Follow these diagrams to create your own custom-fit vintage lingerie pattern. See more on: chronicallysiobhan.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/free-vintage-...

Free Historical Costume Patterns The cutter’s practical guide to the cutting of ladies’ garments, 1890 Combination drawers, vests, riding skits, breeches, swiss belt, and coats for the Belle Epoch era

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ETA: I have had many inquiries regarding a pattern for this quilt from those who have found it via Pinterest. I am NOT the author of this pattern. It was from a quilt along hosted by Lori at Humble…

After writing my year-review post, I figured it was also time for a list of things I’m planning. I don’t know if everything will actually happen in 2015, but who knows! Most of the item…

No siempre te extrañas. A veces conoces el exacto sentido, la fórmula aquella escondida, que obtuvo Cagliostro, robó Paracelso y cinceló Cellini. No siempre preguntas. Miras, perfilas y grabas, fij…

- BLUR (as Blondie) Who would have thought? David Bowie and Bono are gorgeous in drag! And Mick Jagger and Keith Richards aren't! Most of these musicians seem like they are just dressing up in women's clothes as

I am using a diagram I found on the web so long ago I can't remember where it came from, but it's so very helpful!: I have used it before ...

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I think it is important for all creative people to take some time to make something for themselves. I know so many quilters who are constantly sewing for others, but never make a quilt just for themselves. The same with garment sewers. To take a moment for you is to encourage creative renewal. When you clear your mind, it leaves room for other brilliant ideas to pop in there!

** This is a digital PDF pattern to knit your own sweater, not the finished product ** You will get a PDF with detailed instructions about how to make this sweater, in English and French. Philæ sweater is a vintage inspired sweater with a square neckline and bishop sleeves. It is knitted seamlessly in the round from bottom-up with raglan decrease. _________________________________ Recommended yarn : The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering (100g = 300m) You can use any yarn that have a similar yardage. _________________________________ Sizing and Yarn Quantity : Version 1 (cropped length) • Size 1 : Bust 71-76 cm – 900m / 984yd • Size 2 : Bust 81-86 cm – 1200m / 1310yd • Size 3 : Bust 91,5-96,5 cm – 1400m / 1530yd • Size 4 : Bust 101,5-106,5 cm – 1590m / 1730yd • Size 5 : Bust 111,5-117 cm – 1820m/ 1990yd • Size 6 : Bust 122-127 cm – 2060m / 2250yd • Size 7 : Bust 132-137 cm – 2340 / 2560yd • Size 8 : Bust 142-147 cm – 2585m / 2820yd • Size 9 : Bust 152-158 cm – 2860m / 3130yd Version 2 (normal length) • Size 1 : Bust 71-76 cm – 1320m / 1440yd • Size 2 : Bust 81-86 cm – 1460m / 1600yd • Size 3 : Bust 91,5-96,5 cm – 1710m / 1870yd • Size 4 : Bust 101,5-106,5 cm – 1920m / 2100yd • Size 5 : Bust 111,5-117 cm – 2180m/ 2380yd • Size 6 : Bust 122-127 cm – 2440m / 2670yd • Size 7 : Bust 132-137 cm – 2740 / 3000yd • Size 8 : Bust 142-147 cm – 3020m / 3300yd • Size 9 : Bust 152-158 cm – 3320m / 3630yd _________________________________ Gauge In ribbed pattern : 33 sts x 35 rows for 10cm _________________________________ Needles Main pattern : 3mm/US 2.5 circular needles, or diameter according to gauge. Ribbed borders : 2.5 mm/US 1.5 (and double pointed needles for the wrists if you prefer)

Wondering How to Finish a Quilt? Top US quilting blog, Diary of a Quilter, features an Easy DIY Tutorial for Finishing and Binding a Quilt. Click here now!!

