The four pieces were then sewn together with the seams being pressed open. The centre back seam was stitched to just below waist length and left for the back split. The side seams were sewn to hem length.

Once the four pieces were sewn together I fitted it to my model, over a thick jumper and the chainmail. It needed taking in on the centre back waist and sides, so I marked it up and did all the adjustments, then trimmed it to just above his toes.

Once I was happy with it I looked at the edging, shown here – 

Aside from the trim, which I still need to find, this has what looks like a slight piped edge. I found very thin piping cord and rolled the edge around it to create this –

Full back and side shots over the chainmail, after adjustments – I now need to do the shoulder pieces and the basic construction will be done. 

This screencap from the film shows a cap sleeve (If anyone can remember the correct term, shout me, it has slipped my mind right now!) and a relatively narrow shoulder, then yet more trim. Now the cap sleeves are on it just needs hemming, the decorative stitches adding to the waist and the trim adding. I’m considering embroidering the trim as I have yet to find anything close.

Next up – To London! Fabric sourcing for the gambon, overshirt and trim! 

Dark blue (some sources say black, it always looked blue to me) surcoat, red undershirt with dark red or black collar and heavily embroidered sleeve cuff.

Padded silver gambeson – This is never actually seen given that it’s covered by chainmail, gloves, gauntlets and the over shirt. It’s still damn pretty though, and protects from the chainmail.

Here you can see the chainmail sleeves are actually attached to an undergarment to save on weight. I may do this at some point but for now I’m using full body chainmail.