13th century under tunic for the “12th century wedding clothing project” finished

Finally I can declare the 13th century under tunic project for my sweethearts 12th century wedding clothing project finished. And the expression on my husbands face every time he wears his new hand sewn 13th century under tunic assures me that this project is a great success. 😀

The construction of the 13th century under tunic pattern was a rather long process but I really learned a lot concerning the differences between male and female clothing while working at this project. Especially because I never (hand) sewed a period male garment like this before. It took several alterations to the measurements – especially of the body part – but it was totally worth it. I am very glad that I never gave up, regardless how frustrating some steps of the final fitting process were for me.

Now I have the perfect pattern for a very tight fitted 13th century under tunic for my sweetheart. Though it might be too tightly fitted for SCA heavy fighting, this under tunic will serve him as a great garment for all other activities during the day. Well, I admit it, I am somehow glad that he can’t use his under tunic for fighting activities and cause damage to the embroidery… 😉

During the last days I already started hand sewing like crazy at the very next project for his 12th century wedding clothing – the 12th century silk over tunic which will go over this 13th century under tunic. But before I can tell you more about the next project, I have to “close” this 13th century under tunic project and show you the final pictures of it.

Yes, I finally managed to take pictures of my sweetheart wearing his new hand sewn 13th century under tunic – enjoy the following pictures! 😀

 

As you can see at the pictures above and underneath, I kept the embroidery rather simple and not too obvious. It just adds a nice sparkle to the under tunic and complements it rather than “outshine” the rest of the under tunic in any way. The embroidery on the under tunic is just a nice detail that adds to the whole appearance….

…and well, as I am already working at the over tunic for my husbands 12th century wedding clothing I can tell you that most of the embroidery will not even be visible most of the time – but more about that soon… 🙂 

Btw. if you ask yourself what sense embroidery makes that is not obvious or visible – well, one of my most favorite examples for this kind of embellishment is “whitework“. If you follow the link to the historical needlework resources page about medieval “whitework” (“Opus Teutonicum”), you will find some very nice examples of embroidered altar cloths and other period whitework embroidery. But this technique was not only used for altar cloths,… – also some very beautiful examples of medieval whitework embroidery can be found on extant (under) tunics. 

And here a picture of the whole under tunic – you can see how tightly fitted the sleeves of his tunic actually are. 🙂

And yes, like always he insisted of kidding around… 😉

And now, that the 13th century under tunic project is finally and officially finished, I can tell you more about the 12th century silk over tunic I am working at in my next posting. I am hand sewing like crazy but I will try my best to catch up with the progress I already made. Yes, so much to do and just so little time until Gulf Wars… 🙂

More postings about this 13th century under tunic project can be found here:

1. male 13th century tunic for the “12th century wedding clothing project”
2. male 13th century tunic … – hand-sewing finished
3. male 13th century tunic … – sleeve embroidery started
4. male 13th century tunic … – sneak peek at the sleeve embroidery
5. male 13th century tunic … – sneak peek at the sleeve embroidery
6. male 13th century tunic … – more sleeve embroidery – embroidered shells & shields
7. male 13th century tunic … – more sleeve embroidery – embroidered bears & comets
8. male 13th century tunic … – neckline embroidery finished
9. male 13th century tunic … – bottom hemline embroidery finished