| Covering Up a Fiasco |
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| by Dame Katharine of Cate Hall, OP, OL
Copyright 2007 |
| This project grew out of my need for a durable, easily cleanable water bottle that would not be jarringly out of place and time at SCA events. Plastic containers are durable, but not easily cleanable and they look terrible. Metal is durable but often imparts a “funny” taste to liquids and was not often used for water storage during the SCA time period. |
| Glass is easily cleanable and was widely used throughout the SCA period (roughly 600-1601 A.D.) However, glass is not durable and is prohibited in many venues where SCA events are held because it is so breakable and glass shards can be very dangerous |
| Since glass fit two out of three criteria for my project, the issue was how to make a glass container durable. Some folk have made beautiful covers for their flasks with leather, giving them the look of leathern Jacks in use toward the end of our period. While useful, the leather covers get spotted with water when cleaned, and I was seeking a process that was easy, cleanable, cheap and within my skill set. |
| A memory from my childhood of chianti bottles wrapped with straw and another memory of macrame bottle covers in the mid 1970s combined in my mind to give me the idea of wrapping bottles in some kind of cordage so that even if the bottle broke, all the shards would stay within the wrapping to ensure safety. |
| My first efforts used jute twine, hot glue and ModgePodge. Since then I’ve experimented with hemp macrame cord (excellent) and sisal rope (not a success.) I have also used various cold glues such as Farbri-Tac by Beacon Adhesives, Alleene’s Quick Dry “Tacky” glue and Elmer’s white glue. Both the Fabri-Tac and Aleene’s Quick Dry work very well because they set up quickly, but Elmer’s has the benefit of being much cheaper and works well, though one has to work more slowly and hold the cordage in place longer while the glue sets up. |
| Because I like to make cafe latte at home, I have lots of bottles of Torani flavored syrups that get emptied much too quickly. Since I have many such bottles, they were my first choice for covering. I’ve also used bottles of Orangina soda (in most of the pictures), Fuze soda and juice bottles. You can use a cork to stopper the bottle or cover the screw-on cap with cord as well. I like the screw top bottles best. |
| It is important to wash the bottles throughly and make certain all the taste and smell of the previous contents has been removed. I put a little lemon juice in each bottle, fill it with water and let it stand for a couple of hours, then empty it out, rinse it again, and let the bottle air dray before covering. It isn’t necessary to remove the paper labels on bottles before covering them because the entire bottle will be covered with cord, but I usually do remove them in case I leave little gaps between the rows of cord as I wind it. |
| You can attach a carrying cord to the bottle before you begin gluing and winding the cord around the bottle, or you can leave it off. You could also attach the bottle’s cap to the bottle with a “keeper” if you wish. You will need to experiment with the length of the keeper string so you can remove the cap and screw it back on. |
| Get ready to cover up your Fiasco! Go on to page 2 |
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