Gambison patterns

[Elias mac Griogair]

Does any one know where I can find a pattern for a Gambison that is accurate to Normandy circa 1150's as well as a pattern for padded leg armor of the same time frame.
also I have checked throuhg the archives patterns and found nothing


Thanks

Elias

[Konstantin the Red]

Here's what you do, Elias: pick a pattern for a c. 1150 long-sleeved men's tunic that you like. It will likely be something like a short bliaut, unless it's an entire hauberk you are padding, in which case it will be a rather less-short bliaut.

Put a fairly large gusset under each arm to prevent it getting ripped out there, and cut that gusset on the bias, which is a stretchy direction in any fabric: the warp, or grain, of the fabric will run across the diamond shape of the gusset at an angle.

Cut the tunic to be slightly large on you, both a sturdy, tight-weave fabric like gabardine/twill for the outside, or any 100% linen you can get for a price that won't have you living on peanut butter for a week to cover its price, likewise linen for the inside. Needled cotton batting, three layers thick and four thick on vulnerable spots, will be your stuffing, unless you can find linen remnants for cheap. Assuming it's batting you've gotten, cut that out in the same shapes as you did the lining and the outer shell and quilt everything together either by machine or hand-done running stitch with stout thread, lining, three layers of batting, outer shell. Leave the edges of each piece loose for convenience in sewing the seams neatly. Quilt up entire major subassemblies rather than individual pieces: make up the sleeves, then quilt-stitch them, assemble the body, quilt that. Any buttons should be flat, cloth covered, and spaced no more than 1 1/4 inches apart, and 1 inch is better. Lots of buttons prevents gapping and the buttons are less likely to pop since there are so many of them taking the strain. Bliauts are in any case put on over the head.

The clever part of dealing with seams for padded garments is to stitch the shell parts together, press the seams open, then lay the first layer of padding over the seam from one side of the seam while trimming back the corresponding layer of padding on the other side. Then lay the next layer from the other side and trim away the padding from the first side, so that the padding's edges stagger and don't bulk at the seam. If things are getting just a bit impossible there at the seam, it's okay to just cut the padding back away from it to get the stuff out of the way. The lining pieces get first stitched together so that the seam allowance just sticks inward from the garment. Looks untidy as heck, doesn't it? With scissors, trim away one side of those stitched-together seam allowances by about a third. Then fold the other seam allowance (the one you didn't trim) over the one you cut, nice and neat, and press it down flat over the allowance you cut, on the trimmed one's side, with an iron. Now stitch down that seam allowance, either invisibly (from the outside) by a hand whipstitch, just sewing the overlap back down to the lining, or just stitching through everything with a machine.

You won't even need a special quilting foot for a sewing machine, although if you have one, it won't hurt at all. For most of my Charles de Blois, I just used my straight stitch foot.

I don't think there really was such a thing as a one true arming pourpoint pattern for any given era: I think it was lightly padded editions of the men's fashionable clothing of the day.

100% cotton works, washable wool works pretty well too, 100% linen gets rave reviews as it pads just as well but is cooler to wear than any other.

------------------
"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."