Make a Birka Style tunic

Sarah Brown led me through this one, it worked OK for me. (NOTE: Lots of fabric is sold in 115cm widths, which is what these instructions are based on. I am less than 115cm across the chest so I made do with 1.15m x about 2.5m of fabric, someone bigger than me will probably need to be more creative). There are two little square gussets under the arms in the original but they aren't in mine so I can't help you with that. The gores make the tunic flare, and prevent it from getting points (sortof) on the corners, like what you get with the t-shirt tunic.

Get linen. 1.15m x 2.5m was good for me (length is 2x your shoulders to about your knees, plus an extra meter or so to cut gores and sleeves from. 3m probably would be safest!) The Birka style tunic is meant to be made without shoulder seams but mine ended up with them(not sure why).

Measure twice the length from your shoulders to your knees and mark off this on the fabric. This is the front and back of your tunic - fold it in half and that is your shoulderline. Cut.

Measure the distance from your hip (or just above - where you do up your belt) to your knee - for me it was about 75cm. This is the length of your gores, of which you will have four. Mark this length onto the leftover fabric, and cut, so you will get a rectangle of fabric 115cm wide and as long as the distance from your hip to your knee. You'll divide this up into 4 triangles to make your gores as follows:

For me, the _width_ of the gores was determined the the width of the available fabric. Hopefully on the remaining fabric you will have a length long enough to include your gores and sleeves.

Divide the width of the fabric you will use for your gores by 2-- mark the halfway point on one edge of the fabric. See diagram as to how to draw and cut out the gores. You will end up with 3 full triangles and 2 halves of a triangle - sew the half-triangles together for your final gore.

Measure the distance from your shoulder to about halfway along the back of your hand. Measure the circumference of your upper arm (plus some extra for seams and room to move) and of your fist (plus extra, for previous reasons). Mark out 2 shapes on the remaining fabric that have the upper arm circumference at one end and the fist circumeference at the other, and are as long as the distance from your shoulder to hand (plus extra for seams and hems). See diagram. Cut out.

HOPEFULLY you will have enough fabric left to trace the facing template onto and cut out (from memory I had to sew some scraps together...). Lay your front-back piece out flat and find the middle of the shoulder fold. Mark with a pin. Place the neck-hole template onto it (a key-shaped neckhole), with the back of the template closer to the pin than the front. Trace.

HOW TO ATTACH A FACING, BY SARAH BROWN: "I'll try and explain how you do facing. I'm not positive how accurate facing a tunic is, but it is the best way I know to achieve a neat keyhole neckline. To face a neckline, you need a separate piece of fabric that is approx 2 inches larger all round than the size of neck hole you require. Mark the exact size of the neckhole on this separate piece of fabric and pin it to the correct place on your body piece, on the outside of the tunic. Sew the facing to the tunic on the line of stitches marked on the facing. Once your facing is attached, cut out the middle of the neckhole (go through both pieces of fabric). Make sure you leave a seam allowance as you cut (ie cut 1cm away from the line of stitches). To assist in a smooth appearance when you turn the facing inside out, you need to make small cuts from inside the neckhole towards the line of stitches. This helps the fabric expand as you turn the facing. Make sure you do not cut the stitches. Turn the facing through the neckhole onto the inside of the tunic. Make sure you fully separate the two pieces of fabric away from the seam (I do this by rolling the seam between my fingers) and then iron flat. Then all you have to do is fold the outside of the facing under, iron it, and sew it down. You should probably hand sew this part if you are trying for a more accurate finish."

Pin the broad part of the arms with the shoulder fold at the middle of the broad part of the arm (where they'd go on a tshirt... can't describe properly, sorry) right sides together. Sew with straight stitch and then zigzag.

Mark the distance from your hip to your knee (the length of your gores) from each end of the body piece, and mark. Pin your first gore to one side of the fabric, right sides together, sew with straight stitch and then zigzag. Repeat with other gores.

Fold tunic, right sides in, and pin. Sew from wrist to bottom of skirt - this will join the front and back gores on each side of the tunic together.

Hem sleeves and bottom by folding over 1.5cm or so, ironing, folding over another 1.5cm, ironing, pinning and sewing with straight stitch (this prevents fraying).

Hopefully you will now have a birka-style-tunic-shaped-object.