The most important thing my mother taught me about sewing:
Regardless of what the instructions say, always sew the side seams last.
This is also how you clean a wok, except you hold the paper with tongs and scrub the salt around the inside of the hot wok. So you see, sewing is just like cooking.
OK, maybe not so much.
My advice on making Renn Faire outfits is to stick with simple peasant outfits. If it doesn’t look good, who cares? You’re a peasant! Be extra sloppy, even.