Why I decided to upload my patterns

Dear Folks,

It gives me so much pleasure to see the shapes I have defined blossom into so many colours and variations.

This could never happen if I had held onto them in my shop.

No shop is big enough to have every size , every colour , every length … ready to wear.

So many of us just want what we want and are willing to make it happen.

I feel such a kinship with people who make things. It is hands on and engaged rather than cold, judgemental and distant like the “ Fashion“ some people worship.

There is a huge opportunity to start “bottom-up trends“. To create what is relevant to our life styles and priorities rather than being the grateful recipients of couture-conceived theatre, which only exists to sell perfume.

Sharing my designs gives me the wonderful feeling of being part of something bigger.

Some clothes i just can't accept

So, I became a designer because I could never just accept things as they were.

Apparently as a very small child I would fight against anything I didn't want to wear.

I didn't always win, but that is another story.

My cousin told me that as a toddler , I wouldn't put my clothes on after a bath until I had my shoes on. That in ( an Australian ) Winter!

My Darling mother sewed me pretty smocked dresses with matching bloomers. The dress had raglan sleeves and elastic around the top edge. I found it too restricting and wore it with one arm in the dress and the other outside holding the neck edge open. The bloomers were a success and I decided to wear them with everything. They were navy with little violets on them and with white lace around the legs.

A bit later I went to sunday school in beautiful smocked dresses. I clearly remember Palm Sunday. My white lace tights kept falling down and no amount to hitching would hold them up. They would slip down until the crotch was between my knees, I would hoist them up repeatedly in frustration - I still hate tights.

That Palm Sunday must have been a bit rough because my long suffering mother asked me why I was covered in grass stains.

I don't hate white - It is wonderful. It just doesn't fit into my lifestyle. If I were to wear a white top, spaghetti sauce would come from nowhere and land on my front. I have never owned white trousers, for obvious reasons.

Play clothes were introduced. I could do what I wanted in my play clothes. But this is another story, because this is about what I don't like.

Nice clothes were static. Nothing fun ever happened when I had to look nice.

I still have an aversion to formality. Dry clean only! Sleeves you can´t move in and pockets you can´t use ..

Scroll forward 15 years or so. It is the early 80's. Tight skirts were in fashion- pencil skirts. I destroyed every one I had by... walking. The split is the back always ripped- even the ones that were reinforced. If I think about it the reason is clear. Our legs are connected to our hips, they radiate from our pelvis like Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian man. Even if we were able to control ourselves to walk from the knees down, our knees bend backwards. In a pencil skirt it is more effective to walk backwards than to shuffle forwards. Pencil skirts only come into consideration if they are VERY stretchy or wrapped.

photo. Andrew Campbell ? 1987 -88?