Ottoman Empire Gomlek

I recently started joining the local Society for Creative Anarchism (SCA) group to meet up with like-minded individuals interested in historic costumes and research. There is an upcoming event with a middle eastern theme and I have nothing to wear! So of course that meant frantic research into what middle eastern costume I wanted to make, draft the patterns and begin work.

I finally settled on Ottoman Empire (Turkish) costume consisting of shalwar, gomlek, entari and caftan. I did quick and dirty research and The documentation that I found the most helpful are the following:

https://serenesabiha.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/aripattern.pdf
http://baronyofatenveldt.org/uploads/library/Ottoman%20Coat%20Handout%202011.pdf
http://www.katjaorlova.com/FemaleTurkishGarb.pdf

Linen gomlek before the added neckline facing.

The first link has a great measurement chart that is helpful for keeping documentation of your measurements. I used the gomlek (or women's shirt) pattern and followed the directions from that link as well. The one thing that the pattern and the directions do not mention are to add design ease to the pattern. Design ease is required because you need to be able to move and sit down. I added 4 inches of ease to the sleeve, 5 inches to the waist and hips, and 4 inches around the bust. I also added a facing to the neckline.

During the construction, I used a new using french seams to encase the raw edges. I loved this seam, it was so much easier than fighting with my serger. I did have a few moments where I thought that I had accidentally sewn the french seam to the wrong side. I love the clean finish look and will be utilizing this again on my next smock style garment because linen unravels like crazy.

Pleated excess from hip measurement into the waist.

I also used the option of making the skirt side gore to my hip measurement and the bust side gore to my waist measurement. I pleated the larger side gore into the bust side gore at the waist. In order to do this, I did not measure precisely. Rather I pinned the edges together and then split the excess into two pleats. I made the pleats approximately 2 inches from each edge. I have no idea if that is remotely historically correct for Turkish costume. I might try gathering the larger skirt gore into the bust gore next time.

I also drafted my first neckline and facing. I shouldn't have done this while rushing and being slightly tired because the neck opening could have been neater and a little smaller. I followed the instructions from the Renaissance Tailor for the facing. I used my machine to sew the facing to the right side of the neckline so that the facing could be turned to the inside and enclose the seam. The second seam was hand stitched using a blind hem stitch with the seam allowance turned in. I need to add one or two hook and eyes to the opening.

The sleeves were hemmed after turning 1/2 the seam allowance twice and then using a straight stitch on my sewing machine. The hem of the skirt portion will be sewn using a blind stitch by hand after straightening the hem.

If I make another one in the future, I would like to make the gomlek ankle length instead of knee length. I want to redraft the neckline as well. I also I would also like to try a lighter weight linen. I love the fit overall.