Hello Claire-Louise! Can you tell us a bit about you and The Thrifty Stitcher?

I trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in design for stage and screen, specialising in costume. My talent lay as a design interpreter, not as a designer, particularly in pattern drafting. I had an extremely lucky career and have worked for the crème de la crème of British theatre, film and TV.

Having designed all the pattern challenges and their included instructions for the first four series of the sewing bee, and 1.5 of the tie-in books, I decided to use my pattern making expertise to create my own pattern range in 2018.

Having crafted patterns for the Bee for four years under extreme time pressure, my creativity took a dip. The Dawson [coatigan] was a return to my own creative practice and is one of my all-time favourite patterns. She is named after one of my students who has become a friend and an ally.