Patternmaking
2025-present: I worked with the Genesee Country Village & Museum (NY) and the Maryland Center for History & Culture to produce patterns of several garments, available for free online.
The above images relate to a pair of stays in the MDCHC collection (1951.28.11) and their reproductions.
As part of the sewing community, I know how valuable plus-size patterns are - and how rare they are for historic garments.
I believe in making my research publicly accessible for the benefit of others, which also allows community makers to add their own expertise and commentary to these projects.
I personally found my way to fashion history through sewing, and making patterns like these freely available may help others to do the same.
In 2021, I developed five patterns from extant 1920s 'stoutwear' dresses as part of the FIT exhibit The Roaring Twenties and the Swinging Sixties (2021). The exhibit and patterns are available in perpetuity online through the Museum at FIT.
2023: I started studying corsetry more seriously and asked corsetière Michelle Fitzgerald to lend her expertise to patterning an antique 1890s corset (33" waist) in my collection.
2023-present: Sew Last Century Patterns, a line of digital patterns I've taken from extant garments ranging in size from small to 4X and focusing on plus sizes.
If you would like to use one of these patterns for a school assignment or scholarly project, contact me and I'll share it with you for free. (You will need to provide proof of the project and/or final product.)
2024: I cleaned and digitized a pattern from an 1871 issue of Harper's Bazar magazine for a "stout ladies" corset with a 29.5-31" waist. The pattern was graded for further sizes by corsetière Michelle Fitzgerald.