A Lifetime of Sewing: Susan Young on Creativity, Colour and Community

In this inspiring episode of the Sewing Social podcast, host Gemma Daly sits down with Susan Young, a highly respected figure in the sewing community, to explore her lifelong passion for sewing and fashion. 

Sue shares her journey from learning to sew as a child to building a successful career in bridal wear, education, and community leadership.

Throughout the conversation, Sue reflects on her love of teaching sewing skills, the importance of accurate fabric handling, and why technical knowledge is just as vital as creativity. 

She also celebrates the power of colour in fashion and speaks candidly about the need for greater visibility and representation of older women within the modern sewing world.

Listeners will enjoy hearing about Sue's work with sewing publications, her role in organising local sewing groups, and the excitement and community spirit behind hosting Frocktails events. 

Packed with practical sewing tips, industry insight, and heartfelt encouragement, this episode is a must-listen for dressmakers, textile lovers, and sewing enthusiasts of all levels.

Key Takeaways:

• Sue's sewing journey began in childhood, fueled by curiosity.
• Accurate cutting is crucial for successful sewing projects.
• Embracing colour can enhance personal style and confidence.
• Visibility for older women in the sewing community is essential.
• Local sewing groups foster connection and support among sewists.
• Frocktails events celebrate the sewing community and creativity.
• Respect for fabric is important, regardless of cost.
• Personal style evolves with confidence and experience.
• Sewing allows for individual expression and creativity.

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Guest details:

Instagram: @susanyoungsewing

                     @londonfrocktails - Tickets go live on 31/01/26!

Blog: https://susanyoungsewing.wordpress.com

Chapters

00:00 The Sewing Journey Begins

02:37 Career Path in Sewing

08:36 Embracing Colour and Personal Style

15:31 Visibility and Representation in Sewing

20:36 Community Connections and Socials

29:42 The Power of In-Person Connections

30:36 Organising Frocktails Events

33:15 Success and Challenges of Frocktails

34:59 Future Plans for Frocktails

36:52 Personal Style and Sewing Preferences

41:48 Sewing for Loved Ones

44:32 This or That: Fun Rapid Fire Questions

53:13 Thready Set Go discount code

Transcript

Gemma Daly (00:37)

Sue welcome to the Sewing Social podcast I'm so happy to have you on today.

Susan Young (00:42)

Hi Gemma, it's lovely to be here, thank you for inviting me.

Gemma Daly (00:45)

You're welcome. I was wondering if you can sort of tell us about your sewing journey and where it all began for you.

Susan Young (00:52)

So I've been sewing since I was very young. I was always fascinated as a child with how things went together. So I would attempt just with a needle and thread to create little things for my teddies or my dolls or whatever. But it wasn't until I got to secondary school that I was able to use an electric sewing machine. I'd use the hand crank sewing machine at home that was my mum's before that.

And then from then on it kind of took off because I had a really good teacher. This was the 70s when girls, I'm not sure about boys, but girls were certainly taught needlework and dressmaking. So I had a really excellent grounding in construction of clothes. And from then on, that was what I knew that I wanted to do. interested in design, but that wasn't what I wanted.

do. It was always the pattern cutting, how things went together, that's what's fascinated me. So eventually I went to the London College of Fashion where I studied garment technology and then I worked in bridal wear and evening wear, sort of high end. So that was, I learned lots of new things there. But then eventually the children came along and I worked in secondary school as a technician.

in the Food and Textiles department. So that was more sewing related experience I left there about 11 years ago and since then I became involved in sewing community in a big way and that's really where I re-engaged with my love of sewing for myself because that kind of stopped for quite a few years for one reason and another. So that's

where I am now.

Gemma Daly (02:36)

Amazing.

So as you mentioned, your work career sort of stemmed from that interest as a child in sewing, and you've worked in bridal wear and teaching textiles at schools. Can you sort of walk us through that career journey in a bit more depth and like explain how these jobs have influenced you sewing at all?

Susan Young (02:58)

Yes, certainly. before I went to college, I had originally hoped to study costume design because I love a good costume drama, still do. But I quickly realised, that actually if you study costume design, it isn't all about Regency or Victorian or Edwardian garments because that was the thing that I really loved to study. while I was at college,

part of the course, one of the modules was bridal wear. You could opt to do it. It was a choice. And of course, then I realised, because I wasn't married and I hadn't been looking at wedding dresses, that that was an area that actually you could explore in a way because they're not normal garments at all. They are something that we wear.

Susan Young (03:47)

that are completely out of our normal style. And they were more in the historical style for the most part. So once I discovered that, this is really quite interesting. This is what I might like to do in the future. So as I was finishing my course, I needed to find a job. So I wrote to a number of places and I was lucky to get a job.

working for a company called David Fieldon and I believe he's still going even now and he was very well known in bridal wear in particular but he also had an evening wear workroom in London and I got a job working there so I started as a sample cutter which is quite a responsible role I discovered because

A lot of the fabrics that I was working with, even in the mid-80s, were hundreds of pounds a metre. So that's quite horrifying when you know that these fabrics have been shipped from Italy or France and then there might only be a 10 metre piece of it and you've got to cut something out of it and everything be absolutely fine. So that was quite a steep learning curve.

Gemma Daly (04:44)

Wow.

