My mother was a tailor, and from her I learned to see the potential in old clothes…how to recognise beautiful quality fabrics and how to revive a garment and make it shine again.  In the 1970s, clothes from the ‘jumble sale’ came with a bit of stigma, but once my mum had worked her magic, you could never tell an item had been picked up for a few pennies, whether it was a beautiful cashmere coat that had simply been cleaned and steam pressed, or a somewhat worn shirt made of nice material that had been re-worked into something completely different.   It was upcycling before the term became fashionable, and I’ve been doing the same ever since.

Working in publishing for many years, I was keen to get back into something more hands on creative.  In 2012 I inherited hoard of vintage fabric and wanted to find a use for it.  The idea of transforming this treasure into a unique range of iron-on patches to repair worn through jumpers and jeans seemed a perfect solution.  As the resulting patches were so popular for customising all sorts of garments, further offers of reclaimed fabrics were happily accepted, and along with it, many times, vintage and preloved garments for selling on.  A common theme of eco friendly dressing began to evolve, and the ethos of creating  ‘a new look from old’ was born.