Constructing a Tunic

[Carlton Bach]

I am still sewing my tunic. I now have about 6 hours into it. Keep in mind that the only thing I have ever sewed in my life is a button. First, I started to sew the wrong sides together ,forgeting to sew it inside out. That wasted an hour. Then I backstitched the whole thing, another 3 hours and the rest of the time has been spent hemming. Just a note. Wool will unravel quite easily so it needs to be turned over to hem regardless of what some sites say about sewing hems on wool! I had to rip out 2 very long side seems to redo them with turned over edges. Now it apears that someone has spilled something on my tunic and left a stain right at the neck. I'm going to have to wash it when finished to try to get the stain out because I'm not done hemming and I don't want to unravel the edges further until I do. AHHHH!

Welcome to the wonderful world of handsewing. A few things that can make your life easier:

- use soft threads. Not only is sewing wool with wool authentic, sewing with hard flax or cotton thread can pull apart the fabric.

- wash the fabric before you sew. Wool always shrinks and felts, but once it has done that, it will both be more cohesive (harder to unravel, sometimes solid enough to cut into decorative patterns unhemmed) and not shrink so badly afterwards (so you don't hae to worry about poutting your tunic in the laundry and getting one for a 6-year-old back). I usually was all wool at 40°C, regular cycle, before sewing. For cloaks and capes, I make it 60°C. Then, it may also not be necessary to hem everything.

- Twill weaves are harder to unravel or pull askew than regular tabbyweave.

- And if you're not doing it already, use blunt-pointed embroidery neeldes. They are perfectly adequate for most fabrics re-enactors use, and the blood is hard to wash out if you use pointy needles.