

The title should say
"All about me". As it's just me. There is no huge warehouse or
factory where the gowns and costumes are produced. It's all done by
me, by hand, from my home.
I was originally from Poole, in
Dorset (England), where I spent my child hood and late teenage years.
Now, however, I have more of a Nomadic lifestyle due to being married
to a service man. On average we move every two years (have a look at
the contact us section on the FAQ's for my
current location).
While living in Poole, I was
lucky enough to attend Talbot Heath Independent Girls School getting
an excellent education, which I left when I was 16. From then I
attended The Arts Institute (Bournemouth), where I studied art and and
design.
When my daughter was born, and I
ventured into the real world, I originally had a job with Ceuta
Healthcare in IT, which was miles away from what I truly wanted to do.
At that time I wanted to be a Fantasy Illustrator. I spent a year or
so working for Ceuta, then moved on to join the RAF. I worked in Admin
for the RAF for 3 years, after which I married my husband, left the
RAF and became a house wife.
I had spent far too long away
from my passion for art and design, and having the extra time as a
house wife enabled me to start exploring my creative side again.
I spent another two years, just
trying to find what it was I was good at. I was a bit of an
all-rounder at college, I wasn't outstanding or really bad at
anything, which meant finding something that I was really good was
actually quite hard. However, my mum gave me her old Singer sewing
machine because she was brought a new one, and all of a sudden it all
clicked into place.
The Singer wasn't great, it was
about 25 years old, and had never been serviced! Which meant it was
very hard to work with. However, after a tour of Iraq, my wonderful
husband purchased me a brand new machine, and amazing things started to
happen. Originally I made bags, and gave them to family and friends.
But I wanted to do more, and as time went on, I learnt more, read
books, attended courses. Until I was comfortable enough to start
making my own patterns and clothing.
I had always intended to go and
get another "real" job, but every time I looked into it, it just
simply wasn't feasible, with the cost of childcare, running a car etc.
Plus, being moved by the RAF every two years makes it very hard to
hold down a decent job. I decided I wanted to work for myself, and
selling my wears seemed to be the way to do it. I needed to be able to
stop trading, pack up my things, move house and be able to start
trading again straight away; sewing fitted into this very well. It
also meant I was able to be there for my daughter during the day,
luckily I just have to do the school run now as she's older, so I get
most of the day to myself to work.
My first port of call for
selling my wears was ebay. And ebay has been so good that I continue
to trade there today, although the gowns and dresses I sell today are
a far cry from the original gown I sold for just £30. I started making
Medieval style costumes for women and selling them on ebay, they were
quite basic, but after every dress I had made I learnt new techniques
and methods to improve and develop my designs. Now I am able to offer
a variety of dresses, gowns and costumes, as well as developing larger
ranges.
As well as making to sell, I
also offer a custom gown and dressmaking service. Where I will work
with you to make your gown fit you perfectly. For many of my "made to
sell" gowns, I try and make them (where possible) multiple sized, by
lacing, modesty panels etc. As a dressmaking service I will also make
dresses and gowns to a commercial pattern, ideal for those who are
attending a prom or ball and wish to have a properly made and fitting
gown, with out the cost of a custom made one off gown.
Please have a look around the
rest of the site, if you have any questions that are not covered here,
please send me a message and I'll be pleased to help.
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