Write,
Macclesfield IS an unlikely place for a fabric shop...but I saw it listed online, so visited it anyway. It's called The Fent Shop, and looks like it's already closed down, from the outside! Inside, it's like an Aladdin's cave, and the staff are very keen.
I've only been there once, but I bought so much because I'd never been there before, and couldn't believe my luck. When I got to the till, I found they don't take credit cards. HUH? So I had to use the last scrapings of my cash and my husband's to pay for what I'd chosen (and that they'd already cut
). We came out with two huge bags of fabric, and about £1.50 in change
I learnt a bit of dressmaking at school (about two years' worth of classes, once a week), and did a bit of clothes-making once I left school, till I was about twenty. Then I lost interest till four years ago, when I got really sick and tires of all the rubbish that's in the shops. All the clothes now seem to be 'upsized', so what used to be a size 10 (size 6 in the US), now would fit a size 14. So, as I'm a 10, I just can't get anything to fit.
I started making things again, and found that I really enjoyed it.
It's not difficult, and there are some really good patterns released each season, just like in the shops, if you want to be 'trendy'. If you want more classic stuff, there are vintage pattern sites for patterns going back to the 1920's, like
www.oldpatterns.com.
www.sewingpatterns.com has the biggest range of current pattern companies' patterns, if you want to browse the whole world!
I think everyone should make their own clothes...women always used to!! It's so much more satisfying, and there's no chance you'll turn up somewhere wearing the same as someone else! I'm sure you can do it, write. You'd love it.
OK, I'll shut up now.
Janet
