Role-Swap Tunic Project - Process

This is my second round of not-a-cosplay-I-swear, though this time I have significantly less plausible deniability. As with my last multi-item project, most of these are garments that will be worn for their own sake.

Pictures of the ensemble as a whole will linked in the future. [Edit: This is the full outfit.]

The artist’s design for this tunic really piqued my interest, but the outfit as a whole has really neat elements. Starting off though:

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Outer Tunic

Two front panels of a coat in red. One side has a slightly v-shaped slope, the other has a much more square neckline, with a notch at the front.ALT
A close-up of red fabric being un-stitched with a steel knitting needle.ALT

As deeply tempting as it was to weave again, the outer tunic was actually made from one of my older projects that was just… Not agreeing with my brain. The material was good (suiting interlined with linen), the techniques were good (English and top-stitching), but the final product just did not suit me. It was a long coat with long, laced-in sleeves, and an asymmetrical hemline. Thus, the entire garment was unstitched, and the pieces were shifted and flipped to make the best use of the fabric. (Revised neckline is the one on the right of the first picture.) The armscye is roughly copied from the measurements of an early Tudor coat’s pattern on the initial garment, and vaguely copied for the revised edition.

A back panel, black linen side-up, which has been basted at the seam lines down the armscye and side.ALT
An example of English-stitch, the needle being shown at an angle as it closes the outer and lining fabrics together to be treated as one.ALT
The needle from the prior picture is now angled in the opposite direction.ALT

The prior garment was only stitched inside on the front seam and the neckline, but I ended up basting the armscyes and side shaping too for the revised garment. There was a frankly absurd amount of futzing with these seams, and the left, front armscye was redone about seven times before I was pleased with it. When everything lined up nicely, the seams were English-stitched together, which treats the interlining and outer-fabric as one.

The edge of the red fabric being top-stitched with a back-stitch in black silk.ALT
A design is being chain-stitched into the red fabric, again, with black silk thread.ALT

The edges were top-stitched, and a design was chain-stitched, both using silk quilter’s twist. The hook-and-eye closures are from here. A herringbone stitch was added to the inside to secure the lining and outer fabric better, as the closures are only sewn to the inner fabric.

Other pieces are under the cut. In order: Hat, Under-Tunic, Pants, Faux-Chainmail, Belt, Wraps, and Bonus Round: Bag.

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