Sew Your Own

The story of two dresses

It happens every year. The Great British Sewing Bee* comes back on television, and I have an urge to start sewing my own clothes, which I have been doing regularly since the series began ten years ago. But this on/off relationship with making my own clothes started many more years ago than that.

I did dressmaking at school for a very short time, possibly only a couple of terms during my second year at secondary school, so we are talking almost 55 years ago. During that time I can’t recall making anything of any use or at least not anything I actually wore. There was a gingham apron, gathered onto a combined waistband and belt, hemmed all round by hand no doubt. I remember we all used to be desperate to have a turn on the limited number of sewing machines, but most of our time was spent on preparation, tacking, hand sewing and invariably unpicking. I also have vague memories of a blouse that was never worn, although the skills involved in sewing darts and setting in sleeves stayed with me. Dressmaking (or Needlework as I think it was called) was abandoned in favour of other less domestic subjects, not necessarily a wise decision but one that I made nevertheless.

Any dressmaking ambitions were cast aside during the next decade, aside from the occasional modification of jeans by inserting colourful triangles of fabric in the seams to turn them into flares. So why on the occasion of my first marriage I thought it would be a good idea to make my own wedding dress is anyone’s guess. I knew I didn’t want a traditional ‘meringue’ with acres of lace and tulle. I was also strongly influenced by the choice of an older friend Shirley whom I idolised as something of a style guru, who wore white fur trimmed velvet for her December wedding. (She also had cream leather hot pants and over the knee pink suede boots that I coveted but that’s another story). Mum and I had a day shopping in London’s West End trawling the department stores of Oxford Street, of which there were many back then, searching out the perfect dress but nothing seamed to fit the bill. So with the wisdom of a twenty three year old, I decided I would sew my own dress, because how tricky could it be.

Wedding dress no.1… I made my cousin’s bridesmaid’s dress too in matching navy fabric

I found a pattern for a simple column dress with thin straps and an elasticated waist which I made in a cream synthetic velveteen… even the thought of the fabric makes me cringe… using Mum’s old Singer sewing machine. It was okay, although nothing special, so as we were getting married at the end of October I decided that some type of jacket was not only necessary but might actually enhance the very plain and simple dress. I found some peachy coloured lace from which I constructed a crude jacket with edges bound with satin ribbon. The week of our wedding I was ironing my outfit and managed to burn a hole in the shoulder of the jacket. There were tears and a tantrum involving the throwing of garments across the room and threats of getting married in my jeans, but eventually I calmed down and made my first invisible mend from a spare scrap of the lace. I wore my dress and that was the end of my dressmaking endeavours for a while, and the end of the dress too.

Newly pregnant with my first son I was horrified by the maternity garments available during the early 1980s, which largely consisted of tent shaped smocks and trousers with huge elasticated panels across the belly so once again I resorted to making my own. I made a pair of baggy dungarees and a loose shirt dress that I wore throughout my pregnancy.

Me in a Clothkits blouse…. although I think there were some awful matching trousers too!

The next fifteen to twenty years didn’t see much dress making aside from the occasional Clothkits creation and mostly my sewing machine was put to use in making pantomime costumes or fancy dress outfits for the children. My youngest son was especially keen on presenting me with endless drawings of his latest superhero invention and expecting me to turn out an outfit by the following morning.

And then twenty years ago, I got married again and of course I decided that once more it would be a good idea to make my own dress, as well as produce four bridesmaid dresses. I’m not entirely sure where these crazy ideas come from, other than thinking maybe I could make a better job of it this time round, but as I was also finishing my City and Guilds diploma in machine embroidery at the time I decorated the bodice and cuffs of my medieval styled silk gown with gold embroidered flowers that had been constructed on dissolvable fabric. It might have been completely crazy, but I did love my dress this time round and the back was a beautiful as the front with its row of tiny pearl buttons and rouleau loops that ended in a cluster of silk roses that I also stitched.

And that has pretty much been my story of dressmaking over the years. Bits and pieces here and there but give me a special occasion and I’m in there with my sewing machine remembering how to make a good dart and set in my sleeves.

Alice in Wonderland Dress

A dress for my fortieth birthday party, an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed dress for my brother’s wedding, a dress for my stepdaughter’s wedding made on the spur of the moment during the week before the big day, and six matching waistcoats for my son’s wedding. All things that only really get worn one or twice. Until that is the Sewing Bee started to inspire me. And now every summer as the Sewing Bee hits our screens I usually make a couple of everyday outfits that get more than just one or two outings. I like Merchant and Mills patterns and have a couple of their Factory Dresses as well as their Camber Sets in both the dress and the T shirt versions, and a couple of years ago I even made a coat. Of course this year is no exception and once again my sewing machine is being put into action making some new garments. But this year I have started to think more carefully about how sustainable my dressmaking has been. It’s obviously not a very good sustainable practice to make one off special occasion dresses that get worn only once or twice, and I also realise that often my dressmaking is driven by my actual enjoyment in making the garments, rather than any need for the end result, which invariably I end up not wearing very often. So this year I’m taking a different approach and if you stick around I’ll come back and tell you all about that next week. Meanwhile I would love to hear about your own sewing adventures.

* A British reality TV show where contestants are given three sewing challenges each week in a limited time, a pattern challenge, a transformation challenge and a made to measure challenge. Each week one contestant is sent home until the ultimate winner is found.