I just completed this Viking tunic for a friend. We talked about me making it months back and was FINALLY able to get measurements (by stealing a tunic he was wearing that day!) and able to get working on it. He chose the color linen and had it mailed to me directly. I washed and dried it prior to cutting it out and then used the "stolen" tunic as a pattern for it. His request was to have Viking runes on the sleeve that when translated say "It begins in the beginning as all things do." He provided the translation. The hem and collar are a double herringbone stitch done in blue, white and green thread. The wolves heads are the symbols on his coat of arms and I copied them onto the tunic for further personalization. I used cotton thread instead of silk thread because honestly, cotton is a bit tougher. I have found that men tend to be a bit tougher on their garb then women. Also, The gold and green colors I was out of in my silk thread collection and funds being on the snug side, I chose for the lesser pricey threads that I had in my collection already.
As with my other Viking type tunics, my inspiration for the embroidery comes mostly from the Mammen embroideries found on extant pieces. Paired beasts were often used, though not in the fashion I used it on his tunic. Below is a fragment of embroidery showing the paired beasts. I placed the wolves heads on either side of the neckline to personalize it more for the recipient, as they are on his coat of arms.
I'm so very happy with how it came out and his reaction when I sent him pictures was even better. I'm still cracking up laughing over it! I promise to add a picture of him wearing it when I see him in it.
The materials I used were as follows:
DMC Cotton thread
Coats and Clark sewing thread
Linen fabric
Edit 06/18/15:
Two photos of the recipient wearing the tunic
Ooooh! So pretty!!!
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