Medieval costume patterns can be used to make wonderful, authentic looking historical reenactment costumes. Since medieval clothing tends to be simpler than many other time periods, it’s an excellent place to start if you’re new to historical costume making.

For example, the basic T-tunic can easily be made without a pattern at all! Simple measurements taken from the person who will be wearing the costume is more than sufficient for the most basic of garb. And the T-tunic is suitable for women and children as well as men, for Celts and Norsemen alike. And once you become comfortable with your skill, you can begin adding details and embellishments that suit the time period and ethnic background that you wish to present.

If you wish to try your hand at a more difficult or complex medieval costume pattern, Simplicity has some very easy to follow patterns. They’re not historically accurate for the most part, but will look close enough for most events and parties as well as school plays, and once you get the hang of them, they can also be altered to be more period correct.

If you’re familiar with the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), you may be aware that there are several pattern companies that exist that have well researched, period correct patterns. Often these are designated by country and time periods, if not even more specific dates and places. These patterns tend to be much harder to follow, and many do not have patterns that can be cut out and used, but rather directions on how to build the pattern yourself. If accuracy matters, however, these are the patterns that you’ll wish to use.

Butterick is occasionally another good source of patterns, though their designs tend to feature medieval fantasy patterns rather than accurate patterns, and their directions are slightly more complicated than Simplicity’s.

The medieval costume patterns available through McCall’s tend to feature the idea of medieval clothing that you see in cartoons such as Disney’s Cinderella (at least, her work dress), and tends to be a bit more difficult to find than some of the other names. These patterns would be particularly good for school plays since the average play attendee is likely to immediately associate these designs with the medieval period due to such cartoons as I’ve mentioned.

To find the most historically accurate costume patterns, look for items tagged with the acronym “SCA”, and for pattern cover designs that are sketched out in black and white, rather than colorful photos of people wearing the costume. These items tend to be produced with a lower budget by small companies and individuals, which usually are more interested in accuracy than in sales. They’re also not intended to be medieval Halloween costumes, which tend to be quicker and easier to make, but sacrificing authenticity in the mean time.

There are also a number of websites that can be searched out which give instructions for making your own medieval costume patterns.