Really Simple Costume

Tabard, tunic, trousers

Disclaimer - this is amongst the first tutorials I ever wrote and is massively outclassed by some of the other tutorials now on this site. Cross-references provided below!

Materials:

A woollen blanket or piece of big cloth, and a pattern, sewing needle, thread, and scissors. Cost is about £2 for the blanket if you go to charity shops, Oxfam are good. Try also curtains which are really cheap from charity shops.

Quick tips

- Make everything bigger than you think you need to.
- Don't trim edges until you're sure that you're finished, otherwise you won't be able to change it later.
- Ask around for friends or family who have sewing machines, it makes things much quicker and easier.

Easiest kit of all: a tabard

- Cut out a bit of cloth as shown.
- Cut a head hole and try it on.
- If you are happy with the measurements, hem all the edges. (Shown in red on the diagram). To do a hem, simply fold about 1cm of the fabric over onto the WRONG side, and stitch it down. This stops the fabric fraying and makes it look better.
- Do a nice design on the front with fabric pens, or just leave it plain.
- Simply pop it over your head and wear a belt over the top.

See also the Overdress/Tabard here. You can also use this method to make a really warm over tunic.

Trousers

To make pants your pattern is a pair of jeans that fit. What you do is:

- Turn your jeans inside out.
- Fold them over so that the legs are lying on top of each other.
- Lay them on the cloth.
- Cut the cloth out REMEMBER TO ALLOW AN INCH OR TWO AROUND YOUR PATTERN SO THAT YOU CAN SEW THE CLOTH TOGETHER. This gives the pattern for one leg.
- Repeat fot the other leg.
- Sew the cloth together to form a tube. Remember to only sew up to the crotch.
- Sew the backs of the tubes to gether to make the arse.
- Sew the front up a little to allow a fly.
- Fold the top of the cloth down to form a tube, wide enough to take a belt this will hold you pants up.

Or, have a look at the baggy trousers we made for the Odyssey £30 kit challenge for Persia.

Tunic

- Cut out two shapes as shown in blue and black. The easiest way to make sure they are the same shape is to fold the fabric so it's doubled over and simply cut once giving two pieces.
- If the fabric has a right side and a wrong side, lay the pieces on top of each other so that the RIGHT sides are touching.
- Sew them together along the places marked in green.
- Cut out a larger neck scoop on the piece that's going to be the front of the tunic.
- Try it on, if you're happy then hem the bottom, the neck and the arm holes, shown by red arrows.
- Wear it with a belt.

See also various different ways to make tunics on the Greek, Roman, and long-sleeved T-tunic pages. For more complicated and better-quality tunic-type garments see How to make a Bliault and How to make a surcote.

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