Susan Young (05:03)

But that does have a knock-on effect on me now because I think it's really important to cut out accurately and carefully at the start of any project. know people think that it's really boring and want to get straight to the sewing because that's the interesting bit and I'm the same. But I think that if you don't lay up your fabric properly, you don't put your pattern pieces on carefully and properly measured, that if something goes wrong later on in the project,

you don't realise necessarily why that might be because if it's gone wrong at the cutting out stage there might be nothing you can do in the sewing to rectify the problem. So that's one of the things I learnt from that job and I've carried it through for the rest of my sewing life in anything that I sew. that was lovely, I enjoyed that job for a few years.

but I got fed up with the travelling because we live out in Hertfordshire and it was a bit of a trek. So at that point I left that job and I went to work in our local branch of John Lewis department store in the dress fabric department. And that was, I loved that as well because it was a really good department then. They're not so good anymore sadly, which is a shame. They really aren't, they used to be so...

Gemma Daly (06:18)

No, not quite are they?

Susan Young (06:22)

We had something like six or seven members of staff for the department. You're lucky if you can find one member of staff who knows what they're doing these days, which is such a shame. But I enjoyed that. And then we had the children. So I was working at home for a number of years, making bridesmaid dresses just from home. So I still kept sewing. But I stopped sewing for myself.

Susan Young (06:46)

And I think that was probably because dressmaking, home dressmaking went through an absolute lull. You couldn't seem to get nice fabrics anymore. Not easily. It certainly wasn't anything online. That wasn't possible. And if you couldn't find a shop, then you were stuck. So I didn't sew for a long time. I eventually went to work for another small bridal company.

Susan Young (07:10)

here in Hertfordshire and that was lovely. I really enjoyed that. We were a great team. We made beautiful dresses to order and also a wholesale side of the business. And I think I'd still be there, I can say that, because the woman who owned the company started the company. She sold it and emigrated to Australia, was a real pity because it was just lovely, really.

Gemma Daly (07:37)

Yeah.

Susan Young (07:37)

another woman took the company

over but it didn't really last. So that was why I ended up working in the school because my girls were both at the secondary school at that time. In the end I was at the school longer than either of them were because they came and left again. So that taught me other things in how to handle a classroom. I was just the technician so I was kind of the dog's body but I did have responsibility in the classroom.

Gemma Daly (07:51)

You

Susan Young (08:04)

on occasions as well. So yes, that's helped me now when I do teaching and how to be patient with people, how to encourage them, how to show them alternative ways of doing things. So that's had the effect there. And then when I left the school, that's when I, I didn't really know what I was going to do then. So I joined the

Instagram community and gradually, gradually started meeting up with people and that's where it's gone from there really. Here we are now.

Gemma Daly (08:36)

Brilliant. Yeah,

such a varied career. And I can imagine you've learned so many skills along the way. Did that sort of bridal job and that responsibility of cutting into that really expensive fabric have an impact on how you feel about your fabric now? So a lot of people are scared about cutting into the good fabric. How do you feel about it?

Susan Young (09:01)

I do feel the same as other people with that, but I think I'm in the fortunate position that I have that kind of groundwork of working with tricky fabrics. So I can work out ways of trying to minimise the trouble that you might have with them. Because some of viscose, for example, could be really what I would call squirrelly. It will shift about dreadfully. So...

did stand me in good stead for handling things like that. I don't do a lot of evening sewing now, so some of the fabrics I would have worked with then like chiffon or beaded or sequined lace, that kind of thing. I don't tend to use those now, but if I do come across them, then I've got some idea of how to handle them. With my Instagram account, maybe not so much more recently, but I like to share kind of the

some of the tips that I have learnt just in posts. I haven't really done any reels as such, I'm not awfully good at those, but I think if it's there and static, people can go back to it and it's easier to look at still photographs to see what it is I'm trying to describe. just things like that really.

I think you have to respect the fabric, whatever it's cost you. I don't ever like to think, this cost me nothing at all in some cases, you if you're using old sheet to make a toile or whatever. I think you need to be just as respectful at times of that as something that's cost you 40 or 50 pounds per metre. The old adage of measure twice, cut once is so true.

mean, measure half a dozen times if you need to. That's a really important thing. I always use pins. I'm not ⁓ a weight person and I always use scissors. I know that rotary cutters have a place, but I'm afraid I'm old school with scissors. I feel that I have more control over what I'm cutting out and how I'm cutting it. So that's me.

Gemma Daly (10:47)

Yeah, some brilliant tips

there Sue. You're quite well known in the sewing community for your love of colour and not only in your clothing but you often have lovely pink hair as well don't you? Yeah. Have you always loved colour or has this been something that's like developed through your life?

Susan Young (11:11)

Yes, sorry, it's... it's doing!

That's an interesting question. Yes, I have always loved colour. The pink hair, even though it's not here at the minute, I know that that started from the designers, Zandra Rhodes, who became particularly well known when I was probably in my late teens and she's always had bright pink hair. mean, she's in her eighties now and she still has really bright pink hair. And I...

Susan Young (11:46)

I would love to do that. But I was not that person. I didn't have that confidence at that time to embrace it. I don't know why I was shy, conservative, small seat upbringing. I always thought that somebody wouldn't approve, whether it be an employer or my parents at one point or my future husband or...

I just thought somebody else wouldn't like it, which is ridiculous because it was only after I left working at the school and I got to the age of 52 and a half and I thought, do you know what? If I want to dye my hair pink, I'm jolly well going to. And so my hairdresser did it for me initially, but then...

Gemma Daly (12:28)

Absolutely!

Susan Young (12:35)

a bit she said, know, you could do this yourself because we just use the semi-permanent stuff. So she still cuts my hair and has done for about 20 years, but I do the pink myself. during lockdown, it kind of lapsed a bit because frankly, we weren't going anywhere, were we? But yeah, since then, I've had the pink more or less on and off. And do you know how I cannot count the number of

Gemma Daly (12:54)

Yeah.

