I just purchased Fashions of the Guilded Age, Vol. 1 to do some
Victorian-inspired fantasy clothing. It's a wonderful book with patterns and
everything, but I'm bamboozled. I've done SCA-era clothing ("Patterns? We don't
need no steeenking patterns!") for years, but I'm a babe in the woods when it
comes to interpreting these patterns. One obviously has to be conversant with
Victorian tailoring for these drawings and directions to be meaningful.
For instance, the directions will say, "Cut a slit in the back along the solid
line, and hem the edges narrow." Which solid line?; there are two. Then what??
Or, "pleat the front and back as indicated on the pattern." The number of
circles and x's don't necessarily match. And then there the inexplicable solid
lines at odd angles, marked with circles and x's. What are they? Cut them open
or not? If I cut it open, there's a flap of fabric dangling, and the directions
give no clue as to where it goes. The topography makes no sense.
Is there a guide to Victorian patterns for the modern sewer out there anywhere?
Melanie Unruh-Bays
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