Laura Casey

I was 17 when I got my first sewing machine. I went on to study Fine Art at university where I would run up wonky, experimental skirts and embellish my paintings with bits of machine embroidery. It was not until I had children that I started to sew clothes more seriously. I started with summer dresses for my daughters - they are so easy and, let's face it, your kids look lovely in anything (to you at least). I then moved on to clothes for myself. I am no expert seamstress (completely self taught actually), but I have got better over the years. Fewer garments end up in the bin now, and some have even ended up being favourite items in my wardrobe. From here, I started to draft my own dress patterns and I have never looked back.