Surcote History:

The surcote began as a protection or decorative covering for armor in the 12th century during the Crusades. In its simplest form it was a tunic with armholes wide enough to allow the free passage of loose-topped cote-sleeves. It was worn belted or unbelted at will. Its length varied from above the knees to the ankle and it was slit up the back and sometimes the front for ease while riding horses. For even greater convenience, the 2 front corners of the surcote might have been tucked into the belt. Often it was made of rich materials such as fine woolen, samite, satin, velvet, heavy silk, or even cloth of gold. Its neckline was round or slitted like that of the cote. When slitted, the slit was often richly trimmed and fastened with an elaborate brooch. Another fashion was to leave the slit open and let the two corners fall back like revers, sometimes even rounding them out to make narrow lappets. Occaisionally a small round collar finished the neck or a hood was attached to it. After 1300 the unbelted surcote was often furnished with 2 slits in front which gave access to the purse on a belt underneath or admitted the hands as to a muff in cold weather. Occasionally a pocket was sewn inside the slit.

The growing popularity of heraldry inspired the use of parti-coloured fabric in clothing, and, later in the fourteenth century, the embroidering of heraldic devices on surcotes, gowns and cloaks. Parti-colored clothing was made of two or more colors or patterns of material making up different halves or quarters of the garment. Typically the heraldry was that of the wearer's family and sometimes, although less commonly seen, his allegiance. The arms were initially used by placing a charge or the entire achievement in a regular pattern on the material or trim.

The Heraldic Unicorn:

The Unicorn is probably the best known of all heraldic monsters. It has the body, head and mane of a horse, but with a beard like a goat's on its chin, the cloven hooves of a hart, the tail of a lion, and a long, spiralled horn set in its forehead. Usually, the unicorn is white with its horn, hooves, mane and the tufts on its tail all gold.
The unicorn was described in medieval bestiaries as being both fierce and pure. Legend had it that the only way to capture a unicorn was to find a virgin and make her sit and wait outside the unicorn's lair. The unicorn would then go straight to the damsel, and lay its head in her lap, thus allowing itself to be caught by waiting hunters. This story led to its association with Jesus Christ, who came to earth - and ultimately to his death - through the Virgin Mary. So strong was this religious link, that the unicorn was rarely portrayed in medieval heraldry as it was thought to be blasphemous.

The unicorn was also famous for its rivalry with the lion. In his epic poem The Faerie Queen (written in the 1590s), Edmund Spenser writes about "the lyon, whose imperial power/A proud rebellious unicorn defies". To defeat his "fierce foe" the lion has to resort to trickery, for when the unicorn charges he turns aside at the last moment so that the unicorn's horn ends up being stuck in a tree. The rivalry acquired a political dimension when the Kingdoms of England and Scotland were joined under King James in 1603. James was the first monarch to adopt the famous supporters of the United Kingdom - a lion for England and a unicorn for Scotland. The uneasy relationship between the two kingdoms could be seen symbolically as the struggle between the lion and unicorn.

Unicorn passant Unicorn stantant Unicorn Rampant

The surcote before you bears the heraldry of Sir Trakx Greenwood. The pattern was made from excess material in my possession and drawn from Sir Trakx's measurements. I then sewed the material together and tailored the surcote according to his preferences. After ripping apart the seams in the surcote, I then cut the front and back into quarters. When cutting the velvet for the surcote before you, I had to allow for a certain amount of selvage for adjoining the pieces so as not to make the final product too tight.

Sir Trakx's fabric of choice was velvet with the unicorns being embroidered on satin. Velvet has been in use since as early as 2000 BC. The Egyptians were documented using a technique similar to the one that is utilized today in velvet production. Because velvet was not produced in England, it was rather expensive to purchase due to importation costs. It was made in Italy, Spain, and Germany, and was first mentioned in England in 1114. Velvet was, and still is, a warp-pile fabric, which means that it had one set of filling yarns and two sets of warp yarns. The second set of warp yarns could be either cut or un-cut. Double-cloth and over-wire methods were employed to create pile fabrics. In the double cloth method, two fabrics were woven, one above the other, and connected with an extra set of warp yarns. The over-wire method involved placing wires across the loom so that they intersect the cloth in certain places that create a pile. The pile is then cut with a blade over the loom. The wire was then removed before the fabric was removed from the loom. If an un-cut pile was desired, waste picks could be placed on the wire and then removed after the fabric is off the loom. Velvet could be made out of various types of fibers, the most common of which was silk.

Satin supposedly originated in Zaytoun, China, which is now Canton. It became popular in Europe in the 12th century, in Italy in the 13th century and in England in the 14th century. Again, because of it's liminted availability in England, it's cost limited its use to the upper classes. Satin was made from low twist, filament yarns and was constructed by floating the warp or lengthwise yarns over four filling or horizontal yarns. The long floats gave the fabric luster.

The yarns would have been dyed black, green, or bleached white prior to weaving them into velvet or satin. Black dye for textiles was made with the combination of oak galls, water and iron salts (ferrous sulphate). Iron fillings or rust were sometimes substituted for iron salts depending on the availability of the salts. Overdying woad and walnut several times was sometimes used in place of oak galls although the end result tended to grey faster than using oak gall. Green was attained by first dying the yarns with blue dye made from woad and then overdying them with yellow dye made from either weld or greenweed. White could be achieved by repeatedly soaking the yarns in urine and then leaving them in the sun to bleach. The yarns would have been placed in a large cauldron or vat of the heated dye and left to sit for a predetermined amount of time and then hung to dry. The process may have been repeated multiple times until the color desired was achieved.

The unicorns were sewn onto the surcote and then embroidered with black silk threads to allow for the detail to show at great distances. The practice of embroidering or appliquing imagery onto clothing began as a means of distinguishing Crusaders on the field. I utilized the stem stitch which can be seen as 1 of 8 stitches in the Bayeaux Tapestry. The Stem stitch is worked left to right. The needle emerges at the end of the line to be covered. It then enters the material a little to the left on the line to be covered and emerges half way between where the needle emerged and where it enters the fabric. Be sure that the needle always emerges on the same side of the line being worked, or your stem stitch will appear twisted. For a thin line, always pass the needle through the drawn line of your pattern. For a fuller, more cable-like look, push the needle down on one side of the line, and bring it up on the other side of the line, giving each stitch a slight slant. Be sure to be consistent on which side you go down on and which side you come up on.

Resources:
Authentic Costume for the Stage
Historic Costume in Pictures
History of Costume
World Costume by Doreen Yarwood
Body and Clothes by R. Brody-Johnson
Costume and Fashion by Herbert Norris
http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/heraldry/charges/monsters.html (University of Notre Dame)
http://www.heraldryunlimited.com/guide/dictionary/home_page.htm.
http://www.costumegallery.com/Textiles/velvet.htm
http://www.furman.edu/~kgossman/history/gothic/terms.htm
http://www.civilization.ca/tresors/treasure/102eng.html