Stitched with Soul: Inside So Sew Dressmaking with Sharlene Oldroyd

In this inspiring episode, host Gemma Daly sits down with Sharlene, founder of SO Sew Dressmaking, to dive into her creative journey — from a childhood surrounded by sewing to building a thriving dressmaking business and teaching community classes.

Sharlene talks about how her skills have evolved over the years, the challenges and triumphs of pattern drafting, and the excitement of launching her very own sewing pattern line. 

She also shares her thoughts on developing personal style, the power of a supportive sewing community, and the joy that comes from connecting with others through creative social events.

Throughout the conversation, Sharlene highlights the importance of carving out creative time for yourself, even in a busy life, and reflects on her experiences of growing within the sewing world.

If you love dressmaking, community, and real conversations about creativity, this episode is a must-listen! 🎧🧵✨

Key Takeaways

• Sharlene's passion for sewing began in childhood, influenced by family.
• Teaching sewing classes became a natural progression for Sharlene after studying fashion at University.
• Sharlene's pattern line reflects her unique style and creativity.
• Community engagement is vital in the sewing world.
• Personal style evolves with experience and experimentation.
• Sewing for yourself is essential for maintaining creativity.
• Sharlene's journey highlights the importance of timing and opportunity.
• Inspiration can come from various sources, including fashion history. 

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Guest Details: 

Website: www.sosewdressmaking.com

Instagram: @sosewdressmaking

Pinterest: sosewdressmaking

Youtube: Sharlene Oldroyd

*DISCOUNT CODE for 20% off patterns from So Sew Dressmaking: SEWINGSOCIALPOD (valid from 3rd - 17th December, T's and C's apply)

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to SO Sew Dressmaking

01:55 The Journey of a Passion for Sewing

06:38 Teaching and Community Engagement in Sewing

09:00 The Evolution of Sewing Classes

12:34 Pattern Drafting and Design Process

16:33 Launching a Pattern Line

19:51 Inspiration and Design Process

22:04 From Idea to Finished Product

25:50 Mastering Pattern Grading and Website Setup

28:26 Evolving Personal Style and Wardrobe Choices

31:46 The Importance of Creativity in Sewing

34:16 Understanding Colour Palettes and Fabric Choices

35:59 Building Community Through Stitch and Stretch Events

41:16 Future Plans and Creative Endeavours

48:09 Outro for Sharlene (Discount code)

Affiliate Links:

• Thready Set Go - https://threadysetgo.com

     Discount code for 10% off your first month - SOCIALPOD10

Transcript

Gemma Daly (01:03)

Sharlene welcome to the Sewing Social podcast. I'm so happy to have you on Would you mind introducing yourself to the listeners?

Sharlene (01:12)

so my name is Sharlene and I am owner and sort of face behind So Sew Dressmaking over on Basically people when they ask me what I do for my job I just say I sew. Like that's basically it. If it's anything to do with fabric and sewing I'm probably doing it. So I teach sewing lessons, I have my own line of sewing patterns now.

I make outfits for people, I do alterations, yeah, and then I have my own social media channels as well. So, there it is.

Gemma Daly (01:43)

Awesome! So that is a lot of stuff and we will touch on to all of those things in a little

while. But first of all I'd love to know how did you first fall in love with sewing?

Sharlene (01:55)

I would say it's probably just always like being in my jeans nearly like it's been in my DNA. My mum sewed, she would have done a lot of dressmaking when we were growing up. My nanny sewed and knitted and I think it's just always my nanny owned a clothes shop as well so she's always had that interest like in fashion and stuff. So yeah think it's just something that's always been there because my mum sewed when we were children when we were little.

It was just always there and I was always interested in it. So I would have been, you know, helping her put her pins away in the pin cushion or, you know, just do me bits and pieces, making clothes for my Barbies and dolls. And yeah, when I was five, then she got me my first sewing machine, which was a little like tiny singer, which I still have it, but it doesn't work anymore. It turns on, but it just doesn't actually sew anything, but I'll never get rid of it.

Gemma Daly (02:35)

Wow.

Aww.

Sharlene (02:44)

But yeah, so it's just, it's always been something I've been interested in and I've always been interested in fashion as well. So I was clothes for like the Spice Girls and doing wee sketches and things like And yeah, I mean, whenever I was younger, mostly when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was a fashion designer. Like it's just always something that's really appealed to and it's just sort of,

Probably similar to lot of people, so I did a lot of sewing growing up. I did it for my art GCSE and A level and then I went on and did fashion management at university. But after I graduated then I didn't sew as much for a long time. Sort of went to work in retail and went into management positions and visual merchandiser. So it kind of just wasn't doing it as much.

If we were ever going to like a family wedding or something or one of our friends was getting married, I probably would have made my own dress, but that would have been the height of it. And then when I had my kids, I started sewing a lot more again. So when mostly when Charlie was a baby, I'm sure you know as well, like boys clothes are awful. They're just not good. Yeah. And I mentioned this recently on YouTube and Charlie was horrified, but he was a very dribbly baby.

Gemma Daly (03:51)

Yeah, they're not as exciting, are they?

Sharlene (04:01)

Like he was always covered in a big massive bib and he had all these gorgeous, sweet outfits on him and you couldn't see them. So I started making like wee bandana bibs and matching leggings. And then people started asking me to make them for them. And then I discovered Instagram and the sewing community and it all just, it's, I would say it's just all spiraled from there.

Gemma Daly (04:21)

Yeah, so more of a natural progression from a bit of a passion into your work, really. Yeah.

Sharlene (04:25)

Yeah.

Commit to my job? Yeah. Yeah, I never.

even I'd say if you probably asked my tutors at university, I was probably the one person they didn't think would end up sort of doing what I'm doing now. Like, yes, working in retail and being in Northern Ireland, there's not a big fashion industry over here. Like it is growing and we have such a rich textile history but there's just not that many opportunities. So the plan had always been, you know, to graduate and move to London or maybe Paris.

