Finally finished & smashed my hnefatafl challenge! Woohoo! I am quite pleased with how it turned out and how much I have grown with my pattern making skills, patience and problem solving abilities.
Everything rolls up beautifully into a nice little package and is secured with a suede lanyard & brass ring. End caps are made from a 5oz vegtan to give the roll more rigidity.
Game board is tooled, antiqued & stitched to a supple chrome tanned brown leather. The zipper is a little wonkie and needs work, but for this roll I will considered this a win and will strive to do better next time. I also plan on changing the line stitching between the zipper and the end caps into the same X stitch as on the caps, I think it would be more pleasing to the eye.
Did I mention I made the sleeve that holds the pieces detachable? This gives plenty of space for game pieces and an unobstructed view for gameplay. Sleeve is secured by 3 snaps. The game board is also only stitched along the one side, this is so it can roll up into a nice neat little package.
With only having one side of the game board stitched down, the leather wanted to keep that shape when unrolled. As you can see that problem was fixed by adding a couple of snaps to secure the board to the roll while in use.
I had mixed feelings after finishing this project, mainly cause of how long I have been working on it and the many many failed attempts. I had a great feeling of accomplishment but also sadness that this project was over, what am I suppose to do now? Of course that feeling of not knowing didn't last long and I already have multiple projects on my bench to choose from and keep me happy.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, this Hnefatafl set was a gift from my brother that just showed up in the mail one day with a challenge note that basically said....I double dog dare you! Now being the good heathen woman that I am, I live by the manta "a gift demands a gift" so this Hnefatafl roll will be put in the mail this afternoon and gifted back to him.
Thanks for reading!
Angel
***update***
I finished writing this post yesterday but was waiting to make it live until I had another hnefatafl set available to purchase in our store.
While making the sleeve, I again ran into the zipper looking like crap.
I considered making just a slot on the leather for the zipper, but that gives me a stitch line running along the side and I feel like it would just look off. The sleeve is certainly better than where it was but it's still not where I want it, so I have decided to go back to the drawing board and see what I can do to make it better and get rid of that damn zipper completely!
To be continued....again 🤷♀
~Angel