For many, it has been a chance to reconnect with their creative side, one that usually struggles to surface in the melee of normal life. “I fell into styling after university and I found it difficult to find time to make anything or do my own alterations,” Explains stylist and Who What Wear contributor Monikh Dale. “I found a seamstress I trusted so would give her all of my purchases, but this year in lockdown I decided to get back to it. Sometimes I might fall in love with an item, but at 5’1, more often than not, I have to take it up to make it work for my frame. I love being able to create and alter something to fit my body, I find it so rewarding.”
Brands such as The Fold Line, Merchant & Mills and Wool & The Gang are leading the way in modernising the home sewing market by using up-to-date imagery and marketing trend-led sewing patterns that appeal to a younger, more sustainability-minded, audience. With no end in sight for social distancing measures, the fashion industry is under more pressure than ever to reassess its priorities and change its trajectory. Along with smaller, eco-friendly start-ups, sewing brands are offering a slower approach to consumerism, one that, by its very nature, promotes ethical production and supply chain transparency. As a home-sewer, you’re there every step of the way.
“I have always made my own clothes because I could never find exactly what I wanted on the high street. I wanted to make what I wanted to wear, and I hoped other people would want to wear them too”, explains Carolyn Denham, co-founder of contemporary pattern brand Merchant & Mills. “Home sewing has now become a true alternative to the high street, and companies like ours are now big enough to commission and produce more sustainable fabrics, championing the mills on every level and giving the home sewer the opportunity to be on the leading edge of sustainability.”
