Research books? Help!

[Evie McCann]

I've been sewing for about 20 years, but I'm not happy with my lack of knowledge. I'd like to attend a fashion school or at least a class or two to learn terminology and construction basics, eventually getting to draping and design, but the closest school is 2 hrs away and I work a full time job. In order for me to attend I would have to take all of my pto plus days w/o pay. Do any of you have any books you can reccomend that you have read or studied? Maybe something that a professor, designer or historical enthusiast would reccomend? My work isn't bad, I've has several performers at faire complement my work, but I want to get better. Any suggestions or information would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Most of us sewers here have learned our skills through trial and error. Many of us have had opportunities to work with local seamstresses learning Alterations, as well as Theatrical Costumers  to hone our Costuming skills.

Doing Period Clothing does require learning new techniques to get that period look be it Cartridge Pleating, making Ruffs, Hats, etc. It's a matter of doing somethin g over and over again to master a technique. It takes years.

Books are great sources of refference as to how to do something. Having someone teach you a skill is another. There are great books out there that many of us have. Here are some I recommend.

Any Patterns of Fashion book by the late Janet Arnold(Can be found on Amazon.com)

Any Costuming book by the late Jean Hunnisette

The Tudor Tailor

Elizabethan Costuming by Janet Winter and Carolyn Savoy

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/ Is a terrific website source of How To's that many of us have used on numerous ocassions.

Good luck. I have been sewing for 50 years now. There are things I am still learning to do. For learning is never out of fashion no matter one's age or number of years one has been sewing.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Good Period set films are also good visual referrences for Costuming...

Elizabethan Clothing
ELIZABETH R (with Glenda Jackson)
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
ELIZABETH
ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS( with Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson)

Italian Renaissnce Clothing
DANGEROUS BEAUTY
THE BORGIAS(new Showtime series)

There are lots more for various periods out there,

[CenturiesSewing]

I have no formal training in pattern drafting or sewing. I'm self educated from books, reading, deconstructionism, youtube videos, dress diaries and just sitting down and doing it. That said, if you can take a course do so as you generally learn faster with someone to guide and critique.

Books I have and use, for historical and modern:

The Costume Technicians's handbook by Rosemary Ingham and Liz Coveny
A how to for theater costume, how to run a shop, basic draping, what order a costume should go together, basic sewing, dye vats, hat blocking and more. Best part of this book however is drafting basic fitting shells for men and women as well as basic sleeves (there is a typo on 2 part sleeve hopefully the most recent edition fixed it) skirts and pants.

Professional Patternmaking for Designers: Women's Wear and Men's Casual Wear by Jack Handford

Production pattern drafting for modern clothing, covers basic block making for shirts, coats, dresses, skirts and more. Covers the proper way to draft facings, pockets, pattern notation, cut and spread method and tons more. It comes spiral bound so it will sit flat for reading, the drawings are basic but easy to understand. You can get it used for 30 bucks or less, which makes it more affordable then Armstrong's books.

The Tudor Tailor and The Patterns of Fashion series have already been mentioned, being able to look at pattern shapes and make half scale mock ups is a wonderful thing.


A book on fitting, and a book on pattern grading hopefully someone can recommend, I'm in the market for both.



Websites

http://web.archive.org/web/20090205061819/http://vintagesewing.info/

The main site is down but the archive still has information and pictures attached. Vintage sewing information, books on drafting, hat making, glove making and more.
The sleeves section for the 1940's still blows my mind with how things are manipulated and tweaked for new looks. Tons of good information here.

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/

Geared toward production sewing, but lots of good tutorials and food for thought. Her book deals with starting your own line of clothing, but it also has some useful information that can be used on the home sewing level.


http://tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com/

Men's suits blog, the owner takes apart high quality bespoke suits to see what makes them tick. It is a great site for looking at finishing, hand sewn buttonholes, canvas, stay tapes and more.


http://www.costumes.org

The motherload of links on anything costume related, more theater based then anything else.


Supplies

Accurate ruler
French curve
Hip curve
Pattern cutting only scissors
Tailor's L ruler see http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/how-to-use-the-humble-l-square-or-tailors-ruler/ for the right one, a lot of places sell ones without the useful half scale markings. You want one with the markings, drafting at half scale is great for practice.
Paper - dotted marking paper is good to practice on but a number of things will do.
Oaktag - A heavy card, think manila folders, this is what you transfer your finalized block pattern to as a hard copy.

[gem]

A book on fitting, and a book on pattern grading hopefully someone can recommend, I'm in the market for both.

Jenn, a great book on pattern grading is actually Barbara Deckert's Sewing for Plus Sizes. The book is geared toward beginner seamstresses who by necessity must grade up most commercial patterns, so the information is clear and straightforward and makes sense of a process that many people understand by instinct, but which I found completely mystifying. Even if you're not a plus size (I'm a RTW size 8 ), the information on grading is still applicable (and can be done in reverse, of course, as well). I'm looking forward to *finally* being able to use my Janet Arnold books, and to make something from Tudor Tailor for Milord, now that I've learned how to take an existing pattern and change its size dramatically.

As for fitting, I don't think there *is* a good book on fitting period clothing. Modern/mundane fitting books like Fit for Real People depend heavily on modern cut techniques like darts &c and aren't terribly accurate for the silhouettes of period costume.

**
To the OP, an excellent book on draping is Jean Hunnisett's Period Costume for Stage and Screen, which also has much of the same costume shop information as Costume Technician's Handbook, without the mask-making or other parts you won't need. The section on draping is my favorite part of this book, but it also has wonderful line drawings of familiar garments from portraiture.

[Evie McCann]

Thank you ladies, for the input. You are all so talented and gracious and I am always in awe of everyone's work. Now that I have a starting point, I know I'll be busy for some time. I'll be sure to post anything new that I finish. Thank you again!!!

[operafantomet]

Jean Hunnisett really is a great place to start. She knows her period methods, but she also shows how to cheat if/when necessary. The Globe (period Shakespeare theatre) in London has occasionally used her patterns for their work. Which is a huge compliment.

Janet Arnold does period stuff, taking patterns from extant pieces of garb, and also analyzing period written and painted sources. She is a favourite in the online costume world, and whenever someone refers to "POF", it's Arnold and her "Patterns of Fashion". I've learned a lot from her, but started with her POFs later than other. I felt I had to achieve a minimum of knowledge before tackling actual period techniques. I think me and Gem is a bit similar there.

Other than that, check out the book http://www.amazon.com/Art-Manipulating-Fabric-Colette-Wolff/dp/0801984963 . Through folding, pinning and cutting the author demonstrates how to achieve various effects in fabric. It's just as useful for modern clothes as for period dress. I love this book.

[isabelladangelo]

All the book I have are period pattern books like Janet Arnold.   For information on how to sew (ie "I've never heard of that stitch?  How the heck do you do that?") or different methods, I just search Bing or Google.  There are a TON of good websites out there.