hi i am completly new to dagorhir, ive been researching it ALOT lately though and i plan on starting to attend events. i am practicing this sunday with some people from eryndor to get the basics down, and hopefully learn to make my own weapons. But i really like this group especially since i was planning on getting templar garb in the first place ( i really like the red cross logo lol). anyways i live in northwest ohio, and i was wandering if there are any practices in that area?

Hello and welcome.

There are practices all over in Ohio. I'm not sure about Eryndor practices as I live in central northern Ohio myself(Einherjar). If you go to the Eryndor website you should be able to see what practices are held there. They won't be Templar practices but since it's practice it doesn't need to be unit specific. If I knew what city you were in I could be more help.

Welcome Vince! Dagorhir is so much fun, you're going to love it!

welcome, Vince! If you have other questions, do not be afraid to ask around on the forums here! :) we do have many a Templar in Ohio, so i am sure you can ask them about practices. God wills it!

-Mathias

i live in lima ohio if anyone practices around there, and i think im gonna make a crusader tabard, im just gonna cut a hole in a piece of white cloth for my head and paint the red cross on with red acrylic paint

that design is allowed, but i think we are trying to enforce the newer design of tabard. although it seems difficult to make a nice looking tabard, it is fairly simple. what is the easiest way is to buy a design from Jo Ann fabrics(it should say crusader or something along the lines of that.it will also come with instructions) and buy what is called canvas fabric material. i am not sure about how much fabric to buy, maybe someone else on here can give a more specific answer.If you have a sewing machine, it makes the job a LOT faster, but it can be done with needle and threading as well. I have painted the cross on my shield(the same material as the tabards), and it has held up just fine.

Welcome!

Yeah, Mathias's advice is pretty solid, though a white canvas sheet with a hole for the head is also acceptable. A lot of people in the Templar who have been in the unit for a while have spare or loaner tabards like that (originally, that was the standard), but recently they started wearing tabards with the sides sewn up (so I guess overtunics, technically). If you need to make something fast or don't know anyone who can sew, the sheet with a hole the head should be okay. Also, if you have armor (like chainmail or leather) that might be hidden by an overtunic, the tabard with open sides is a good idea.

I think the fabric we use is white duck canvas, though I'm not 100% on that.

Also, with the cross, acrylic paint might not be the best idea--I personally recommend either sewing, ironing, or embroidering it on (like using a little bit of red fabric), but if you can't sew or you don't know anyone who can, paint is an alternative. Really, it's just hard to do well, unless you're really careful.

Though I don't know much about our Ohio contingency, there's a lot of MD Templar and regular practices... though I guess that probably doesn't help too much.

Either a Surcoat or a Tabard is what you want. Since you're new a Tabard is more in line with what you're looking for. Any sheet of fabric with a hole cut in the center will look very bad. A tabard is very, very, easy to make. The cross part is the "hardest" part about it. Here's an easy explanation.

1. Start by getting two sheets of duct Canvas for around 5$ a yard at walmart,
30" width(half of a 60" bolt of fabric)
3.5' length(or to your knees)

2. From here hem all the edges of each piece, except for the top edge
fold a half inch of the fabric over on to itself and sew it down
this is important for keeping your piece in decent condition

3. find the center of the top edge of both your sheets by folding them in half, measure and mark in pencil 6" on either side (for a 12" neck hole)

4. for a V neck: cut a 1-2" line down into the center of the tops then from there cut a straight line to your marks, hem it over just like the other parts

4. For a round neck: cut a half circle dipping down 1-2" on both pieces then hem it down.

5. sew the two sheets together at the top edge stopping when you reach your marks.
make sure the ugly folded hem side is on the outside of the tabard. When you flip the tabard inside out all the seams should now be hidden on the inside.

6. Now for the cross, take a strip of red cloth 3" wide for your cross. don't feel bad about the waste of a yard of fabric for just a strip, you'll need it for weapon covers later. Hem all the edges, it should now be 2" wide.

7. the length of the cross is from your belly button/naval to 2" below the base of your collar bone, and covering both nipples for the cross hatch (assuming you don't have a bra size otherwise your mileage may vary)

8. Sew your cross pieces onto the nice side of your tabard, so that it touches the points that you got your measurement from. The cross hatch should sit 75% up the long stripe if your anatomy makes things difficult

Congrats you now have the Alpha Tabard, throw this over your head and slap a belt around it and you're ready to go out on the field as a Templar.

We should work on the whole tl;dr thing.

It wouldn't be much of a Tutorial if I just said "take canvas, sew into tabard, attach cross". /derp

LOL! Quoted for truth.

sorry i havent responded in a while... but i got a legit felt tunic/tabard thing with a sewn on cross so im set to go!

Felt as in, the fuzzy stuff? Do you have a picture of it?

Felt is not warm weather gear, you'll be suffering from heat even in the coolest of weather. your basic cotton blend will serve you much better than any felt will. Is there a particular reason why you chose felt?

Felt definitely seems like an unwise choice, plus i can't imagine it looking legit, but maybe a pic would prove me wrong. I also hope you got the right coloring and cut on the tabard, as more uniformity is encouraged for the tabard so we all look more bad ass together.

Hi guys its been a long while. im not sure what material my tabard is made out of but it was used in theatrical midieval plays so it is good quality and looks great! but ive got into dag now pretty good, ive made 2 swords and a mace and im borrowing a 36 inch round strap shield from the Militis of the Legion of Dragoons. I practice with the northern steppes now and i love it. I hope to see you guys at an event! ill be wearing a white cloth tabard with a shorter brown tabard with a red cross on it.
Hope to fight ya soon,
Archaides (<--my new name)