12 Questions: #theseamstresstag

I’ve recently discovered the Seamstress Tag, (although it’s not at all new so I’m well late to join the party!). The idea is to answer 12 questions about your experiences as a seamstress, so I thought it would be a great little get to know ya! …

1) Who are you?

I’m Tilly. I’m a UK based sewer and my company is Tilly Von Tiki. We do bespoke costumes for solo dance, burlesque, basically anything wild and wonderful that people come to us with, we’ll try to help them. We also do bridal, and I’m a pattern cutter. In a nutshell, anything bespoke, a bit unusual, or something that has to fit really really well, that’s what we specialise in.

2) When & why did you start sewing?

When I was at school my mum used to work for a designer called David Foyle. If I was ever ill I’d always go along and help out with bits and pieces in the studio. This was when patchwork was getting really big and David used to have a stall on Camden market. But my manufacturing experience and driving passion is in stretch fabric, which started from the age of 16 when I started to make dance wear.

3. What is your favourite or proudest make?

That’s a really tricky one because I do such a varied range of projects. I think if it was my favourite thing for myself it would be when I’ve taken old 50s patterns and regraded them to fit today’s sizing. in particular my 50s sarong dress which is such a classic. That came from an original pattern and I made some adaptations to make it fit a little bit better. For customers, I’ve made some beautiful dance costumes so it would be really hard to pick just one, but in general, the more elaborate dance costumes are my favourite types of makes for clients.

4. What is your most disastrous make?

I never give up on anything so that’s really hard to say. Although I’ve had some makes that have been a real struggle, I wouldn’t say the outcome has been disastrous as I’ve always worked it out in the end. But thinking back to where I started sewing, making hundreds and hundreds of leotards would not be my most disastrous make, but the one that doesn’t conjure up the best memories of sewing for me! Basically, anything too repetitive isn’t something I really enjoy.

5. Where is your favourite place to go fabric shopping?

I like to shop for fabrics online, I love Alexander Henry fabrics or Michael Miller fabrics and if I want a print or something a bit different or unusual I go to those. However, if i’m shopping locally in Essex there’s Chatham Glynn in Essex which are a wholesale company - I use wholesale companies a lot because of the nature of the business. There’s also belle fabrics down the road in Leigh-on-sea. Oh, and Etsy’s a great place to shop if you want something really original or vintage inspired.

6. What is your most used pattern?

I would have to say that because of coming from a dance costume background, and because I’m a pattern cutter and like to make them my own, it would probably be our basic block or leotard for women’s wear. That’s what we start from, then start to create different cuts, styles and add ons from there. My blocks are my babies!

7. Your most dreaded sewing task is…

Any thing repetitive! I can’t say I really dislike a specific task, like I know a lot of people don’t like putting zips in for example. I don’t mind that, I don’t mind buttonholing, working with tricky fabric, but anything really repetitive where I’m going to be doing the same thing over and over is something I really don’t look forward to.

8. And your favourite sewing task?

Making things fit! Which is where the bridal alterations came in. It was by accident really that I made my first ‘Rock the frock’ bridal collection; they didn’t have an in-house seamstress so I started doing their bridal alterations. Because of the pattern cutting side of my career and because I’m a bit geeky about that part of the process and getting things to fit really well, I took on their bridal alterations and discovered a love for bridal!

For me it’s definitely that bit where you get to make something perfect for it’s wearer - whether it’s bridal, or someone wanting something altered, or starting completely from scratch. We recently did the most beautiful burlesque costume that obviously had to fit perfectly. That made me very happy!

9. What is your favourite ‘sewing entertainment’?

This might be tragic but I don’t undertake in any sewing entertainment! I love visiting exhibitions like Dior or Mary Quant for inspiration but I sew all day long, so I don’t partake in any extra sewing inspired entertainment!

10. Printed or PDF pattern?

I’ve bought one PDF pattern. Once you’ve got your head around putting the pieces together, it’s really fabulous for convenience. You want to make something and it’s there immediately. So PDF patterns are great, but it’s a bit like having a book and a kindle. It’s nice to have that pattern sitting there in the packet. I don’t think you can beat having the real thing - having it all together in the envelope. I’ve got boxes of patterns and I don’t think I’d ever stop using them.

11. What sewing machine do you use?

I use a lot of industrial machinery. Brother mainly. I use a brother overlocker religiously, for my detail stitch when I do bridal. As long as you get them serviced and have them checked over before hand, there are loads of machines which you can get that are really old but they’re solid as a rock and sometimes they can be the best ones.

For domestic sewing machines I use Janome, but I’ve also used Brother machines when I was doing classes and they were great.

Many machines have many purposes for me! If you’re looking to buy a domestic machine there are places that you can go in and try them before you buy, and you can’t go wrong with just checking the reviews first. If you do just want to walk into Argos or a sewing machine shop and pick one off the shelf then Janome or Brother would be my recommendation, I’ve never had any problems with them.

12. Do you have any other hobbies?

I do! I sew a lot and I work a lot, I have two children so there’s not an awful lot of time for hobbies, but I do Aerial Hoop. Obviously because of my background, I love the costumes that come with hoop; the circus acrobats. So that’s probably where that came in; there’s a tie-in there! If I’m sewing for myself I find that really relaxing, and geeking out pattern cutting.

I hope that’s given you a little insight into the world of Tilly Von Tiki, and thanks so much for taking the time to read.