Why am I taking up this new, intricate and sometimes expensive hobby when I already have enough hobbies to fill a lifetime? There are a few fundamental reasons why sewing has climbed the hobby ranks; the primary one being that I’m nearly 5”11 and clothes are not generally made for women over 5”9.
I have never in my life owned a pair of trousers that fit right. As a teen in the early noughties, I couldn’t understand why everyone else looked so cool in their bootcut jeans and I looked ridiculous. Much later, when I’d learned about standardised sizing, I saw a photo of myself in those unfortunate jeans and realised the problem. Everyone else’s cuffs were dragging on the ground; mine stopped above the ankle. A bootcut jean that didn’t even reach the boot.
My primary driver for learning to make my own clothes is the dream of trousers that fit me properly.
I bought the Tapioca Trousers pattern from Jessilous Patterns, but realised pretty quickly that the most complicated step was the first one: adding a zip. If I attempted this in one of Make Town’s late-night sewing sessions, I’d need Brooke to hold my hand the entire time, which wouldn’t be fair to the other people in the class. You don’t need to be an expert sewer to join these sessions, but you do at least need to have the basics down so that Brooke can assist everyone. I needed something easier for my first independent project. Enter: the Skyline Dress.
This is a much more beginner-friendly pattern without the zippers, darts and pleats of the Tapioca Trousers; much better for someone still finding their way around a machine. As a maxi dress, it’s also something that would traditionally be too short on me, so I can still practise making adaptations for my height, and add new skills to my repertoire, like gathering and making bias tape.
I have no idea how to buy fabric, but I was promised the people at Ray Stitch are always happy to help, so I walked 40 minutes there, immediately got overwhelmed and left without speaking to anyone. Instead, I wandered through the vintage shops nearby, wondering why sewing intimidates me so much. Perhaps it’s those barriers to entry that I mentioned in the first article.
Learning a new skill means learning the language that goes with it. The instructions for the Skyline Dress suggest a ‘woven cotton with a moderate drape between 3-7 oz per square yard’. It feels too vulnerable to approach someone who speaks that language expertly when the only word I understand in the sentence is ‘cotton’. I decided this would be easier to do online, where I have the space to Google what each thing means. So I took to Fabric Godmother and ended up buying 3.5 metres of red gingham cotton poplin. When it arrived, it was a little stiffer than something I would have chosen in a shop, but I’ll look like a picnic blanket wearing it, which is what I want.
I was dismayed to find, on showing up my first late-night sewing session, that I’d have to iron all 3.5 metres of my fabric before I could do anything with it. I’m too lazy to be a perfectionist and would normally take a rip, shit and bust approach, skipping most of the ironing stages, but Brooke makes me do things properly – which I admit is a good thing as I have many knitted jumpers with weird necklines because I got impatient and wanted to be done.
Cutting out the pattern pieces takes nearly the entire session. It’s amazing how long cutting takes, even though these pattern pieces are fairly straightforward. I also forgot to cut a single notch, leading to much confusion later in this journey. After the first three-hour session, I have most of my cut pieces, I’ve ironed some bias tape together, and that’s about it. I head home, realising I might not have a new dress as soon as I thought.
The following Thursday, it was finally machine time, and I once again had to relearn how to fish for the thread – something I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to do without assistance – then pinned my handmade bias tape to the torso section. This pattern rewards you by immediately looking like an item of clothing, meaning you get the ‘I made something’ thrills from very early in the project. After two sessions, all I have is a torso, but it looks enough like a thing that I can send pictures to my mum and have her tell me I’m a genius. I’m also training my boyfriend to act excited about each new stage. After a few false starts, he now knows that he’s supposed to say ‘Wowwww’, maybe point to a particular seam and say ‘Look what you’ve done here.’ A small faint wouldn’t go amiss, either. He’s getting there.
This is a billowy-as dress so over the next few sessions I gather gather gather. Brooke gives me lots of good tips, like adding basting stitches in different colours so you can tell them apart. I immediately forget to do this and spend most of my time trying to find the right thread to pull. It’s often a full house in these sessions and while we work, we talk about who’s seen Paul Mescal in real life, what we’ve been watching on telly, and about getting into fights at concerts, and I’m always a bit devastated when 9 pm rolls around and it’s time to go home. I lay out what I’ve done on my kitchen table, hoping maybe I can find one more little thing to work on at home where the only equipment I own is some pins and an unpicker, but there’s rarely anything, and I have to wait a whole torturous week until the next Thursday session.