Susan Young (13:01)

older women but also younger women who say I really love your hair and I'd really love to do that but I'm not brave enough and I can say to them just do it it's only hair it will grow out so me at the minute it's just laziness because you know you've got to remember to do it and then it kind of I like it a little more faded pink now if you look back at some of the photographs from

Gemma Daly (13:14)

Yeah

Susan Young (13:26)

six or seven years ago it was quite bright pink but now it's the softer pink. So that's the pink hair but with regards to colour, yes I've always enjoyed colours but I really and I don't wear black now. I did, I realised during a time in my life probably just over 20 years ago where I was not really in a very good place mentally all sorts of reasons and

I found I was wearing dark colours. I was wearing black and grey and just dark colours. And once I'd come through that period and came out the other side and things started to change for me, I embraced colour. And now that I have the choice to pick whatever colour I like, combinations of colours, I don't have to buy what's in the shops if it's not the colour I want. I can make it.

And so that's why I just, I love to embrace colour. ⁓ Our home is quite colourful. Luckily my husband's very tolerant of that. So you can't see the room, but there's all sorts of colours going on in here. But every room has colour in it. And I just think nature has so many colours and nature never gets the combinations wrong. So I just embrace that.

If somebody doesn't like it, well that's up to them really, isn't it?

Gemma Daly (14:44)

That's a lovely

way to put it. And you've touched on a few things there. like, you know, confidence and whether your clothing choices actually are reflecting your mood or things that you're going through. But it sounds like colour generally makes people joyful. So we should embrace it a bit more.

Susan Young (15:04)

Mm-hmm. Yep.

completely, completely. I know if you want to be a stylish person according to the magazines or whatever, press, women of a certain age should not wear this, that and the other. Well, that's all complete nonsense, really. But it's only as you get older that often you think that is nonsense. And I'm just going to wear what I want to wear because it's just

Gemma Daly (15:10)

you

Susan Young (15:32)

sunnier and brighter. I'm not saying that I never wear, say, navy. I wear some navy and I wear darker colours on my bottom half, but usually I wear a colour on the top half and a lot of my friends are the same really. But there we

Gemma Daly (15:47)

Yeah, no, I love that. I love that. And talking of sort of getting older, I'm going to touch on like the Sew over 50 work that you and a lot of other ladies have been doing. So you've been a guest editor, I understand. Why do you think it is important for women to have like visibility in the community as they get older?

Susan Young (15:55)

Hmm.

So the whole reason that So Over 50 started, it's a few years ago now, six I think, maybe seven, lost track, was, which is good thing really in a way, it's because I'd started to notice that when patent companies were launching patents or they were using their testers to show the patterns, that I wasn't seeing myself.

Gemma Daly (16:21)

Yeah

Susan Young (16:34)

reflected and yet I knew because I was chatting with them that there were many other women the same as me who often had returned to sewing for themselves and they wanted to buy these patterns and they were buying these patterns but we didn't see ourselves reflected. We felt like we being sidelined and bypassed and so we decided to speak up and do something about it.

So I was already friendly with Judith Staley who started the whole Sew Over 50 Instagram account and I'd written a blog post in which explained this situation as I perceived it and that coincided with her launching the Instagram account and it just absolutely mushroomed from day one.

had thousands of followers within a week and I've lost track now. I think it's over 60,000 followers now. It's become a huge account and it is still entirely run by volunteers. Judith has stepped back from the day-to-day running but Sandy who is based in Brisbane, she is the senior editor and she oversees it and now there's a whole team of other editors who do a rotation.

Gemma Daly (17:30)

Wow, yeah.

Susan Young (17:51)

of being overseeing it for a week. So there's usually about three posts each week on different topics and they pick people because they use the various hashtags. There's lots of hashtags to look up. So the main one is hashtag Sew over 50. But there's plenty of others. It's worth looking on the Instagram account to see what others there might be because it's just become a huge source.

of friendship, of inspiration, of communication. I've made friendships with people all over the world now. So there's Sandy in Australia, there's Maria in Sydney, there's people in New Zealand. I chat with others in America, in Canada, in Europe as well.

What started off as virtual friendships in a lot of cases have become real friendships where people are meeting up now, sometimes in their own country but sometimes internationally, which is fabulous. And we probably wouldn't meet one another were it not for this account. So I would urge anyone who's watching this to have a look at the account if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Gemma Daly (18:52)

You

Susan Young (19:05)

and just to see what's going on there and to like the posts and to leave comments as well. It's a really positive place. It's not often that you get anything negative and I'm not saying that there isn't anything negative because sometimes there really is. But for the most part it is hugely supportive and I love being part of it. I haven't written any blog posts or contributed any other post.

recently but I'm always beavering away in the background and any chance I get to talk about it I will talk about it.

Gemma Daly (19:39)

That's so lovely. you you talked on the power of connection there, so many ladies just out there at home and then this, this group was brought together. And like you say, thousands within the first week, it's, it's really incredible. representation of all ages and, you know, races and everything. We need to be quite.

open to that and like you say you weren't finding yourself represented in a lot of these patterns. Do you think that has changed or is it still a work in progress?

Susan Young (20:13)

It's definitely still a work in progress, but things have certainly changed. I think a lot of pattern companies have really made an effort to include older models. The Indian ones have been pretty good. But yes, it's still definitely a work in progress and it probably always will be, like anything, but any kind of diversity, if it's not the norm in some way.

