And the Years for this year's Double Period Project competition are........ 1812 and 1912!

"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!

In November Suzi Clarke was lucky enough to attend a special symposium in Florence, Italy to commemorate the life of Janet Arnold, who passed away a decade ago. She's been kind enough to share her personal diary of the event, making us at YWU look forward to the next symposium to be held!

"This was one of those occasions when one realises how little one knows," Suzi says, "and fortunately, also how much!"

There's a sound I remember from my childhood; a little metallic tink-tink, like a tiny hammer on a miniature anvil.

Even when I'm leaning on the pedal of an electric sewing machine, feeling vaguely as if I'm cheating –somewhere underneath the muscular hum of the motor, the memory of that sound is tapping away.

It blends with the buzz of the modern machine like rhythm and counterpoint, adding a little magic of depth to everything I make.

We had numerous entries to our writing competition this last month and we judges had a hard time choosing the top two, let alone the winner!

First place goes to Lindsey Eastman for her great essay "Death of a Costume Snark".

We'll publish the second place entry next month. 

Knickers. Bloomers, if you will. Drawers; underthings; unmentionables; nether garments. When you get into them (pun intended), our most ignominious items of clothing actually have a rich and fascinating history. Over the course of history, those parts of a woman's outfit that few men saw and most men wanted to have steadily transformed themselves from nothing at all to a remarkably complex class of garments.