Feel free to send additions or request other books by topic to be added to this list. The editor is happy to try and locate topical material. These links are posted with the understanding that users are aware of the usage restrictions placed on them by the Google Books Project or the Internet Archive. When in doubt, please read their message regarding Public Domain titles.

Book Collections | Costume, Fancy Dress or Theatrical | Embroidery and Fancy Work | Fashion | Historical and Ethnic | Lace and Lacemaking | Metropolitan Museum Books | Millinery | Needlework | Sewing Basics | Sewing Machines | Tailoring | Uniformed Service Groups

Internet Archive Searches

If you cannot find the title on the list, feel free to try one of these prepared Internet Archive searches which will provide a list of downloadable books from that source.

• Costume
• Dressmaking
• Embroidery
• Fashion
• Knitting
• Lace
• Millinery
• Needlework
• Sewing
• Sewing Machines
• Tailoring

Book Collections

• Cornell University Home Economics Archive - A searchable collection of 1180 books and 16 journals in Home Economics and related disciplines published between 1850 and 1950 selected for their great historical importance.
• Electronic Swatchbook version 2 Nearly 2000 public domain historic pattern swatches, some dating as far back as 1837. And you can search by colour as well as year. A project of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art Online Publications Out of Print books and catalogs from 1964 to present. This link takes you directly to those with the keyword "clothing" as a descriptor.

Costume, Fancy Dress or Theatrical

• Character Suitable for Fancy Costume Balls. By Marie Schild. 1881. A Victorian take on many character costumes.
• Costume: fanciful, historical, and theatrical. By Mrs. Aria (Eliza Davis). 1906. (University of Michigan copy)
• Costume Design and Dressmaking, Volume 2, Parts 13-23 By Fashion Academy, Inc. 1921. (NY Public Library copy)
• Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs: a practical working handbook. By Constance D'Arcy Mackay 1915. (NY Public Library copy)
• Male Character Costumes, a Guide to Gentlemen's Costume Suitable for Fancy Dress balls and Private Theatricals. 1884.

Embroidery and Fancy Work

• Art in Needlework: a book about embroidery. By Lewis Foreman Day, Mary Buckle and B.T. Batsford. 1907.
• Dainty Work for Pleasure and Profit. By Mrs. Adelaide E. Heron. 1891. (Library of Congress copy)
• Elementary Embroidery. By Mrs. Mary (Symonds) Antrobus. 1915. (University of Wisconsin copy)
• Embroidery: or the craft of the needle. By W. G. Paulson Townsend. 1899. (Stanford University copy)
• Embroidery Stitches: part 1, by Picken, Mary Brooks, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences Scranton, Pa., 1916
• Jacobean Embroidery: its forms and fillings including late Tudor. By Ada Wentworth Fitzwilliam and A. F. Morris Hands. 1913. (University of California copy)
• The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work. By Mrs. Gaugain (Jane). 1874, (New York Public Library copy)
• Ladies' Fancy Work: A Manual of Designs and Instructions in All Kinds of Needlework By Jenny June (Jane Cunningham Croly). 1886. (University of Virginia copy)
• Ladies' Fancy Work: Hints and Helps to Home Taste and Recreations By Mrs. C. S. Jones, Henry T. Williams. 1876. (University of Virginia copy) Artificial flowers, Feather work, Hair-work and more.
• The Ladies' Work-table Book: Containing Clear and Practical Instructions in Plain and Fancy Needle-work, Embroidery, Knitting, Netting, Crochet and Tatting. 1843. (Columbia University copy)

Fashion

• 1920's Plus Size Fashion by The Vintage Dancer. 2013.
• The Art of Dressing Well by Sarah Anne Frost, 1870.
• Dress and Look Slender by Mary Brooks Picken. 1924. (Connecticut Agricultural Library copy) Choosing the best 1920's styles for your figure and facial type.
• Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists & Dressmakers by Talbot Hughes. 1920. "An admirable handbook of English Costume. The more technical "patterns" which are included amongst the illustrations will be found most valuable to all who wish to go deeper than the first glance reveals."
• The Secrets of Distinctive Dress. By Mary Brooks Picken. Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences. 1918.
• Student's manual of fashion drawing by Edith Young, John Wiley and Sons, 1919.
• When the Girls Came Out to Play: The Birth of American Sportswear by Patricia Campbell Warner, University of Massachusetts Press, 2006.