Gemma Daly (04:50)

Mmm.

Sharlene (04:58)

was the dream. And then I met my husband and that just stayed here. He ruined it all. But yeah, think I had been speaking to one of my old tutors and she was retiring. She was like, you should come and teach. I was like, I don't know if I'm quite there yet, maybe someday. yeah, I don't think if you had asked her whenever I was studying.

Gemma Daly (05:00)

And he ruined everything.

Yeah

Sharlene (05:21)

who you are for the class, would you be picking to take over from you? It would not have been me at all. So I've surprised everyone.

Gemma Daly (05:25)

You

But that,

yeah, but that's great. And it's lovely to hear when skills are passed down from family members. And do you think that Emily, your daughter, is she interested in sewing as well?

Sharlene (05:31)

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, she is so creative. Like already we can see her drawing and her and all of that is just so good and she'll she will try any craft. But she was the same as me. So, you know, helped me put my pins back in the pincushion and getting wee bits of fabric and trying to make things with them. I have a photo.

She's not two yet. I think she's just a couple of months before her second birthday and she got fabric and was sitting at my sewing machine with the fabric under it. Like it was switched off but she knew what she was doing. So she's always had that. I think because she's always been when she was a baby especially she was like glued to me. Like did not leave my side So yeah she was always, has always shown that interest and then for her fifth birthday I got her a sewing machine. So she is and she does makes we like

Gemma Daly (06:08)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

that's really lovely!

Sharlene (06:32)

teddy bears and cushions and things like that. she is, she's definitely, it's been passed down through the generations, which is lovely. I love it.

Gemma Daly (06:38)

Aww.

Yeah, that's really sweet. And obviously we've just spoke about like how it was quite a natural progression from, you know, your hobby into your business. But can you remember like a bit of a light bulb moment where you were like, actually, I think I could make something out of this passion.

Sharlene (06:47)

Mm-hmm.

I would say, when I started making like the bibs and stuff, it was really, I was still working in retail, so was sort of just something to do. And I've always, even before I started sewing again, I've always dabbled in some sort of craft. know, I've crocheted, I've done jewelry making and I've done craft fairs and sold them and But I think it was when, probably when I started teaching that it really sort of, yeah, and it was just an offhand comment from someone one day.

Gemma Daly (07:18)

Yeah.

Sharlene (07:22)

were talking about sewing and they were like, you should teach sewing classes. And I was like, maybe I should. So then I looked into it and our local community center ⁓ had a perfect room for it. And it's like two minutes from my house. And yeah, I think that was probably it. Whenever I realized there was actually a lot of people in the local area who wanted to learn how to sew or who could sew but wanted someone to teach them how to do more. that just, yeah, that's.

really been it and I think I realised how much I loved teaching I think I knew yeah this is going to be it and so Emily was only a baby at the time and I was getting ready to go back to work and with Charlie my parents had looked after him mostly then looking after two was going to be a wee bit harder for them so I was thinking of cutting back my hours and work anyway because working in retail would not pay.

Gemma Daly (08:09)

Yeah.

Sharlene (08:15)

send two children to nursery full-time it just doesn't work. yeah it was sort of, it kind of just sort of again came quite naturally then at that stage I went back and reduced hours and then eventually I knew it wasn't for me anymore so I quit my job to teach full-time and then Covid happened. So there maybe was a wee bit of a, there's a few months where I have I made the right decision here?

Gemma Daly (08:18)

Yep. Yep.

gosh.

Mm-hmm.

Sharlene (08:39)

But ⁓ thankfully my husband had got a new job at the time too and he's civil service now so he has the steady job and then I'm just the creative one that does all these crazy things. So yeah, it did it. I feel like everything has just happened at the right time, know when it was supposed to happen. It feels like it was meant to be.

Gemma Daly (08:48)

He's the reliable one, yeah.

That's really nice. what sort of classes do you run over at the Community Centre?

Sharlene (09:06)

So I do dress making classes three nights a week and that's just any level as long as you can use the sewing machine you can come along. I have had one student who's brought knitting with her a few times. I'm like I'm not a knitter I can advise you on the general construction I think but I can't tell you how to knit but mostly the majority of it is sewing and yeah it's just people you know I've had they've made everything.

People usually start with like pajama bottoms if they're just coming in, starting out or you know, they've made, a few of them have made the Chanel, the Bella Loves patterns Freddy jackets. I've also done like a sort of intense three-day workshop on making that as And then I do pattern drafting classes. So how to draft for your own like shape. So basically tailored to

Gemma Daly (09:40)

Hmm

you

Sharlene (09:54)

And I'm now doing, I've added in bra making for 2026 and smocking. I was asked about that. So basically if someone asked me, well, I do a class on it and there's enough people interested, I'll do it. Because fun for me to doing something different all the time, as opposed to just doing the exact same classes constantly. It kind of, keeps it interesting for me as well and sort of pushing myself to do different things.

Gemma Daly (10:02)

Mmm.

You

Absolutely. how do you learn those skills then? So for example, smocking. Have you done that before?

Sharlene (10:27)

I've yeah, I have now.

you know, even when I started dressmaking again and I was doing sort of discovering the indie sewing world. I grew up using big four patterns and that was, you know, all that you really had. And there wasn't the best selection of fabrics either. So it was mostly chiffons and satins and, you know, it wasn't it wasn't things that you could make normally.

And then I realized that you could get all these indie patterns and that there was all these different fabrics available. So I think when I started sewing again, the fourth thing I made was the Romana coat by Hand London. tell people that and they're like, what? you've only been, I'm like, obviously I've been sewing since I was, you know, tiny, but I'd never done anything that big, it didn't, I didn't think of it as being, you know, this big massive project. think.

Gemma Daly (11:01)

wow. That's involved.

