Half-day course: Blueprints: the history of the sewing pattern

Find out more about the history of the paper pattern industry and the companies that produced patterns in this afternoon workshop.

Sewing patterns have been the main blueprint for making clothes in the home for centuries.

Discover the origins of patterns from the tailoring manuals of the 16th century to the dressmaking publications of the 19th century, the film costume inspired Hollywood and Starred patterns of the 1930s and 1940s, through to the packet patterns that we buy today. There will also be a chance to look up close at patterns and sewing magazines from the RAMM collections.

Tutor: Victoria Haddock

Victoria Haddock has an MA in the History of Design and Material Culture from the University in Brighton, where her dissertation focused on the topic of fashion tie-ins inspired by film costumes during the 1930s. She is a freelance writer and researcher who has written and presented on a number of areas of dress history. She works as the Collections Officer at Brunel’s SS Great Britain, having previously worked for the Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall, the National Trust’s Killerton House, and Zenzie Tinker Conservation Ltd.