The Great Collection of Roller Derby Posters / part 2

Earlene Dennis Brown

Earlene Dennis Brown, a three-time Olympian, was the first African American woman to win a medal in the shot put. Throughout her life Brown excelled in a variety of sports, gaining attention, recognition, and honors. She is the only shot-putter to compete in three consecutive Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964). Brown won Olympic bronze for Women’s shot put in 1960; was Amateur Athletic Union Champion in shot put (1956-62, 1964); won Amateur Athletic Union Championship, discus (1958-59, 1961); won gold medal in shot put, silver medal in discus, USA-USSR dual meet (1958); was shot put and discus champion, Pan-American Games (1959); and placed 12th in shot put, Tokyo Olympics (1964).

Earlene Dennis, born July 11, 1935, in Latexo, Texas to Espenola Tillis Dennis, a domestic servant, and Willie Dennis, a semipro baseball player with the Negro League in Texas. When her parents separated in 1938, Dennis remained with her mother and they moved to Los Angeles in 1945. Dennis’s mother married Julius Walker in 1946. Dennis attended Jordan High School in South Central Los Angeles, where she excelled in track and field. Her athletic ability was noticed by many, including Adeline Valdez, Dennis’s high school gym teacher, Josephine Spearman, and Coach Clarence Mackey, who tried to get her to compete in the Helsinki Olympics (in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland). Valdez is credited with putting the first discus in Dennis’ hands while her history teacher taught her to shot put. Before competing in shot put and discus, Dennis anchored the relay team.

In 1956, Brown finished in the top ten in the shot put and the discus. In 1958 Brown received the #1 world ranking and became the first American to break the 50-foot barrier. Brown won gold medals in the shot put as well as discus events at the Pan American Games in 1959. At the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 Brown placed 12th in the shot put.

Brown retired from the shot put competition in 1965. The same year she took up another sport, roller derby. Brown’s career in skating began as a blocker for the New York Bombers.

In 1975, Brown retired from all athletic ventures and worked as a beautician to provide for herself and family. On May 1, 1983, Earlene Dennis Brown passed away in Compton, California at the age of 47. On December 1, 2005, Earlene Brown was posthumously inducted in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame by the USA Track and Field (USATF) Association during the Jesse Owens Awards and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Jacksonville, Florida.

muslining knit dress from old shirts part 2

so I found yet another box of old t-shirts i’d put away that don’t fit me properly or that just don’t fit in my current aesthetic etc, and so I started sorting them. Plain shirts in one box, shirts with design elements that I could cut out and keep (button plackets, decorative shirring etc) and maybe incorporate into a finished design that way in half of another box, and then shirts whose front designs I both liked and, when measured (since i don’t do numbers, I just lay the front pattern piece against them) would all fit on the front pattern piece in half of another box.

I soon had no less than fifteen shirts that wanted to be the stars of a dress front. Some shirts also had a design too long to fit onto the front pattern piece-- which I had already lengthened, for fit reasons. Those, I reasoned, ought to be skirt panels, so that i could put the whole design on one piece.

Another option exists, which is that the oddly-shaped design could just be cut out like a patch and applied to a finished garment regardless of seam lines, and I’ll keep that in mind but so far nothing has been both precious and oddly-shaped enough for that.

[img description: a pile of roller-derby-themed shirts on a table in a dingy basement. slogans include “KEEP CALM AND KNOCK ‘EM OUT” which is super 2012 isn’t it-- merch for a team called the Knockouts, Helsinki Roller Derby, Queen City Roller Girls, and a graphic of two skaters in silhouette executing an offensive manoever called a whip (wherein your defensewoman transfers all her forward momentum to a teammate via an arm-slingshot kind of move) captioned “WHIP ME”. There is also a Jack Daniels promotional t-shirt and several Marvel superhero-themed shirts in the mix.]

At any rate, I came to the very quick realization that I have far too many t-shirts. No one needs this many t-shirt dresses in their wardrobe. So I instead picked through and pulled out *just* the ones in *this* collection (I am grimly aware there is a very large stash of other shirts somewhere on this theme but I do not know where-- where are all my practice jerseys???) that were roller-derby themed, and settled on one I particularly like to be the front bodice piece, and then sat and seam-ripped off the sleeves. I’d just chopped the first shirt up willy-nilly, as it’s much faster to use scissors, but I had a Zoom thing to attend so I sat and seam-ripped, which preserves a few fractions of an inch here and there of the fabric and gives me more options for how to place the pattern pieces. My first muslin, the existing sleeves of the shirt were *just* too short to use for the sleeve pattern piece, which was slightly frustrating (how efficient would that be!) and I thought perhaps by seam-ripping I’d be able to use them. Not an L but an XL, surely, would have enough extra sleeve...

