Sew Inspirational

Who joins a Guild in the 21st Century???

Personal Profile - Gill Wright

“A very good friend introduced me to the Western Suburbs Group of the ASG in Western Australia and it was arguably the most influential occasion of my sewing life.”

I was born in Yorkshire in England. When I was two years old my family migrated to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where I spent twenty-three fabulous years growing up within a wonderful loving family. I moved to Australia with my brand new husband, Simon, of a few months and five months pregnant with my first child – a huge upheaval but one I have never regretted. I have become a very proud Australian citizen. The experience of emigrating as such a newly married couple and all the changes we had to endure meant my husband and I became very good friends and have remained that way since. Our son was born in Bunbury and three years later our daughter was born in Perth. Both are happily married and live nearby and all five grandchildren are a huge part of our lives and we enjoy every moment spent with them.

Most women claim to have started sewing because of their mothers. I started in spite of mine. She only sewed if it was to do repairs and we always teased her that she couldn’t sew a button on straight (but she was a great baker!). Her two younger sisters were professional seamstresses in England but I didn’t have much to do with them until I was 21 and then only briefly, so perhaps sewing is in the family genes. My father had the most influence on me. He was a wonderful tradesman and a perfectionist, a trait I have picked up, and his favorite expression was “if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well”. I often hear his voice in my head if I try to rush my sewing. My Mom bought a hand operated Singer sewing machine when I was very young and justified the purchase to my Dad by telling him it was for “turning sheets”. It didn’t get very much use until I discovered it one school holidays, when I was thirteen, and that is where my sewing life began. Apart from a few sewing lessons at school which, from memory consisted of a gingham apron with cross stitch embroidery and a dress with a gathered skirt, I am almost entirely self taught, most of my lessons evolving from the mistakes I made! My husband and I had very little money when we emigrated, but I did “earn” $90 from the government when my son was born, this went towards a new sewing machine with a foot pedal – amazing progress. I made all of my childrens’ clothes, sometimes from fabric purchased, but often from scraps. I even cut down some of my husbands’ old shirts for my son, but my children were always well dressed. I have only ever sewn for myself and family and my biggest challenge was making my nieces wedding dress, two bridesmaid dresses and the flowergirl dress for my daughter. Thankfully they turned out well.

Until I joined the Australian Sewing Guild, about four and a half years ago, my hobby was a fairly lonely one. I almost exclusively did dressmaking, but also attempted embroidery and patchwork. I have always knitted, I taught myself to crochet and attempted other crafts (even wood-work) but they are too numerous to mention. I love to do tailoring most of all because that is the style of clothing I like to wear. I probably hold some sort of record for the most number of trousers in a wardrobe. If I try to sew something different or new and it fails, I quickly make myself a pair of trousers or a shirt to get my confidence back.

A very good friend introduced me to the Western Suburbs Group of the ASG in Western Australia and it was arguably the most influential occasion of my sewing life. I was suddenly making friends with people I could talk to, show my work to and discuss new projects or mistakes without boring the pants off them. I began doing workshops, going to weekend retreats and even a Convention in Sydney. All this with like-minded women, women who got excited at the sight of a fabric shop, women who are happy to discuss sewing machines, types of zips, quality of sewing patterns etc. Then, if that wasn’t enough, another ASG member offered to sell me one of her brand new Bernina sewing machines. I jumped at the chance and decided then and there to really get to know how to use the machine and the embroidery component. That led me to doing workshops at Southlands Sewing Centre and meeting more sewers. From those workshops I started to do patchwork classes and made more friends and I have fallen in love with machine patchwork. I have met some terrific people, been so inspired by going to ASG meetings and learnt so much by seeing what other people do. 

My husband is by far my greatest supporter and under-stands my passion for my hobby because he has one of his own – woodwork. He is a very talented, self-taught carpenter. His ultimate gift to me was to take a very large room in the roof of our home and completely furnish it to my specifications. I have a double door ‘stash’ cupboard with mirrored doors, six huge drawers for left over fabric, a bookcase and miles of wrap around workbench. He fitted my sewing machine into the desk so that it sits flush with the counter. Next to this are four large drawers for bits and pieces and another two drawers with dividers for my sewing patterns. Along the centre of the room I have a huge cutting table which I can walk around. It’s a delightful, light airy room in which I love to spend my time being creative. I hope to continue sewing for many, many more years and sharing that experience with all my wonderful new ‘sewing’ friends’.

The only thing in my life that takes me away from my sewing is going to the gym – I have to keep fit so that I have years and years left to accomplish all the sewing that I still wish to try!

I know that anything I make I could probably buy, but nobody can pay for the sense of achievement one gets when a garment turns out successfully.