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About>Galleries>Projects Gallery
2>Early Period "Celtic"
Style Tunic
Circa 10th
Century
 This
is a recreation of a man's 10th Century tunic, embellished
in a Celtic style.
I used a very nice fancy woven and hand embroidered
cotton imported from Africa for the body of this tunic. It
retailed at $50 a yard but this remenant, which contained
around 2.5 yards, had been marked down 75% off. For the collar,
cuff and hem facings, I used a nice, fulled medium weight
wool. The seams are all french seamed to encase the raw edges
as there is no lining.
The off center neck opening
was found commonly in period. I used it mainly to do something
different than a common 'keyhole' neckline.
The embellishment on the
cuffs and hem is carried out by couching down several strands
of soutache braid, dyed to match the embroidery. The embroidery
on the neckline is carried out in simple chain and stem stitch
and uses common Celtic motifs.
I chose these particular
shades of green after seeing a demonstration on the various
colors that can be obtained from woad, using period mordants.
Acloser look at the details of the above garment:
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| Detail of embroidery |
Detail of cuff and couched cord |
The
pattern for this tunic is the commonly used one diagramed
below. While
there are instances in period of tunics being cut from cloth
in this manner, it's a very wasteful way of making the garment.
Most
often, the period tunic was constructed using rectangular
pieces to build up the garment. This is what is known as 'rectangular
construction'. It requires more seams but uses much less fabric
and, if done just right, there is virtually no waste fabric
left. A common pattern for a 10th Century tunic using rectangular
construction is given below:
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