Making Working Women's Costume: Patterns for Clothes from the Mid-15th to Mid-20th Centuries

I have most of the books in this series by Crowood Press. I rarely make"working women's" historical styles, but thought it would be useful to have a book on it, since most books concentrate on high fashion styles. The 2 good things about this book are that the patterns go up to a size 22 (larger than their other books) & the styles are mostly simple geometric shapes (rectangles, triangles, squares). Despite the simple shapes, it is more confusing to use than the other books in their series because there are less construction photos & the picture of the finished garment is a the end of the instructions rather than the beginning. I still think this is a useful book, but it's not a "stand-alone" costuming resource for it's subject.

The book seems full of historical information and construction details, but for the most part there are no photos or illustrations of the finished projects. They show the artwork which serves as the inspiration for the patterns, but only a few show the actual garment to be constructed. For me, I need to see the finished product in order to understand how the garment goes together, the book may work better for a more advanced sewer.

How everyday women's clothing evolved, and in the contexts of history and types of employment. Interesting and informative for several audiences. Well researched, quite scholarly, but presented simply. The appendix regarding fabric sellers for today is a useful surprise.

I purchased the kindle edition, being cheap and having several digital credits. The enlargement function is so good for viewing the details in the examples (fine example, by the way) and the diagrams. True, the book caters to the experienced and novices might be sratching for clues to construction without finished projects to admire, but it's crammed with great stuff.

I wanted a costume for the Texas Revolution. Examples of what was worn in the first half of the 1800s by the wealthy, fairly easy, "normal" people not so much. They have a few examples so I am pleased.

This book is very well researched and well presented. The photographs are great illustrations, although a magnifying glass is helpful to catch all the details. Great book for those interested in historical garments and sewing.

The back sleeve this book says it’s written for costume students, teachers and re-enactors. I am a costume designer for television and I have been waiting for such an easy to use, clear book to appear. So often costume pattern books deal with the rich persons clothes, because they survived and are in museums and people can do academic studies of them. This book is simple to use, showcases pattern cutting starting from a basic bodice and then shows how to adapt the basic bodice to to the shapes and patterns of real working clothes. The pictorial examples are from paintings and real garments rather than from sketches.So often it’s hard to research proper working clothes without having to spend time reading for hours, maybe when you don’t have time.This is a clear, concise starting point for the basic shapes of each century. Recently I had some work experience students in my television workroom and it’s Elizabeths books we turn to as a teaching tool, but also as a quick guide to pattern cutting and garment construction.I’m so happy to own this book.

A bit of a disappointment. Interesting photography and a couple of original items, and thereas here is quite a few diagrams for making the clothes there is a a distinct lack of actually showing garments made from those patterns. Only one gown, a simple medieval style is shown, but all of the others - nothing. So no saying whether the patterns were tested at all and what garments they produce. At release the other books in the series show the made up items, and provide more practical information. definitely the weakest of the series.

This is a comprehensive look at ordinary working womans clothing -invaluable to historians and re-enactors. someone has obviously realised the scarcity of sources for patterns out there and done some good research, basing their patterns on existing materials and pictures. My friend has already used the patterns for an Edwardian jacket-so far, so good.

A really excellent and thorough book with plenty of illustations, photographs and information. Perhaps not suitable for a complete beginner but the patterns and drafting process is very clear and well laid out so it's not hard to adapt and use the patterns. There is a wide variety of pieces to make, however I was really disappointed that the womens' shirt shown on the front cover was not in the book, as being on the front cover and featuring in such a large photograph I'd assumed that it would be included and which was a reason why I'd purchased the book, not the end of the world but rather annoying.

So many books on costume focus on fashions of the rich (designed to be inconsistent with physical work), so it's good to see what ordinary working people wore, and what fabrics they used. I'm looking forward to using the patterns, some of which are conveniently given in different modern sizes. The chapter on proportionate cutting shows how people made family clothes to fit without the tools we take for granted. On the down side, important details are missing on how to assemble some items, but the answers should not be too hard to find elsewhere. Overall this is excellent value for money and complements other books on historic costume.