Yeah.

Sharlene (11:17)

because I've done so much sewing and I've always just had a go at it. I mean, there's only one way to learn. You just have to do it and you practice. And I haven't found a sewing skill that I haven't been able to do yet. If anyone wants to test me on that. But yeah, I do feel like a lot of it just comes quite naturally to me. ⁓ Yeah, and I can just sort of, I'll have a go at anything really. ⁓

Gemma Daly (11:24)

Yeah

Well done you, yeah!

But that's the way to

do it though, isn't it? Because I think... Yeah, because it puts you off. Like, I do it, I do it, and then I don't make the thing. So... Just go for it.

Sharlene (11:45)

It is. think you can't have a fear.

Yeah, exactly. Because

I mean, I mean, someone with Jersey had never really, it never occurred to me that it would be an issue. And then I was reading all these people saying, it's so hard. It's so difficult. There's so many problems. So I was nearly feeling like, maybe I, maybe I can't do this. And I sat down and I'd like, built myself up and I had myself like a morning set aside and I'd got everything I needed and I did. was like, That's okay. Yeah. So I think it is it's having I probably have a lot of

confidence when it comes to sewing I think because I have basically like I've done more or less everything now. So yeah, I'd say that confidence just sort of carries me through most of it. I do tend to just wing it most of the time in life. That's just my motto. We'll just give it a go and wing it.

Gemma Daly (12:30)

That's really good.

Give it a go.

Well, that's got you this far, so it's proven right. So talk to us about your pattern drafting skills then. Like how have you learned those? Have you done any formal training?

Sharlene (12:38)

It has, it's worked so far, yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, so my course at university, was 60 % business. So we did marketing and everything from how the fibers are created to the fabrics made to how it gets to store and all, like the whole way through. And then the other 40 % was the fashion. So we did pattern drafting, on paper and on CAD, so on digital.

And then obviously the garment construction. I mean, when you say to people you've done a fashion degree, there's actually like the tiniest wee bit of the course was actually making clothes. There's so many other bits involved in it. And I've always really liked maths as well. It's always been, you know, art and maths. Yeah, art and maths were my subjects in school. I did really, really well in my maths A levels. Yeah. So it was always another option for me. had applied for

Gemma Daly (13:29)

Really?

Yeah, amazing.

Sharlene (13:41)

maths and two different architecture degrees. And that was sort of what I was planning on doing. then, yeah, at the last minute, it was quite close to the end my A levels. And I just said to my mum, I think I want to do fashion. And she said, yeah, go for it. I think she was just happy. I was doing fashion in Belfast and not fashion in London. It wasn't going too far.

Gemma Daly (13:57)

Aww.

Yeah.

Sharlene (14:04)

So yeah, we did pattern drafting then at university and we did do a little bit of grading as I think that sort of mathematical side to it really helps with the patterns. And I would say I'm a problem Like if there's a problem in front of me, I have to figure out why it's happened and how I'm going to fix of the things with doing the pattern classes, no

Gemma Daly (14:22)

You ⁓

Sharlene (14:28)

there's no textbook, there's no information anywhere and I have looked on how to draft for individual figures, like there's just, it doesn't exist anywhere that I find. I find bits and pieces but nothing that really tells you how to do it and there's so many things that just, you you have your standard set of like instructions for doing a block and they don't really change between different, like even different textbooks and different methods just things that they don't consider, you know.

for bigger busts or like a full bust adjustment. The measurements you take should account for the fact that your chest is smaller when your bust is bigger, but they were always too tight around the bust. I was like, why is this happening? So from doing so many different workshops now and seeing them on so many different shapes and sizes, I figured out all these problems and how to fix them. like I've kind of...

What started off as the standard method for drafting the patterns, I've kind of evolved it into taking into consideration all these different things that we've sort of figured out along the way. And then I think that has really helped me now that I'm doing my own patterns. So with grading them, you you follow the standard sort of set of grade rules and then I kind of look at it think, well, that's definitely not right. I know that's not right. And then you can kind of adapt it. But I'd say it's only through that experience.

of doing the pattern drafting classes that it's, you know, I can really see that now. But yeah, I do. have a very mathematical mind. And when I see all those lines out on the page, it makes me very happy. Honestly, I just love it. But I think, yeah, it just it all sort of it makes sense for me. kind of,

Gemma Daly (15:56)

You

awesome. So you're

absolutely the perfect person to put out their own patterns then if you love all of those pieces and you've obviously had a lot of experience now in, like you say, working with different body shapes and things like that.

Sharlene (16:08)

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I'm really

happy. I think again, the order that I've done this in, so doing all the pattern drafting classes first has really helped me I think if I had a go on and do patterns first, I probably would give up. I might not have done it, but I think that this has sort of worked out, you know, the right way, the right order for me.

Gemma Daly (16:33)

Yeah

and like you say everything's just falling into place which is really nice. So talk to us about your own pattern line then. Was it this year that you released or was it last year? This year. Yeah and you've got three patterns out now is that right?

Sharlene (16:37)

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, no started this year. Yeah.

Three, now well, I think maybe by the time this is out it could be six. Yeah, possibly. So there's one that is pretty much, there's a few pieces left to grade and a few tiny bits to do in the instructions and that's it, it's done. And then another one that's pretty far on as well in development. And then there's another one that I'm kind of thinking.

Gemma Daly (16:56)

my god! We could be doubling the offering people!

Sharlene (17:19)

It's a quicker one. It's not. So most of my patterns, well two of them so far and two of the ones I'm working on at minute are quite, there's a lot of options. And I think that that's something that I'm probably always going to do with my personally, I very rarely would buy a pattern that only has the one option unless it's a coat or a jacket or jeans. You know, there's only so many things you can do with that, but the likes of dresses and tops, I think.