Gemma Daly (20:34)

Mm-hmm.

Susan Young (20:37)

then there's a battle to be fought there. But I will keep coming and the more vocal we are, think we as an older generation of women now, sort of middle-aged generation of women, the era we've been brought up in has allowed us to be more bolshy and to speak up and speak as we find, and we're not prepared to just sit back.

and put up with stuff then will say it like it is and that in our case it's to do with home sewing projects but I think it goes across the board now that older women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, all ages should be encouraged to speak up when there's any kind of injustice against us.

Gemma Daly (21:28)

Absolutely, I completely agree with that. So keep up the good work. I saw that you'd sewn some samples Sue for publications like the Great British Sewing Bee Book and Mini Makes by Tilly and the Buttons. How did you get into that and did they approach you for it?

Susan Young (21:31)

Good. Yeah, I'll do, I will try, I will try.

They did. It started, I think, first of all, because I did a bit of pattern testing for various people. So I'm going back probably seven or eight years, I guess. That was one of the ways I found my way into being more involved in the sewing community, when people were asking for volunteers for pattern testers. Then that's what I did. So that was how that initially started. And then the first sewing bee book.

happened because I'd done some pattern testing for Selkie patterns who ⁓ they're no longer around that the two women that started it have closed that down now because they've got families but as a result of knowing them the two of them were writing one of the sewing bee books I think it was three back so it was just prior to lockdown one of the lockdowns

Gemma Daly (22:42)

Mm-hmm.

Susan Young (22:43)

So Caroline got in touch with me and said would I be interested in sewing some of the samples for the book and I thought my gosh that's that's a responsibility but I leapt at the chance because I thought that would be really interesting thing to do. So that was how that started for the books and in fact I've sewn for probably

don't know actually four or five maybe six different books now since so the the mini makes was one of the recent ones for Tilly I did didn't do any samples for her previous adult book I think that was just prior to me doing that sort of thing and I sewed samples for Brogan's book last year so again that's all come via the publishers in

Gemma Daly (23:08)

Wow.

Mm-hmm. ⁓ very good. Yeah

Susan Young (23:30)

in that case, those books, whereas the Tilly books I now have the connection because I sew the samples that are on the pattern envelopes.

Gemma Daly (23:39)

amazing! yeah well they all look amazing and so do they tell you exactly what size and things to make or do you have a little bit of freedom over what you do?

Susan Young (23:40)

So that's a responsibility.

No, with the samples I have no freedom at all and that's absolutely fine. So they give me all of the materials and the patterns to make what they tell me what it is I'm going to be making. In fact, France is the production manager for Tilly is coming this afternoon to deliver me the next lot of new patterns. So I can't tell you anything. Obviously, I can't tell you anything.

Gemma Daly (23:58)

Mm-hmm.

No, I won't press.

Susan Young (24:18)

but I don't even know

what they are yet because I haven't seen them until she arrives. So we'll see what that is. so I get provided with everything that I need, the fabric or the haberdashery, the patterns. So the patterns come to me and they've already been sorted out. They know exactly what size because they've got their models that they're working to. So I then just make the garments exactly as they tell me to.

Susan Young (24:44)

buttons and so forth they all just get sewn on how they want them and then they go back again or because Frances doesn't live that far from me even though Tilly I'm based on the other side of London it's quite handy that Frances doesn't live too far so and then she and I will exchange the garments back again and then the photo shoot happens probably a few days after that I don't get very long in which to make these the turnaround is quite quick

So I generally get about a fortnight if I'm lucky. So Francis always gives me advance notice, plenty of advance notice of when they want the making and I will say, yes, I can do it or yes, we need to, you know, I've got family life and things as well. but I really enjoy doing that, but it's a little bit nerve wracking because I have to, you know, absolutely bring my A game.

Gemma Daly (25:19)

Yep.

Susan Young (25:33)

because I never know which part of a garment might get photographed. I'll be seeing it in super close-up. So, you know, I can't risk any mistakes though, but I enjoy it and it's very gratifying to see the pattern envelopes. Oh, I made that!

Gemma Daly (25:40)

Yeah! Aww.

Yeah, absolutely. And if anybody can do it, you can, Sue.

Susan Young (25:56)

well,

you're very kind.

Gemma Daly (26:00)

Just going on now to the socials that you've sort of set up and created. So that's Hart's socials, isn't it, in your local area of Hertfordshire. What do you think that you gain from the socials on a personal level and why do you think they're important for people to attend?

Susan Young (26:05)

Mmm.

Mmm.

I absolutely love them because as I'm sure you know yourself sewing really is quite a solitary occupation. So you're sitting in a room somewhere sewing on your own. So the opportunity to meet up with other people, it started really because I arranged two or three occasions where groups of us would meet up in somewhere like

Gemma Daly (26:28)

Yeah.

Susan Young (26:44)

Walthamstow Market in London because there's some fantastic shops, fabric shops and selling dead stock and good quality fabric. So that it started there and then I'd been, I'd arranged for my sewover 50 group of friends to meet up and we all went to Derbyshire, lovely venue we found in Derbyshire and I thought well why can't I?

why don't I do the same thing with my local friends? We just chat, really, at that time. So it was a question of finding a venue, a suitable venue. And one of the ladies that comes to my Thursday sewing class, one of my regulars, her husband manages the local bowls club. And she said, well, we've got a lovely space and it might be available.

Gemma Daly (27:15)

Yeah.

