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Handbook for Legionaries: Tunica
The basic garment is a deep red wool tunic
made of 2 rectangles approximtely 36"-48" long
by 40"-45" wide, sewn together at the sides and shoulders. The
body panels are cut across the grain of the fabric, so that there is a
selvage
(finished) edge at the top and bottom. (Actually, since modern
wool is
often wider than Roman wool, you will probably have a selvage at either
top or
bottom.) The body should be quite baggy and loose--it fits like a
tent,
not a T-shirt! Original tunics were frequently wider than they
were long,
and could be as large as 60" long by 55" wide.
Short
sleeves are an option, c. 6" long by 12" high, cut with the body
panels, but sleeveless tunics were much more common.
The
tunic hangs to the knees or below, but is normally worn bloused over a
cord or
tied belt to raise the hem above the knee.
The usual neckhole was a simple
slit, made by leaving part of the shoulder seam unsewn (about
12").
Many tunics were made with much longer neckslits, so that for heavy
work the
right arm could be slipped out. This is shown on Trajan's Column
and
other artwork. To close up this long neckslit so that the
tunic will
stay on your shoulders, gather a "knot" of slack fabric at the back
of the neck and tie a cord or thong around it, or just pin the slit
shut with a
couple of fibulae (see Cloak).
You can also simply put a couple stitches at the two points where it
would be
pinned. Round necklines (c. 8" wide) were also known, but
not
common.
Practically any
available red wool or linen is acceptable – but get the darkest color
red you
can find. Blood red is the goal
here. Wool fabric need not be
blanket-weight, but it should certainly be 100% wool. Linen
tunics should
be 100% linen and heavy enough that they will survive rough usage.
Undertunics cannot be
well documented, but the wearing of one for comfort is an option.
Make it
of white or natural linen, the same shape as your wool tunic or a
little
smaller. In very hot weather a linen tunic may be worn instead of
wool to
avoid dangerous overheating.
Sewing a
tunic is very simple. Prewash your fabric! The cut ends of
linen
will unravel a LOT, so they must be zig-zagged, hemmed, or whipstitched
FIRST! Also, allow for at least three inches of shrinkage,
length
AND width, per yard of fabric. Use hot wash/cold rinse/machine
dry for
linen, cold wash gentle/cold rinse/line dry for wool. Iron
well.
Only now should you measure and cut the pieces for your tunic.
Here is
how the pieces of a sleeved tunic can be fit onto the fabric, depending
on the
dimensions:
Place the
front and back panels together inside out, sew
the sides and top, then turn rightside out. Regular cotton thread
is
acceptable, though it is possible to find linen sewing thread for extra
authenticity. We generally machine sew the seams and do the hems
by hand,
but doing the whole thing by hand is certainly a worthy option.
Running
stitches (in-and-out) are fine for seams and hems. For hems on
linen
especially, it is best to turn the edge under twice (very narrow, 1/4"
to
3/8") to hide the cut edge completely, then stitch. (Iron these
folds down before you stitch, to make hemming much easier.) The
cut edges
inside a linen tunic should be whip-stitched or machine zig-zagged,
either before
or after assembly, so that the finished garment can be machine washed
when
dirty (warm or cold water). Otherwise, and for wool tunics,
simply squish
into a bucket of cool, soapy water, let sit a while, then rinse and
line
dry. The Romans used urine (ammonia) and sulfur smoke to bleach
white
clothing!
A simple tie
belt can
be made from a long strip of linen or wool about 4 inches wide.
Fold the
edges in towards the middle, then fold in half lengthwise and stitch.
SOTW is
probably the best supplier of off-the-shelf tunics,
but making them is more authentic and the colors are generally better. The big danger with an off-the-shelf tunic is
that the color will be too bright or off in some other way. If you DO order off-the-shelf, then you need
to hand-stitch any exposed seams.
Many thanks to
Matthew Amt and Legio XX for much
of the intormation on this page.
L
E G I O X I C L A V D I
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F I D E L I S - the
11th Legion
