Ruth Bailey was born and brought up in Thurso, Caithness. After gaining a postgraduate degree in painting from Edinburgh College of Art she went on to self train as a milliner. She currently works freelance as an artist, costume designer and prop maker for theatre and business. Jackie Holt has worked as a costume maker and a wardrobe supervisor in numerous theatres around Britain. She has worked in a freelance capacity on anything from small scale touring shows to supervising large scale musicals, such as 125th Street at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End and the sell-out 20th Anniversary concert of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall. Jackie and Ruth's previous book, Knit Your Own Scotland, was a bestseller.