Susan Young (27:32)

during the winter when they're not playing bowls. So I went and had a look and I thought, this is really lovely. And there's room for eight people plus me with plenty of space. I probably could cram more in, but then everybody would have a much smaller space. So they started, I think it's four years ago now, was the first one. And they've just been so popular. Everybody loves coming.

Gemma Daly (27:42)

Mm-hmm.

Susan Young (27:57)

for the reasons I said, because we're normally on our own or communicating via our phones, but we're all in the same room and we're just chatting about sewing and what we're making, but all sorts of things, know, life and what's in the news and politics and films or books or just, I think it's really valuable time and the time flies by, so it's 10 till four.

and plenty of tea and biscuits and what have you and a swaps table if people want to bring anything along to swap. So I just, the camaraderie that I get personally and I think everybody who comes gets as well is tremendous and I would urge anybody who feels that they're a bit lonely with their sewing, if they know they've got a village hall or a church hall,

or some kind of venue that they could hire, find out how much it's going to cost and so forth, and then work it out and see if there's interest out there. And I'm sure you could get groups together. It's normally monthly, so it's not every week. And I don't teach as such at these. I'm just there to sew like anybody else. But of course, end up people asking me questions and things which...

I love it's not really teaching, it's just chatting about the topic that we're all interested in so I really enjoy them. Do you go to anything yourself like that?

Gemma Daly (29:25)

Exactly. That's so lovely. Yeah,

so I jointly run one in Nottingham with my friend Becky and we feel the same. So like you say, it flies by every time we do it bi-monthly. So is quite a long time in between. it is so yes, you're there to sew, but you do support each other in different ways. And I think

Susan Young (29:43)

Yeah.

Gemma Daly (29:50)

That's really powerful, isn't it? The power of connection and specifically in person. So yeah, I think they're really valuable as well.

Susan Young (29:56)

Yes.

Yeah, I think that there's more of them now because people are realising that they can do these things. yeah, it's just getting round to organising. It's finding the venue is big stumbling block. But once you've got that and then getting the word out there, it does pay to be involved in the Instagram community, I find. I don't know about you, but I am on Facebook, but I never use it. That's not my primary means of communication.

Gemma Daly (30:03)

Mmm.

That's it.

Yeah.

Susan Young (30:29)

with this.

Gemma Daly (30:29)

Yeah, I think Instagram is the place to be for the sewing community, isn't it? You can hear about so many things on there. And you also run a frock tails event, don't you? Can you tell us about that? You're busy, very busy.

Susan Young (30:37)

Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Yes, well,

yes, sometimes it comes in fits and starts. So London for Frocktails the first one was last October. And I think that also came out of having organised a few meetups in London and that's all they were. were just daytime meetups going to the fabric shops in either in Walthamstow or Goldhawk Road is another fantastic one.

Gemma Daly (30:49)

You

Susan Young (31:10)

And there seemed to be an appetite for a London event. And Sandy, who is the senior editor of Sew Over 50 in Brisbane, which is where I think the very first Frocktails started maybe 10 years ago. And she was very keen to encourage London to host one. There'd been one in Edinburgh, which Judith had organised.

Gemma Daly (31:26)

Okay.

Susan Young (31:37)

but there still hadn't been one in London. it just, didn't look like anyone was going to organise it. And then in the meantime, I'd become friendly with Elke, who lives quite near me, and we get on really, really conversations, you know, what do you think about this? Eventually we both said, well, I will if you will. So.

Gemma Daly (32:00)

You

Susan Young (32:02)

heaven forbid. So then we needed to find the venue for that first of all. So we found a place in the South Bank just in the shadow of the Shard by London Bridge Station. We got a date and from then on it was all systems go. We had to, you know, enlist help to help us so we had Lena and Janine who both are London based.

Gemma Daly (32:13)

Mmm. ⁓

Susan Young (32:26)

It does seem a bit ridiculous that two women who actually don't even live in London were the ones that ended up organising it because nobody else was. It's incredible how many people said, ⁓ I was just hoping that somebody would organise one. Why did it have to be us? couldn't somebody else have done it? So it necessitated lots of going up and down to London and sorting things out with the venue. But...

Gemma Daly (32:30)

You

Yeah.

Yeah.

Susan Young (32:53)

we put the tickets on sale, ⁓ gosh when was that? It was about six months in advance of last October it was crazy because they sold out within 90 minutes. We had about 100 tickets I think and yeah it was like getting a ticket for Glastonbury, we could not believe the response was absolutely berserk.

Gemma Daly (33:10)

Yeah.

Susan Young (33:15)

So we totally sold out. We could have sold way more, but the venue didn't accommodate more than that. And to be honest, that was plenty. know, about a hundred people was plenty. yeah, fast forward to October then, and I think it seemed to be a big success. Everybody had a wonderful time. It went by in a complete blur. So much work beforehand, and we could not have done it without.

Gemma Daly (33:21)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. ⁓

Susan Young (33:40)

people supporting us there on the night and the generosity of sponsors and giving us prizes and so on and so forth beforehand. But Elke and I decided pretty quickly that it was not going to be an annual event because I don't think our nerves could take it because neither of us has a background in organising this kind of event. So it was...

Gemma Daly (33:58)

Okay. Yeah. It's

a big undertaking, isn't it?

Susan Young (34:06)

It was. It was a huge undertaking. The major thing we learnt last time was, and we weren't really aware that it was going to happen, which was annoying, was that the venue, we thought the time was finishing at 10.30 and then everyone would leave after 10.30, but in fact it wasn't. So they started wanting to turn the music off and things from 10 o'clock and that was far too early.

