Seamstress By The Sea

Seamstress By The Sea I am an independent seamstress available for alterations, dressmaking, repairs, costume, bridal and

My customer had a very very loved dress that was was no longer wearable but couldn't find another like it so she asked m...
23/03/2025

My customer had a very very loved dress that was was no longer wearable but couldn't find another like it so she asked me if I could replicate it and make into a summer and a winter version.
Because of it's condition I was able to completely take it apart and make a pattern ( see end pictures)The first dress was the softest russet winter dress with 3/4 length sleeves which she absolutely loves even though from there I tweaked a few bits on the pattern to improve the fit. I moved the shoulder seam back 3cm as it sat quite forward on the shoulders, straitened one side of the waist panel as the original dress must have gone out of shape, and I widened the arm seam across the bust line to help the sleeves sit better. Oh and added pockets of course. They didn't work well on the russet dress though so that one's without pockets. The final dress was a summer lightweight jersey and I felt it would benefit from a little more ease in the back so I widened the side seams on the back pattern by 1cm each side. We now have a fantastic bespoke pattern for her which I can use as a base for other stretch knit designs in the future. I'm tempted to grade the pattern into other sizes too as I would like one of these now.

19/10/2024

2 signatures are still needed! SAVE OUR CLIFFS in Southend-on-Sea

I've just received my new mannequin and I love it. I got a little bit excited to find a pink and paisley version. It's e...
04/07/2024

I've just received my new mannequin and I love it. I got a little bit excited to find a pink and paisley version. It's even padded which is a game changer for its use. It can now stand proudly on show, a slight bit better than my old well used one don't you think!

When your daughter says "I'm going to the Nightcourt Ball, can you make me a dress?!" It's never easy to find time to ma...
06/02/2024

When your daughter says "I'm going to the Nightcourt Ball, can you make me a dress?!"
It's never easy to find time to make for myself or family but we did it. With fantastic teamwork we dyed the tulle, I made the dress and added the silver beaded embroidery and Charlotte enbellished it with loads of rhinestones and beaded sleeves. Yes it was hard work as it was done after work going into the late hours but it was so worth it. So glad you had a wonderful time, you looked amazing

Here's to all the beautiful brides of 2023 that I helped. There's been a lot of re-laying of lace, shortening of many la...
01/01/2024

Here's to all the beautiful brides of 2023 that I helped. There's been a lot of re-laying of lace, shortening of many layers of hems, a bespoke wedding suit and a convertion to a corset back dress to mention just some of the jobs I was asked to do. I've compiled some pictures of a few of the said dresses. I look forward to what's ahead in 2024.

We don't always fully appreciate things at the time, sometimes it's not till we look back that we realise that. Well I'v...
23/12/2023

We don't always fully appreciate things at the time, sometimes it's not till we look back that we realise that. Well I've done just that and it's my little win. I remembered making a coat back in the 80's (did I really just say that?!) and hadn't looked at it since then. The green colour was finally something that could be accepted once again so I retreived it and was so pleasantly surprised at my skills back then. I really don't mean to blow my own trumpet but other than knowing I've always loved sewing and was taught 'old school' I'm so glad to say, I haven't known if they looked professional or not. So to find this coat and take a good look at it inside and out, I was pretty amazed. Being this vintage era though meant that it has huge shoulders and they're just too much so I've removed the shoulder pads and before making any adjustments I've steamed the shoulders which has greatly helped to reduce the exaggerated line. I'm giving it a try like this but ultimately I think I'll have to deconstruct it a little and reduce the shoulder seams.
So I'm going to take this advice and use it to appreciate what's around me in the present and hope you do too.
Have a wonderful Christmas and see you in the New Year

Hopefully you can't immediately see what this picture is showing. This top was a tad too small to do up so, always up fo...
03/12/2023

Hopefully you can't immediately see what this picture is showing. This top was a tad too small to do up so, always up for a challenge I thought I'd try my hand at replicating the fabric. I found the perfect materials to match (really unusual) in my stash for both the main added panels and the lining and marked out the pattern as I thought it should look. Using really large stitches it came together really well in my humble opinion. My customer initially said to simply add white or black panels but I couldn't do that!

# bettertoalter

With so many Black Friday offers on, now's the time to grab a pattern and fabric deal. Bring them along to my sewing cl...
26/11/2023

With so many Black Friday offers on, now's the time to grab a pattern and fabric deal. Bring them along to my sewing classes and make more savings with me too; Book 6 classes and only pay for 5. My classes are small (3 people max) which means I can give you more of my time. DM me or pop a comment below and look forward to seeing you soon

24/11/2023

I have reached 300 followers! Thank you for your continued support. I could not have done it without each of you. 🙏🤗🎉

I had the pleasure of working on this wonderful lady's wedding dress, passed down to her from her mum. It had been alter...
11/09/2023

I had the pleasure of working on this wonderful lady's wedding dress, passed down to her from her mum. It had been altered once before leading to spare fabric and lace, everything had been carefully stored including bags of beads and stones to match what was currently on the dress. It needed resizing so I added panels down the back, let out darts and enlarged the armholes and drafted sleeves which changed the look of the dress completely. These were quite tight and they were changed to shorter more capped sleeves which actually worked perfectly. My work was only the start of the transformation as Faye is a brilliant embroiderer and her vision for her dress was incredible. She created new lace panels up the back of the dress, on the sleeves and even around the neckline with what only looked like scraps of lace. She then embellished it all turning it into a beautiful understated wedding dress that would mean so much to her. Check out her work

I'm closed this week for a lovely rest and I'll be back from 22nd August. A bientot xx
14/08/2023

I'm closed this week for a lovely rest and I'll be back from 22nd August.
A bientot
xx

Address

37 Hermitage Road
Southend-on-Sea

Opening Hours

Monday 9pm - 6pm
Tuesday 9pm - 6pm
Wednesday 9pm - 6pm
Thursday 9pm - 6pm
Friday 9pm - 6pm

Telephone

+447917008660

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