Middle Earth Surcote, Ver. 2.0
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 7:11 pm
Last year, I made an oilcloth surcote for foul-weather Rangering purposes. At that point in time, I lived in Northern California, and had no intention or replicating that project in other materials.
Upon moving back here, to the midwest, I was soon greeted by (and reminded of) humidity...and that pretty much threw the whole project out the window. Oilcloth just isn't practical as a garment material in this climate because the humidity gets under it, and can't come back out. Drenched, I believe, would be an appropriate word. Back to the drawing board, and boy am I glad I did.
This new version is made of 100% wool "Brown Kersey" broadcloth from Wm. Booth Draper, and some 100% linen remnants I found in the scrap bin at JoAnns for the trim, which have been lightly dyed in a walnut bath. This wool is an absolutely fantastic material. Years ago, I believe Wulfgar here on the forums stated that he'd prefer to "leave blankets as blankets and use fabrics as fabrics" (inexact quote) during a discussion about sewing with army surplus blankets. After several years of slowly moving away from the surplus wool blends, having had this material under my needle for six weeks and now wearing it as I type, I couldn't agree more. It's thinner, lighter, not scratchy, AND WARMER, all at once. Fabric is for fabric. Blankets stay blankets. Got it, friend.
I patterned this Surcote off of my last one, but tapered the skirts out a bit more, as would be more historically noted than the straight rectangle my oilcloth one was. Oilcloth doesn't drape well, so it was necessary, but I was allowed more freedom in that regard because of the nature of this wool, and the fit and fall are far more fashionable (dare I say it) than the previous. From an in-character perspective, much of my garb is somewhat...hastily stitched. This one is meant to be a bit more of an heirloom piece. In a Ranger's context, these longer drapey bits really aren't necessary, but since we have surcote references in Gondor, and an understanding of the garment's significance in history, it stands to reason as a piece that would be worn as an extra, rather than a necessity. For this reason, I took my time and tried to make it a bit 'nice', instead of just "rugged".
That six week statement was true. Once again, I've overbuilt something. This project would've been done in a third of the time if I'd used a running stitch and would have been plenty durable, but I spent the extra time on the stitching as a bit of decor. I've got some simple embroidery planned for this as well, but I wanted the stitching itself to be somewhat decorative, so it took about as much time as an actual gored tunic would have taken...maybe longer. Weeks ago I told Udwin to stop me if I ever start planning another Surcote.
Front/Belt line... Hip, where I'm thinking I'll embroider something simple when I'm ready to touch this again... Neckline... AND.
This is a stunning pair of linen Thorsberg trousers I commissioned through Udwin, which arrived via post today. I braided the hemp drawstring, but he did everything else. They'll go in some dye down the road, but they fit perfectly, and are super comfy. Many thanks! The plan with these thorsbergs is to use them as all-season pants, with a catch: I'm converting my old wool drawstring pants into some crude Chausses to slip over the Thorsbergs in colder/inclement weather, so I don't have to carry two completely separate pairs of pants, or take off one to don the other.
Cheers!
Upon moving back here, to the midwest, I was soon greeted by (and reminded of) humidity...and that pretty much threw the whole project out the window. Oilcloth just isn't practical as a garment material in this climate because the humidity gets under it, and can't come back out. Drenched, I believe, would be an appropriate word. Back to the drawing board, and boy am I glad I did.
This new version is made of 100% wool "Brown Kersey" broadcloth from Wm. Booth Draper, and some 100% linen remnants I found in the scrap bin at JoAnns for the trim, which have been lightly dyed in a walnut bath. This wool is an absolutely fantastic material. Years ago, I believe Wulfgar here on the forums stated that he'd prefer to "leave blankets as blankets and use fabrics as fabrics" (inexact quote) during a discussion about sewing with army surplus blankets. After several years of slowly moving away from the surplus wool blends, having had this material under my needle for six weeks and now wearing it as I type, I couldn't agree more. It's thinner, lighter, not scratchy, AND WARMER, all at once. Fabric is for fabric. Blankets stay blankets. Got it, friend.
I patterned this Surcote off of my last one, but tapered the skirts out a bit more, as would be more historically noted than the straight rectangle my oilcloth one was. Oilcloth doesn't drape well, so it was necessary, but I was allowed more freedom in that regard because of the nature of this wool, and the fit and fall are far more fashionable (dare I say it) than the previous. From an in-character perspective, much of my garb is somewhat...hastily stitched. This one is meant to be a bit more of an heirloom piece. In a Ranger's context, these longer drapey bits really aren't necessary, but since we have surcote references in Gondor, and an understanding of the garment's significance in history, it stands to reason as a piece that would be worn as an extra, rather than a necessity. For this reason, I took my time and tried to make it a bit 'nice', instead of just "rugged".
That six week statement was true. Once again, I've overbuilt something. This project would've been done in a third of the time if I'd used a running stitch and would have been plenty durable, but I spent the extra time on the stitching as a bit of decor. I've got some simple embroidery planned for this as well, but I wanted the stitching itself to be somewhat decorative, so it took about as much time as an actual gored tunic would have taken...maybe longer. Weeks ago I told Udwin to stop me if I ever start planning another Surcote.
Front/Belt line... Hip, where I'm thinking I'll embroider something simple when I'm ready to touch this again... Neckline... AND.
This is a stunning pair of linen Thorsberg trousers I commissioned through Udwin, which arrived via post today. I braided the hemp drawstring, but he did everything else. They'll go in some dye down the road, but they fit perfectly, and are super comfy. Many thanks! The plan with these thorsbergs is to use them as all-season pants, with a catch: I'm converting my old wool drawstring pants into some crude Chausses to slip over the Thorsbergs in colder/inclement weather, so I don't have to carry two completely separate pairs of pants, or take off one to don the other.
Cheers!