Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

Ribbon embellishments are a recurring feature across the history of clothing, from the heavily trimmed petticoat breeches of the seventeenth century to the tri-coloured cockades of Revolutionary France. The Victorians were obsessed when it came to ribbons, covering some 19th century gowns with a profusion of bows and rosettes.

Gina Barrett shows you how to recreate some of these effective details, starting with the simple bows we're familiar with and working through to more complex decorations.

We hope you're not getting too stressed out by the approaching holidays!

This month on Letters, Questions & Advice, we've got three questions: Corey asks about sleeves on men's doublets from the Elizabethian period, a Frustrated Fan asks Cathy some pointed questions about the DPP, and Hanna asks about lining the back pleats in a 1775 Caraco jacket.

We give here, the front and back view of a Lady's Sea-side Jacket. It is made of light cloth or flannel, and braided as seen in the design. The diagram on the next page, which represents the front and back, will enable any lady to cut it out, fit it correctly and make it up at very little expense. It cannot fail to please. Peterson's Magazine, August 1873

This month Marion discusses the issues she ran into in using the straight Peterson's patterns, how to overcome it, and pattern the jacket.

Next month, she'll walk through the truing up the pattern, fitting, drafting the sleeves and making up the jacket.

When is a flat pattern not a flat pattern? When is a Hatter sane?

The answer to the second question is rarely: we’re all mad.

The answer to the first is: when you can use a flat pattern to create a hat that looks like it couldn’t have been made with a flat pattern but really was by joining flat shapes together to construct a three dimensional shape.

With a new Hatter due to hit cinema screens soon, we thought we'd ask Lynn how to create his signature topper!

"To reduce the risk of the fabric raveling as I am working on it, I leave a generous seam allowance of ¼” to ½”..."

Many of you were interested in hearing more about costuming for dolls after Amanda entered a 1:4 scale costume for the Single Pattern Project. Here, Amanda shares how she did it. She tells us the advantages and pitfalls of doll costuming and gives us some pointers, allowing us an insight into the peculiar practical challenges and frustrations of doing what we do on a miniature scale!