14th century, Hand-sewn Pourpoint or Arming Cote

 I'm trying to document some of my projects better, so here is a recently finished 14th century pourpoint or arming cote based upon the arming cote of Charles VI.  Key goals for this project was a cote that was unpadded, but still structurally rigid enough to hold my shoulder spaulders and elbow cops in place for SCA heavy combat.  Other items of note are that although I'm short at 5'8", I'm also rotund with a 57" below and a 60" chest. This is important as historical wasp waisted designs have to be altered for my more barrel shaped upper body.  On to the project:

I chose two fabrics for this cote, both were 7.1 oz Linen fabrics (4C22 from fabric-store.com), the outer being a softened Dulce color (deep burgundy) and the lining being a Natural softened colored.  I utilized a basic surcoat pattern that my SCA Knight, Duke Cellach MacChormach helped me draft for the body.  For the sleeves I used the measurement of the arm scye, a flexible ruler, and trial and error to pattern a basic sleeve (more on this later).  After washing my fabric, I laid out my patterns and cut my layers, ending up going with an outer shell and two inner linings for a total of 3 layers to give me the weight and drape I wanted.  I specifically did not want this to be padded as I overheat easily and my heavier padded gambeson (even with linen and wool padding) is simply hotter than I'd like. 

I'm not particular good at patterning, and tend to leave extra room in pieces to be able to adjust the fit of the garment after initial assembly.  So after cutting out my pieces, they were laid out and I began quilting them by drawing out my lines with a straight edge and tailor's chalk. once I was satisfied with that I used Navy blue DMC pearl cotton thread (size 10) in a running stitch to quilt the pieces. I quilt from the center of my piece to the outside using lots of pins to maintain the tension in the fabric and to prevent the material from creeping to one side or the other. 

A key thing for me as I quilt the fabric is to focus on maintaining my spacing, as I sometimes get excited towards the end and rush the job, which then makes my spacing off.  After I quilted all of my pieces, I pinned the pieces the body gets pinned together for the first test fit.  Adjustments were made and then, using the same thread I used for the quilting, I began sewing the body together with stab stitching to get through all six layers of linen evenly, with the occasional back stitch thrown in every 4-6 inches or so (I have no idea if this actually does anything but it seemed like a good idea). This was one of the most time consuming steps as stab stitching is not fast especially with small evenly spaced stitches, but I needed to keep the seams strong. 

I'm not going to pretend that I'm good with sleeves, as I'm still learning how best to pattern them.  However, using my other gambeson I created a rough draft pattern on muslin fabric and fitted it to the cote.  After 3 tries I had a pattern I was comfortable with, so I cut my pieces for the sleeves and then quilted them and pinned them to the body.  After trying on the pinned garment with sleeves, I realized I was feeling the garment pull up a bit when lifting my arms, so I added a gusset in the armpit to free up the movement.  Although this worked perfectly, it also added and extra step to everything with the additional seams that needed sewn and finished.  That may not be a big deal when using a machine to sew, but when hand stitching, it all adds up. Finally, I had a sleeve that I was happy with so both were sewn up and stitched to the main body.  I'm not going to go in depth on how I did this as there are plenty of tutorials out there from people that are better than me at sewing. 

Once everything was stitched together, I did another fitting to make sure I liked how it felt then began the long process of seam finishing.  Now, there may be better ways to do this, but I like to spend some time looking at the seams and figuring out how to get them to lay as flat as possible without creating pressure points or hot spots when I wear it.  To do this I spend some initial time pinning the fabric down in various ways, trying it on, adjusting and repeating until I'm satisfied.  For this particular cote, I ended up using a split whip stitched seam finish (folding each side down and under itself then whipping along the edge) on the back and side seams, then finishing them by folding along the seam and whip stitching the center line for additional strength. For the edges and hem, it is just folding in on itself and whip-stitched in place. the seams at the arm scye were more challenging, so I trimmed all the excess fabric back but one layer on one side and then flat felled the seams to prevent too much bulk. This takes time and patience and it is important to pin things in place, make sure to pin and then turn it back right side out and check for how it lays.  I check this multiple times as I go along to make sure things aren't pinching or binding.  

Once everything is finished and hemmed, it was time to add the buttons or lacing.  For this cote, I chose to go with cloth buttons, which I made based upon a tutorial by another Scadian. Again, I measured out the front of the cote, determined where I wanted the first and last buttons to go then determined an even spacing to figure out how many buttons to make.  It was recommended to go ahead and make spare buttons, so I just made double what I needed, as they are easy to make (it takes a bit of trial and error to figure out sizing).  For the button holes I used another tutorial, this one by Cotte Simple (http://cottesimple.com/tutorials/how-to-sew-medieval-buttonhole/right-handed/) to make mine.  I did use some nice silk embroidery thread given to me by my knight (Sulky brand I believe, 12 count thread, separated down to 4 thread floss).  After finishing buttons and completing this in less than 3 weeks, my hands are sore but I am happy.  I still need to stitch on my arming points (I use leather tabs), but will do so after the upcoming crown tournament.