Suggestions for Beginners

The SCA asks that you make a "reasonable" attempt at medieval garb. It does not demand you go totally authentic, but it does ask that you keep purely fantastic interpretations to a minimum. Within that constraint, you'll find everything from Romans to Elizabethans, from Mongols to Japanese to American Indians to Byzantines, and everything in between, from everywhere around the world that fits into the SCA's timeframe of 600AD - 1600AD. If you want to go a little before that even, or a bit after it, you won't find many complaints.

Most people find that the earlier the garb, the easier it is to make. I thought my 10th-century cote dress was easy to make (all geometric shapes and no real fitting), till a Roman persona laughed at me for thinking cutting pieces out was easy. She wore two large square pieces of fabric strategically pinned!

It really depends on your sewing skills. If you're fairly good at sewing, Period Patterns makes a number of patterns that are pretty accurate. If you're very new at it, Simplicity patterns (as well as its sister companies, Butterick and Mcall's) make easy-to-follow patterns geared for the home seamstress. Other patterns people have found easy to use include "Dashing Doublets" (available from Pillaged Village), Rocking Horse Farms' early-period patterns, and even Moi Randall (though he's generally later-period).

If you do use Simplicity/Butterick/Mcall's patterns, be aware that they are costumes, not necessarily garb. Most of them have a distinct "Renfest" look to them, and most of the time they don't use adequate foundation garments, or have flimsy construction that won't hold up to the rigors of 24/7 wear like you have at an SCA event. That said, there are a few patterns that you can work with in the Simplicity catalog (you'll quickly notice I like Simplicity more than the other two.. Simplicity generally comes closer to what you need.

• 7756 Misses' Renaissance. This is a very easy costume to make. If you do it, here are your pointers: Leave off the rollbrim hat; it's silly. Add sleeves to the bodice. Make the chemise (white underdress) longer -- about thigh-length, and lengthen the sleeves so they hit your wrists. Leave off the elastic and use a drawstring cord instead. Leave off that silly apron. Also don't tie the bodice up at the shoulder .. just sew it together as normal. These sound like a lot of changes, but they really aren't -- I've only listed the easy stuff. You can see an example of this outfit at this page.

• 8192 Misses Renaissance. Don't torture yourself. Skip this one. These are Victorian ideas of Italian Renaissance garb. There's way better out there.

• 8715 Misses Renaissance. Not bad, once you take out the darts and add sleeves. Ignore that dumb "bubble skirt" overskirt thing on the wench. Looking purely at the "noblewoman" picture, make the fancy sleeves part of the bodice, and wear a white chemise underneath the whole thing. The skirt looks fine. Don't lace up the bodice at the shoulders.. make it look normal there.

• 8881 Misses Elizabethan. Nothing I can say here, except WOW. Oh, do make the pointy bit of the front bodice shorter and less dramatic. That's about it. It looks a little complicated for a beginner, but if you see it on sale and you're even thinking about this period, get it for a future project.

• 8587 Renaissance costumes. Made in nice fabric and leaving off the "ragged" edges, men might find this basic tunic/overtunic/hood pattern useful. Not useful for women. Includes shoe pattern.

• 9531 Misses Italian Renaissance. Waists look way too high, but other than that, these look all right. Make the skirts fuller, too, and keep the bodice fabric matching the skirt (sleeves can be different fabric).

• 9533 Misses Italian Overdresses. They look pretty, but do not even slightly resemble anything I've ever seen in period.

• 9753 Men's Medieval. Very fantasy-ish, but does have a decent tunic.

• 9832 Misses Elizabethan. If you're going to do Elizabethan, 8881 is probably the better option.

• 9966 Misses Renfest. These also are totally inauthentic. Fun and easy, but not in the slightest authentic. If you really really want to do one, my suggestion is to shoot for the Scottish look.. add sleeves, remove the side lacings, and make the skirt match the bodice (leave off the underskirt and the goofy skirt-raiser thingies). The chemise looks okay, but the huge ruffles don't work. I just made one of those, and the ruffle was outrageously overdramatic -- and the thin cotton I used bunched up way too much. For this to work, you have to have the elastic hitting you around mid-forearm, and that doesn't feel right at all. I ended up totally removing the ruffle and just elasticizing the wrists. You might want to cut this sleeve less full. Also, skip the lace trim. Use braid or gimp instead. I didn't follow their directions for the skirt elastic at all -- I just turned under the top edge and ran elastic through it, instead of fussing with a waistband. Worked great. Ignore all the fribble you read about using bias tape to form a casing for elastic. Just turn the fabric under, make the casing, and sew the other edge 1/2" from the seam you just made.

• 8108 Costumes. While not strictly medieval, this set includes EXCELLENT tunics. Make the long sleeve variety, with a bit of waist and floor-length for a woman, and just like the package and knee-length for a man. Looks super easy. Ignore the Roman stuff and the short sleeved variations, and the stoles.

• 8275 Costumes. Same for 8108, with more variety. Just about everything here will do fine for a newbie. I don't think you can go wrong with this.

• 8735 Misses "Ever After" Renaissance. The burgundy view in the lower right corner is about the only useful pattern on here. Otherwise, these are pure fantasy.

• 8855 Misses Celtic Costumes. Renfest only, with the same shortcomings as the other Renfest outfits, except this time in plaid.

• 8871 Costumes. Men's and women's multipurpose costumes. The robes aren't cut nearly full enough (and their hoods fasten oddly), but the tunics and pants look useful.

