I grew up in a small country town on the North Island of New Zealand with a population of only 2500 people. This alone gave me all the motivation needed to learn to sew as I was born with a love of clothing and unique fashion and we didn’t have much choice with only two clothing shops in our area; one was farm and rural clothing and the other expensive.
My mother taught me basic sewing skills as a child and then I went onto do 4 years sewing in home economics at primary/intermediate and high school and I left at 15 to work for a further 15 years in the textile and clothing industry both in Australia and New Zealand.
As well as travelling the world and travelling Australia and New Zealand wide I have relied on my sewing skills greatly as throughout my life I have done many markets selling my one-of-a-kind fashions to fund my love of travel.
I have now settled on the North West Coast of Tasmania and I am living my dream with my partner as we slowly develop our self-sufficient lifestyle on a bush block beside the river living on stand alone solar as our only source of power and of which I use to manufacture all of my creations; thus born my label Grace of Autumn in memory of my mother who taught me to sew as a little inquisitive child.
A description of my work and some previous one-of-a-kind-designs and limited run designs
My designs are created from my love of simplicity and my nostalgic memories of life growing up in the slow lane. I love to carefully select and repurpose vintage fabrics and lace and give them new life using and adapting patterns from the 1950’s through to the 1970’s. Some fabrics do show signs of wear and can be very fragile; therefore I choose only vintage cloth that is not too worn. All Grace of Autumn vintage cloth dresses are one-of-a-kind only.
New fabric dresses are created using high quality cotton’s and cotton sateen’s and are made up in one-of-a-kind style’s and fabric combinations, or in some circumstances if I have enough fabric I may make two of one kind but in different sizes. I do this because I have always loved wearing clothing that is not mass produced and clothing that is unique to my style; therefore I feel if I am like this then so may you be.
My work is constantly evolving as to supply and demand so what you see today is not necessarily what you will see forever
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Sandra,
I loved reading your bio. What fantastic life you’ve had so far with your travelling and love of sewing. I just love your dresses…..very gorgeous indeed!
Like you my mum taught me how to sew which set me on a career for many years in the industry.
Would love to travel to Tassie for a holiday. I’ve been to NZ and loved it and would go again in a heartbeat.
x Ann
Hi Ann thank you for taking the time to read my bio. We are heading back to NZ later in the year so as you can imagine we are really looking forward to it. That should make for another really interesting read. Can’t wait to write that one. Xx
Yay for mother’s who taught us to sew! I love the dress with the red stripes hanging on the line. Also loving your lifestyle choice – go you.