I laid out the skirt pattern piece. The Turner only has a single pattern piece for the whole skirt-- you just cut two, on the fold I think-- the skirt is assembled from just two panels. And so I’d thought, well, I’m going to have to add seam allowance, I’m going to this and that and I generally was assuming four or five shirts would go into a skirt-- of course the fronts have designs but the backs are blank, so I could stagger those, hm hm. I had thrown in a couple of promotional liquor t-shirts since for some reason I had those-- probably from bars, during the roller derby era, that seems like the sort of thing that would happen-- and figured I’d just have a big patchwork.

Well.

You may already have thought of what was eluding me, here, but bear with me.

It turns out, a women’s XL, as many of these shirts were, is long enough top to bottom to be the skirt panel without piecing if you just take the neck off. And then it’s wide enough to almost be the whole panel as well, just the front of the shirt. So one shirt, front and back, will cover the entire front panel, with a tiny bit of piecing for the corners. And then one shirt, front and back, will do the back panel. (Probably the efficient thing to do is take neck and sleeves off, slit shirt evenly up the back, flatten it out with the existing side seams doing most of the piecing, and then put in the edges careful of grain direction-- but I’m not sure how much piecing will even be required, in that case. Have to disassemble one of the shirts to check, still.

I’d been looking at the fronts of the shirts, and completely forgetting, that of course, these are not two-dimensional objects. The shirts have backs. That’s a lot of fabric.

so I have. Uh. four spare roller derby shirts and two spare liquor-promotional shirts left over, already, just from the batch I pulled out of the box of so many other shirts I also have...

Uhhhh so well. I guess I can be very choosy, and make a second version if this one doesn’t come out the way I wanted.

I also could make them lined. The dress pattern calls for lining the bodice. I was figuring on just hemming the neckline but I could bind it, but also, I could just line the dress as it calls for, using the backs of other t-shirts, or in fact all the ones I have in unattractive colors that I still own for some reason and let’s not contemplate that too intensely. I had the idea of putting a shelf bra inside all of the dresses, just because I own so many bras that are inadequate and most of them could use the help at any given time. It would help make the dresses fit more consistently, if I could know that no matter what else was going on with my bra, it would still have this bit of assistance.

I also want to try some applique and reverse-applique, just for fun, but that’s time-consuming so really I should focus on getting these proofs of concept done-done.

Of course they’ll have pockets; the Cashmerette Turner doesn’t have pockets, but they put a tutorial on the blog for how to add pockets to the Foxhill, which is in the book I own, and the Foxhill’s skirt construction is as far as I can tell identical to that of the Turner-- so you could download that free pocket pattern and use the directions to apply a side-seam pocket to literally any dress with both waist and side-skirt seams. (There’s pointers for how to do this to a dress without side seams, which mostly amount to adding those side seams, LOL.)

anyway this is. well. i’m definitely hyperfocused on this shit but i still have zero wearable garments out of it so i better ride this as far as it goes.

(Well. not *totally* true. i’m currently wearing that first muslin bodice as a crop top over a boring dress. yeah no that’s gotta be two inches longer at least. ... maybe i’ll just put a kinda peplum on this one and leave it as a tunic? or splice in a waistband, idk. probably better to have it be tight for two more inches before flaring out, tho. Even as a layering piece. IDK. Thought about just using it for a lining but I already got sleeves onto it, seems like a waste.)

[img desc: the author, a fat white woman, taking a selfie in a bathroom mirror. She is wearing a black infinity scarf, very bulky around her neck, and a black close-fitting cardigan, and her torso has a vibrant blue shirt with a Rode Microphones promotional print on it that sort of looks like a motorcycle engine and proclaims “ON THE RODE AGAIN” and “Est. 1967″, with a rolled lower hem just below her bustline, and then the rest of her is in a draped soft-blue dress. she’s also wearing a magnifying-glass pendant she just remembered she owns, which is pretty cool.]

Yas of Malmö Roller Derby’s Crime City Rollers in a game against Helsinki Roller Derby in Malmö, Sweden on April 23, 2022. Helsinki won the game 189-178 in the final jam. Picture by Marko Niemelä

400 days till the first MCR show at Bonn, Germany! 401 days till the second show!

I have tickets, I'm ready to roll, but I have no company. Anyone going there? I'm looking for people to hang out with.

I have the basic ticket to the first show and front of stage ticket to the next.

What about me? I'm Henna, 31 years old, I live in Helsinki, Finland.

Just like so many others, I found my way back to MCR during all this Covid stuff. I was absent for over ten years, so I've had a lot catching up to do. Obsessing over one of my teenage years' favourite bands has been a really good hobby and a past time during the times when all of the normal life has been halted.

I play (and coach) roller derby in Kallio Rolling Rainbow. I love city culture activism, festivals and gigs. I like to spend my Sundays at a bar music quiz or drag bingo. I like sparkling wine, beer and vegan food. I love Britney Spears, I'm virgo and my favourite MCR video is this. So if someone's going to the gig(s) hit me up and let's, I don't know, follow each other! I'm quite new to Tumblr, but I think this might be a way to reach other MCR fans. Should I emphasize that I'm looking for friends and people to hang out with for the gigs, not dating or hookups. Adult friends, that is, as I'm an adult.

