The sheer amount of research has been a wonderful time suck, as I have learned copious amounts about what, where and how Vikings dressed themselves. While part of this research stemmed from sheer curiousity, I figure that some of it will come into play when I'm writing. So. Multi-tasking FTW!
Here's a little background into men's clothing of the Viking Era for you, as that's what I'm going to start sewing first.
What we know about Viking clothing mostly comes from images carved into runestones, jewellery, and descriptions in the Sagas. Occasionally, tiny scraps of material are found in burials - typically preserved underneath metal such as brooches or buckles. From these scraps, archeologists are able to see what kind of weave patterns were used, and sometimes even what kind of materials the clothes were made of.
Men wore an undertunic, typically made from coarse linen. Wealthier men had ones made out of silk, but these were quite rare. Over the tunic went a woolen overtunic, typically dyed and spun by the women of the household. Pants were also made from homespun wool.
Now, for my purposes - wool is right out of the question. First of all, it's bloody hot during the season that we'll be sporting the outfits. Also, wool is bulky. I have no desire to tote around big bulky wooly garments for the one or two days that they'll be useful.
So, I'm not being entirely accurate and am using very heavy, roughspun linen for the outfits. I'm making simple T tunics with gussets for the underarms and to provide some fullness at the bottom of the tunic. Pants will also be simple - drawstrings and possibly modern cut, as opposed to historically accurate gusseted pants. (What can I say, I'm both lazy and practical.)
First up is Mr. Munchkin's tunic top.
Here you can see the pieces all cut out. There is a long rectangle that is double the measurement from his shoulder to the bottom of the tunic, and the width from one shoulder to the other. In his case, the rectangle is approximately 50 inches long and 20 inches wide.
The four triangles are for the underarm gussets, and also the gussets that flare from the waist out to the bottom of the tunic, providing some fullness.
So let's get sewing!
I pinned the first triangle to one edge of the sleeve, right sides together. Sewed them together, then pinned the other side of the triangle to the other side of the sleeve and repeated.
But this time, I continued sewing the sleeve together all the way down. Oh, I nearly forgot - the gusset provides room for the arm to move, but the sleeve is meant to fit tightly around the wrist. So, the rectangle that makes up the main body of the sleeve measures the length of Mr. Munchkin's arm (from shoulder to wrist), and is the width of his fist (measured around to ensure that he can get his hand through.
Repeat for the other sleeve.
Next comes the insetting of the sleeve. Being the lazy slapdash crafter that I am, I decided to insert the gussets for the bottom of the tunic at the same time.
Flipped the sleeve so that it matched to the right side of the tunic, then smushed it inside the top of the folded-over rectangle. Pinned with lots and lots of pointy objects. Made sure that the sleeve is centred so that it's aligned with the top of the tunic body.
Pinned and moved onto inserting the lower gussets. It's not hard, it's done exactly the same way as the gussets for the sleeves. Only difference is that both sides are pinned into place before anything gets sewed down.
Sewed all of the pinned seams, then turned the entire thing right side out. Repeated for the other side of the tunic. Next came the neckhole. Since I'm still on the hunt for the right trim to edge the tunics with, this part is a little rougher than usual.
I eyeballed it, honestly. Measured in about 4 inches from each shoulder seam and cut. Of course, it was too large. Ugh. So, a small pleat in the back helped rectify that problem. A quick stay stitch and the collar is now prepped for the application of the trim.
The tunic still needs to be hemmed and the sleeves adjusted, but that can wait a little bit, just in case Mr. Munchkin decides to go on a growth spurt between now and the summer.
Pants are next on the menu, but those are a quick job once they're cut out. Y'know, I just might actually pull this off. (Yes, I'm feeling a bit cocky. I think I've earned it, people.)
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