59 Authentic Turn-of-the-Century Fashion Patterns (Dover Fashion and Costumes)

I love this book. My only disappointment is that it does not come with the proportionate rulers needed to scale the drawings. The introduction makes no reference to the rulers, nor does it say where to get them or explains what they are. I learned what they were from searching the internet trying to figure how to use the patterns. Once I found out what I needed I purchased The Edwardian Modiste, which included the rulers and was good to go. The patterns are awesome and fairly easy to read, takes some getting used to since they aren't like commercial patterns we use today.

This book is full of illustrations on how to draft patterns for turn of the century fashions. I fully enjoyed all of the illustrations of the patterns as well as the completed garments. However I would say you need more than basic knowledge of pattern drafting to be able to fully enjoy this book. I myself am currently attending costume design school so I have resources to help me understand the complexities in this book. If you do not have those resources I think that maybe a complete pattern will be more helpful for you. Simplicity and McCall's have great costume patterns, even though they're are not authentic they're easy to make if you have little pattern drafting knowledge.

I love them and they're so pretty. I read Regency & Victorian romances and like to see what the clothing looked like and I'm strongly tempted to make some modern versions of those dresses just for the heck of it. This book is a great start to figuring out how the clothes were made.

I was really excited about getting this book. I love the bygone era of clothing minus the sleeves. Our predecessors and those puffy sleeves (EYE ROLL)-even though I am a sucker for a huge bishop sleeve(Hypocrite much?) and flutter sleeves are such a feminine detail to add to a garment. Anyway All in all, I think it is an okay resource if you already have a solid base in pattern drafting and could possibly work from your slopers, other than that this will take some work to get to a muslin stage. I personally do not mind getting sewing patterns from ageless patterns or patterns of time to alter but would like to be able to draft some of these garments. Which is achievable with other resources than provided. I do however think with some added sections of fabric ,sewing instructions. and the needed rulers to scale this book would have easily been a 5 star book. While I'm not necessarily disappointed in this book, neither am I overjoyed and feel that this isn't an invaluable resource. I was disappointed in the designs chosen though and wasn't a fan of the majority of them. As well no under structures were given or how to fully wear the completed ensemble to get the closest replica possible. The grid method section is laughable and the rulers needed to scale these patterns should have been included if the sections was to so short but none were given and no direction given on how to make the patterns usable which warrants the low stars given.Cons:Kristina does discuss the grid method and grading. The grid method is explained in a paragraph and the grading sections are not in-depth.The illustration for the ladies polonaise is missing.Most of the fabric choices state to make of any suitable fabric choice, but nowhere in the book goes over fabric selections of the era.Very little historical information is givenPro'sa very generous amount of patterns are given and this work includes children and some men's patterns.Is this an absolute must: NoDo I regret the purchase: NoWould I recommend: No

Enjoyed the book. Certainly a lot of work figuring out how to properly enlarge things, lots of measuring and trial and error (not to mention adding more than one size to fit today's different figure esthetics) but once there, one could certainly make some masterful recreations!

Because my wife, who is using the patterns, told me to give it four stars. She has not used it extensivly yet, but might give it a higher rating when she has delved deeper into the patterns.

If you are thinking of purchasing this strictly for patterns, DO NOT unless you are already familiar with enlarging and transferring pattern pieces. I have to say, that this book is nice. I belong to a club that dresses period and competes with shooting. I thought I was getting a pattern book...which I did in a way. I just didn't expect that I would have to transfer the patterns pieces, enlarge each piece to my size. I am not experienced in sewing enough to work with altering, transferring, patterns. The images are truly exceptional and I feel that just being able to reference those photos for clothing design inspiration was well worth the money.

Exactly what I was looking for. Instructions could be more descriptive. Not for an inexperienced seamstress

fabulous book, great explanations of things and brilliant for a more experience dress maker to make the clothes as converting the sizing will be an issue for beginners in some areas as I am. the pictures give a fantastic pictoral progression of fashion changes and use are brill

There is some general discussion at the beginning of the book. The patterns come next. They are mostly for women, with some for children and a couple for men. The patterns look fine but the instructions are minimal.

I really like this book. I'm just learning how to make patterns and transfer patterns to scale, so this will be great practice for when my skill builds up. Even though I'm not at the skill level for this book yet, there are a lot of explanations about the cuts, patterns, and other tidbits of information. Even if you are a beginner, it's great to look at the patterns to get a picture in your head of how these complicated frocks were created.

The patternts are very nice and helpfull! A little bit confusing in terms of construction of the piece. I can recommend it!

This book arrived this morning and is truly a pleasure to look at, some really lovely patterns in a fantastic book. As far as I can tell all the patterns are genuine patterns from the time and should produce genuine looking garments. Although be warned, this is not a book for beginners and some amount of skill is required for all projects. You ideally need to be able to scale the patterns up from the smaller versions and adapt these to the required size. Instructions are also brief and in some cases non-existent so some knowledge of patterns and garment construction would be a plus. However I guess if you have someone to teach or help you it's certainly achievable.