A HandSewn Wool Sleeveless Surcote · under a mantle (if a mantle was worn) and could be either...
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A Hand-Sewn Wool Sleeveless Surcote Eulalia Piebakere (AoA, JdL, GdS), AS XLVIII Presented as an Entry in Stromgard’s Baronial Arts and Sciences Championship Rationale: The sleeveless surcote or cyclas appeared at least as early as the 13 th century in Western Europe and presumably evolved into the later sideless surcote seen by the end of the 14 th century. It seems that there was both a male version and a female version, with the male version typically being shorter and split up the front and the female version typically reaching to or past the feet and not being split. For women, the cyclas was worn over the gown and under a mantle (if a mantle was worn) and could be either plain or decorated. I have not examined enough images to be able to confidently state a particular age or social standing with which this garment was predominately associated. Medieval Images: For some representative images of women wearing this type of garment in 13th/14th c. English and French artwork, see the color appendix. Archeological Garments: There are a couple of extant garments which appear to have been something at least broadly similar to the cyclas as I am trying to recreate it. For example, this tunic from Rønberg Mose: I. Marc Carlson; source: http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc‐ carlson/cloth/ronberg.html Per I. Marc Carlson: "This garment from the 1200s is of a 4‐shafted twill. It has 2 large side
Transcript of A HandSewn Wool Sleeveless Surcote · under a mantle (if a mantle was worn) and could be either...
AHandSewnWoolSleevelessSurcote
EulaliaPiebakere(AoA,JdL,GdS),ASXLVIIIPresentedasanEntryinStromgard’sBaronialArtsandSciencesChampionship
Rationale:Thesleevelesssurcoteorcyclasappearedatleastasearlyasthe13thcenturyinWesternEuropeandpresumablyevolvedintothelatersidelesssurcoteseenbytheendofthe14thcentury.Itseemsthattherewasbothamaleversionandafemaleversion,withthemaleversiontypicallybeingshorterandsplitupthefrontandthefemaleversiontypicallyreachingtoorpastthefeetandnotbeingsplit.Forwomen,thecyclaswaswornoverthegownandunderamantle(ifamantlewasworn)andcouldbeeitherplainordecorated.Ihavenotexaminedenoughimagestobeabletoconfidentlystateaparticularageorsocialstandingwithwhichthisgarmentwaspredominatelyassociated.MedievalImages:Forsomerepresentativeimagesofwomenwearingthistypeofgarmentin13th/14thc.EnglishandFrenchartwork,seethecolorappendix.ArcheologicalGarments:ThereareacoupleofextantgarmentswhichappeartohavebeensomethingatleastbroadlysimilartothecyclasasIamtryingtorecreateit.Forexample,thistunicfromRønbergMose:
I.MarcCarlson;source:http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc‐
carlson/cloth/ronberg.htmlPerI.MarcCarlson:"Thisgarmentfromthe1200sisofa4‐shaftedtwill.Ithas2largeside
gores,andatleastanarrowgoreinthefrontcenter."I.MarcCarlsonalsogivesthispotentialpiecelayout(ibid):
Thisisanextantsilksurcotefrom1307thatapparentlybelongedtoKingRudolfIofBohemia:
Source:http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/6_Dobove/07_Svrchniky/VI_07_08.htm(includes
originalsourceforaboveimage/informationaboutthisgarment)Thereisanotherextantsilksurcote,thistimefromSpain,datedtoaround1235(andalsoaroyalgarment):
Source:http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/1_Originaly/01_Goticke/I_01_61.htm
Someinterpretationsofyetanothersurvivinggarment(the"MantleofStBirgitta")fromthemidtolate14thcenturysuggestthatthisalsomayhavebeenasurcoteorcyclas,whichifitwerewouldgivefurthercluesaboutmethodsofconstructingsuchagarment:
I.MarcCarlson,source:http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc‐
carlson/cloth/birgitta.html
