Basic kirtle and gown pattern for medieval wedding dress

The kirtle is is the basic medieval dress. The basic kirtle pattern, with long, straight sleeves, is dead simple, made of rectangles and triangles which are easily and economically cut from a single piece of cloth.

Usually a fancier gown is worn over a simple kirtle. In early medieval times, the overgown was often shorter than the kirtle – perhaps just below the knee – with looser, shorter sleeves, so that it showed off the kirtle as well. In later times, usually the gown was very long and full, and the only part of the kirtle visible might be the forearms of the sleeves – the kirtle having long, tight sleeves, and the gown having full, loose sleeves.

Here's the basic kirtle pattern, which was used with very few changes for hundreds of years (and underwear continued to be cut this way right through to the 18th century).

The body is one piece – a long rectangle, roughly shoulder width, folded in half at the shoulder. The neck is cut out on that fold line. When the neck hole is small like in this diagram, then a slit is cut down the centre front so you can get the dress over your head. (You often see this neck slit and opening edged all round with wide braid – this isn't just decorative, it hems the raw edge there – like a medieval version of bias binding!)

The sleeves are also simple rectangles – no shaping in sleeve head or arm hole – much easier than a modern pattern! Cut them quite narrow, just wide enough for the arm to move comfortably at the elbow. Again, in this diagram, the sleeves are folded along the top, so that the seam is under the arm.

Triangular gores are inserted from underarm to hem – this gives enough fullness to walk. You can add extra gores here for extra fullness.

Those triangular gussets under the arms are actually cut as squares. Cut two squares, about 6 inches along each side, and fold them in half, point to point, to form two triangles. These then attach along the underarms and gores. This gives necessary fullness so you can move your arms freely, and get the kirtle off and on over the head without getting stuck.

Because it's all rectangles and triangles you can cut it very economically from a single piece of cloth. There are lots of ways to do this, depending on the width of your cloth, but here's one example.

This simple pattern can be adjusted in lots of ways: you can add more gores for extra width; you can add length at the back to create a train; you can play with the neckline; you can add looser sleeves. But even in this basic form, it's distinctively medieval.