In January 2017 I bought myself a pile of fabrics from the John Lewis post-Christmas sales, sourced a Janome sewing machine from Hobbycraft, bonded with a sewing enthusiast colleague over the online sewing community blogs she would recommend, and ordered Tilly and The Button’s Book, ‘Love at First Stitch: Demystifying Dressmaking’  as my starting point.

The idea to get a sewing machine felt like more than one of those fleeting New Year’s Resolution things people do with good intentions, and then get bored of within a month. Learning new things is always a positive, and I had a purpose beyond just ‘making things for the sake of it’.

 

I decided to learn to make my own clothes when dress-shopping for a friend’s birthday in November 2016. I think of myself as around a UK 12/14, and fit anything from a UK 8 to a UK 18, depending on where I bought it. All the dresses I picked out looked horrible on me; I couldn’t zip up a 14. Trying a Larger size 16 clung to my hips whilst being excessively baggy on the top. Sizing up yet again to an 18 would finally fit the hips, but make the top so big it wouldn’t stay on…

The lack of fit was very frustrating, and that is before we even get into the issues like being unable to find a basic, white shirt for an interview, or women’s jeans have tiny useless pockets. And of course, certain ghastly colours and fabrics dominating the high street as they are trending.

So, it was DIY time! Running before I could walk, I made some much-loved Margot pyjamas for my first project, and some (retrospectively terribly constructed) Megan dresses to start with. My measurements were mixed sizes so I had to learn to merge patterns. Struggling to get that skill right, I enrolled on a pattern-making course at Nottingham Trent University over the summer. I learned how to draw a pattern from scratch, improve my construction, common adjustments to be aware of, and made a custom fitted toile.

Over Autumn I learned how to make bags, took on a custom order for some made to measure LARP trousers, and made a couple of blouses and pattern hacks for myself. At the time of writing, I have been sewing for less than a year, but hope to make big leaps in my drafting and construction skills in 2018.

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Charlene