Barbara Heller

Dress forms have lovely firm shape, but are not like real bodies, especially those with extra body weight. Learn how you can customize your dress form with supplies from your pantry.

bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2009/10/tudor-pattern-book.html

1. Miniature Mom & Pop Facades of NYC Randy Hage’s has spent many years photographing the gradually disappearing street level Mom & Pop storefronts in SoHo and then recreating them in stunning three dimensional detail to preserve memories of their “hand painted signs, layers of architecture, wonderful patinas and intriguing history.” You can see all his sculptures vs…

These stays are certainly the most complex cording project I've done, so I wanted to share how I've been going about it! First off, I'm using a totally different cording method than the ones shown in my Making a Corded Petticoat post. In both methods shown in that tutorial, the cord was put in place first and its channel was sewn around it. Those methods work just fine for a corded petticoat, but won't work very well for these stays. Instead, I'm sewing channels into the fabric first, then inserting the cording afterwards. As a reminder, this is the pattern I'm working with: Fabric Prep Since the criss-cross cording is the most difficult part of these stays, that's what we'll focus on. Each of the squares that make up the criss-cross pattern are only 0.25" wide, so they're very small and difficult to sew accurately. The space between each square forms the channel that the cord threads through. I'm using a green shot cotton as the pretty outer fashion layer of the stays, with two layers of thin but tightly woven white cotton as the strength layers. My stitches will go through all three layers of fabric, but the cording will be run between the two white layers of cotton. The first challenge was figuring out how to mark the stitching guidelines on the fabric. I could have made all the markings on the back of each piece, but I find that the top side of my stitching often looks a bit more precise than the back, so I needed a way to mark the green fabric so that I could stitch accurately, but not have the markings visible later. Squares marked with water soluble pen, with a penny for scale. At first I tried using a water soluble fabric marker that had a relatively fine tip. It showed up very well on the fabric, but since it is a marker and the fabric wicked the ink out a bit, the line it left was fairly thick. The thicker line made it very hard to see where exactly to stitch. Some of my test squares were more parallelogram than square, and the width of the squares varied between 5/16" and 3/16" wide. It may seem like I'm being overly picky, but that is a difference of 1/8", which means I was off in some areas by the width of half of a square! When working at such a small scale, even a little bit of deviation becomes extremely obvious. Wibbly wobbly stitching due to wide fabric marker guidelines. I considered using a fine mechanical pencil to draw more precise, accurate lines, but there were two potential issues. One, I was worried it wouldn't wash off well, leaving me with pencil lines all over my stays. Two, it's actually pretty hard to draw an accurate line on this fabric with a mechanical pencil, as the pressure of the lead warps and distorts the fabric as you're trying to draw. Can't draw a straight line b/c the pressure of the lead warps the fabric. Luckily, I was able to solve both issues at once with my favorite secret weapon: Mah super-sekrit weapon. Shh, don't tell! Starch has saved my butt on many a sewing project. Here, it serves two purposes. First, it stiffens the fabric so that it is almost paper-like, so now I can easily draw on it using the mechanical pencil without the fabric distorting. Now I can get perfectly straight, thin, highly accurate stitching lines! With starched fabric, no distortion! Comparison of marker lines vs mechanical pencil lines. Second, thanks to Lifeofglamour's various experiments with tinting starch for use on ruffs, I know that very often, pigments and dirt that are mixed in with or sitting on top of starch wash out without staining the fabric. When I tested this theory on my fabric, washing the starch out washed the pencil marks down the drain too! You can buy spray on starch or the liquid kind you dip your fabric into from the store, but thanks to Frolicking Frocks (dude, check out those petticoats!) I'm a convert to making my own out of cornstarch. My test stitching proves much more straight and accurate with the pencil guidelines, and after washing all evidence of the pencil lead is gone! Now that I've got that settled, the last step before stitching is to use a lightbox to trace my design onto the fabric. Stitching My original plan was to hand-stitch the stays, but I came to my senses after attempting a sample. I tried using my modern sewing machine, but it's very hard to stitch a line precisely 0.25" and stop in exactly the right place using the pedal control, so I pulled out the little Singer 99 hand crank machine I refurbished a few years ago instead. Remember this one? Isn't she pretty? With a hand crank, it's really easy to stop right at the exact number of stitches you want. A lot of fiddling and several tests later, I settled on a stitch length calibrated to precisely 1/16 of an inch, giving me squares that were 4 stitches wide on each side. Getting the correct stitch size is no mean feat on these old machines, since you set the length by screwing an unlabeled knob in or out