Hi, I’m Sheela d’Mello, and I’ve been making clothes for many many years now! Like most dressmakers (I think), I started with doll-clothes and graduated to dressing live humans.
What I like best about dressmaking is how it’s always new – I have never made the same dress twice. Body shapes change, styles are different, and every fabric drapes differently. Also with change of season in the fashion world, there is something new to be learn’t or an improvement in technique, so we’re always reinventing patterns, sewing methods and finishes.
I started by studying fashion design and followed it up with a few years of dressmaking lessons and interning with a couple of very talented dressmakers, one Thai and the other French, so I’ve developed methods that make the best of each school.
I enjoy working on bridal gowns and evening gowns the most, but I have made a range of outfits from lace and satin Christening gowns to Ethnic Indian Lehengas in the most unusual fabrics.