RomanArmyTalk

Salvete,

Several people asked to give some more information about my subarmalis. For those who haven't seen it yet, I'm wearing it here:



I haven't taken pictures of it yet without the armour and other equipment, I'm afraid, but if deemed useful I'll try to do that.

I can tell you how I made it though.

The body has a simple square sleeveless tunic model, but smaller of course. It goes down to the hips. The left side of the vest opens up and is kept closed with a leather lace.
The vest consists of 4 layers of thin felt with one layer of coarse linen on the inside and the outside. Everything is quilted together.

The pteryges have a thin leather core and are faced and backed with two layers of linen on each side (so every flap has 4 layers of linen and a thin leather core. I plan to make another set of pteryges using only linen (a lot more layers). Every flap was edged with a folded band of linen (the folding is to avoid having ugly unraveling edges visible on the pteryges). This edging keeps all the layers together.

For the shoulder pteryges I used a fan pattern. Theodosius posted this pattern here on RAT. It's a bit tricky to get the overlap right. So there are two units on each shoulder. They are laced to the subarmalis with leather lace through holes I made in the vest and in the 'fans'.

There are three layers of overlapping waist pteryges. I made every flap seperately. This was done to save leather (you can get more narrow pieces out of a hide than one large piece). It was also done to facilitate the edging.
I initialy made only two layers of pteryges. One layer of longer and one layer of shorter pteryges. There were too much gaps to my liking. That's the reason I made a third layer of waist pteryges, the same length as the second longer ones. Now everything overlaps nicely, down to the end of the pteryges and it results in a very strong and force absorbing structure.

I laced all the waist pteryges to a leather belt and then laced this belt to my subarmalis. The tops of the pteryges are about at navel height.

I hope my explanation makes sense. If there are any questions, please ask!

Valete,
Jef

Makes very good sense. I agree with your statement on the other post: folding and sewing down the edging must have been a real proctological discomfort!

Awesome work Jef...a laudes for me! Looks very, very accurate with the sculptures we have.

Quote:Awesome work Jef...a laudes for me! Looks very, very accurate with the sculptures we have.

Thanks frater! I appreciate it, that's a very nice compliment

Great work Jef! Laudes.

Jef,

You need to shave mate! :wink:

Thats the best subarmalis I believe I have ever seen!

Quote:Jef,

You need to shave mate! :wink:

Thats the best subarmalis I believe I have ever seen!

You should see me when it's a full moon :lol:

I found getting on a hamata over the subarmalis quite difficult at first. The shoulder pteryges always ended up under the armour on my back . But now I've found a good way to solve this. I put the hamata over the subarmalis before putting it on, then I put on everything together. Pretty claustrofobic feeling, but it works great that way 8)

Vale,

Ave Marcus,

Quote:The pteryges have a thin leather core and are faced and backed with two layers of linen on each side (so every flap has 4 layers of linen and a thin leather core.

So, there are 6 elements - four layers of linen, one leather core, plus linen bands for the edging, do I have it right ?

I'd like to modify my leather pteryges using your method. For my Tribune impression I would add gold fringe.

Quote:Every flap was edged with a folded band of linen (the folding is to avoid having ugly unraveling edges visible on the pteryges). This edging keeps all the layers together.

And the band must give the flaps a raised edge (as we see in the statues). What an elegant, practical solution. I like your color scheme too.

This sounds like a LOT of stitching - I may resort to using a machine for the unseen layers. May I ask how long it took to make your pteryges ?

A well deserved laudes goes to you, Marcus

BTW, am I seeing things, or do I see tongue pteryges (tabs) behind your hamata (just beneath your belt) ?

~Theo

Hi Theo,

Quote:So, there are 6 elements - four layers of linen, one leather core, plus linen bands for the edging, do I have it right ?

I'd like to modify my leather pteryges using your method. For my Tribune impression I would add gold fringe.

That's correct, six elements. You'll be surprised how many meters of edging you'll need But they are very narrow pieces (Mine were 5cm wide, before folding) so you can get a lot of meters from a fairly small piece of fabric.

I'm looking forward to seeing your modifications. 8)

Quote:And the band must give the flaps a raised edge (as we see in the statues). What an elegant, practical solution. I like your color scheme too.

Yes, it's a good way to get the raised edge we often see, and like you say functional and it looks good.
I like this colour scheme too, but I'd like to have some more sets in other colours too. Too bad it takes so much time to make lol:

Quote:This sounds like a LOT of stitching - I may resort to using a machine for the unseen layers. May I ask how long it took to make your pteryges ?

A machine was used here too for the unseen parts, this still takes a long time to do. )

Quote:A well deserved laudes goes to you, Marcus Very Happy

Thanks!

Quote:BTW, am I seeing things, or do I see tongue pteryges (tabs) behind your hamata (just beneath your belt) ?

No, I think you're just seeing the tops of the waist pteryges under the hamata. They start under the hamata. I might cover the top with a piece of fabric in the same colour as the vest, but I don't know if I should bother...

Vale,
Jef

Quote:You'll be surprised how many meters of edging you'll need But they are very narrow pieces (Mine were 5cm wide, before folding) so you can get a lot of meters from a fairly small piece of fabric.

Hmm...maybe a single layer of thick felt will suffice for the edging. It is thicker than my leather flaps. But the surface texture may clash with the linen too much. I'll have to experiment.

Quote:I like this colour scheme too, but I'd like to have some more sets in other colours too. Too bad it takes so much time to make

I'll choose red with gold borders. The usual problem with white is that dirt is always visible no matter how minor. Others might think we look as if we had been in combat if our uniforms are muddied up - we wouldn't want that :wink: Actually, Tribunes would often lead their men by example...from the rear ranks

Quote:I'm looking forward to seeing your modifications.

Thanks. I'm sure it will take me as much time to modify as it did to create the pteryges :x lol: But watching TV is a good idea to pass the time.

Quote:No, I think you're just seeing the tops of the waist pteryges under the hamata.

Oh good. I felt sorry for you because they would have ended up being obscured.

Quote:but I don't know if I should bother...

No, I would not. It already looks perfect, IMHO.

Thanks for sharing, Marcus.
I will do the same when I'm finished.

~Theo

Felt. No need to fold the edges under. Might just be a good choice. Make sure it's colorfast before you do it, though, because it would be a shame for the dye to bleed into the main part of the garment. For some reason, when dye bleeds, it becomes totally permanent in what it bleeds onto. Strange law of PsychoFabricPhysics, I suppose.

Quote:This sounds like a LOT of stitching - I may resort to using a machine for the unseen layers. May I ask how long it took to make your pteryges ?

~Theo

Hey Theo...might I suggest glue instead? Unless you plan on hiding the seems..machine stitching just looks...well, bad. On my plain pteryges on my subarmalis (Similar set up as Jef's), I used glue to bind the linen together, with the seam at the back. No-one will see it, and it's darn fast and easy!

And yes, it's a TON of hand sewing, but it's really worth it!

I've got twelve layer pteryges to edge and stitch yet All cut and ready (I went for a one piece job), so I'm just waiting until I'm in the right mood to get stuck in.

I do my sewing in front of the TV during commercials...helps make the job a bit more bearable.

Quote:I've got twelve layer pteryges to edge and stitch yet

Tarb, get a glover's needle. They're like regular needles, but sharp as surgeon's stuff, and the blade is triangular. You should be able to get through all that linen much more easily, as the blade cuts its way through. Most excellent for sewing unpunched leather, too.

They also don't mind punching through your finger, though, so be wary, or you'll leak blood on your project. hock: :?