as needed. That knob is the stitch length regulator. Notice the distinct lack of numbers or any useful markings of any sort? Now that I've got the length set, sewing each square is now as easy as starting the needle in the right place, sewing 4 stitches, sinking the needle on the 4th stitch, raising the presser foot, turning the fabric, putting the foot down again, sewing 4 more stitches, etc, all the way around the square. This leaves a bunch of thread tails all over the place. Of course I can't just trim them because the stitching would come out, so the loose threads are pulled to the back and tied off. Since I'm a bit paranoid about the knots coming undone, I put a dot of Fray-Check on each to prevent unraveling. Remember to test the Fray-Check on an inconspicuous spot first! My layers are thin, and on the first few knots I used too much and it soaked through to the front. Threads pulled to the back for tying. At first I was tying the threads after each square, but it's more efficient to sew several squares, then flip to the back and start pulling through/tying off. The problem with doing it that way is that those loose tails get in the way of stitching, and if you sew through the tail of a square a few rows down it's a mess to untangle. Luckily, I'm owned by two exceedingly furry felines, and thus have a clothing de-furring brush that doubles as a way to clear all my loose threads off to one side with a single swipe. Guess the fuzzbeasts are good for something. There's something like 200 tiny squares on just ONE front panel, plus more on each side panel, so you can see why this has been taking me a while! Cording After washing the starch out, drying, and pressing each piece, it's FINALLY time to stuff some cord in there. I'm using the same Sugar n' Cream cotton cord that I used in my corded petticoat. You'll want a cord of a width that fits fairly snugly in your channels, so choose accordingly, or stitch your channels to accommodate the cord you wish to use. I'm using a thick, blunt needle with a wide eye. Tapestry needles are perfect. The eye should be large enough that the cord just fits through it, but not so big that the needle won't fit through your channels with the now doubled cord in tow. I also have a pair needle nose pliers, because despite my best efforts, the eye of my needle still gets stuck in the fabric sometimes. When I made my last pair of corded stays, I broke the only good needle I had and swapped to one that was nearly the same, only sharp instead of blunt. It sorta worked, but the sharp tip kept shredding the fabric on both sides, and those scrapes later unraveled into larger holes, allowing the cord to poke out. I wouldn't have minded if they were all on the inside, but most of them were on the pretty outside! If all you can get is a sharp needle, grind the tip down. Holes in channels caused by sharp needle shredding fabric. Sadly, these are on the front, so they show when I wear it. On the backside of the stays, I poke the needle through just one layer of fabric right at the start of a channel. Since the needle is blunt, with some fabrics an awl is needed to start the hole. It takes a bit of practice to get the tip to go through just one layer of fabric, but practice makes perfect, right? Using an awl to start the hole. Threading the needle into the channel. Once inside, the needle is pushed down the length of the channel, dragging the cord behind it. It's tight, and I have to moosh (super technical term) and manipulate the fabric around the needle to move it along. Sometimes the pliers are necessary to pull the needle through the channel too. The eye is stuck at the entry to the channel, so I use pliers to help it along. At the opposite end, I poke the tip of the needle back out through the back fabric and pull it out, taking care to not pull all the cording out with it! The pliers are also super useful here, as the eye of the needle generally gets stuck on the way out. All the pushing and pulling on the needle is pretty rough on my fingers; using the pliers instead solves that problem. The downside is that I'm more likely to break a needle when pulling on it with the pliers. It's easier on my fingers to just use the pliers to pull the needle out. I don't trim the cord close to the fabric just yet; instead I cut it so there's about 1" still hanging out, then move on to the other channels. The places where the cords cross are a bit tricky to get through, but it's doable. Eventually I end up with a small forest of cord ends growing out of the back of the stays. Well that's a right mess. Once I've got a whole section done, I start trimming the stray tails. I cut the cord pretty close to the fabric, but not right flush with it. There are till some tiny tails hanging out. Trimmed close, with just a little bit hanging out. Then, without holding onto the cord, I tug on both ends of the channel, stretching the fabric slightly. Most of the tails pop back into their holes and disappear. A few are still sticking out a bit, but this is the inside of the garment, so I don't care overmuch. Gently stretching each channel. There are still holes at the start and end of each channel, but again, it's the inside, and they close up a little with time anyways. No more tails! Wow, that got lengthy! If any part of this tutorial isn't clear, let me know and I'll try to unmuddy it a bit. If you've got a cool cording project you're working on, show us in the comments! I've still got a few panels to go, so I'm off to the sewing table again for another late night.