Gemma Daly (34:22)

Mm-hmm.

⁓ no!

Susan Young (34:34)

far too early

and everybody was still chatting and dancing and you know having a really good time and that was the one major thing that we wanted to change next time. So we're not using that venue again not because it wasn't nice it was very nice but the limitations there were too many limitations on it that we didn't really realise until we were committed.

So I guess you want to know, is there going to be another one?

Gemma Daly (35:00)

and it's... Yes, please!

Susan Young (35:07)

So there is going to be another one. We have put the date out on Instagram already, so it will be next October, the 9th of October, 2026, London in a new venue. I'm not telling you where, but it's a Corker. ⁓ So that will be a surprise.

Gemma Daly (35:23)

That's a surprise, yeah?

Susan Young (35:28)

but the tickets will go on sale in mid to late January 2026. people can save the date in their diary. We would urge them to save the date in their diary if they think they want to come. And then if they haven't already joined the Instagram account, there is a separate Instagram account, just Londonfrocktails, at Londonfrocktails.

Gemma Daly (35:36)

perfect. ⁓

Susan Young (35:52)

So make sure you're following that because we will start to put updates on there and tell you how to get tickets and how much they're going to be. And hopefully you might get lucky. you know, you've got to be in it to win it. And there were complaints from people afterwards, ⁓ I didn't get it. I didn't know about it. there weren't enough tickets. But you have to put a lid on that. You have to put a cap on things. You know, we're not going to rent.

Gemma Daly (36:01)

Lovely. You gotta be in it to win it, yep.

So.

Mmm.

Susan Young (36:18)

the O2 just to accommodate everybody. It isn't about being mean, there has to be a line. So we work within our parameters and that's how it will be. So October the 9th, 2026 is when the next London Frog Tales will be happening.

Gemma Daly (36:20)

This is it.

This is it.

Hahaha!

Brilliant! And this episode should be out just in time for people to hear about getting the tickets as well. So that'll be, like you say, January. So watch out on the London Frocktails Instagram for more details.

Susan Young (36:53)

Yes, ⁓ we will put it on our personal accounts as well so if you aren't already following that but if you follow myself then it will be on there as well.

Gemma Daly (37:02)

Brilliant. And just going back to you, Sue, personally, how would you describe your style in the clothes that you like to make?

Susan Young (37:10)

this is interesting I was chatting with some friends the other day and I said I don't think I know what my style is but they said yes you you have got a style I think I've never been one for really kind of bodycon shapes I've always been slightly self-conscious of whatever size or shape I am at that moment

So I tend to wear that are not quite so fitted. I like unusual details on things. I think that comes from sort of pattern cutting background. So I'm wanting to know how things are constructed. So there are some brands, pattern brands that I really like, like Trend Patterns, for example. Lucy is a superb pattern cutter.

Gemma Daly (37:51)

you

Susan Young (37:55)

with industry experience. She still works in the industry as well as having her own line of patterns. So she is really good at picking out the trends from is on the catwalk and then translating them into really well produced, really well drafted patterns. So I've made quite a few of hers over the years. The funny thing is,

Gemma Daly (38:07)

Mmm.

Susan Young (38:19)

When I first met Lucy at the knitting and stitching show, seven years ago, certainly pre pandemic, I looked at the patterns that she had at that time and the samples and I thought, no, they're not for me. But I had a really nice chat with her and I didn't buy anything that time. But her style was kind of stuck in my head. And I thought, well, why can't I make those styles just because she's presented them in

fabrics that I knew I wouldn't wear or colours that I wouldn't wear didn't mean that I couldn't make them at all. So I put that to one side and I did start to buy her patterns and I'm so glad I have because they are really striking, they're unusual, they're very well drafted and I make them in the fabrics that I like and the trousers in particular.

that they're a kind of cargo style that I, they're my probably favourite. I've made three pairs of them and I just worn them all. Is it three pairs? Might even be four actually. And I just wear them a lot. They've got a really interesting detail down at the hem where there's a kind of vent in the front of the leg. And that alone would be the reason that I would buy them. But they've just got seam details and pocket flap details.

the fit is really good as well. So think Lucy has ended up being one of the pattern brands that I really enjoy and even if I don't buy that pattern I can still see where she's come from. I appreciate what she's put into it. I think they're really really really good. I quite like shirt making at the moment and stuff with

collars and whatever. This is a dress, is a Tilly and the Buttons. it's the Lyra, yes. But I do enjoy pattern hacking, so often what I end up making is not entirely the pattern as intended. I might make it the first time, if I make it as a wearable toile then I will make it as is, but then I'll usually try and reinvent it and...

Gemma Daly (40:04)

Yeah.

Mmm.

Susan Young (40:24)

my own way. I do still look at what's happening in fashion and in the shops I that as influence but I'd sort of plough my own furrow really, quite like a dress. Thank you. Definitely, definitely, so little details. So if I'm still looking at things in the shops even if I'm not intending to buy them I like to look at the details that they've got on them. You know what are they done with the buttons? they

Gemma Daly (40:32)

care.

That's really good. But things that are interesting.

Yeah.

Susan Young (40:51)

I often use contrasting buttons or contrasting thread to sew the buttons on. It's those tiny little things that most people won't notice but I know the collar on this shirt for example it's got pink on the underside and it's green on the inside for example so that's green on the stand inside so it's things like that so I don't know that that's a style

Gemma Daly (41:02)

Yep.

⁓ yeah.

cool. Yeah.

