HowtoMake

Basics

You will need:

Fabric (see Fabrics guide)
Tape measure
Scissors
Pencil/chalk
Pins
Sewing machine (or the patience for hand-sewing)
Needle & thread
A friend to help you adjust seams/check fit/measure etc.
Pen & paper
A saucepan lid (reasons will become clear later!)

Measurements

Take the following measurements:-

For the body

A - Chest/Bust (around the chest/over the widest part of your bust)
B - Waist (the narrowest part - not necessarily where your belly button is)
C - Hips (widest part)
D - Knape to ground (the knape is the base of the neck) - women
E - Knape to knee
F - Waist to ground
G - Waist to knee
H - Neck circumference

For the sleeves

I - Shoulder to wrist (with arm bent - from the point of the shoulder to the wrist bone)
J - Shoulder to elbow (with arm bent)
K - Bicep (around the bicep with muscle tensed)
L - Hand (with thumb and fingers tucked in)
L1 - Wrist

For the legs

M - Crutch (from front waist to back waist between legs)
N - Inside leg (from crotch to ground)
O - Thigh (around the widest part)
(F) - Waist to ground (as above)
P - Calf

For the head

Q - Head circumference (around the widest part)
R - Face (from under the chin, over the top of the head)
S - Forehead to shoulder

Using the measurements above, determine how much fabric is needed:

For a dress/tunic - the length of the fabric needs to be your knape to ground/knee measurement plus twice your bicep measurement, plus a little bit for seam allowances. Add on half a meter for gussets/gores. The width of the fabric needs to be at least the widest of your body measurements, plus a little bit for seams.
For trousers - the length needs to be at least your waist to ground measurement + 6 inches/15 cm for drawstring channel; width=hip or twice thigh (whichever is larger).
For head-coverings/hats - width=head circumference, length=height of hat or desired length of head-covering
For a cloak - length=not long enough to drag on the ground in wear, width=a good width to be able to wrap it around you

For all purposes 60 inch/150 cm wide fabric should be adequate.

Don't forget to add seam allowances of about 1 inch/2.5 cm on all widths and lengths.

A Note on Fabrics

My advice is to buy the cheapest fabric you can (calico at £1.50 a metre) and make up a test outfit first. That way you can get all the mistakes and mis-measurements, etc. out of the way before you start on the real thing.

Under-dress	In reality the under-dress would be linen - but this fabric is very expensive now. I tend to buy linen/cotton mix fabrics, which are very soft and look very much like linen. Do check the fibre content and try not to get fabric with too much polyester in it. Though these may be cheaper, they make you sweat and if you should happen to catch fire melt horribly onto your skin. You should be able to get linen/cotton mixes for about £7 a metre or go for a linen look fabric - or the real thing if you can afford it!
Over-dress/Tunic	These can be made of linen or wool. If using wool go for thicker fabrics that are not too fluffy in a plain weave or twill weave.
Head-covering/Hat	Headcoverings can be either wool or linen - can be a finer weave than the dresses. Hats can be wool, sheepskin, leather, fur or any combination of these.
Trousers/Leg-coverings	Trousers can be wool or linen - depending on preference and warmth. Leg-coverings work best in wool.

A Note on Colours

For wool - natural colours are commonest - brown, grey, white, black. Dyed wool for richer people.
For linen - it's natural colour is yellowy-brown. It could be bleached white or dyed (for richer people)
Other common colours are blue from Woad, yellow from Weld, red from Madder, etc. (see the Colours guide)

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