I’ve realised that sewing stretches out the dopamine I get from buying a new thing. If I bought this dress, I’d have had my happiness shot for maybe an hour. By making it, the dopamine lasted weeks. I get a new hit of it each time I arrange a nice gather, create my own bias tape, and start to see a new part of the shape coming together.
Near the end, I make a few adjustments to the sleeves because the pattern has a bow on one side and wearing a dress that’s held up by a bow is way too much admin. I put the top half over my shoulders and cut the third tier to the ideal height (I still wish I’d made it a bit longer), and after a quick hem job, it’s done! With the leftover fabric, I make a matching scrunchie for a full ensemble.
I now have a breezy maxi dress in the depths of winter, but I find ways to adapt it so I can wear it through all seasons. If I pair it with a white shirt, a thick blue jumper, and my Blundstones, I look like Jo March, which is all I’ve ever wanted.
The more I learn about sewing, the more outrageous it seems that the labour of sewists is underpaid and exploited. Sewing is complex, skilled work. I’ve learned exactly how long it takes to cut fabric, line it all up, finish raw edges, unpick my mistakes and start again. This dress isn’t even a difficult project, and it’s taken me four late-night sessions, each three hours long. This dress is now the most expensive item of clothing I own by quite a bit.
The terms ‘worth’ and ‘value’ are used interchangeably, but they actually mean slightly different things. Worth is inherent; value is what someone will pay. In an ideal world, value would flow from worth. You can value a Picasso at £2 and sell it, but the cost doesn’t change the inherent worth of the artwork. If, however, Picassos were commonly being sold in Primark for £2, we would come to believe that was what they were worth.
Clothes, through exploitative processes, have cheapened in value, which has caused us to mistake their worth. We’ve been tricked into thinking a pair of trousers is only worth 20 quid. Because we’re dissociated from the process of making clothes. We don’t see the work required to grow flax and pound it into linen, or the expertise necessary to sew that linen into a garment. If we did, we would understand that the worth comes from its craftsmanship, its quality and its utility.
Learning to sew doesn’t save you money. It isn’t cheaper than shopping, and it shouldn’t be. You can’t make anything for less than Primark prices because Primark prices are corrupt. When you make your own clothes, you pay their true worth. The worth of this dress is not only the cost of the fabric and the late night sessions, but the things that can’t be priced: the advice I get from Brooke’s years of expertise, the work of the pattern maker, my own time, and one day, the physio bills from hunching over a machine. It may be the most expensive item in my wardrobe, but it should be.
A week after finishing, a friend came over for drinks. When I swung the door open she said, ‘Nice dress’, and I finally got to say those wonderful words: “Thanks, I made it.”
Alie Benge
I met Alie in London, through friends of friends because all expats eventually find each other and realise they are indeed all connected and get along like a house on fire!
Alie is a published author and I highly recommend you grab a copy of her book Ithaca and also Otherhood, which Ali co-edited and is a must read!
You can find more of her writing at Burnt Toast.
Follow her journal about learning to sew at Make Town. She is gonna be dropping these entires like hot potatoes x
photo credit Ebony Lamb
Feel the love
Zoe BWe booked four hours and it flew by.
Amazing experience doing the beginners weaving workshop on the floor looms. Such a beautiful studio, Brooke was amazing and we had so much fun. Highly recommend to budding creatives and people who never considered doing this - a wonderful afternoon.
Yasmin BocarisaThe Learn to Sew course was such a fantastic experience for me over the past three weeks. Ali was SUCH a great teacher - calm, encouraging, patient and explained everything brilliantly - and the whole thing has made me really love sewing and want to do more. I would definitely recommend MakeTown and will be back again soon!
