Sewing directions for Mediterranean tunic with funky underarm Copyright 2010 Julia May (Samia al-Kaslaania)

Creative Commons: Attribution non-commercial share alike 1. To make center body: Sew center panels together at the top. Press seams open and finish. 2. NOTE: the neck hole should be shifted 1-2 inches toward the front (use a T-shirt for reference). In period these tunics had slit necklines, round facings, keyhole facings, and bias tape facings. This website has good explanations for the latter three: http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/C-233.html NOTE: be careful to not stretch the neck as you sew. 3. If you couldn’t lay the gores on the fold while cutting, sew the long edges of two “half gores” together so you have two complete gores. 4. To make a side body: Pin half of one of a gore to one bottom edge of a sleeve, nearest the wide side of the sleeve. See diagram at left. Stitch. 5. Fold sleeve in half, and fold gore in half. Pin the top of the other half of the gore to the other bottom edge of the sleeve. See center diagram. Stitch. 6. Pin and sew remaining bottom edges of sleeve to each other. 7. Press seams. 8. Repeat steps 3-7 with other side body (they’ll be identical front to back, so don’t worry about right and left). 9. Attaching side body to center body: Find top center of sleeve on one side body. Match that point to the shoulder seam of the center body. See diagram at right. Pin along the length from shoulder seam to hem just down the front. Stitch. Pin the back and stitch. 10. Repeat with other side body. Press all new seams. 11. Try garment on, wearing the proper undergarments, layers, and shoes. Adjust the length of the sleeve hems as necessary (with a bent elbow), remembering to allow for seam allowances. 12. Hem and apply any trim. Seams were finished with a decorative top stitch or flat felled in the Islamic periods.