The Armour Archive

I am making a tunic to wear with my armor. It' linen, and I am hand-sewing. I've folded the linen in half, cut out under the arms. I have read a few descriptions for making tunics that say to simply cut a slot for the neck. I am not certain what to do to prevent that from fraying. I have thought about a blanket stitch, but don't know if it's accurate or sufficient. Does anyone have a suggestion?

You can use facing.

Also, for just preventing fraying, "fray check" works pretty well.

A slit seems like it would be uncomfortable for the front of your throat. Why not cut a rounded triangle with a point facing straight down in the center front? You could roll the hem to finish it off if you don't want to bother with a facing, though a facing would be your sturdiest option. Blanket stitch isn't going to help that much with fraying if it's linen, unless you roll it and THEN blanketstitch it. But you could just as easily runningstitch a rolled edge or whipstitch it, which are faster stitches than blanket.

Edwin,

Are you in Jacksonville, FL? If so, and you are going to Coronation this weekend, find me and I'm happy to show you what I figured out for the neck for a fighting tunic.

I'm hardly an expert as many on this board, but I ran into a problem with the neckline last week and managed to come up with a solution that looks good and seems pretty durable.

PM me and I'll tell you how to find me.

I do plan on being at coronation; I am on TDY to the Ocala NF this week, so I'll be working on my tunic in my hotel room. Don't know if I'll be able to finish it in time yet. Will send PM later this evening.

Edwin,

Every time I try and PM you, it comes back as an error. Email me at jkostick AT gmail dot com