I’ve been thinking about how to actually write up how to use my book, and use it to teach at the same time. Now that I have the extant patterns to fill in gaps where extant garments don’t exist and vice versa I think my instinct to call my entire pattern collection (including my Victorian era ones) as The Modular Frock.
I want to use this book for my love of printed works and I now have a hook. I think. I really wanted to get some travel in as well because artist travel sketchbooks and personal costume books reveal so much. Sometimes they reveal what local artists omit through familiarity (often seams and stitching) and often reveal what they find challenging through a lack of familiarity.
But obviously my own files of these works has been A Lot to go through, even though it’s been worth it.
This comes back to the tailoring manuals as each guild recorded instructions differently. Trying to work out where they use shortcuts, or even deliberate obfuscation, is a little hard. It’s easier when there are multiple art forms and extant garments of the same type. Even then when you spot that a document does not work as it is you need to work out why.
Meanwhile I’m still stalling all my frocks because fatigue and pain just keep interfering and then everything I need to deal with that is not predictable. I need to be careful to not rupture my achilles tendons so I need to tape and have physio and steroids. The steroids are working on some of the RA pain but doesn’t do anything for fibro. Getting my inflammation settled will eventually work on fibro pain as it won’t be constantly triggered. Fibro works the other way too through time and under treatment.