Historical and Ethnic

• Art in Costume Design: practical suggestions for those interested in art, sewing, history and literature. By Edna Mann Shover. Milton Bradley company. 1920. (Indiana University copy
• Costume in England: a history of dress to the end of the eighteenth century. By Frederick William Fairholt. 3rd edition. 1885. (Harvard University Library)
• Costume of Colonial Times. By Alice Morse Earle. 1894. (Harvard University copy)
• Costume of the Ancients. By Thomas Hope. 2d ed. 1809. (Stanford University copy)
• A Cyclopedia of Costume Vol. II A General History Of Costume In Europe. By James Robinson Planche. 1879.
• English Costume, Volume 3 - Tudor and Stuart. By Dion Clayton Calthrop. 1906. (Harvard University copy)
• English Costume, Volume 4 - Georgian. By Dion Clayton Calthrop. 1906. (Harvard University copy)
• The Heritage of Dress: being notes on the history and evolution of clothes. By Wilfred Mark Webb. 1907. (Univ. of Michigan copy)
• Historic dress in America, 1607-1800: Volume 1. By Elisabeth McClellan. 1904. (Princeton University copy)
• Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800. By Elisabeth McClellan. 1904. (1917 printing) (Univ. of Michigan copy)
• Historic Dress in America, 1800-1870. By Elisabeth McClellan. 1910. (University of Michigan copy)
• Instructive Costume Design. By Emil Alvin Hartman. 1922. (Univ. of Michigan copy)
• McIan's Costumes of the Clans of Scotland: with seventy-four coloured plates. 1899. (Harvard University copy)
• Oriental Costumes: their designs and colors. By Max Tilke. Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1922 (Univ. of Indiana e-text)
• Select Historical Costumes Compiled from the Most Reliable Sources. By Henry L. Hinton. 1868. (Harvard University copy)
• Self-instructor in the Art of Hair Work: Dressing Hair, Making Curls, Switches, Braids, and Hair Jewelry of Every Description. By Mark Campbell. 1867. (Harvard University copy)
• Two Centuries of Costume in America, MDCXX-MDCCCXX (1620-1820). By Alice Morse Earle. 1903. (Two Volumes in one) (Univ. of Michigan copy)
• The Workwoman's Guide: containing instructions to the inexperienced in cutting out and completing those articles of wearing apparel, which are usually made at home; also explanation on Upholstery, Straw-platting, Bonnet-making, Knitting, &c. By A Lady. London; Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; 2d ed., rev. and corr., 1840

Knitting

• Victorian knitting manuals were donated by Richard Rutt.to the Knitting Reference Library, which is part of the University of Southampton Library.

Lace and Lacemaking

• The Lace & Embroidery Collector: a guide to collectors of old lace and embroidery. By R. E. Head. 1922. (University of Wisconsin copy)
• Modern Lace-making: advanced studies. By Butterick Publishing Company. 1901. (Cornell University copy)
• Pillow Lace, a Practical Hand-book. By Elizabeth Mincoff and Mrs. Margaret S. Marriage. 1907. (University of California copy)

Metropolitan Museum Books

• Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789–1815 by various authors (1989)
• American Ingenuity: Sportswear, 1930s–1970s by Richard Martin (1998)
• Belle Époque by Julian, Philippe, and Diana Vreeland (1982)
• Christian Dior by Richard Martin and Harold Koda (1996
• Eighteenth-Century Woman by Olivier Bernier (1982)
• Essential Art of African Textiles by Alisa LaGamma and Christine Giuntini (2008)
• From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress, 1837–1877 by Caroline Goldthorpe (1989)
• Haute Couture by Richard Martin and Harold Koda (1995)
• History of Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century by various authors (1976)
• Imperial Style: Fashions of the Hapsburg Era by Polly Cone (1980)
• Madame Grès by Richard Martin and Harold Koda (1994)
• Manchu Dragon: Costumes of the Ch'ing Dynasty, 1644–1912 by Jean Mailey (1980)
• Orientalism: Visions of the East in Western Dress by Richard Martin and Harold Koda (1994)
• Waist Not: The Migration of the Waist, 1800–1960 by Richard Martin and Harold Koda (1994)