Gemma Daly (17:19)

you

Sharlene (17:43)

when I get a pattern, I'll hack it so much to get so many different things. So I want people maybe who don't have the confidence to do pattern hacking to be able to get all those different looks from one of my But yeah, there'll be maybe so yeah, the sixth one has only one option and there'd be very few pattern pieces. I think there's one of the things and I.

Gemma Daly (17:57)

Right.

Sharlene (18:06)

I'm constantly panicking about this and I'm sure there's so many other pattern designers will agree that there's, you know, you're kind of following the trends and it's only a matter of time before someone else decides, I like that trend too and works on the same style of pattern. And then you have two patterns out at the same time and people are saying, who's copied who? You know, who's going to get there first? And there is always that fear that someone else is going to get that same idea and get it out before you. And it's sort of, you obviously don't want to rush.

Gemma Daly (18:24)

Yeah.

Sharlene (18:33)

anything you don't want to put it out too quickly, but you also don't want to then sort of lose out by getting it out too late. So it's sort of that, there's always that fear. I mean, at the end of the day, I say this about fashion all the time and it's the same, think, with music. There's only so many options. There's only so many ways that you can put things together. And really, everyone is copying.

Gemma Daly (18:41)

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Sharlene (18:57)

you know, someone else, there's no brand new design that hasn't been thought of before. We're all just, changing, you know, the combinations or changing the fabric and it's how you sort of put it all together. everything's been done historically at some point. We're just sort of redoing it in a more modern way. So, yeah, trying get it out there before someone else has the same idea, really. But yeah. So, yeah, I do have one more.

Gemma Daly (19:20)

Yeah.

Sharlene (19:23)

that I might get out. like, honestly, I'm already thinking about what patterns I'm going to do next year. Like I've already got all these ideas bubbling away. But yeah, I would say by the time this is airing, there'd be five, maybe six patterns. And I had always said I would like to do six in my first year. I didn't think I was going to do it. But now I'm like, yeah, I can do this. Let's do it. Yeah, why not? But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. It's fine.

Gemma Daly (19:29)

Ohhhh

amazing.

Yeah. Yeah, go for it. Well,

there you go. It'll be ready for next year, won't it, if it doesn't happen. yeah. So you spoke about that, you know, fashion is an influence. Is there anywhere else that you get your inspiration for your patterns?

Sharlene (19:51)

Exactly,

huh.

I would say it is mostly fashion and then you're always, you are always sort of trying to find that gap. I know I've said that everyone's just sort of redoing things in a more modern way, but there is still that odd wee gap in the sort of out there. So with the likes of, I'm wearing my Emily the same with my next pattern that will definitely be like the Presley shirt. I find

with a lot of the sort of looser style garments, it's always a drop shoulder. And I don't always, especially with shirts, if you have a loose shirt, it always has a drop shoulder. I don't like that. I like having something that's a wee bit more sort of fitted around the shoulder and has a nice sleeve head and then a wee bit more room in the body for comfort. So it's trying to find those wee tiny tweaks that you can mix to sort of, that will, cause if I want it then there's a chance.

somebody else wants the same thing. So yeah, you're kind of hoping for the best there. But I would say the majority, I mean, it's always been anytime I've drafted a pattern, even before I was doing it, you know, did it release If I was making something, it probably was influenced by something I've seen, you know, in a high street store or online or like an influencer's been wearing it or something like that. It's generally where I would get my inspiration from.

Gemma Daly (21:16)

So.

Sharlene (21:16)

I actually have, I'm sitting here looking at

my Vogue magazines. So I've been collecting Vogue now for 20 years. So I have a whole big case full of them. And I do sometimes like go back maybe 10 or 20 years and have a wee quick flick through one of the issues and see what were they doing? You know, what is there that's a wee bit different that hasn't been done in a while that I could use.

Gemma Daly (21:24)

Wow.

That's a really good idea. I bet that bookcase is heavy by now.

Sharlene (21:41)

Yeah, because there's always, it really

is. I know my husband mentioned once, he's like, you really need to keep them all. It's like, I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that question. They're not going anywhere.

Gemma Daly (21:50)

Yeah.

So can you talk us through the process of your designing? So from that like inspiration and idea to the finished product, what happens in between?

Sharlene (22:00)

Yeah.

So yeah, usually it starts off, I'll do one. So with Emily, it started off just the round neck puff sleeve midi dress and I really liked And then I'll see something else. I think, well, that's kind of similar. So I'll maybe do a V-neck and I'll add ruffles. And then it's sort of, you know, then a couple of different options just sort of all gather together. And I realized, right, I can work on them.

So usually there'd be the 12. you would initially I would draft it for myself using one of my own blocks and see, right, does this work? Does it actually look good? And then once that's right, then it's working from a standard block, like a standard measurement sort of chart. then, getting it onto Illustrator.

and then grading it and then trying to do the instructions. And I think the instructions was one of the things that terrified me at the start. It just felt like such a mammoth task, like trying to figure out just where to start. There were so many bits to put in, you your size charts, your finished measurements, your lay plans, There was just so much. was like, I don't know where to even begin with this. And yeah, so I actually, I got loads of different...

pattern instructions printed, like from my sort of my favorite designers, like the ones that I enjoyed making. And I was like, right, what have they done? Like, how can I lay this out? And I just sort of worked through it. And then usually at some stage I will message Jen Legg, like, like, are you ready to try this? And she usually tests it for me. So she's always one of my first testers. She would sort help out and see.

And usually she does have so many great ideas, know, you could do this kind of sleeve or you could add this instead. it kind of she's sort of my unofficial design consultant, I would say. And then I have a few other friends. So Rebecca, Sew number 65, she would sometimes help me out as well doing a few tests and trials. And then once everything's ready. ⁓

Gemma Daly (23:49)

Yeah.