Single colour screen printed Bella + Canvas muscle tanks for Helsinki Roller Derby. www.printsyndicate.co.uk

`  ☆┆the narcoleptic , about .

full name : rebecka louise esther väst - toivonen nickname : becki ( common, everything from classmates to close friends use this ) , b.k ( also common, but more focused on childhood friends, rollerderby friends & junkie friends ) , liz ( rare , it’s her online alias ) . specie : human . gender : cis female . pronouns : she / her . nationality : swedish - finnish . residence : stockholm , sweden . past residences : helsinki , finland & gothenburg , sweden. occupation : college art student & independent webcomic artist .

hair : dark brown , thick , wavy. ends around half the neck & usually looks like she just jumped out of bed. it’s a bit dry , making it extra messy. she is a natural redhead but dyes her hair frequently. once in a while you’ll get to see her hair grow out in a ginger shade , but it’s always short - lived . eyes : a mix of blue & grey that is more grey as the sun hits her face, but seems more blue in semi - darkness. her eyes are rather large & round , giving a “ doe “ look , whenever it’s a curious look or a frightened one . skin : she is very pale , as she has a really difficult time getting a tan , & doesn’t like to soak in the sun for too long even if he could. she is porcelain with stains , as her whole upper body is covered in freckles. her freckles are her most memorable trait , & it is most packed & dark around the center of her face , as well as the shoulders . tattoos : two hands making a pinky promise on her inner lower left arm , a sphinx cat’s head on her inner upper right arm , an xbox controller with flowers on her inner lower left arm , strawberry blossoms with plant above her left knee , the nasa logo with the text “ i need my space “ on the outher side of her upper right arm & blueberries behind her right ear . piercings : belly button , always wearing jewelry with a white pearl & a pink rose . body type : she is above average , she’s chubby but still with a hourglass shape. most of her extra weight sits in her chest , her stomach & her thighs .

favorite color : pink , anything pastel . favorite animal : cat , harp seal , common cow . favorite food : pasta , french fries , bread , chocolate cereal . favorite drink : coffee , apple juice , white whine, bubbly rose wine , apple cider . favorite place : her bed , library , a cabin in the woods . favorite sparetime : drawing , writing , roller derby / skating in general , gaming . aesthetic : the morning sun shining through on top of bed sheets , freckles , wild hair , colorful notes , fairy lights , tired eyes , latte art , empty laundromats , drunk teenagers doing useless things but laughing , cold beaches , pink neon lights , succulents , milkshakes .

positives : caring , considerate , generous , gentle , loyal . negatives : anxious , sensitive , timid , tactless , easily discouraged . fears : abandonment , heights , bats , confrontation , sleep paralysis . theology : liberal , protestant christian . romantic orientation : panromantic . sexual orientation : pansexual . shipping status : single // single .

New trending GIF tagged gif, sports, illustration, red, running, sport, exercise, fast, skating, socks, side, roller derby, wheels, roller, finland, exercising, faster, roller skating, skates, roller skates, rollerderby, suomi, helsinki, rollerskates, rollerskating, annasalmi, salmianna, anna salmi, salmi, sport illustration via Giphy http://ift.tt/2wJbHk0

ROLLER DERBY FINNISH CUP – POSTER BY ILLUSTRATOR ILJA KARSIKAS

LISTEN UP Y’ALL! We’ve found some evidence that next Saturday (16.5.) is going to be full of action, bruises, laughter and tears: there will be a serious roller derby clash when teams from Helsinki, Tampere, Kouvola and Lahti will fight their ways to the finals of Roller Derby Finnish Cup (Suomi Cup)!!

The magnificent Ilja Karsikas illustrated the game poster with good old inspector Palmu (a well known character from the Finnish mystery novels and films) roller skating after the bad guys. Find more clues about the tournament and check out the Facebook event here!

Tiger Bay Brawlers vs Helsinki Roller Derby at Talybont Sports Village, Cardiff on 7 December 2013.

On Saturday Tiger Bay Brawlers played host to Helsinki Roller Derby, in an awesome derby double header where both TBB and HRD A and B teams went head to head. 

Tiger Bay beat Helsinki by the narrowest of margins in the 2013: A Skate Odyssey tournament back in May so there was a really fun rematch vibe to the night. Both bouts were really impressive nail-biters, with TBB B team and HRD A team taking the wins. 

See the full set on Facebook here or on Flickr here.

This is an awesome 3-minute recap of our A team vs. Leeds Rebel Roses last week done by the very wonderful Brock n'Roller! Check it out :) You can see us in action vs. Royal Windsor Roller Girls next month but our next home bouts are on the 7th and 8th December. Save the dates!

Single colour screen printed hoodies for Helsinki Roller Derby because winter is coming.