Worth Reading

Along with the arguments about embroidery that frequently come up on Viking clothing forums, the topic of contrasting gores also often arises.  While this article focuses on the Medieval era, the thinking can still be applied to the Viking era. 

Yes, to our modern eye, contrasting gores can be pretty!  And sometimes in the SCA you just have to work with what you have and that might mean you are forced to make some choices that would not be historical in nature if you do not have the right fabric or enough of the right fabric.  "I only had so much fabric" is a very valid reason for doing something while "If I lived back then I would have done it this way" is really not unless you can show it was done (in other words, do not try to force history to conform to your own ideas on how things should have been).

http://blackcatsews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/contrasting-gores-in-medieval-dresses.html

And no, the fact that the Lendbreed tunic had different sleeves than body is no evidence of such a practice either.  That particular piece was very worn and patched and it is possible that the sleeves were added later to replace the original worn out sleeves.  The point being that this was not a garment that, when newly crafted, was designed to sport contrasting sleeves.  Just some things to think about. 

In the event you want to read more about that early find, you can find the detailed analysis here:  https://www.academia.edu/4372500/Out_of_the_Norwegian_glaciers_Lendbreen_a_tunic_from_the_early_first_millennium_AD