Presenting the bumper thread of free kid’s kit patterns!
I sew a lot, for myself and my family. And while trawling the web I’ve found a lot of free patterns for kids that made me think either, ‘hmmm, that’s a nice generic bit for field larp’ or ‘oooh, that would be good for [Nation] if we ever play it’. So here is a collection of some of those links.
It’s important to note that fabric and colour are much more important than garment shape when kitting up small children. Most of these pieces could fit in almost any nation made with the appropriate colours, fabrics and trims! But some of them struck me as a particularly good fit for a particular nation and in that case I’ve noted it.
The really obvious thing this list doesn’t have is a free pattern for a generic tunic/shirt in a woven fabric in children’s sizing. Despite a lot of looking, I just can’t seem to find one! I tend to make t-tunics with square underarm gussets in much the same way as the tutorial on the Empire wiki:
The drawback of this method is that the underarm gussets get to be very fiddly in small sizes. A simpler method is to cut the gusset and sleeve all as one with the body, as in this tutorial:
(Many of the other tutorials on this site would make particularly good kit for Dawn and Highguard and most are drafted from an existing shirt or t-shirt, so easily adapted for children)
High-waist sleeveless dress with lined bodice and gathered skirt
Instructions at link with pattern download at the start
High waist gown with sleeves
Age 2-10
High-waist dress with neck facing, long sleeves and gathered skirt
Instructions at link with pattern download at the start
Make either of these in a fancy fabric and layer over a gathered underdress (see previous reply for a suitable underdress pattern) for a Leaguish look. Sleeves would be best made narrower then slashed or modified to tie on for the League.