The Edwardian Modiste: 85 Authentic Patterns with Instructions, Fashion Plates, and Period Sewing Techniques [Paperback]

I had this book for a while, and I found it was an exceptional book! Not are only are the fashion plates to the dress pretty accurate (except they edit the sketches of the famous Gibson girl face and replace it with real faces from antique photography, which is disappointing if you enjoy fashion plates) and they give you pages of patterns as well. The patterns are not to scale, and while I was buying it, I thought I would get plastic cutouts from the back. Actually the tools are in the book, on regular paper, the suggest you cut them out and put them on ruler or inexpensive cardboard, but I found that to be strange since you could not cut one ruler without cutting onto another one on the next page. Therefore, what I suggest is photocopy it and then make the rules with the copies, that way you can pass the book onto your granddaughters for them to use a mint condition book as well.

However, I found the instructions to the drafting system highly confusing. I never drafted patterns by hand before and I thought this book would help me to learn. Even my mother, who has been sewing for a lifetime, could not understand the concept. For those who have only been home sewing, and do not have a dressmakers education, it will be an extreme challenge to learn it. Other reviews say it is a synch, so it cannot hurt to try. Unfortunately, I disregard the pattern drafting system and do it the old-fashion way (or new-fashion way :-D) and made transparencies to be put on an overhead to be drawn to scale on drafting paper.

Another drawback is the instructions for the patterns, (while it says in the book that in the Edwardian era, patterns came without many sentences of instructions and sewers were expected to refer to a sewers manual, which is included. One thing I have to say is that I wish all books came with a sewers manual! In the back, they discuss not only how to create a right fit, cutting biases, gathering petticoats under a seam, but rainy-day costumes, mourning dress, maternity, bridal, choosing a design, and good taste and economy in dressing! Amazing!) while it tells what the dress was made out of and the color! Sometimes on some of the patterns, they do not list how many yards of fabric are required. That is probably on ten of the patterns in the book, but if you know how to sew, just draw the patterns up to scale and lay them out on the fabric at the yard store before you cut.

I show also say what sort of styles are in the book for those who are starting out (if you are, I recommend Joanne Olian for fashion plates, inexpensive and exceptional books!). Of course, there a few petticoats, different styles of corset covers (too bad, no corsets), they have reception gowns, one empire waist which was sort of popular in the late era, many street and traveling costumes, many coats! (I am talking one in every chapter) and a many of suits! (which I like since I dress rather conservable.) I should also tell you the sort of styles, of course the years go from April, July, October of 1907, January, April, July, October of 1908, and January, April, July, October of 1909. Therefore, you get winter clothing as well as spring, fall, and summer as well. At the beginning, you see many frills and lace insertions as you do at the beginning of the Edwardian era (Like the motion picture "Gigi" with Leslie Caron) There are many tailor waists and many lacy collars! In the middle, you see more suits and dresses without the frills and the pigeon look (Stay fronted corset, also known as the S-Bend) in full effect! If you liked "House of Mirth" with Gillian Anderson, with her beautiful suits and dresses, the patterns in the middle of the book are for you, even if House of Mirth is Victorian with leg-o-mutton sleeves, this would be a good substitute. At the end of the book, the skirts begin to get narrow, you see many jackets begin to get longer than the hip, you begin to see many buttons (there is a dress that is in need of 175 buttons as decoration!) While there are no hobble-skirts, which is in the great-war era (teens), the still have beautiful lines where you could alter it to be teens without the restriction of the hobble-skirts (which costumers know it restricts leg strides into little ones, in which you are actually hobbling around)

I would have given it 5 stars only if the pattern drafting was also aiming for the those who never hand-drafted before, and of course for the few patterns that do not list the recommend yardage. But I also give it four-stars because the patterns are rare, you can never find a collection such as this! The dressmaking manual in the back, which I am head over heels for! And, lastly, 85 patterns for forty dollars! That is $2.12 a pattern! If you were to buy 85 patterns at the sewing store at the regular amount at $7.00 the total would come out to hundreds of dollars!

Buy it! Or you will be missing out on beautiful dresses!

_The Edwardian Modiste_ is a great source for those looking for a typical wardrobe of a lady during the Edwardian period. Not only are day dress patterns included there are also several evening gowns, undergarments and outer garments. I found the historical sewing instructions extremely insightful. Because these patterns are reprinted from a professional dressmaker's manual some sewing experience is required. The author, Frances Grimble, clearly presents instructions on how to enlarge these wonderful, to-scale patterns. Now all I need is a straight-fronted corset and I will be set!

I've been sewing off-and-on all my adult life, but I'm going to have to get my husband the engineer to help me draw up these patterns. Her method, copied from the original ones, is a multi-step project that appears to require some drafting skill in addition to sewing skill. Nevertheless, the original patterns of the era are scarce and painfully expensive and not user-friendly, so this is surely worth trying. Do not expect to whip these little numbers up quickly, however. On the other hand, who would ever want to make or wear most of the shapeless dreck in today's pattern books?