The Linen, the Stitch and the Wardrobe - Making an early Victorian Shift

The clever people in the University of St Andrews Library Special Collections are blogging their way through a wide range of historic 'how to' manuals.

This week, it's all about following an early 19th century dressmaking pattern and using a 19th century embroidery manual, to make a simple linen shift.

The Wardrobe Department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland might be very interested in this, as a creative experiment.  Though I suspect busy costume makers don't have time for Victorian embroidery!!

Take a look at 52 Weeks of Historical How-To's - it's a beautiful and intriguing blog.

Donations to the Library - folksy but ...

Rather quaint, this - a book of Scottish tunes with a hand-embroidered cloth cover.  Lovely, you'd think.  This folksy charm comes with dust, pong, and a dried squished spider for added garnish.

Luckily we do already have several copies of this edition!