Threadneedle Street Jelly Roll Pattern by Barbara BrackmanThis quilting pattern / tutorial is available for free... Full post: Threadneedle Street

Pattern Are Included for 4 Sizes! Sometimes we come across a tutorial that is so wonderful that we just want to soak up every detail. That’s the case with this one for making these charming trivets. The instructions are clear and every detail is illustrated. Plus, PDF pattern downloads are included for trivets in four …

Ik heb deze compilatie van halsbandenpatronen gemaakt als naslagwerk voor het ontwerpen van verschillende soorten halsbanden. Er zijn in totaal eenenzestig halsbanden inbegrepen. Je vindt kragen voor overhemden, jurken, blouses, jassen, jassen, maar ook afneembare ontwerpen. De halsbanden zijn onderverdeeld in zes hoofdstukken op basis van hun kenmerken of hoe ze zijn opgesteld. -niet-converteerbare halsbanden (zoals Peter Pan-halsband) -opstaande halsbanden -hemdkragen -sjaalkragen -Gekerfde jaskragen -afneembare kragen Er is ook een hoofdstuk waarin ik enkele snelle naai-instructies en een gedeelte over het oplossen van problemen heb opgenomen. Zie de foto's in deze aanbieding. Er is ook een korte video waarin enkele halsbandontwerpen worden getoond. In elk halsbandhoofdstuk wordt eerst geïllustreerd hoe u het basispatroon tekent, waarna u dit kunt aanpassen om een grote verscheidenheid aan ontwerpen te creëren. Het idee is om u te laten begrijpen hoe halsbandpatronen werken. Er zijn genoeg voorbeelden om u op weg te helpen en hopelijk zal dit u aanmoedigen om ook uw eigen versies te maken! Kragen zijn immers een uitstekend designdetail dat het uiterlijk van een kledingstuk onmiddellijk zal veranderen. Om de kraagpatronen te tekenen, heb je een basislijfje of jasblok nodig, of een commercieel patroon waaraan je een kraag wilt toevoegen. U kunt ook bestaande halsbandpatronen wijzigen. Er is ook een Neckline Bonus PDF die afzonderlijk wordt verkocht: https://www.etsy.com/TheShapesOfFabric/listing/1200086183/collar-galore-neckline-bonus-instant Wat is inbegrepen in de bestelling van de e-gids? U krijgt twee versies van de PDF, metrisch en imperiaal; Ik weet hoe moeilijk het kan zijn om patronen te tekenen en tegelijkertijd metingen om te zetten! Er zijn ook printvriendelijke edities van beide versies, zodat u de patrooninstructies die u nodig hebt, kunt afdrukken. Ik heb een aantal video's gemaakt waarin u kunt zien hoe u de basiskraagpatronen kunt tekenen, en een tutorial voor het naaien van de verschillende soorten halsbanden. U vindt de links in een aparte PDF.

While shopping at the antique mall, one of the things I’ve been noticing re-surge more and more are Victorian Crazy Quilts and all of their lovely styles and forms. Since I cannot begin to to…

Wil je weten hoe je de printjes op schaal kunt maken klik dan hier om het artikel op dit blog te kunnen lezen over verkleinen Voo...

Plates accompanied by leaves with descriptive letterpress and illustrations not included in pagination

Vintage Fair Isle Knitting Patterns for Women PDF e-pattern format to download. Womens Fair Isle Flying Ducks Sweater Knitting Pattern PDF 1940's Style Jumper Yarn/Wool required : DK ; 8 ply Measurements : to fit ladies 34 inch bust (instructions given for 1 size) Pattern instructions are in English (UK) This is a PDF knitting pattern, instructions for you to download on to your computer and print off at home (it is not a paper pattern). It is not the finished item, it is the instructions for you to make yourself.Please be aware you can't download a digital purchase through the Etsy app at this time. To download a digital file, please sign in to Etsy on your mobile browser or computer. This is the link to the Esty article regarding downloading digital files. https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115013328108?segment=shopping

Explore Old Chum's 2804 photos on Flickr!

I’m joining in the Vintage Pattern Pledge, for the same reason A Stitching Odyssey created the pledge – I love collecting vintage patterns, (mostly from the local op-shops here) but don…

De jaren 90 vormden een schitterend decennium. Wij hebben 13 trends op een rij gezet die men nu misschien niet meer helemaal snapt.

