The Great Pattern Review
Green River Forge
Joseph Keller - Not Recommended
I have been a costumer for many years and Green River Forge patterns have got to be the most frustrating patterns I have ever encountered. Besides the directions being printed on each individual pattern piece so that you have to track down directions and decipher what goes together when, the pattern may or may not resemble the garment illustrated on the package. I have found major stylistic differences. Extremely poor directions and illustrations as well as poor fit makes me want to say run, do not walk, from these patterns.
18th Century Gown
Stacie Sachs
I'm a member of the 4H Club. I've been sewing for eight years. I've been doing costuming for the past few years and wanted to make something really fun for my final school year. So, I bought this pattern. I agree with the other reviewer that the instructions are really terrible and that the dress doesn't really match the drawing. I ignored the directions and was able to put the gown together. I had done a lot of research for this project. I was able to use my knowledge of the era to figure out how to assemble and sew the gown. It was a hard pattern but, the dress came out well enough to win Best in Show in the two competitions I entered. If you have a lot of sewing experience and a bit of creativity, you can make the pattern work well. Stacie is in the photo on the right.
Sally Norton - Not Recommended
Fortunately, my first attempt was in muslin so I did not loose my expensive fabric. I can only strongly second Joseph's comments (above). It was a mess. I tried very hard to salvage this gown and failed. The muslin and the pattern went into the trash. (OK, I did put the pattern in the paper recycling bin so at least it came to a useful end.)
18th/19th Century Dropped Sleeve Shirt
Judith Baker - Recommended
At one point in construction it had me cussing before breakfast but, I found the problemwas due to my own momentary lack of common sense. The shirt eventually turned out beautifully. I'm planning on making another.