• 8913 Men's Celtic Costumes. These go with 8855 and are very fantasy inspired. I wouldn't bother.

• 9887 Men's Fantasy Costumes. Includes a sort of Gandalf costume and a sort of knight, and a Death robe. The cloaks aren't quite right (what IS that weird trim along their fronts?), the hat is totally out of the question, but the general shapes are all right on the cloak and knight tunic.

• 9891 Misses Costumes. I love this pattern, but it's not salvagable for authenticity at all that I can see.

• 9929 Misses Elizabethan Costumes. A really decent, easy pattern. The bodice on the Tudor lady isn't quite right (the lacings don't belong), and she should be wearing a white chemise, instead of making her chemise and skirt one piece and wearing a bodice over them. I like her oversleeves. The skirt should match the bodice. The beige Burgundian looks pretty cool. Also, I'm impressed with these hats, officially. I bought this pattern just for the gable hood.

• Elf ears, unicorn horns on your forehead, etc. We are all human in the Current Middle Ages. That said, some good gentles wear tails on their butts for fun and get away with it.
• Science fiction uniforms, like Starfleet or Klingon uniforms.
• If you have a choice, watch out for Renaissance Festival wench/pirate style outfits. Sometimes there isn't a choice, but if there is, you might be able to do better (and this stuff can be dreadfully expensive compared to making it yourself or scouting around the more authentic vendors!).

If you're very new to the garb scene, shoot for natural fibers. Nothing will say "burning in the Doom Pits of Hell" to you faster than a polyester dress in July in Texas. Synthetics are not actually evil, but they tend to be hotter and stuffier than natural fabrics, and in my experience wear out a lot faster. Even 100% wool's better than polyester. Seriously.

Of the naturals, just about anything in a solid color will be fine. Some people think 100% linen is cooler in the heat than cotton. I've got a 50% cotton/50% linen tunic that is already showing wear, so I probably won't ever buy linen blends again. If solids make you crazy, stripes, plaids (yes, even for non-Celtic personae and late-period people), jacquards, anything that looks woven in will look fine. Avoid gingham-style delicate prints and anything with lots of colors. Also try to avoid upholstery prints that will make you look like a sofa when made into garb.

While we're on the subject of upholstery, AVOID AVOID AVOID any upholstery with rubber or plastic backing. I tried this. That stuff don't come off, and it makes your garb a) incredibly sweltering, and b) stiff as a board.

Silk, velvet, and wool are also nice, but they're expensive, so I'm skipping them. Your first garb should be something you can run around in and work in.

60" wide fabrics are the easiest to deal with. Pay close attention to your pattern. Some patterns give yardage (fabric required) for both 60" and 45" fabrics, but sometimes for only one width. This yardage can vary wildly. Either way, make sure you buy more than you think you'll need, especially if you're new to sewing. If you have a couple extra yards, messing up your bodice isn't so scary. If you can only find 45" and your pattern is pieced for 60" fabric, you'll need lots more fabric. If you just have to have a pattern, definitely get extra. Also, as the saying goes, you really DO have to match plaids or your butt will look funny.

If your fabric frays like mad while you're sewing, you MUST finish your seams. That means making them so they don't fray. There are lots of methods of doing this, from just zigzag stitching the seam edge to turning the seam under (like your blue jeans' outer leg seams are made), to complicated-sounding things like "French seams". But you must do it.

If your fabric is very flimsy and you want it to support weight (like a bodice), you may want to line it. Buy cheap material for this (remember, get natural fibers, not that "lining material" they sell that's 100% polyester). The easiest way to line is just cut two of the piece out, slap them together, and sew like normal.

Oh, and ALWAYS pre-wash your material. Always. If you aren't sure how it'll react to washing, cut off a hand-sized piece and wash it first. Measure it before washing, and that'll tell you if it shrinks. But always pre-wash your fabrics before cutting. (Incidentally, most fabrics that say they're dry-clean only are that way because of shoddy dye jobs.. most fabric machine washes just fine on gentle, with gentle detergent; wool may need to be line-dried after washing, as machine drying will cause it to thicken up). After you pre-wash and dry the fabric, you may need to iron it if it's really wrinkled. Don't skip that step. Preparing your fabric for sewing is at least as important as the fun sewing-it-together part.

If you have a choice, cut your pattern pieces big. You can always cut away a bit. Cutting small is harder to fix.

If you do cut too small, remember: PIECING IS PERIOD. Add a strip of fabric to widen the piece. It's fine. They did it all the time. Nobody will even notice.

Prewash your trim, too. I'm serious. I forgot that, and some burgundy trim got pink spots all over a pure white linen doublet.

Always assume black and red will bleed. If you forget about bleed, Rit Dye-Out takes out bleed like magic. It also takes out fabric dyes (it turned that burgundy trim light mauve pink) and whitens whites.

If you can't tell if a hem is even, it's fine.

For working dresses, make the hem at least 1" off the ground. If you're going to war, make that 2" or more.

Do not use Stitch Witchery unless you're going to sew over the seam immediately.

Pink is period.

Avoid lace. Use gimp braid or something woven-looking instead.

Around Halloween, Big 3 costume patterns at craft stores go on major sale. Stock up then. Also learn to haunt the sale tables -- $1 fabric makes great practice garb and patterns, and if it's cotton, it makes good linings.