Sharlene (24:03)

I lucky I have my students and a lot of them have been coming to me for a very long time and I have a massive, like there's a big range of sizes with them all. Generally, few of them would test it for me as well to check the fit or because there's a few of them who actually fit quite nicely into certain measurements, like certain sizes. So I'm really lucky I have like a wee sort of group of sort of fit models and testers that

Gemma Daly (24:13)

Yeah.

That's good. Yeah, yeah.

Sharlene (24:31)

I don't need to sort of reach out and then if they're making it in class, I'm there, you know, at the same time to sort of work through any issues as they're coming up. yeah. And then if I need a few more testers, I'll reach out to different people and then it's getting it out there, really. Emily was sort of, it was a month, a very intense month of just nothing else, just trying to focus on that.

Gemma Daly (24:46)

Yeah.

Sharlene (24:54)

But I think now that I have that, so I have like the layout for my instructions, have, know what I'm doing with the grading. I know I just, can dip in and out of different bits now, so I can work sort of right bits of the instructions and then go back to grading and then go back to doing samples. So I can kind of, know, whatever I'm feeling now, I can kind of just dip in and out of it. So I feel like there's probably not really a set order to what I'm doing things now either. It's just, it's quite,

I'll be quite chaotic to some people, but for me it works. And yeah, just dipping in and out of what I need to do. And I think because I'm doing it all myself as well, you know, I haven't outsourced any of it. I have that freedom. You know, I don't have to have all the pieces ready to send to the grader to get that back. And I can sort of do whatever am feeling inspired to do that day.

Gemma Daly (25:24)

That's the main thing.

Mmm.

Yeah, exactly. do you think that, obviously, bringing out the Emily pattern was a huge learning curve, because it's gonna be, it's the first one. But do you think there was anything big from that project that you took away and that you do implement into your other patterns going forwards?

Sharlene (25:49)

massive. Yeah.

I just feel like every time, you know, learning the grade rules and because there's, you know, you've got your standard set, but then if you have a pattern piece that has like, you know, split, so I have the ruffle version on the Emily. So there was, it wasn't just, I was just doing it the way I thought I should do it. And then I looked at it I thought, well, no, that's definitely not right. So I think probably I have it all sort of written down in my notebook now and I can kind of go back to that. So probably.

Gemma Daly (26:03)

Mm-hmm.

you

Sharlene (26:24)

learning all the grading and getting all that sort of nailed down is probably one of the biggest things that sort of helped me going forward. I suppose I always panicked as well at the start, you about there being maybe like spelling mistake in the instructions or, you know, getting things wrong. And I was talking to someone who's been releasing patterns for nearly

nine or ten years maybe. And she said, she's like, there's always a spelling mistake. It's like, if you're still doing it after this long, you're still successful then I think I can sort of settle myself. Obviously you don't want there to be any mistakes, but there's always going to be that one wee one that slips through that you just can't. And I think, everyone's always very kind in this sewing community and if they see something they'll let you know and then you can sort of it.

Gemma Daly (27:10)

good.

Sharlene (27:10)

But yeah,

I think. Yeah, I'd say the biggest probably one of the I'm saying the gradings quite big, I think setting up my website to was massive and learning about. Yeah, so I had been using Shopify for a couple of years for different. obviously I worked for LMAZ and then before that I was working for the Rag shop. I had been using it sort of in the background and I kind of my way around it more or less.

Gemma Daly (27:18)

Mm-hmm. Did you do all that yourself as well? Yeah.

Sharlene (27:35)

So I used that, like, because it's PDF and obviously you can sell PDFs around the world. I was like, yeah, that's fine. That's really easy. then there's all these different tax laws and different tax codes for different countries and different like rules. And I was just, sat up one night and I think I got very, very little sleep. And I was just like, I don't, I don't know what to do. I was like, where do even start? I was like, I would much rather grade 200 pattern pieces than try and figure out.

Gemma Daly (27:57)

Yeah

Sharlene (28:03)

what I'm doing and thankfully my sister actually does know this sort of stuff as like you need to you need to help me here because I don't know what I'm doing please. It's like that's not really the kind of tax that I do it's like come on help me here please. But yeah so there's just there's been so many little things that I've learned along the way that have sort of yeah helped me now and it does it becomes a lot quicker the more you do.

Gemma Daly (28:09)

Yes.

good.

Sharlene (28:26)

So yeah, I'd lots

of little things other than one big sort of light bulb moment. There was a lot of little ones.

Gemma Daly (28:32)

Yeah.

So I've been following you obviously on Instagram for well a number of years now I think and I think I've sort of seen you evolve in your own personal style. Where do think you're at with your own me-made wardrobe now?

Sharlene (28:39)

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

is actually something, there's one of my students, she constantly says, I would love to see your wardrobe and count how many dresses you have. I was like, oh, I don't even want to know how many dresses I I would say now at this stage, that there's nothing really that I need to make. And I do think amount that I'm sewing now has definitely slowed down.

Gemma Daly (28:54)

Yeah.

Sharlene (29:11)

massively. I think at one stage probably mostly over lockdown I was making maybe two garments a week like it was crazy. But there was nothing else to do so I think we were all doing And I think there's a few things still that I would like to get right. So one thing that I'm still trying to and I think I don't think I'm ever really going to get it perfect is jeans.

Gemma Daly (29:20)

Yeah.

Sharlene (29:32)

And I think

I can, I've made a few parts and I absolutely love them and they fit really well, but it's hard to find that a good denim, denim's so hard to get right and especially stretch denim, because you have no idea I've had tried so, so many and they just, yeah, it's just hard. So jeans are probably one of those things that I'm always going to be wanting to make to try and get it right. would say I will never have enough coats and jackets.

Gemma Daly (29:39)

Yeah.

You

Sharlene (29:56)

They're my downfall, they're my weak Right now I probably don't want to sew any dresses because I do have like far too many dresses. I think I'm definitely set for life with that. then I think kind of hard to, I would say my style sort of changes every so often. So, know, maybe one year I really love wearing loads of florals and then the next year I won't.

