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Key measurements Garment length

Men - shoulder to hem. Back length + waist to knee, or waist to ankle, or in between

Women - shoulder to hem. Back length + waist to floor

For both - add a further 5 to 20 cm for pouching over a belt

Garment width - half Chest or Bust + 8 to 20 cm (or morę) ease.

Gore length - waist to hem: subtract Back length from Garment length. Gore width - 25 cm is a good all-purpose width. The wider the gores, the wider the total hem, but adjust to fit your cloth.

Sleeve length - Arm length Sleeve width - 40-60 cm at the shoulder for normal adult sizes: sleeves with underarm gussets can be narrower than those without. Wrist - ranges from Sleeve width down to Hand size, or to Close wrist for tight-fitting sleeves.

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Gore width

To plan your garment use measurements already taken (p. 23), or measure the wearer. Cotes are shown cut from a single layer of fabric.

The sizes shown here correspond approx. to modern size 42 for men, and size 12 for women. Fine broken lines indicate Fold lines and Centre lines of pattern pieces. Letters indicate joining points. Add seam allowances to all dimensions.

Fastenings

Most cotes had no fastenings. They were loose enough to puli on, and the bulk was controlled by the belt, and perhaps by a brooch at the neck. Closer fitting cotes were probably laced at the back or side, the eyelets worked through a narrow facing (Methods, Figs 16, 17). Tight-fitting sleeves in the 13th century were stitched closed on the arm. This can be done as follows. Leave the seam open below the elbow and hem the edges. Put the cote on and draw the edges together using a needle and strong thread, working towards the wrist; you may need help for this.

By 1300 buttons were replacing sewing on sleeve ends (Methods, Figs 19-21; Pis 2, 3). Up to six might be used at first, and later in the century a dozen or morę.

Variations to the cote

An enterprising cutter can adapt the simple shapes of the basie cote to vary the form or improve the fit. Techniąues for giving a fitted appearance to the top of the cote, probably in use by 1300, included shaping the shoulders and cutting to produce a rounded armhole and sleeve (Fig 8). Long side gores running into the armhole were used to shape the underarm as well as widening the body (see Sur cotes, Fig 5).

A cote can be madę closer-fitting by shaping the body and gores after cutting. The sleeve in Fig 9 (a precursor of the fully-fitted sleeve) is also closer-fitting and matches the shaping of the underarm. I It can be used on any cote with this shaping.

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