Hello Cherie! Can you tell us a bit about you and Our Lady of Leisure?

I’m Cherie. I’m an Aussie expat currently living in Manchester. I’ve been sewing since I was a kid, and now I work in the fashion industry. Right now, my day job is as a Technologist, which is a bit like being a clothing engineer. I deal with the technical details of garments: things like the price of using a button vs a zipper, or testing fabrics for colourfastness and shrinkage.

I started Our Lady of Leisure so that I could have a chance to do some designing. I didn’t know much about the sewing community when I started. It’s been wonderful to be so welcomed, and to meet so many wonderful women.