Like right now I'm more into like spots and stripes as opposed to wearing florals. So it's kind of, and I think maybe because I have always been so interested in fashion and following, not necessarily following the trends, but just I always, I feel like I'm always getting inspired by something and I'm always, you know, watching the catwalks and it's just, I've always been, very sort of not influenced by fashion, but I've just always followed it. So I think.

there's always going to be something new that I want to make or something new that I want to try because yeah, it's it's hard not to. And I have found if I'm busy working on, you know, the patterns and doing loads of alterations or loads of teaching or whatever, if there's lots of stuff happening and I'm not getting to sew for myself, I do feel that I'm getting, it does get me down and I feel like I'm losing my sort of creative spark. And I do, really, really struggle.

And I was probably feeling like that for a while and it's maybe why it's taken me longer to get to this stage with these patterns. I didn't have as much time to sew for myself and I was just, I just lost that sort of excitement to work on it. But then I did take some time and I made a few things. I got a few fabrics that I was really excited to sew. And I think I need that. I need to make that time for me to sort of feed my own creativity to then so that that can feed into.

Gemma Daly (31:18)

Yeah.

Sharlene (31:33)

all the other things that I'm doing. So yeah, I'd say now the sewing, it's out of necessity really as in I don't need anything new to wear. I have enough clothes, but I do still need that, to feed that creativeness or if everything else is just sort of suffering.

Gemma Daly (31:46)

Yeah.

Yeah, I totally get that. It's like literally your hands are itching to make something for you, isn't I feel that too.

Sharlene (31:54)

Yeah, yeah, know. yeah, and I

find myself, I'll be spending, if I don't get that time, I'll sit at night and I'll be scrolling through Pinterest, you know, looking at things and thinking, I really want to make that and I want to do this and I to do that. But I just need to do it. I need to make that time to actually sit down and sew something. And then it gives me that sort of my mind sort of clears and I can focus on everything else then. So, yeah, it's.

Gemma Daly (32:16)

Yeah, that's really interesting. on a bit of a journey

with the colours and the styles that you like to wear as well, haven't you?

Sharlene (32:23)

Yes. Yeah.

I think I've always known like an autumn. Like definitely my colours are autumn, even from when I was younger. like whenever I was little, I had white, white blonde hair and really curly, which is where Emily gets it from. But they, even then, like when Mummy would have, my mum would have put me in like the sort of browns and greens and stuff, it probably still.

Gemma Daly (32:39)

Okay.

Sharlene (32:47)

you know, it suited me better than most other colors. So I think I've always had that sort of color palette. But then think when you start sewing and you realize there's all these fabrics and all these trimmings and all this, this option, it's so hard not to get sucked into that. Like you just, and it's, know, everyone does it. And I do, I realized then that there was a few things I was making that really weren't, you know, my colors or my And yes, I had fun making them, but

Gemma Daly (33:03)

Yep.

Sharlene (33:14)

they've ended up either being donated to the charity shop or sold on and Vinted or something like yeah, I think now I'm very conscious about what I'm especially with at the start, would have sewn a lot with plains and it would have been, I would have wore a lot of plains and then maybe one or two prints just mixed in and I'd have always like polka dots and stripes. And then I sort of moved away into more florals.

But I think there's a very specific type of floral that I like. And I was just getting distracted by all these gorgeous prints and colors. And yeah, I'm sort of now going back a wee bit and then being a wee bit more careful about the prints that I'm buying because, I just don't need that But yeah, I think now I've realized I have my color palette and I know what my colors are.

And can see a fabric that's maybe not those colors and I can appreciate that it's beautiful, but I can also say, it's not for me. So it's, know, getting that sort of learning how to say no to it really, just, you know, appreciating what it is and that it is really lovely. But yeah, it's just not going to work for you.

Gemma Daly (34:17)

Yeah, it is a process though, isn't it? And I think it comes with experience as well. Cause like you say, when you first let loose into the sewing world, there's so much to see and touch and yeah, but you've got to, you do eventually after sewing all those things, learn what works for you. And it actually helps because then you can put colors together that actually work.

Sharlene (34:20)

It really is. Yeah.

Yeah. there is.

Yeah, like I would say 90, at least 90 % of my wardrobe all matches. You know, it's very easy for me to pick out a pair of trousers and a top and I know that they'll go, you know, I'm never stuck for outfit choices and my jackets all match my dresses and my tops and my trousers. You know, it does all, it all sort of goes together. And I think, yeah, when you do realize it makes it a lot easier getting dressed, I suppose, actually trying to pick outfits. But

Yeah, and it's one of the things even when I started, people would have always asked me, you know, how do you decide what you're wearing? How do you pick that fabric and pick that pattern and put them together and it works? I do think it is just down to experience. know, it's just you have to, it's a learning process and it doesn't come, you know, instantly for everyone. kind of have to play about with it and maybe, you know, coming from that retail background and being surrounded by clothes like

all the time. Maybe it did help me because especially as a visual merchandiser you were putting outfits together, know, you're building window displays and you putting things out on the shop floor in a way that's going to make people want to buy the entire outfit. So that was my job, you know, building those outfits. So I'd been doing it for a very long time before I actually started sewing, which probably has given me that advantage too. yeah, I think

Gemma Daly (35:36)

Yep.

Yeah.

Sharlene (36:00)

Pinterest is just one of the best things ever. I love it.

Gemma Daly (36:04)

It is, it So as well as teaching and doing your own patterns and alterations, you also run events called Stitch and Stretch, don't you? And

Sharlene (36:10)

Yeah.

Yes, I do, yes.

so we had one there. actually had one there recently and hopefully there'll be another two announced for next year. yeah, there will there be more coming up. But yeah, so my yoga teacher a gorgeous, gorgeous house like out in the middle of the countryside and you can see the Moorne Mountains if you don't know.

