Silk & Stitches

Sitting somewhere calm, stitching, thinking things through and looping all those thoughts together - that's what I like to do. It stills the body and mind, and settles my soul too.

Thousands and thousands of stitches do turn into things, so I decided to start collecting evidence of those things here and share what I make and learn. What began as a calming hobby has now evolved into a more serious endeavour to make more of my own clothes, and I'm falling more in love with the slowest of fashion, less attracted to quick fixes, and happy to spend long hours discovering what I can about constructing garments I love to wear.

There's something more too, about becoming more myself – more BETTY.

Making my own clothes takes a long time, and is an act of devotion. I would only do this if it was helping me. I think it is, and when I struggle to find what I want in the high street, or feel good about how it got there, then sitting at my machine fills me with a sense that every stitch I wrap myself in will be sewn with care and love. I like that. This is a sort of therapy – doing something ultimately kind for myself as a way of healing from wounds and bruises that life has been leaving me with lately.

I'm learning how to make from patterns having only made from my imagination until now. Sometimes freeform stitching is the only way, and what's the worst that could happen? You have to unravel and try a different approach. So it is with life, and that's another reason I like it.