Read Hecklingersladie00heck by David Mannock on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!

Il negozio Orfane 30 di Torino torna a deliziarci con un evento che entusiasmerà le appassionate di vintage e non solo. Chiunque apprezzi il fascino sofisticato della moda d’altri tempi non potrà resistere dinanzi alla

Sports Pullover with Socks to Match Stitchcraft July 1941 Rainbow Jumper by Lavenda (c.1930s) Jumper in Munrospun (c.1930s) Two Home Chat Jumpers October 1937 1. The Cover Jumper 2. The Daisy Design Home Chat January 1935 Girl's Jersey with Fair Isle borders Polka-Dot Sweater and cozy mitts from Woman's Day Knitting Cozy Mittens Jumper in Thick Wool and Jumper with a Turreted Collar Lavenda Hand Knit 501 Cable-And-Tuft pattern Jumper

23 p. 24 cm

I have been doing what Corecouture calls “forensic” work on trouser styles and patterns. It might be a bit of an overstatement, but my view is if you want to wear trousers you have to g…

If you are at the start of your art teaching career, the following inspiring 5 books would be a good start to your art library.

NEW UPDATE: June 22, 2013 -- I have created a pattern for this gown (finally) which is available for sale. The pattern is $8.50 -- it can be downloaded and printed at a local Kinko's for about three dollars. Download includes the large-format pattern, plus instruction sheets on normal 8.5x11 paper. You can download it from the margin widgets to the right, or scroll down to the bottom of this page where the widget has been added. Happy Friday all! I noticed I tend to keep most of my Regency, millinery and sewing posts limited to the Oregon Regency Society's blogspot page or the RSA Community Board. So today, I thought I'd just post my ode to the Regency Bib-Front gown on my own blog today. It's a happy Friday, and I posted a HUGE post on men's Regency costume on the ORS blog yesterday anyway. I digress... I am a great fan of the regency bib-front gown (sometimes called stomacher gown, drop-front, or fall-front gown). I find myself often making gowns last-minute for friends; and invariably, because of time constraints and trying to size something to someone who isn’t present, I opt for the bib-front. It's usually a situation where I can't have that person standing around for a fitting, so I make the gown that will most likely mold itself to fit her. Additionally, the beauty of the Regency bib-front is that if you are not overly-endowed in the breast-department, and your gown and bib is sturdily made, you do not need to wear any **confining underpinnings of the period to obtain the proper Regency silhouette. The reason why, is because the gown has a drawstring that goes around the empire waistline, and is held in place by two loops on the back. The bib then lifts up your girls, and if it's pinned or buttoned and shaped right, it will hold them comfortably in place. I don't think this will work well with anyone larger than a C cup, but all of the ladies below are wearing standard push-up bras underneath their gowns and that's it. WARNING: If you are C-cup or over, you will very likely need a set of Regency period stays/corset. There are no two ways about it. I will post this embarrasing photo of myself this summer when I decided to wear a gown without stays: Here it is, I am on the left. ::facepalm:: It was necessary to post this humiliating picture to show you the pitfalls of not wearing proper underpinnings. My gown looks like a tent and I am just drooping horribly in it. As a contrast, Stephanie II on the right is wearing her transitional stays and she looks perfectly fine. Both gowns are bib-fronts. **follow the 'confining underpinnings' link for a summary of the period stays and patterns. UPDATE: 3/23/11: Also, for a detail on regency undergarments click here. This will give you an idea of what you're supposed to be wearing underneath your bib-front. As you can see, the back closes in front like a little jacket. The bib and front skirt panel are then tied to hide the jacket closures. Creating two loops at the base of the back, on each seam helps keep the ties in place. ends should be tied in a bow, and tucked under the skirt front panel I have a couple of purchased bib-front patterns, but I barely use them except for when I want to vary the sleeves or I have to change sizes. Instead, I have a home-made Frankenstein pattern I have made from the Janet Arnold regency gown back (which I love for its narrowness) and a manually-adjusted side-front piece cut from one bad pattern, and then altered from my muslin to become the piece I use in general. It’s from this bodice— I drew my adjustments directly on it and then cut the muslin itself to act as the new piece. Here is a video I made back then about it. That very drawn-on piece of the side front is what I use today. This pattern of mine is comprised of