to 1 part water and the green 1 part paint to 1 part water. Black and gold are best not diluted. It takes about 1 45mL bottle to paint half the fly. These paints were designed to bleed through the fabric and into each other to give the lovely swirly effects you get on silk scarves. They are meant to dry uneven. This may work for your design but if you want an even look then work quickly and do not pause while painting each section. You will get an obvious line if the dye from one stroke dries before the next touches it. It will also try to bleed across the Gutta. You will not need to paint right up to the line, stay about 5mm away from it and the dye will soak the extra distance. 7. Set the dye. The easiest way to do this is to put the banner into the dryer on hot for 10-15 minutes. 8. Hem the edges and attach a sleeve that will fit your banner pole to the hoist end of the banner. |
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