Wool Underarm Gussets

I want to write entries in chronological order, partly because I don’t produce all that much. But maybe I’ll write about contemporary projects sometimes.

I hate sewing and I always make it more complicated than it has to be. A few years ago I picked up a yard of a wool remnant and started hand sewing a Celt tunic from it. I didn’t understand how they work and didn’t cut the sleeves wide enough. I hadn’t read anything giving dimensions and don’t have an innate sense of how pieces work together.* I need to add underarm gussets, which makes it incorrect construction. Oops. I have a little extra wool remnant, it’s another fabric but it’ll be fine.

I cut the gussets but decided I better roll and sew the edges. I’m doing it by hand with the same wool yarn I’m sewing the tunic from.

One down. Here’s hoping they’re big enough.

*If you’re trying to make a tunic without underarm gussets, the body should be wide enough that the shoulders fit at least 1/3 or 1/2 way down your upper arm, or even all the way to your elbow.

The higher your shoulder sits, the wider your sleeve needs to be, at least at the top. My bicep is only about thirteen inches wide, but the top of my sleeve should be 20″-23″. Maybe even wider, I haven’t tested that yet.