So, I recently finished a gambeson and it's great. My only problem is the sleeves. The bunching in the elbow is so tight I can barely hold an ochs position. Sewers of gambesons, enlighten me: how do I gusset or cut holes in the sleeves without ruining the whole thing?

Jess, is your sleeve seam along the inside of your arm or the outside?

I've seen a lot of reproduction garments address this by constructing the sleeve to be pre-flexed at the elbow. Here's a photo of my gambeson (revival clothing's linen gambeson) elbow in it's natural state. The elbow is naturally in a pre-bent position. It doesn't bunch up when bringing a sword up in to ochs.

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Scott, the seam is underneath my arm.

Ian, unfortunately I'm not that good of a seamstress and I have no idea how to pre-flex the elbow especially now that it's done :D

My main worry is that if I flip the whole thing inside out to cut away at the elbow that I'm gonna cut the wrong side of the elbow...

go to your local fabric store and get a little packet of blue and white chalk.... draw on fabric while wearing it... so you don't cut in the wrong way... remember to leave seam allowance...

My new gambeson, which I'm currently working on, will be cut at the elbow similar to the Charles de Blois-garment which has the arm pre-bent. Also, there should be little or no padding at the bend of the arm wether or not the arm is cut in one piece.

Ian's picture is worth a thousand words. Mikael and Christopher offered good advice, especially this quote:

Mikael wrote:

...there should be little or no padding at the bend of the arm...

It took making two gambesons for me to figure this out. :blush:

With the seam on the bottom of the arm, you should be able to open it up and insert a piece to give you the "pre-bent" appearance.