Gemma Daly (36:25)

⁓ Okay.

Sharlene (36:39)

Northern Ireland, you know, if you look up Morne mountains, it's just absolutely stunning. And the countryside here is just, it's beautiful. And there's this old stone barn that they've converted into like a sort of living space and they have all these rooms. So they built it as a retreat space. And then there's the massive yoga studio, which I'm so, so jealous of. So yeah, she had opened up the retreat.

and they are mostly doing like an Airbnb with it, but she'd sort hosted a few retreats and I was like, Oh, I've always wanted to, you know, give it a go. And I had a chat with And I we were doing the first so I've done two, she was so nervous. She was like, but you don't know any of these people. I was like, no, I don't, but they're, they sell. So it's fine. You know, we're all, we're all friends. And I think still even like Darren, even after all these years, he's like, but you don't know these people and you're going away with them. I'm like, yeah, but.

Gemma Daly (37:25)

Yeah.

Sharlene (37:32)

I do know them. Like you do, you know these people. They're not, they're not the typical sort of strangers you meet in the internet. It's very, very different. But yeah, the first one, she was really nervous about how everyone was going to get along, how it going to flow. was like, honestly, you've nothing to worry about. And after that, she was like, it was amazing. Like everyone was just so friendly and everyone gel so well. And it was the same this time. Everyone just, you know, being there, obviously I wasn't doing much so when I was just sort of helping out and stuff, but

Gemma Daly (37:35)

It's gonna be fine, yeah.

Yeah.

Sharlene (38:01)

seeing people who've never met before and you can actually see the friendships forming and they're not just, know, for the weekend, you know that they're going to continue being friends, you know, further down the line. It's just it's amazing. And then the yoga. So, yoga teacher is amazing. She's so good. you know, we were focusing a lot on like shoulders and back and in the yoga sessions, you know, things that we obviously as sewists where, know, always hunched over or whatever.

Gemma Daly (38:20)

Mm-hmm.

Sharlene (38:26)

So yeah, she tailored the yoga session sort of to what we needed. And yeah, just the whole thing was amazing. It was so good. So yeah, I do. And I like, there's so many different, you know, cause I run sewing days as well, like social sewing days just in the local community hall. it's, you know, just cover the price of the hall. It's know, expensive or anything. It is just for people to get out of the house and chat. Cause a lot of them obviously sewing is very solitary a lot of

Gemma Daly (38:33)

it sounds really lovely.

Sharlene (38:54)

my students and a lot of people in the local area wouldn't maybe get out that much and it is their You even my she has a long Covid, so she ended up having to retire she kind of did, you know, because you got used to doing your online shopping and she wasn't really going out she kind of nearly

Gemma Daly (39:04)

wow.

Sharlene (39:16)

she wasn't getting out that much and eventually I managed to convince her to start coming to the sewing days and it completely, you know, it made such a massive difference for her just getting out and chatting to people and being in that environment. So I've always done the sewing day. So I didn't want, and I wanted to do a retreat, but I didn't want it to be the same thing. I wanted there to be a difference between the two. So that's why I thought the sewing and yoga is quite a nice sort of combination. yeah.

Gemma Daly (39:33)

Mm-hmm.

Sharlene (39:40)

the yoga is very much beginner friendly if you've never done yoga before. There was one girl the last time who's never really done yoga and she loved it. she takes you through everything very slowly to make sure you kind of know what you're doing. And yeah, so it was, it was an amazing weekend. It was really, really good. Lovely food and yeah, so nice.

Gemma Daly (39:51)

That sounds brilliant. Yeah. Yeah.

Perfect, perfect.

And what do you think is sort of the biggest thing that you take away from running these social events? Is it seeing those friendships blossoming between the students? Yeah.

Sharlene (40:09)

Yeah,

yeah, I think when you start to when people send you messages saying, you know, that they had so much fun and they really enjoyed, you meet new people and sort of all that, connection, that real life connection, it just it always makes it so worth I set up so at the start of the year with setting up the website and actually like set up my business on Google.

because it didn't come up when you Googled sewing lessons in Drum and Ess, there's nothing there. was like, well, I'm here. then some of my students left me reviews on that. And it was just so lovely to hear it makes a big difference, not just in terms of the sewing, but it is, it's that sort of real life connection. And I think because I had stopped working in a normal work environment, I'm working from home.

Gemma Daly (40:36)

Yeah.

Sharlene (40:55)

You know, it's okay now Darren works from home too so I do have some company but I was just on my own all the time and I thought you know I need that social interaction too with adults not just with the kids. So it has for me, know, for my mental health too actually being able to get out of the house and not being stuck here all the time it has made a massive difference as well and having that sort of adult connection.

Gemma Daly (41:06)

Absolutely.

Yeah,

that's really lovely. And obviously you mentioned like the next few weeks is going to be really quite exciting and maybe quite jam-packed for you. Have you got any other for the next few months? I know you've got a lot of patterns in there, wearing away.

Sharlene (41:20)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, there's a lot of patterns.

patterns and then well, so initially now coming up we have Dublin Frocktails which is in a couple of days and I have no outfit. What's that sign? That's the thing now I think. If I joke it, I don't think mate, I know I have a lot of backup, so it's okay. And then we have the Knit and Stitch Show coming over to...

Gemma Daly (41:44)

She says, she says with a wardrobe full of things.

Yeah.

Sharlene (41:56)

⁓ Ireland again, so I'll definitely be at that for a few days. So yeah, there's a lot happening in the next sort of month and I'd say at that stage it'll be nearly Christmas and I'll be ready to just lie down not do anything for a few weeks. So yeah, would say focusing on the patterns. I do have a YouTube channel which I tend to neglect quite a lot and I always say I love doing YouTube videos.