Charlotte HeathcoteI love Make Town so much - I've learned to sew, I've learned to weave on a floor loom, and I've met so many friendly people, all in an incredibly well-organised environment, with brilliant Brooke on hand to answer every question and solve every problem with good humour and tireless energy. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Lucy CThis is the best making and crafting place I’ve ever been to. Brooke will teach you a thing or two, the other punters are really great and friendly and talented, and your soul will be nourished beyond your woolly dreams. DO IT x
Georgia WatkinsStill beaming from the loveliest day in this studio which I am certainly going to be coming back to - thank you Brooke x
Megan CunninghamHow fun is Make Town? That’s rhetorical, because the answer is obviously “so much”.
Such an incredible gem for crafters of all kinds and experience levels. Brooke, Ali and the team are endlessly patient - fantastic at explaining (and re explaining when your face can’t hide the confusion - trust the process). You’ll want out of the place absolutely chuffed with your new scarf/jacket/dress/jumper/bag/apron/wall hanging and scheming up your next project. I’d give the place 10 ⭐️ if I could
Jules TierneyCrafting with Brooke was brilliant. I was a complete beginner and felt totally safe and unjudged in her pro hands! Biggest thing she taught me is that any and all (crafting) mistakes can be mended or made into something more beautiful. Her patience, kindness and craic seeps into the work, I loved every minute!
B_SuperorganismWhen I approached Brooke to sew a stage outfit for me, I was confident she would deliver a perfect product by the looming deadline. She was great at following my brief while also advising me on what design and fabric would work best. The result exceeded expectations; I have had endless compliments on my silver sequinned cape!
Lewis of ArabiaBrooke is one of those magical people you meet for a second and feel you've known all your life. She's so insanely talented and shares it with such grace you also feel like you can accomplish such technical skills with her around. As a teacher she is knowledgeable, interesting and engaging and most importantly FUN!
Therese LaneHad a whale of a time!! We loved every minute of our weaving workshop at Make Town. Brooke was super friendly, approachable and made the whole experience easy and lots of fun.
Sara LEveryone should try floor loom weaving as it's absolutely brilliant and not too tricky. I've been to these sessions a number of times now and I love them.
Claudia ZanonThis is great for beginners to learn weaving basics but very satisfying as I managed to experiment with colours and have a little project completed, I highly recommend it!
Jo HIllI absolutely LOVED my freestyle loom weaving session at Make Town. A perfect combination of being helped to learn and being left to experiment! It was my first try and in just one session I came home with a beautiful tapestry that I felt so proud of! It was great fun, and is a beautiful and relaxed space to be creative in.
Therese LaneHad a whale of a time!! We loved every minute of our weaving workshop at Make Town. Brooke was super friendly, approachable and made the whole experience easy and lots of fun. We learnt to weave on the floor looms, and were surprised by how big our finished pieces were at the end of the 2 hours.
Chloe S-LHad a fantastic time at Make Town for Knitters Anonymous!! I’ve been looking for a new knitting group ever since I graduated and had to leave my university knitting society 5 years ago, and this one was amazing. Really cool to have a complete mix of abilities in the room, and it’s reassuring to know I could come back with any knitting quandary and have help!
Tyler RoseMake Town, Make Town, MAKE TOWN!
What an incredible place to learn so many craft bits, I have been there a couple of times now and honestly learnt so much.Brooke is an absolute delight and really takes the time to get around to everyone and show/explain how everything works. It also is super colourful (which I love)! Anyways, go check it out, you won't regret it!
Maddy EmbletonI recently took a weaving class with Brooke - cannot think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Brooke's a great instructor, very calm, relaxed and knowledgeable. I would happily spend many more Sundays depleting her instagram-worthy yarn wall! Also weaving is easier than it looks and very therapeutic and absorbing. Do it!
Emily ZachryWhat a gem of a place! Beautiful, bright, and easy to book online. They are so helpful and encourage you to be creative in your work. We went as newbies and left feeling more confident. I would recommend this place to anyone who is looking for some creative fun or wants to build on their skills.
RochelleMake Town is fantastic. I'm in London for a few months and needed to use a sewing machine to finish a project, and it was exactly what I needed. The atmosphere was informal, relaxed and friendly, and Brooke let me get on with things but was available if I had questions. I highly recommend checking it out if you have any interest in fabric crafts: I'm going back for a mending evening!
