The Antique Pattern Library

What a fabulous resource for the fiber arts enthusiast!  Plenty of wonderful patterns and books, many from the Guttenburg Project.  These books were scanned in by volunteers, and some date back to the 1840s!  All these books are downloadable, so you can print them out to enjoy. 

Check it out:

http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/html/warm/catalog.htm

Also, ther is another great resource for vintage textile crafts.  All these books and magazines can be downloaded for free! 

Look here:

http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books.html#E

So You Want to Learn to Sew?

If you have been following along in my blog, by now you probably have figured out that this is also a way for me to placemark reference material in a way to make it useful to others.  Sometimes, refering to my blog saves time for those who are interested in my little treasures of knowlege.  Some people think I am crazy for spending so much time looking up this stuff.  For me, it's a hobby. ;)

The following is an incredibly thorough guide to every kind of decorative embroidery stitch.  The book is called ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEEDLEWORK  By Thérèse de Dillmont.

Published in 1884, this fantastic reference is invaluable anyone interested in decorative stitchwork.

Find it here:

http://encyclopediaofneedlework.com/index.htm

Sewing in the 14th Century

While researching period sewing tecniques for 14th century Europe, I ran across this wonderful and imformative website which describes in great detail anything and everything you might want to know when constructing your 14th century clothing by hand:

http://www.damehelen.com/sewing/index.html

Fantastic site, and worth a look.

Red and White Wool and Linen Medieval Hood

This hood is a fantastic hand-sewn example of a medieval wool hood from the 13th-14th century.  The buttons were hand cast pewter, with the lining made from linen.  What a great inspiration piece!

Blue and White Wool and Linen Medieval Hood

I found this photo on flickr of a pretty blue wool hood with cloth buttons done in the period style, hand sewn facings and a linen lining.  I would love to know where I can source documentation regarding the use of contrasting colored cloth buttons on 13th - 14th century clothing.  I have seen painting documentation of the top stitching done in contrasting colors, and will post the painting when I run across it again.

Lovely Wool Brown Handsewn Cotehardie

Love the hand finishing on this garment.