I'm Shauni, and I want to write about sewing and dressmaking, while I make every effort to get better and learn some new techniques. 

I love shopping for clothes, but I'm becoming increasingly fed up with the high street. I can't seem to find anything that I like, and on the rare occasion that something does catch my eye, I'm always disappointed to find that it's either completely out of my price range, or if not, it's made from pretty rubbish fabric.

I like vintage clothes, but not the 'trendy' vintage price tags/accompanying stains/trawling through rails for a 'dream' item that only exists in my mind. 

My mum is an avid knitter and she taught me how to sew too - we always used to make things. I studied textiles at school and got as far as making a couple of vintage-inspired outfits before I abandoned it to do a history degree and work in museums/education. 

I've made a few bits in the past few years, but recently I've found myself saying 'Oh I could make that...' over and over again, so I thought it was probably time to commit and give it a proper go. 

I chose the pencil skirt pattern from the new Sewing Bee book to ease me back into the swing of things...and you know what? It didn't turn out so bad! 

Ok, so I measured up wrong and had to do quite a lot of grading, but I did mange to make it fit my hips really well. A bit too well actually - I was worried the seams might burst I sat down! Thankfully they didn't!

I'm hoping this will be my first project of many!