About

My name is Jennifer Denton and I live in Brampton, near Huntingdon with my husband Martin and son Oscar.  My day job is working for my dad in information and project management in the Higher Education sector, but away from that I sew, sew, maybe knit a little bit, then sew a bit more.

My mum taught me to sew when I was little and I made a couple of waistcoats and a skirt or two and a doll.  I liked it, but didn't really see the potential especially as at that time I had absolutely no interest in what I wore as long as I didn't get mocked at school.  But when I said I was getting married Mum mentioned that if I didn't want to do it, she could make my wedding dress.  I thought "that sounds cool" and decided to do it myself.

It had a corset.  The first corset I had ever made.  As the first thing I'd sewn in about 10 years.....

Stress aside, it turned out well and got me totally into the groove of sewing.  And the more I sewed the more I learned and wanted to learn and started reading and visiting the V&A and thinking about what I was wearing......until suddenly I realised I was completely devoted to fashion and also realised how crap modern clothing is.  Nothing fits and it's terrible quality.  Then I read Overdressed by Elizabeth L. Cline as part of the Colette Book Club.  I had already pretty much decided by then that I wasn't going to buy new clothes anymore but that sealed it:

My plan is to not buy any brand new clothes ever again.

This doesn't include secondhand and vintage clothes, because getting more wears out of something is good and frankly sometimes you just want to buy a basic t-shirt rather than make it. My exceptions to buying brand new are: tights (I can't be doing with making my own tights), speciality/techncial clothing and swimwear (temporarily until I can have a go at working out the ins and outs).

I'm also not extending this to the rest of the family.  I do not have so much time I can keep up with a 2 year old's clothing requirements and, while I'm happy to make things for M, he's in charge of his own wardrobe.

But everything else is up for grabs!  Underwear! Coats! Fancy smancy suits!  I'm going to make it all!