Giornea - a rambling tutorial

This is my giornea pattern, you can see what I've made from it here:
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This is very simple to make. I won't include sewing instructions, because there are so many ways to sew and finish it, so you choose what you want to do (bag lining, flat lining etc). These instructions just describe what you need to do with measuring and so on. The instructions aren't very good, I'll be updating with step by step pictures etc, but they'll have to wait till I make another of these, which will be a while.
So for now you get my rambles!

For a fabric with a right and wrong side, you can use it for a fabric with a pattern but the pattern will be one way on theback, and another on the front.
First measure from your shoulder to the ground. Second add an inch or two (for seam alowance and hem).
This is how much fabric you need- for me It was around the 3 metre mark.

Now you have a length of fabric, cut it in half so you have two pieces each your body length long, and whatever the fabric width is wide. If your fabric is a similar width to to the length the keep track of which way round your pieces go!

Now, find the point on your shoulder where you want the outer edge of the giornea to sit (if you were attaching a sleeve (which you shouldn't, just imagine) it would be the side where the sleeve attaches, not the side by your neck) and measure in a straight horozontal line from a point inline vertically with this point to the centre of your neck. For me this means I measure from just above my armpit. Don't stress over this measurement too much.
If this is too confusing you can also measure from that point on one shoulder to the point on the other one and divide it by two.

Whatever this measurement is, measure that far in from the top left and bottom right of one of your pieces of fabric, then draw a line between these points.
You should now have something that resembles the top half of the first diagram.

Repeat for the second piece, the cut them out.

Now arrange them like in the second picture.
Measure on your shoulder how wide you want the fabric to be at the top of your shoulder. You only sew the shoulder seam (the little short seam) that far in from the outer edge- thats the slanty edge.
You can either sew the back seam up then cut out your V neckline, or not sew the back seam up all the way and cut and hem your V neckline from there.

Now put it on, little seams centered on your shoulders, sewn seam down the back.
Now mark the V of the frot neckline. I like to do the front when I'm wearing it-if you have someone to mark your back neckline then you can do that while you are wearing it too.

You can see in the second picture that there are lines indicating the necklines. Make sure the neckline at the top matches up with the point on the shoulder seams where you have stopped sewing!

You can sew the front seam (or leave it open which is more usual).

From here if you need to finish any seams/edges and you are done!


If you are using a fabric with no right or wrong side, then you can make one of the body pieces longer (say, the one with the yellow and red pieceson) and then arrange them so that these two become the back and the blue and green the front.

If you would like something with more fullness, then add a triangular gore in the back from the bottom point of the neckline (or a tad lower) to the hem.

This pattern can also be used to make a loose dress open up the front and closed down the sides.
Sew the blu and green pieces together at the shoulder seam, and the yellow and red. Arrange them so that the slanty seam of the blue and yellow are the centre front, and the straight seam of the red and green is the centre back. Sew the sides together (ie the blue straight side to the green slanty, and the yellow straight side to the red slanty. Remember to leave a bit unsewn at the top for your armhole! Add a gore in the back. This is how this (unfinished) dress was made.
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