Somewhere in the 1400s, rectangular construction gave way to a new generation of highly-tailored styles. These garments don't have a single straight line in them! Many are fully lined or have cuffs, collars, and other structured elements.

As with anything, there is a learning curve -- and there are common mistakes that you can learn to avoid. I made a series of videos on these. I will add more videos to the "tailoring topics" whenever I happen to work on projects that highlight additional techniques.

I found this grey dress at a SCA "yard sale" for $10 -- a steal! Many of the seams were coming apart, especially around the armholes, and it was in the loose early-14th century style rather than my persona's end-of-the-century style. This was a good project to illustrate several easy alterations:

1. Stabilize seams by re-sewing with deeper seam allowances

2. Take in fullness at long seams

3. Split a seam and convert it to a laced opening

4. Add a new (center front) seam 

5. Cut a new neckline and finish with bias tape

6. Make the lower sleeves tighter, not shorter (preserves ease of motion)

7. Shorten the hem