Here is a quick photo gallery of several old costumes I've made or which have been made for me. Unfortunately most of these no longer fit me, but still take up quite a lot of space in my back room. If anyone would like to see some more detail, please let me know, but be aware I would have to take the photo of the extremely worn version of it as I never thought to document the process of making these.
As for the research on the styles and so forth, well, I remember I did some at some point, but then stopped when I found a lot of information on the internet. I'll try to document what I can remember as resources for a few of these.
My thanks go out to those who gave me the photographs.
My very first dress I ever made was handsewn during my university years. I found some cheap green synthetic fabric at a goodwill and went to work, mosty at night when I was supposed to be working as a cashier at an alternative dance club hosted by the university student club. I really didn't know what I was doing, but it worked in a pinch to go to the local SCA events. Even after all these years I still have it and it is in almost perfect condition. Here it is being modeled by a friend of mine. She looks ever so much better in it than I ever did!.
The blue and white dress was made by Cindy Connelly-Mading. It was my very first Elizabethan Court dress. I designed the dress and found the lovely striped curtains which made the basis of this dress. Each pane of the sleeve was hand pearled by me. The dress started out more of a cream color, but for some reason the dry cleaners bleached it white. Unfortunately the chemise is also now a pink color... (guess what I did, ah well) The corset was heavy and tended to poke me in places I didn't want to be poked which is what prompted me to start making my own outfits.This was my 2nd year performing at the Bristol Renaissance Faire as Lady Bridget Manners (the first :) )
My first year was as a household servant with a costume from the faire, so I won't post it. This is the period of time roughly 1992 ish to 1997ish.
So on to my 3rd year at the Faire. Here I was portraying Susan Bertie, Lady Grey, the 5th Countess of Kent. (also the first to portray her at BRF). I think the change of character had to do with a breakup I had with the person playing Lady Bridgets fiance... ah well, such is life. Unfortunately when I started the dress I was still thinking in terms of the Rutlands so had peacocks embroidered on it. There was a friendly local place that did the embroidery for me. I also had done a quick summer stint as a stitcher in the university theatre costume studio, so learned how to make a better corset for myself. This is the first Elizabethan I made completely by myself, including the ruff and the hat. I still love this dress.
I also made an alternative overgown for it, but the color was never approved. I only wore it at the Minnesota Renn Faire, which you can see below. You can't see the detail in this photo, but I had attempted to put my own machine embroidery on it, and was trying freehand on the machine. This dress suffered an "accident" with some black dye as I tried to darken it to go better with the forepart of the dress above. It didn't work so well, so now the sleeves and the forepart of this dress no longer look right.
Later on, I went to try making a more Spanish style dress. I had a lot of difficulty making the doublet, since I had to do most of the fitting on myself. Thankfully my mom stepped in and helped me do the final bit on the back, since oddly, I couldn't see or reach what was going on there. I wish I could find more of this trim as I absolutely loved it. I had added in several colored glass rhinestones to add more sparkle. The fabric was a lovely reversible antique satin which I won't use again. It had a tendency to fray around the spot where I usually carried a basket. The clasps were something I found in the basement of some store in Chicago. Here I am wearing the alternative set of sleeves which are gold and white. The regular sleeves are a teal and black striped with gold beadwork. 
After this stint with playing court members I went on to be a camp follower in the Guilde of St. Michael (military) at BRF. It was then I made this blue corduroy gown with stag/horse tapestry trim. It has since been worn many times even here in the NL. Here you can see me modeling it at the Elf Fantasy Faire in Haarzuilens, NL. It no longer fits, but I still have a little of the fabric left so I may make a new bodice for myself at some point. The grey underskirt was originally part of a bad attempt at a Victorian walking suit I tried making. It works perfect here however!
Life after the Faire made my costuming attempts a bit scattered and far apart. Here is an example of a dress I made to go to the Feast of the Hunter's Moon in Indiana. I love this fabric as it was soo soft. And yes, it's a woven design. When I hold this dress up to myself nowadays, I can't believe how small I was!
As a quick foray into other types of costumes, here are a couple of pics from me at the Ring Game which was/is held 2 times a year at Governor Dodge State Park in Madison. I made most of these costumes from the cheapest stuff I could find, didn't care too much about fit as I knew they were meant for only one day and would be completely trashed afterwards because of running through mud and brambles. Not only that, most costumes were made in the space of 1-2 weeks. This is me as a dark elf.
A rare photo of my sister and me in costume together. I think I was Galadriel and she as a witch. Definitely after the game, as the dress is already trashed. 
The barrow wight one was also fun to make. I called it adventures in sheet metal as I tried to make myself some aluminum plate armor. The chest piece ended up more Madonna'esque as my skills with the power tools were limited at that time. Many thanks go out to the UW engineering group who helped me then. (Thanks Larry!)Pity I don't have a pic of the shelob costume I made with the bouncy butt which I could pull webbing out of. Nor do I have any photos of me as an ent, a witch or some of the other chars I played there. I think I gave this outfit away.
It's now been many years and I've taken up my sewing machine again. Mostly because, as was pointed out, I'm older and wider and nothing from the above fits me anymore. I got prompted to start again because of the 20 year cast reunion at the BRF.
So I started with some fabric that has been sitting in my closet for years. I dearly wish I could find this fabric again. If anyone knows, tell me please! I really love the griffons in this. My friend Brenda had helped me ship this out from LA.The original design of the dress started out quite nice, but as time drew close and my rusty abilities with the machine came nigh, I had to opt for some "quicker fixes". Maybe one of these days I'll finish the thing off properly. I had to start pretty much from scratch building myself a new corset as well. That definitely took time since my figure changed so much from before.
Here you can see what it ended up like due to the lack of time. The lovely little white cap was made by Brian (standing next to me in the photo). I had to use the smaller hoops because the larger more appropriate ones didn't fit in my suitcase.
Now, some friends of mine in Belgium have convinced my husband and me to participate in a LARP once a year called Avatar. It's a bit like Pennsic lite. There are roughly 1500 people camped near Namur, all in costume and in any fantasy/period you can imagine. So, since it is in summer I started on a couple more projects, one for myself, and another for my husband. I just needed a lightweight easy outfit, and he just needed outfits period. So once again, fabric from the old stash turned into these. The green skirt was an old one I had anyways. We were camped with a group called the Griffons, inside a faction camp of Les Insulaires (a pirate group). Therefore the change in styles once again. Alright, I admit that the fabric for my husbands was some remnants we scored at the local fabric flea markets here in NL. It was one of those outfits that just happened. There was precisely and only enough fabric to make each of these pieces. The coat is a type of satin, and the pants velvetlike. Not a color I would have gone with normally, but the match of these 2 fabrics were just too perfect together.
Anyways, that's the main costumes I've made over the years. Of course there were also several events where I just grabbed things from my closet and mushed them together. Which I didn't post here. Things like an elven warrior in camo and leather (my paintball gear), a mad scientist (with an old lab coat), a witch, greek goddess, and various others. I hope you enjoyed.