Maia KennedyI love this shop and the knitting course I did at Make Town was fabulous. Brooke brings so much joy to knitting and was on hand with loads of tips and tricks about knitting, craft and lots more! Highly recommend a visit to Make Town!
I did a second course at Make town, tufting! As expected, it was amazing!! Well organised, great teaching, great facilities. Can't recommend enough!
Filipa do CarmoWould highly recommend the beginners workshop if you want to have a go at machine sewing. I ended up with a super cool bag, no fear of sewing machines and a burning desire to start making my own clothes. Brooke totally rocks and is awesome at empowering people!
Dylan PriceI had a fantastic time at the beginners learn to sew workshop recently, Brooke is the most wonderful teacher who really knows her stuff, the techniques were demonstrated clearly from start to finish and the logic behind them thoroughly explained. I arrived unsure if I could sew a straight line and left with a project bag that I love!. I feel confident with the basics of sewing now and I'm inspired to see what else I can create. I can't recommend Make Town enough. Thank you Brooke!.
Susan RBrooke took us from ground zero to sewing a useful and tasteful bag. She’s kind, quirky and patient. She has so much creative experience. Next she is guiding me on a recycled jumper project.
Joshua HillDid both the beginner knitting and sew workshops. Loved them both and even as a very heavy handed clueless starter it was easily manageable! The time flew by on both occasions.
The groups I worked with were all very sweet and we got plenty of individual attention.
Brooke is an excellent teacher - as well just being an all round awesome human being. 10/10 would recommend and I definitely hope to attend some more classes in the future.
Giana SoiniLoved this place! Highly recommend! The owner Brooke really takes care of you, and takes the time for you to learn everything in the proper way, she is so lovely 😊
Sarah CotterillThe weaving class was the best thing we did during a weekend in London with my daughter. The tuition by Becky was excellent and the place is very comfortable. Within minutes we were able to get the hang of it and we each brought home a piece of weaving.
Tanya BorisovaFantastic place to learn sewing! I went to a beginner course with no prior experience and made this cute bag! Brooke is such a lovely person, was always there to help, explain and fix any problems. And the venue itself just invites you to think creatively. Will definitely be back :)
Elodie ToulemonI went to a Craft Cult event, it was super friendly and nice, great to meet and discuss with other crafty people surrounded by beautiful thread and textile. Very inspiring!
I've already booked another workshop and can't wait for next month Craft Cult
Christopher KramaricI feel so lucky to have visited Make Town. It was the highlight of my trip to London for sure. Brooke, the shop owner, was incredibly welcoming and helpful. She handled all of the loom setup for me and gave me free range to select materials from more yarns and felts than you can imagine.
Jonathan DayI went to Make Town to do the Beginners Sewing class and I couldn't have had a better time. It was great fun and I feel totally empowered to do more sewing. Can't recommend Brooke and this gem of crafty goodness more, whether you're starting out or old hat there's something to be found and take part in at Make Town.
Charlotte HeathcoteCan't recommend this highly enough - I went to Weave Club where I could take my pick from a wall of colourful yarns to make a hanging, with Brooke on hand to share expert advice and offer new tips and techniques. The atmosphere is relaxed and the people friendly. I will definitely be back.
Rebecca BlainI went for the absolute beginners knitting workshop. Brooke couldn't be more helpful and demonstrated things in a super straightforward way.
Thoroughly enjoyed the class, met some great people and I will be going back.
Recommend Make Town and Brooke's workshops to anyone who's looking to learn how to kraft, wants to improve their kraft or just wants to hang out with some like minded folk!
Nell CameronThe BEST! Brooke is such an amazing teacher: knowledgeable, calm, patient, super-super-super skilled and generally brilliant. From never having been in the same room as a sewing machine to making trousers and dungarees, couldn’t have done it without Brooke (and wouldn’t have wanted to!). Can’t recommend Make Town strongly enough.
Oh! And you’ll laugh. So much!
Lynda MacInnesSuch a fab space to get crafty in. The weaving was great ... Brooke was a great teacher - really clear and encouraging but gives you space to have a play too. 100% recommend.
Alie BengeThe best sewing class in London! I learnt how to use a sewing machine and patterns at Make Town. You can hire a cutting table and everything else you need to start making your own clothes.