three pieces; a short sleeve that I often use and customized from a longer one, the back and the side front muslin piece. Those are the only things I cut from the pattern… the rest I improvise. Of course, I am sort of limited in sizing, because I have no knowledge of upsizing or downsizing patterns, however I have added a little width to the back, and a little length to the arm piece to go up a size but that’s about it. The beauty of this gown is that there is only one crucial fit, and that is the back width—and if your armseyes are good, and your front panels can be tightened, and if your wearer can put on the bodice like a jacket somewhat comfortably, then it will fit them. The bib front allows for A LOT of flexibility when it comes to breast-size and the variation in chest-circumference. The one dress pattern I have fits from about size 6-10. But what’s also amazing is that I used the same size for Sherry’s dress and for Tessa; Sherry has about a moderate B cup. Tessa is at least a D. Look how differently both girls are shaped… and then look how well the dress fits them. Seriously. It’s an amazing gown. I make it CONSTANTLY and I’ve pared down construction time to ~ four hours depending on how intricate it is. MIND YOU, these are not historically accurate pieces because I cut corners and machine sew everything, but it is pretty and authentic looking and very practical. I don’t bother to cover the waist seam inside by whip-stitching the lining over it or such things… but you could if you wanted to. I did with my very first bib-front project; my green gown, which I draped entirely on my duct-tape mannequin. I used no pattern on this one, but made my own. Updated image (I've lost weight in this picture), the gown fits just fine in spite of going down 2 sizes. Construction of the bodice. The back piece was designed after an extant gown. What’s really great is that if this gown is made in white muslin, it can be used for day or evening; washed, bleached and trimmed to your liking. Sick of a white gown? Just dye it. You can make overlays for it out of net or silk or velvet… pelisses, spencers, half robes and robes… or use the same pattern to make sheer gown overlays. It truly is the essential ‘little white dress’ of a regency wardrobe. I tell those who I make gowns for to get me 7-8 yards of muslin (yes, I cram at LEAST six yards of fabric into that skirt… but it’s not necessary. 5 yards total would probably suffice. I knife-pleat a most of it into the back to create that beautiful volume. If you saw it move and flare, you’d understand. See? Because the bib is so non-crucial to the fit, I can really play around with it creatively—I even created a crossover front on one (see pics). All I do is cut two sets of each piece (2 backs, four side-fronts—only 2 sleeves, I don’t line the sleeve). I sew each set into a separate bodice, then lay them good-sides together, sew the whole neckline, from the bottom of one front flap to the other. I turn it inside out, press and then proceed to add on the sleeves of my choice. Then I just start attaching the skirt. I don’t ever bother to cut shaped skirts. I’m a great fan of the basic ‘round gown’, which is basically wide tube of fabric pleated up to the back of the gown. You can work in a train pretty easily with a simple ‘slow’ angle cut. The skirt is an exercise in simplicity. Open up the fabric to its full width, sew the short ends together and make a big tube. First thing you do is fold it so the seam is on one of the ends; and that becomes the skirt back. For the length of the skirt, you measure from the chest line (under the breasts) to the top of the foot, and then cut your tube to the desired length; making sure the bottom is an uncut selvage if possible (so you don’t have to hem! Genius (or lazy?)!). Or, if you have to hem, do it before you close the fabric into a tube; you won’t have to worry about it later. Any variations you make to the length, train etc, happens at the top of the skirt. Then while still folded and after you’ve done your length cut, I cut an 18” slit to about 6-8” in from the top front edge of skirt to create front flap panel. I turn in the edges on the slit and sew them down. I then attach a 3-yard length of white twill to the top edge of the panel—making sure I add in two symmetrical box-pleats to add some give and interest to the front of the skirt/bib-panel. [Update, 2-15-2012]: It was requested that I explain in better detail how the skirts are pleated onto the bodice, and until I actually have the ability to make a decent video of my efforts, I decided to do a paper mock-up to show you how I do the skirts. So there are these silly little movies. Maybe they'll help you better visualize what I do when I'm making a simple round-gown. Then you cut your bib on the bias… make it pretty, make it plain… play