Qualified dress maker and mum of two girls Rowan set up her business eco-dinky a couple of years ago, when trying to find fun clothes for her children to play in. She now makes fantastic creations for girls aged 6 months to 8 years old using old fabrics, buttons and threads and also offers a custom-made service.
Rowan explains: “I dusted off my sewing machines and got busy. I started to make fun, playful, clothes for my own children. Neighbours and friends then started to ask me to make things for their children, then their friends would want some too and it just grew from there.
“The environmental side of my business just sort of happened really. I just naturally gravitated to making clothing from things that were already in existence; old clothes, table cloths, chair covers, fabric which was damaged and roll ends. I bought threads which had already been used then thrown away to make way for the next season’s colours, bags of mismatched buttons. started unpicking zips from clothes with holes in, chopping the good parts of fabric away from the worn out bits etc. It just was how I wanted to make things. There is far too much waste in the fashion industry and I really didn’t want to add to it. “My customers also really appreciate this ethos – they often have an item of clothing their child has grown out of which they loved and can't bear to get rid of. They send outgrown baby grows or clothing from their children, or baby slings they no longer use, or even items of their own they can no longer wear, and I incorporate the fabric into a new item for their child.”
Rowan has been a qualified dressmaker for over 15 years and, before having her daughters Bunny and Frankie, worked mostly in women’s wear, makings all sorts from bridal to club wear, also costumes, corsets and dance wear. She now works from home in East Morton in West Yorkshire to suit the needs of her family. She adds: “Working from home also means Bunny and Frankie get to see what it means to work and to see the process of something being made from start to finish, which is actually a rare thing these days. For her 5th birthday Frankie drew me a picture of a beautiful dress she wanted me to make (the sleeves came out of her head in the drawing but we worked around that!), she told me the colours she liked and instructions on how much the skirt should twirl and where I should sew on jewels. She then saw the drawing become a pattern, the pattern become pieces of cut out fabric, and finally the fabric being sewn into the dress she had designed.”
This is a service Rowan now offer to people for their children – they love designing their own and get very detailed and involved. She continues: “My most popular dress design though, is the wing dress. This is a very versatile dress as the basic design can be made in any colour, and any designs can be sewn on as decoration. For example, I once had an order for a pair of wing dresses for identical twins. One liked spaceships and the other liked fairies. I did a silver spaceship dress for one and a gold fairy dress for the other.” 
The age range for pre-made clothing tends to be 6 months to 8 years, with the ages split up into 6-12 months, 1-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-6 years and 7-8 years. Dresses range in price from £20 to around £35 depending on the design. Custom made clothing can be made in any size. Rowan explains: “I’ve had everything on the spectrum! 5 year olds as tall as a 7 year old but as thin as a 4 year old, short, wide 3 year olds, giant 6 year olds. If a child is local I will tend to measure them but I am happy to take measurements from relatives over the phone or just give me an idea of what size clothing they normally wear eg. A size 3-4, or like the above example where they are 7 year old height but 4 year old width. I can work with that.”Prices for custom made clothing range, as above, from around £20 - £35 to make up the garment with the additional cost for pattern cutting which is usually about £15 - £30. A custom made item can take anything from a couple of hours or up to a couple of days but Rowan discusses time frames with all her customers – especially if they have a specific occasion in mind for the outifit.
For more information visit Rowan’s website at www.eco-dinky.com