Susan Young (41:17)

my style necessarily but that's kind of what I like to do, I like to put a little twist on things for my benefit, my interests, because I do so a lot, not always for myself now because of sewing the samples which is great, but I just like to put my own spin on things. So yes, that's why we sew isn't it, so that we can, we don't all want to even if...

Gemma Daly (41:32)

I love that and why shouldn't you? That's it!

Susan Young (41:40)

there's one pattern that's super popular as soon as it comes out. Nobody's going to look the same in it. Everybody wants to look a little different in it. And but your fabric choices and people's stature, their build, it all makes for a completely original garment. And that's what I love about about sewing for myself and for my little grandson now that I have one.

Gemma Daly (41:49)

That's it.

Yeah, me too.

how old is he?

Susan Young (42:04)

He's three months old now. ⁓ So, well you can see it but your listeners can't but I've just finished him a little sweatshirt. So it is, it is, yes it's a little billy sweatshirt and because it's teeny tiny bits of fabric some of my friends have been giving me all their scrap leftovers of of knits and jerseys and things so

Gemma Daly (42:06)

⁓

cute. Is that out of the Mini Makes book, is it? Yeah.

you

Susan Young (42:28)

he's going to do quite well so that's the first one I don't know if it's going to fit him yet I think it might be a bit big but yes so my daughter hasn't seen it yet that's you're the first person to see that

Gemma Daly (42:39)

cute! Thank you!

And just sort of staying on the Sewing for Yourself theme, are there any garments that you haven't tried to tackle and that you would love to or do think you've had a go at most things?

Susan Young (42:47)

Mm.

So I can answer that immediately. The things I've not tackled it is underwear, and bras. I have to say they don't really interest me. I know you could, they're great for finishing up bits of jersey, but I'm afraid I take the view that that's what ⁓ &S is for. I'll never say never because I might have a go at doing some bras.

helped Tanya on Bornella Fabrics. I've been on her stand a couple of times at the shows and her friend Larrattu, who was on one of the Sewing Bee series, she has the space opposite and she sells beautiful bra making kits and fabrics and all the findings that you need for bra making. So really I ought to have a chat with Larrattu and say look...

Gemma Daly (43:25)

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Susan Young (43:46)

Shall I have a go at this what? But at that one, that's something I haven't done so far and I probably wouldn't make swimwear. But I have made running kit and exercise wear. I've made leggings and t-shirts and things. My friend Melissa runs Fehr Trade patterns. They are fantastic for active wear patterns and she's got a book that she wrote a number of years ago.

Gemma Daly (44:03)

yes, yes.

Susan Young (44:11)

that's got blocks in it so you can make your own designs. So I've done that and it's not as hard as people might think because I was quite new to that. Have you ever tackled something like that?

Gemma Daly (44:14)

wow.

No.

I've done swimwear and it's really not as scary as you might think but I always think with any project if it doesn't really interest you then you're not gonna put your full effort in are you? So if you're not bothered about making bras and pants don't worry about it.

Susan Young (44:33)

Yeah. Yeah.

So,

no, this is it, this is my view as well. yeah, I'll stick with what I know and what I think I'm good at.

Gemma Daly (44:43)

Yeah,

absolutely. So apart from like you said earlier with the Tilly pattern stuff that's coming up, any other exciting plans, Sue? Either project-wise or plans that you've got?

Susan Young (44:58)

know I don't think I have at the minute none that I can that if I told you now that would still be the same plans by the time this goes out because I've always got you know there's always a new pattern or there's even an old pattern that you see it on a friend you think I really like that so I've got a list up in my work room I've got a lovely workspace out and at the end of the garden I've got a whiteboard up and every so often I write a list on

Gemma Daly (45:06)

You

Susan Young (45:23)

various things I think yeah I could do with that or that's a gap in my wardrobe so that's an ever-changing list that not everything ever gets made on it so I don't think yeah absolutely tend to buy fabric because I react to it I don't always have a project specifically in mind I'm full of admiration for the people who buy the fabric buy the pattern and then

Gemma Daly (45:32)

Yeah, I know that one.

Susan Young (45:48)

know, they know exactly what they're going to do. Although I am a one thing at a time person, I don't generally have loads of projects on the go. If I'm making a dress I will make the dress and then I'll move on to the next thing. I might do some batch cutting from time to time and that's quite good I've got like a bank of projects that I can pick from get sewing.

Gemma Daly (45:54)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Susan Young (46:12)

but I'll still just make the one thing at a time. So no, I don't think I've got any exciting plans. The new Tilly stuff coming to me will be the next thing and then probably after Christmas I'll button.

Gemma Daly (46:26)

That's more than enough to be going on with anyway, isn't it?

Susan Young (46:27)

I reckon. I reckon.

Gemma Daly (46:30)

So just to tie things up Sue, I like to do a little game of this or that if that's okay with you. It's nothing too taxing honestly. So first of all, tea or coffee?

Susan Young (46:35)

Ooh, okay.

you.

Gemma Daly (46:45)

Wovens or knits?

Susan Young (46:47)

Wovens usually, yes.

Gemma Daly (46:49)

Spring, summer or autumn, winter?

Susan Young (46:51)

Now that's a difficult.

think spring summer but I do like autumn winter too. Autumn, not winter but autumn. Yes.

Gemma Daly (46:59)

Yeah, just autumn.

An organized stash or creative chaos.

Susan Young (47:07)

organized end of slightly chaotic. No, chaotic's overstating it. It is organized. It's just not particularly tidy. Is that good enough?

Gemma Daly (47:10)

you

sounds fair enough to me. Yeah,

a working sewing room there.