with the shape, give it a V neck… whatever. Add buttonholes to the top corners and then center it on the front skirt panel, sew it on and lo and behold… your front is done. Some ideas for your bib or stomacher. The back is the most challenging bit. You start by pinning the other edge of the slit to the bodice front panels; starting at least 6” in (depending your size… you will have to try on your bodice and figure out what works best on you… you want the side of the gown to hang just below your breast. You start pinning it down the bodice all the way around to the seam of back piece. Then comes the intensive process of pinning your knife-pleats. It’s also a treacherous sew on your machine; so have extra needles on hand!. Once you’ve done that… attach a couple of loops on the outside of the gown just at the bottom of the back seams where the skirt meets the bodice so you can thread your drawstrings through (or you can also sew a channel to the inside to lace your twill drawstrings through if you want to hide the ties) and voila… You’ve got a gown. Trim away. Most of the ladies I’ve made these for have opted to keep these gowns simple and to trim with a coloured ribbon at the waistline. I’ve done some marginal decoration on the bibs, but you can really glitz up a gown like this very easily. Any regency gown pattern can be modified into a bib; the ‘mock bib gown’ in the Mode Bagatelle pattern takes very little modification to turn it into a real one. You just cut your backs on the fold so there’s no opening, and then cut the neckline wider, and split the front to make the ‘jacket’ part of your bib gown. It’s pretty easy and makes for a really versatile gown. I don’t think I would ever go with a back closing gown again. Update 11/12/13 - Here are some pictures of my bib-front pattern being used to make a round-gown, an easy conversion. The sleeve pattern is not used in this example because I draped the sleeve, I wanted a full-length sleeve in sheer to enhance it. Also, I added a 2" strip of sheer around the neckline with a drawstring to add some interest to the gown. It's a simple pattern, but makes for a beautiful, dramatic gown. Instructions for the round gown are included with the patter (if the instructions aren't clear enough, let me know). RECOMMENDED FABRICS & QUANTITIES For any regency gown, I always say go natural and go light. Also, go classy, NO huge prints, no victorian flower extravaganzas, lines in tasteful pattern. For a day gown, look for: solids, small-print, roll print, small-dotted or subtle plaid cottons, white or solid coloured muslin. Sheer fabrics (above mentioned types) should be worn over a white cotton petticoat for opacity or doubled up with a coloured underdress. Fabric types: muslin (thick or sheer), lawn, batiste, cotton. I do not recommend synthetics with high-sheen or slippy, strange texture. Linen is fine as well, and even a light wool for a wintry gown. Evening wear: Silk with decorated embellishments, voile or cotton sheers over coloured bases, subtle textures like embroidered dots or flowers. Some vegans don't use silk (although the pollution of the manufacture of synthetics could arguably be worse than the death of silk-worms, but it's all relative)... anyway, you can find some tastefully synthetic fabrics (non-shiny taffetas, other faux-silks). Possible addition of a robe in velvet or silk to enhance a white sheer gown. Yardage: As I said before, you can go with as little as five yards, or you can go crazy and put eight into your gown. But a nice, short-sleeved gown with a tiny bodice and reasonably nice skirts can easily be accomplished up to size 22 with five yards minimum. _______________________________________________________________________________ PATTERNS AND LINKS: For good measure, I have decided to add links to some bib-front patterns: * Patterns of Fashion, Janet Arnold (scalable patterns) * Period Impressions' Bib-Front Gown (Burnley and Trowbridge) * Reconstructing History Patterns: Morning Gown Evening Gown * Circa 1796-1806 Lewis & Clark Era: Empire Gown (sort of a bib front--beautiful back) * Also, the Ravenrook 'mock' bib-front pattern can easily be converted into a bib-front.  Update: 3/2011 ~ I've been meaning to add in Katherine's little video on how to put on a bib-front. She is tying the ties INSIDE the gown, but that's how she chooses to do it--it doesn't pin down the waistline as well that way, but she's so skinny it doesn't matter. :) This video is precious, as is she. The Drawstring V-Neck gown (Tutorial Link Below) Update: September 14, 2011 I've also added a tutorial on how to do the draw-string V-neck gown that I wore for the July 2011 Pittock Mansion Picnic. You can read about it on this post. Buy the Bib-Front Pattern Here: Regency/Empire Bib-Front Gown Pattern $8.50

Patterns in pocket at end of vol. 1