Lynne McCrossan: To be honest, a stitch in time will save you nothing

By Lynne McCrossan
Published on 12/11/2012 12:00

THE dress making challenge is in its official wind down.

Since the summer I’ve taken tiny sewing steps and gradually built the courage to create clothes I’m proud to put on.

It’s been a struggle as sewing machines are only half of the hard graft that goes into making something.

Whipping up a frock is misleading as it takes a lot longer than implied when you throw pattern cutting and measuring in the mix.

I set out to see if in the current climate it was cheaper to create your own clothes.

The honest truth is absolutely not. Fabric is expensive to buy if you are an individual. The more you buy the cheaper it is, but the average person doesn’t need industrial quantities to make it cheap as chips.

Add that to the cost of the machine plus threads to match fabric and you’re creeping into the higher end of high street dress prices before you’ve sewn a stitch.

Having said that, I’ve loved every second of it. Being in control of my own wardrobe has been incredibly liberating. I have friends clambering after items I’ve run up despite my poor seamstress skills. It’s led me to look at designers in a completely different light.

How many household names hanging in your walk-in do you think know how to thread a machine?

I’d say 50/50 at the most, and you’re damn sure you won’t find them furiously finishing a frock behind their very own machine. And I know why? Because it is hard work.

FASHION INSIDER

Godiva in the Grassmarket has just opened its online store. The boutique famed for its unique fashion apparel from new designers to vintage treasures is no longer Edinburgh’s best kept secret as they’ve gone global due to such

high demand.

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