Let’s start from the beginning — how did you actually get into sewing? Was it something you grew up with, or did it come into your life later and completely take over?
I was always interested in Arts from a very young age painting, collaging, sewing, if there was a craft to do I’d be there. As my interest in fashion grew I was probably about 10 when I first cut up one of my mum's old dresses and hand-sewed it into two haphazard tops for me and my 5-year-old sister. When I was 13 I got my first sewing machine and feeling bad about cutting up that dress I sewed it back together. After that, I would alter and make garments to my heart's content, everything was an experiment but I guess that was the best part.
Today your work feels like a mix of art, experimentation, and personal storytelling. What does sewing feel like for you right now — is it still a hobby, or has it become your full creative language?
I think I have always felt that designing and sewing garments spoke to me, it is my true outlet to express my creativity and really escape into it. I love all types of handcraft and have dabbled in many things, but I always found myself drawn to a sewing machine more than anything else.
Do you remember the first piece you made where you thought, “Okay, this is actually it, this is my style”? What was it, and what made it feel different?
I feel as though I am always evolving as a designer. I have come close to feeling like I have found my style with the creation of my classic shirt pattern, a wardrobe staple elevated with vintage textiles. It felt like me and everything I loved about fashion and textiles and the fact that it connected with other people too, is what made it feel like such a special and defining piece.
Are you self-taught, or did you have someone guiding you in the beginning? What was the most frustrating or difficult part when you were still figuring things out?
I studied Textile design through all of school and university, that definitely defined my design style and my approach to my work. I have a deep appreciation for the fundamental fibres and techniques that form textiles.
In terms of garment making I am self-taught. When I started to take fashion more seriously, I learned from online platforms with fellow sewists sharing insights into the garment-making process.
The most difficult part was knowing there was a world of knowledge that I didn’t have. It takes resources to learn and you can’t buy experience, I struggled most with having ideas and not being able to translate them into a garment.
Your content also shows your process, not just finished pieces. What does your workspace look like these days — is it chaotic, structured, constantly changing?
My workspace is constantly changing, one big clean up to a sparkling studio is just the thing to spark a spiral of creative ideas that leaves it a chaotic mess of experiments.
When you’re actually making something, what pulls you the most?
What pulls me the most is the process of building something from the ground up. Sustainability and wellbeing is a big part of my design process and I love working with the fundamental materials first, exploring different fibres and seeing how they translate into a garment.
Where do your ideas usually come from?
My ideas usually come from everyday life and everyday people, a spark of inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. I love to problem solve, so my best creations usually come from failures.
Before using professional dress forms, it was much harder to see how fabric would drape on not just a body but different body types. Those limitations stalled my creative process in some way and ideas that could have been successful were never fully discovered.
How did you come across Royal Dress forms, and what made you want to try them in your own work?
I had known of Royal Dress forms Monica long before I came to own a soft dress form myself, they always stuck in my mind. The craftsmanship and detail of the forms that I had seen nowhere else. The ability to better visualise silhouette and drape on a body whilst also aiding in pattern development made me very intrigued to try one.
Once you started using a soft dress form, did it change anything in your process?
For me, a soft dress form Monica was an unknowingly vital tool in my creative process that bridged the gap between a flat paper pattern and a wearable garment. As a self-taught garment maker, the accurate proportions and style lines enhanced my ability to create more complex patterns and gave me space to be more creative without my previous limitations.
If you could go back and give one piece of advice to the younger version of yourself who was just beginning to sew, what would you say?
Your failures are your successes too, experiment and make mistakes. There is always more knowledge to learn so don’t wait until you know “everything”. If you don’t know something, make it up… you never know what you might discover.
Thank you Rosina Hoyland !