Millinery

• The Art of Millinery: a complete series of practical lessons for the artiste and the amateur. By Anna Ben Yûsuf 1909. (Univ. Wisconsin-Madison copy)
• Make Your Own Hats. by Mrs. Gene Allen Martin, 1921. (University of Wisconsin-Madison copy)
• Millinery. By Charlotte Rankin Aiken, B.A. 1922. (University of Michigan copy)
• Modern Millinery: a workroom text book containing complete instruction in the work of preparing, making and copying millinery... By Hester B. Lyon. 1922. (Indiana Univerity copy)
• Practical Millinery. By Jessica Ortner. 1897. (NY Public Library copy)
• Practical Millinery Lessons: a complete course of lessons in the art of millinery. By Julia Bottomley. 1914 (Cornell University copy)

Needlework

• Antique Pattern Library. A project of New Media Arts Inc. It is an ongoing project effort to scan craft pattern publications that are in the public domain, to preserve them, so we can keep our craft heritage. They are available to use, for free, to anyone who wants them, for educational, personal, artistic and other creative uses.

Sewing Basics

• American Dressmaking Step by Step: containing complete, concise, up-to-date and comprehensible instruction in Sewing, Dressmaking and Tailoring. By Lydia Trattles Coates. 1917. (Stanford University copy)
• The Art of Dressmaking. By Sophie Klug. 1895. (Radcliffe copy)
• Clothing for Women: selection, design, construction; a practical manual for school and home. By Laura Irene Baldt. 1916. (University of Virginia copy)
• Cutting Out and Dressmaking. By E. Grand'Homme. 1879. (Harvard University copy)
• Dressmaking: a manual for schools and colleges. By Jane Fales. 1917. (Harvard Copy)
• Hand Sewing Lessons: a graded course for schools and for the home. By Sarah Ewell Krolik. 1905. (University of California copy)
• The Hand-book of Dress-making. By Mary J. Howell. 1845. (Bodleian Library copy)
• Household Sewing with Home Dressmaking. By Bertha Banner. 1898. (Harvard University copy)
• Modern Pattern Design. By Harriet Pepin. 1942. Posted on Sewing for Life blogsite.
• School Needlework, a Course of Study in Sewing Designed for Use in Schools. By Olive C. Hapgood, teacher of sewing in Boston Public Schools. 1892. (Harvard University copy)
• School Needlework: a book written for the beginner of any age and in any school. By Olive C. Hapgood, Ella Josephine Spooner. Revised. 1922. (University of Wisconsin copy)
• Scientific Sewing and Garment Cutting: for use in schools and in the home. By Antoinette Van Hoesen Wakeman and Louise M. Heller. 1998. (University of California copy)
• Sewing: handicraft for girls; a graded course for city and rural schools. By Idabelle McGlauflin. 1918 Rev. ed. (University of California copy)
• Sewing and Textiles: first lessons for elementary schools. By Mary Lockwood Matthews. 1921. (Harvard University copy)
• Simplified Sewing (Manual 11) by Ethelwyn Dodson and Frances Reis Quinn, University of California, College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service, 1953.

Sewing Machines

• Sewing Machines. By Rosamond C. Cook. 1922.

Tailoring

• The Alfred Scott system of actual measure of coat and vest. Published by P. Colavita in Richmond, Va.,1906.
• American Dressmaking Step by Step: containing complete, concise, up-to-date and comprehensible instruction in Sewing, Dressmaking and Tailoring. By Lydia Trattles Coates. 1917. (Stanford University copy)
• The cutters' practical guide to the cutting of ladies' garments by W.D.F. Vincent, 1890.
• The "Keystone" jacket and dress cutter. A Treatise on Jackets, Dresses and Other Garments for Women. Published by The Herald of Fashion Co. in New York. 1895.
• The Practical Work of Dressmaking & Tailoring: with illustrations. By M. Prince Browne. 1920. (NY Public Library copy)
• Vest cutting; a manual for the practical tailor and cutter by Charles Hecklinger, 1883.
• The Weiler ladies tailor--dressmaker, designer, cutter and fitter book by Sigmond Georg Weiler, 1915.

Uniformed Service Groups

• American Military Insignia 1800-1851. By J. Duncan Campbell. Published by the Smithsonian Institution. Bulletin 235. 1963.
• Uniform and dress of the army of the Confederate States by C.H. Wynne, printer in Richmond [Va.],1861 Fifteen large lithographs of soldiers standing in landscapes, showing generals and other staff officers, all ranks of cavalry, artillery and infantry, their swords, rifles, drum and bugle, their tunics, trousers, hats and overcoats, plus buttons, badges and chevrons.