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 sellout 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.