My Life in Patterns with Esme Young

Here at Sew HQ, we have a penchant for the stories behind garments. We love finding out what our readers are making, and what their projects mean to them. Every sewing journey is different, and every crafter has to find out which techniques and styles work for them. To illustrate this, we sat down with one of the best seamstresses in the game, Esme Young, to find out more about her life through patterns.

“My mother hid her clothes so I couldn’t get my hands on them!”

BBC/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon

Sewing Bee judge Esme Young has led an exciting life, to say the least! She co-founded the store Swanky Modes and created iconic costumes for movies like Bridget Jones’s Diary. But to understand Esme’s life through patterns, it’s best to start at the beginning of her sewing journey: “I stitched my first pattern aged 14; I adapted a shop-bought one into a gingham A-line skirt and waistcoat – it was very badly made and I only wore it once!” laughs Esme. “In my teenage years, I’d buy outfits from jumble sales or take things from my mother’s wardrobe, then alter them to match my aesthetic at the time. In fact, she hid her clothes so I couldn’t get my hands on them!”

BBC/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon

Esme credits her pattern cutting expertise to Swanky Modes: “The store consisted of four of us who created the clothes we wanted to wear but couldn’t find in the shops; between us, there was a mix of formal training and none at all! One of the partners, Judy Dewsbury had studied menswear at the Royal College of Arts and was taught that there are right and wrong ways of doing things when it comes to pattern cutting, which of course we questioned her on. So over the years, I’ve learnt to be open to different ways of cutting.”

BBC/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon

Since Swanky Modes opened in 1972, Esme’s dressmaking techniques have constantly evolved as she tackles new challenges – and perhaps her most exciting venture to date is the Exploding Fashion project: “This looks at the crucial role of the pattern cutter to confront the idea that the designer is the sole creative in the design process. My colleagues and I accessed museum archives from all over the world, from London and Paris to New York and Kyoto, looking at Vionnet, Balenciaga and Comme de Garçons, to name a few, to recreate their iconic garments.”

Don’t miss Esme on the upcoming series of the Great British Sewing Bee on BBC One. You can also find out more about Exploding Fashion at explodingfashion.arts.ac.uk