Knight's Surcoat Pattern?

[Poof Bird]

I'm starting work on a Knight's garb for myself.  Hush, yes I'm a lady, but I don't care, i want to be a knight!  Joan of Arc anyone?

I do chainmaille and have a shirt about half-way finished for myself, but I'm in need of a pattern for a surcoat to go overtop.

I have this pattern:

http://www.simplicity.com/assets/4942/4942.jpg

I was thinking altering the one on the left to be a bit shorter, since I have zero waist and short legs, and loose the sleeves of course.  Gotta show off that maille!  Probably going to do french blue and navy blue for the colors, with a not-shiney gold applique of some sort of heraldic bird or else a fluer de lis, which I have an odd obsession with.

My question to all of you is does someone have a better pattern for a surcoat?  I'm guessing I could just drape some fabric over my head, cut a hole and be done with it.  But I'm wondering, are they just split in the front, or in the back as well for riding a horse?  From what I've seen, it looks like just the front, but I'm not sure.

And as for H/A, haahaa, no.  I'm a gal dressing as a knight, so that's out.  I'm just going for your semi-sterotypical knight in a surcoat and chainmaille.

Suggestions for patterns would be very much appreciated!

- Poofie!

[Lady L]

I have that pattern, but it came out after I had already designed my own pattern for a surcoat. I have another pattern, medieval misc or something... I would have to look. It has military garments of different types. Yes, I made it split front, back and sides. If one is riding a horse, it would be split front and back, from what I read. The first one I made has shoulder caps. The two I made this year do not. I lined mine, too. Just be sure if it goes over your head, that the neck hole is big enough, or you can make a slit in the back neck. There are side seams, from under the arms to about the thigh.

[Orphena]

For a garment like a surcoat, I would go without a pattern. Take a rectangle of fabric, fold in half so the length is reduced, cut a slightly rounded neck hole on the fold, cut a slit down from that to allow your head to pass through. Either line it and finish the edges that way, or simply hem the outside edges. Be sure to try it on so that the back hem and the front hem match up before you go too far - your neck hole is actually supposed to be slightly forward or back of the center line.

If you DO want a pattern, here is another pattern that you may want to look at:

McCalls 4621

Happy Sewing!

[isabelladangelo]

In the other thread,  there is that link that proves that a female knight is perfectly H/A, it was just rare.   

I think this is pretty close to what you are looking for.  If so, then, yes, it really is nothing more than a large rectangle with the head cut out.  You can add some shaping to the armscye too but no need for a pattern.


If you do a search on google for "heraldic surcote" and then click on images, you'll get a lot of ideas and a few online patterns for how to do some of the designs.