Inmypreviousresearchintoandthinkingabout13thcenturyclothingconstruction,thetake‐homemessageisrectangularbodypiecessometimes(butnotalways)joinedatashoulderseam,sidegores,andusuallysomekindofarm‐holeshaping.Formyhumblepersona,minimalshapingandfittingmakessense‐‐basically,IimagineawomanlikeEulaliawouldhavereliedonthewidthofthefabricavailabletoherratherthancarefullymeasuringeachgore.WhatIDid:IhadsomefairlylightweightgreenwoolfabricthatIwantedtouseforthisproject.Woolwasthestandardfabricfortheclothingofcommonpeople(apartfromundergarments).Icuttwobodypiecesroughlythewidthofmyshouldertoshouldermeasurement,thenusedwhatremainedofthefabrictomakegores.Iusedthewidthofthefabricforthelengthofeachpiece.Ilaidoutmypiecesandfree‐handedanarmshapesimilartothatfromtheRønbergMosegarment(mygoresinitiallycameallthewaytothetopoftheshoulder).Atthispoint,Iusedrunningstitchtosewthepiecestogether1.Itriediton...anditwastoosmall.Imean,itfit,technically,itwasjustavery"sexy"fit,whichisnotrightfor13thcenturyclothes.SincethewoolwasfromathriftstoreIhadnowaytoobtainmore,soIwentthroughmyfabricstashandfoundapieceofasimilarweightfabricinapalegoldcolor2.Thisseemedlikemybestoptionformakingthiswork,soIusedittocutoutsomemoregores.Irippedouttheseamsandaddedthegores,adjustedthearmscyetoaccommodatethenewadditions,andsewedeverythingtogetheragainusingrunningstitch.Ifinishedtheseamsusingfelledseamssewnwithadouble‐foldhemstitch(whichwasrareonmedievalgarmentsmadefromwool;seehttp://heatherrosejones.com/archaeologicalsewing/wool.html#WEHemformoreinformationonhemstitch).Thiswasmyfirstcompletelyhand‐sewngarment(otherthanhosenandhats),insteadInormallydomyjoiningseamsbymachineandthenhand‐finishthem.Thiswasanicestepupforme,andIactuallyenjoyedtheprocess.Iuselinenthreadforallmyhandsewing,whichwas,accordingtoCrowfootetal3,typical.IstillhavenotfoundasingleperfectanswertowhetherornotthelinenthreadIuseshouldmatchthefabric.WhileIhavealwaysheardthatlinenwasdifficulttodyehistorically,Crowfootetalstatethatroyalhouseholdrecordsmentionpurchasingdyedlinenthreadforsewing.Forsomeoneoflowermeans,Idonotthinkthatdyedlinenwouldhavebeenthemostlikelyoption,evenifitwasavailable.Woolthread,possibly,includingthreadspulledfromthefabricitself,wouldbereasonable,orundyed(andprobablyunbleached)linenthread.IhadaspoolofwhitelinenthreadonhandwhichIdecidedtogoaheadanduse‐‐eventhe1Examplesofrunningstitchinarcheologicalgarmentsarediscussedathttp://heatherrosejones.com/archaeologicalsewing/wool.html#WSRunning2There’satleastoneparti‐coloredextantgarmentfromthistimeperiod,seehttp://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc‐carlson/cloth/soder.html3Crowfoot,Elisabeth,FrancesPritchard,andKayStaniland.TextilesandClothing,C.1150c.1450.Woodbridge,Suffolk,UK:Boydell,2006
clothingfragmentsfoundintheLondonfinds(again,seeCrowfootetal)hadbeensewntogetherwithlinenthread(whichhadrottedawaywhenthewoolremained),suggestingthatevenordinarypersonsusedlinenthreadinsteadofwool.Ifinishedtheneckandarmsusinganarrowbias‐cutstripoflinenwiththeedgesfoldedunderandalineofrunningstitchoneachedge.Thismatchesafinishingtechniqueonanextantgarmentfromthelate14thcenturyshowninCrowfootetalandismypreferredmethod.
Todothehem,Isimplymeasuredacurvefromtheshoulder,markeditandcutit.Imadethecenterbackslightlylongerthanthecenterfront,asIthinkdresseslookbetterthatway.Istartedoffsewingthehemwithadouble‐foldhemstitchbutIdidn'tlikehowthefabricwaslying,soIendedupjustusingrunningstitch.Idouble‐foldedthehem.FinalThoughtsI'mverypleasedwithhowthisturnedout.Doingallofthesewingbyhandwasagoodlearningexperienceforme,andareallybigleapforwardinmyabilitiesandconfidence.I'mlookingforwardtowearingthisatmanyfutureevents.
Appendix:MedievalImages
Virginwithchild,NorthernFrance,1250‐1275,ivory(traceevidencesuggestsitmayhaveoriginallybeen
paintedandgilded).IntheMetropolitanMuseumofArtcollection.Source:http://goo.gl/pEhAiD
Endofthe13thcentury,France;Lausanne,BibliothèqueCantonaleetUniversitaire,U964‐BibliaPorta;
fol.178r.Facsimileonlineathttp://www.e‐codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/bcul/U0964
DeBrailesHours,f.24r;I'lladmitImightbestretchingalittlewiththisone,butit'stheearliestspecifically
Englishimageofasurcote/cyclasIcouldfind.
TheOrmesbyPsalter(BodleianLibraryMS.Douce366),ca.1310(England).Partialfacsmileat
http://goo.gl/x2NZJI
Ibid.Bothofthesewerefoundatthisblog:http://bestiary.ca/chimaera/303
TheimagesonthefollowingpagearebothfromtheMaciejowskiBible,producedaroundthemiddleofthe13thcenturyinFrance.TheMaciejowskiisalsointerestinginthatitalsoshowsdepictionsofbothmenandwomenwearing"hangingsleeve"tunics,whichcanlooksuperficiallylikeasleevelessgarment.
Theladyappearstobewearingacyclasthatbuttonsinthefront.
Notethegarmenthungoverthecurtainrodatthetopleft.Althoughitmaybemeanttorepresentamale
garment,itdoesgivesomehintsastotheconstructionofthesurcote.
