Four Period Costume Embroidery Patterns

Hello there and Happy Easter. I do hope you have some sunshine to sit in while munching your easter eggs. There’s a new pattern in Ruby’s sewing room and it is just the prettiest set of little designs that are fun to stitch and great for putting on any number of things, especially handmade gifts.

These girls are around 5” high so they are quick easy projects to sew and there is a world of possibilities to explore with embellishments like teeny tiny buttons, seed beads, sequins and metallic threads.

If you knew me at all and you might have got a bit of an idea if you pop by this blog sometimes, I am a vintage girl with a fascination for period costumes. I am not sure why it took me so long to get around to do this pattern, but I really have had the best fun with it. I love embroidery on EVERYTHING so these are the perfect idea.

I think what was really the spark that helped form this idea was that we have been watching ‘Elizabeth R’ on the BBC starring Glenda Jackson. It was first broadcast 50 years ago and although I don’t remember it, over the years I have seen images from this series. It was considered ground breaking in its day for its unusual format - the backgrounds are like stage sets and the programme is really all about the dialogue, which is absolutely mesmerising. Glenda Jackson is simply splendid as the the Tudor Queen and the history is rich and engrossing…the costumes however are just astonishing, especially towards the end of her reign when the dresses became more and more elaborate. I decided to make a little tudor lady and the rest just popped along in sequence.

The Tudor period in British history dates from 1485 - 1603, beginning with the reign of Henry V11 and ending with Elizabeth 1. These were epic times with new fabrics and threads beginning to appear from far flung corners of the globe. Pearls found in the south seas were highly prized along with gold and brocade fabrics along with furs gave a rich look. Once I had this little lady done, I moved on the Georgian period.

Georgian England, 1714 - 1830, was a time of huge change and innovation and the fashions of the day were sometimes rather bizarre. The powdered wigs in high piled hair arrangements with all manner of adornments look most uncomfortable. The wide skirts, enhanced with padded belts like paniers accentuated a tiny waist but must have been bulky to wear. The new printed, painted and embroidered fabrics that arrived in europe from the east were glorious though and I have tried to capture a little of this with the heavy floral underskirt in my design. I think this one might be my favourite.

As time moved on, the Regency period (1811 - 1820) brought a sea change and the stiff formal heavy layered creations of earlier years were replaced with the diaphanous, floaty dresses that we all associate with Jane Austen and the ever lovely BBC period drama adaptations.

This really was a very feminine time for fashion. The freedom of the dresses must have been a welcome relief and I do find it a little extraordinary that in not all that long, a return to tight corsets and dramatic silhouettes ensured. The Victorian age was looming along with the rapidly progressing Industrial revolution which in turn caused it’s own revolution in textiles and fashion.

I have always found Victorian times (1837 - 1901) fascinating and perhaps it helps that here we have more resources to enjoy in the form of photographs for reference instead of just paintings and sketches. Mechanisation along with new ways of making, dying and printing fabric meant new and more varied clothes were available. This little embroidery is mid victorian and by the end of Victoria’s reign a new style in the form of the bustle had emerged.

All four of these little designs are on one one pattern and it comes with tracing diagrams and suggested stitching diagrams and all sorts of helpful hints and tips for making your embroidery. It is available as a pdf download in my etsy shop here

Just in case you may be wondering what to do with small little embroideries like this, well let me show you some ideas.

I have loved making these although I am grateful that I can now put my feet up in my Jeans and cardigan!

Have a Happy holiday weekend everyone, Ruby xx