Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

Here at YWU we understand first-hand how difficult it can be to bind corsets, stays and bodies neatly. After all those hours of careful work, fitting, boning and stitching, the £$!*?&  binding lets you down!

Even if you're otherwise a great costumer, the frustration of binding can inspire the most experienced needleperson to throw things. So in the interests of your inner calm, "Doctor" Cathy offers the cure… find out once and for all how to perfect your stays and corsets with Part One of our indispensible guide!

Part 1  |  Part 2

When I set out to learn more about European women's turbans, I assumed this would be a fairly narrow subject. I had a few preconceptions shared by many costumers: namely, that turbans were limited to Regency period evening wear; that they looked much like the classic African, Middle Eastern and Asian wrapped headdresses on which the European fashion turban was based; and that a turban was always a turban. The reality turned out to be more complex.

Introductory article  |  Part 1 |  Part 2  

Loren Dearborn takes us step by step and teaches us how to re-style modern shoes into 18th century shoes. She shares the best places online to look for the most inspirational originals and what type of modern shoes will work, and then shows us how to gradually take them apart and re-assemble them into sturdy, beautiful, convincing historical footwear - perhaps even making them fit better too!

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There's an old saying that goes "It's all in the details". With historical costume, this counts double - details can make or break an outfit, be it in terms of period accuracy, colour, or design.

But creating detailed, handmade trimmings for your garments and accessories is actually much easier than you might think.

In part one, we look at the simple and versatile technique of lucet cording. Part two takes a whirlwind tour of hand-braiding, and in part three we see two variations of weaving that can be used to make historically authentic trims: tablet weaving and inkle weaving.

Part 1  |  Part 2  |   Part 3

Wanna dress like a pirate? Here's how to make a gown of the type worn by Keira Knightley in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

More historically accurate than the Disney version, yet far enough from accurate to be quick, easy and inexpensive, it has detachable sleeves, an overskirt that can be hooked or gathered up or discarded completely, and separate pieces that can form the basis of a versatile mix-and-match costume collection. Click on the photo to enlarge, or click here to see it sleeveless, in black.

Part 1: Skirts  |  Part 2: Boned bodice  |   Part 3: Sleeves

The gorgeous Elizabethan gown is completed after months of work. Everything is beautifully fitted and sewn, the fabrics are near-as-damn-it authentic and just perfect. It looks amazing, but something is missing. That small detail which is always seen in the portraits but never noticed.

You need a piece of needlelace!

This Masterclass will show you how to add that little bit extra to your gorgeous gown.

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Although commercial clothing patterns are made and sold for our convenience, most of us know that this still does not guarantee a well-fitting garment.

The single most freeing skill that a sewer or costumer can have is to learn to draft his or her own patterns. To take your own measurements and a blank sheet of paper and draw a pattern that fits you individually frees you to understand the makeup and adjustment of a pattern better, not to mention the scope it gives you to shape the design.

In this FREE Masterclass we'll take the mystery, the jargon and as many numbers as possible out of the process. Baby step by baby step, you too can harness the freedom of drafting your own patterns!

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When you’re learning to sew, it’s awfully easy to get discouraged. You have wonderful ideas, but in the execution something is lost and the result is shoved in the back of a cupboard.

It doesn't have to be that way, though. Here I'm going to give you three of the best and quickest techniques I know, three big head starts that’ll attract the maximum number of compliments with the minimum of blood, sweat and tears.

This, in short, is the best and simplest of what I’ve learnt in my fifteen years of sewing historical costumes and wedding gowns. Click the photo to see what's possible!

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Fourteen keys to success from a cross-section of today’s top costuming experts. Some specialise; some are skilled in many historical periods. Some make whole outfits; some specialise in corsetry or millinery. Some are professional, working on individual bespoke outfits for private customers or on whole theatrical, TV or film productions; some are dedicated, experienced amateurs.

This masterclass dares to ask those most challenging, most basic, most cheeky of questions: What is the one thing that sets your work apart from the average costuming effort? What do you wish someone had told you when you were just off the starting blocks?

Now, for the first time you’ll get to pick all of our brains as we get down to the core of the issue, the brass tacks: in a few pages, you will know the most important things that a budding costume designer or seamstress must know in order to make the leap from amateur-quality, home made results to stunning, couture-quality work.

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