I really, really enjoy And I think you get different comments and different interaction on YouTube than you do on Instagram. And I do miss that sometimes. So yeah, I always say I'm going to focus on my YouTube more. I will be doing more sort of so long tutorials for the so it'll be just patterns and workshops really trying to incorporate more.

Gemma Daly (42:28)

Mmm.

Sharlene (42:42)

workshops and then I do teach, so I teach down in Dublin sometimes and yeah, sort of all around the country. So yeah, so busy, yeah. know what it should be. But yeah, I love it.

Gemma Daly (42:50)

So busy, Sharlene, so busy. You should be called so, so busy.

to...

Good, good. Well, you're very good at what you do, so that's amazing. so just to tie up the interview then, I like to play a little game of this or that. Are you up for it? Yeah? So first of all, scissors or a rotary cutter?

Sharlene (43:04)

Thank you.

yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Scissors, definitely. I've always used scissors and I'm left-handed so I'm very fussy about my scissors too.

Gemma Daly (43:24)

Drafting patterns from scratch or hacking an existing one?

Sharlene (43:29)

Drafting from scratch, I have to say. do. Probably have always. I do like hacking a pattern too, but there's something very satisfying about drafting it from scratch.

Gemma Daly (43:40)

Wovens or knits?

Sharlene (43:42)

Wolvens, definitely.

Gemma Daly (43:44)

A toile first

or straight to the good fabric? I think you're experienced enough to do that.

Sharlene (43:48)

straight to the good fabric usually. Yeah

and I think as well like even if I'm drafting a pattern, if I'm drafting it for myself I'm working off one of my own blocks so I know it fits me. So it's generally I'm safe enough going straight in and I'm too busy to do trials. There's no time for that.

Gemma Daly (44:01)

Yeah.

Exactly! No,

straight to the good stuff. Are you a morning maker or a nighttime stitcher?

Sharlene (44:13)

Yeah.

I would probably say night time. So I'm very laid back. I'm generally a very, very laid back person, which is the complete opposite to my husband. So we work quite well. But his friends are always sort of saying to him, you're so lucky she lets you go out all the time and lets him go out all the time. man. But

Whenever they say it to me I'm like yeah but when he's out at the pub on a Friday night I can sit at home and sew and put on a series on Netflix and have a wee drink of whatever I fancy and I'm perfectly happy when the kids go to bed so yeah definitely night me for myself no I love my wee, now I really enjoy my wee Friday nights just to sort want and then if he doesn't if he stays in some weekends I'm like are you sure you don't want to go out?

Gemma Daly (44:41)

Yeah.

It's a win-win. Yeah.

Sharlene (45:01)

Even just for a few years.

Gemma Daly (45:03)

Yeah.

Sewing for yourself or others?

Sharlene (45:08)

Probably a bit of a mix. I do enjoy when I'm things, suppose it's different when it's my job and I'm making things for other people, but when I do make things for people and they, you know, seeing their face sort of light up when they have something that has been made to fit them as opposed to doing alterations or something, there's something like it's so,

Gemma Daly (45:25)

Yeah.

Sharlene (45:30)

satisfying and so just it's amazing to see that look on someone's face and I have like family members who I would make things for quite a lot if they were going to you know a wedding or something or somewhere fancy I would always ⁓ they would usually ask me and yeah so it is but I do also love sewing for myself yeah

Gemma Daly (45:48)

Of course, of course.

Tea or coffee?

Sharlene (45:51)

coffee and some herbal tea. No, to try and balance out all the coffee. But yeah, I'm a black coffee drinker.

Gemma Daly (45:59)

A meal out or a takeaway.

Sharlene (46:01)

Meal out, definitely. And I've passed that on to Emily. Big time. She loves going out for dinner too.

Gemma Daly (46:06)

You

I know

the answer to this one because we've already talked about it, but spring, summer or autumn, winter?

Sharlene (46:13)

Mm-hmm.

Autumn, always autumn, autumn winter. love knitwear, love coats, I love jackets, I love it all. Fluffy socks and bits.

Gemma Daly (46:17)

Yeah.

And the last one...

And the last one... an organized stash or creative chaos.

Sharlene (46:27)

It is usually creative chaos. I do so in my, so our kitchen, it's like kitchen dining room, so there's not really much of a dining room at the minute. It has really overtaken everything. So the plan is next year to hopefully have a studio in the garage so that it's all out of the it is generally, it doesn't matter how many times I tidy and try to sort it out, it is chaos.

Gemma Daly (46:29)

you

Yeah.

You

Sharlene (46:52)

But I think

that's my work style, that's just everything. It's just organized chaos, really. Exactly, yeah. But I do find when I tidy things, I don't know where anything is, but when it's a mess, I can put my hand on it straight away and I know where it's just not so good for everyone else in the house.

Gemma Daly (46:57)

Yeah, as long as you know where stuff is, that's all that matters.

Yeah,

amazing. So where can people find you Sharlene?

Sharlene (47:14)

so it is so so so so S-O-S-E-W dressmaking and S-O is my initials. Some people do ask me about that. And so so so dressmaking on Instagram and online as well. My website is so sew dressmaking dot com. then YouTube, I'm pretty sure is so so dressmaking or Sharlene Oldroyd. It's one of the two. But I know if you type in so so dressmaking, it will come

Gemma Daly (47:22)

Yeah.

Sharlene (47:38)

I'm on TikTok as well. is in the local area, but I am also always very happy to travel and go different places teach as well. I would love to do a class in Paris if anyone wants me. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (47:38)

and you're your classes in the local area as well.

Brilliant.

Just putting it out there.

Brilliant. Well, Sharlene, you've been amazing. Thank you so much for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast today.

Sharlene (47:58)

Thank you.

Thank you so, much for having me on. It's been brilliant. OK, thank you. Bye.

Gemma Daly (48:05)

You take care. you. Bye. Bye.