Susan Young (47:22)

It

is, it is. I do have a periodic tidy up so if I've been busy with various projects and I let it get into a muddle then I'll have a big tidy up. I'll take the Hoover out and I'll have a good tidy up and then that's good again. it's, I don't like it to be too messy. not a good creative

Gemma Daly (47:42)

Sewing for yourself or others?

Susan Young (47:44)

It's almost all for me. I do so for my husband and obviously for the baby, for Lucas. I don't so for others except the samples now. I stopped that. I used to do bridal alterations and that all stopped during lockdown because nobody was getting married

Gemma Daly (47:48)

Very good.

Yeah, yeah, that's fair enough.

Susan Young (48:03)

and I realised during that time that it used to make me very anxious because it's a big responsibility to have somebody's wedding dress, A, in your home and then to carry out alterations on them. So I never took it up again. I do one or two for close friends and family, but otherwise I don't do them anymore. So mostly sewing for me and my loved ones.

Gemma Daly (48:10)

It is.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't blame you.

meal out or a takeaway?

Susan Young (48:30)

A meal out I think.

Gemma Daly (48:32)

Good choice. Would you rather have a hundred pounds to spend at Liberty or a hundred pounds to spend at Merchant and Mills?

Susan Young (48:44)

Now, dear.

Gemma Daly (48:46)

and you have to pick one.

Susan Young (48:48)

have to pick one. Okay on this occasion going to pick Merchant and Mills.

Gemma Daly (48:54)

Is there a reason for that?

Susan Young (48:57)

I think it's because I currently have a few pieces of Liberty fabric that I haven't started on yet and Merchant and Mills also, their fabrics are lovely, but they also have patterns that I like as well. So I think I could eke out my £100 on more things in Merchant and Mills.

Gemma Daly (49:13)

Yep.

You

Susan Young (49:20)

But I discovered, now I don't know whether you know this, I discovered that Liberty do not sell thread. They do.

Gemma Daly (49:20)

Yeah.

Now you've

said it, because I've been in there a few times and I don't recall seeing any threads, so yeah, how strange!

Susan Young (49:33)

No. And I just think that's mad.

I was in there last year with my husband and I I think I bought cloth, can't remember. And we went and looked for, you know, the stands with the threads in it. I thought, well, that's very odd. Where is it? And I asked, because they sell buttons and others and yeah, they just sell buttons. That's all they sell. They don't have zips or anything.

Gemma Daly (49:47)

Mmm.

Yeah

Susan Young (49:58)

And so I asked and the lady said, no, we don't sell thread. I had never noticed, I've been in there so many times and I had never noticed and I couldn't believe that they didn't sell thread. It just seems bonkers because they're missing an opportunity. They really are. So there's just a little aside for you.

Gemma Daly (50:04)

No.

Missing a trick. That's it! Missing a trick!

Aww. And the last one, Sue, prints or solids? I knew you were going to say that because of what you're wearing today. Lovely print.

Susan Young (50:23)

Mm-hmm.

prints no question yeah I love fingerprint

I like quite like a check or a stripe but yeah I buy solids and then they sit there because they take me a while to think about what I'm gonna do with them now prints

Gemma Daly (50:33)

yeah.

Whereas the prince,

you know exactly what you're gonna do. So where can people find you Sue?

Susan Young (50:43)

Exactly,

So I'm almost entirely on Instagram, I'm at Susan Young Sewing. I also have an Instagram account for my Herts socials, so that's at Herts it's H E R T S S E W C I A L S Herts socials, spell it out, testing the spelling skills. So that's where you'll find me. Also I run the London Frocktails account as well.

Gemma Daly (51:03)

Testing the spelling skills there.

Susan Young (51:13)

with Elka. Don't bother with Facebook because I don't actually do anything on there. So that's really, and I do have a blog, although I haven't added anything to it for a while, and that's SusanYoungSewing.wordpress. So there's all sorts of things on there. People still read it, I can see that people still read it because the most recent thing that was uploaded was my list of fabric.

Gemma Daly (51:30)

Mmm.

Susan Young (51:36)

shopping opportunities in London and that still gets a bonkers number of views every day so it must kind of probably come up at the top of a Google search now because there's a really comprehensive list. I didn't compile all of it, people gave me suggestions of places as well but so the blog is quite a good place to find and that's where I share my views on reviews of patterns that I've sewn as well.

Gemma Daly (51:39)

Mm-hmm.

Brilliant.

Susan Young (52:03)

I like to be honest, I wouldn't be rude or unkind about somebody's pattern in public because it's somebody's work at the end of the day. But if there's something really good about a pattern or a pattern company, then I will say so. And if there's something that doesn't work, then I will be honest about that as well because I think that's only fair for novice dressmakers to know that it isn't necessarily them that's gone wrong when a project isn't working.

Gemma Daly (52:22)

Mm.

Yeah.

Susan Young (52:29)

is not necessarily your fault because it's our natural reaction is to ⁓ I'm useless I've done it all wrong you might not have done it might be the pattern that's not very good so just if you're starting something new I would suggest having a look at pattern reviews of that particular garment the fold line is a really good place for that I use that a great deal for finding patterns

Gemma Daly (52:51)

Mmm.

Susan Young (52:54)

had an inspiration, but also honest opinions.

Gemma Daly (52:58)

Yeah, that's really Well, you've been amazing, Sue. Thank you so much for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast today.

Susan Young (53:05)

It's been great fun, thank you for inviting me. I've enjoyed it. I will. Bye!

Gemma Daly (53:08)

You are welcome. You take care.

Bye.