Welcome at Made Victorian

My name is Emy. I am a passionate sewist who fell in love with Victorian’s (and Edwardian’s) fashion.

I created Made Victorian in 2022, with the hope to share my sewing passion and add Victorian touches to modern clothing.

My goal is to help and accompany you in your sewing adventures, whether you are beginner or an experienced sewist.

I design quality patterns and all-included kits to help you learn and practice new sewing skills.

Browse my collections of kits, patterns, and sewing supplies!

(home)Made Victorian Kits

The collection of all-included kits designed by Made Victorian. Perfect sewing projects to start sewing or to give as a gift.

Patterns

The collection of patterns designed by Made Victorian. Great if you want to personalise your sewing project.

Haberdashery

Browse the sewing supplies (such as scissors, needles, thread, etc.), as well as other supplies used in kits.

Fabric

Browse the carefully curated fabric selection for your next sewing project. My aim is to provide great quality natural fibers fabrics!

Accompanying you in your sewing adventures

What is Made Victorian?

Made Victorian is a small British online business, offering patterns, all-included kits and sewing supplies. As Made Victorian is a small structure, it operates at low stock levels and, or on-demand basis.

The collection (home)Made Victorian combines a growing range of patterns and all-included sewing kits for clothes and accessories. Each pattern is carefully designed and created in house and supplemented by a detailed step-by-step booklet of instructions. Supplies for kits are carefully curated and tested, to ensure that you are working with the best quality materials.

I also have a wide range of sewing supplies available (e.g. fabrics, threads, and other haberdashery), as well as sewing tools bundles (check out the Sewing Packs), which are perfect for anyone starting stitching.

Why create Made Victorian?

I founded Made Victorian because I want to accompany people in their sewing adventures, regardless of their sewing level.

The multitude of elements you have to consider when starting a sewing project can quickly become overwhelming and can stop you from even starting it. What type of project shall I start with? Shall I self-draft, drape, or use a commercial pattern? Which supplies shall I use? How much supplies shall I order?

All-included kits reduce the amount of elements to consider: they include a pattern, a booklet of instructions, and all the supplies you’ll need (fabric, thread, ribbons, buttons, etc.) Plus, if you decide to re-use the pattern, the booklet has recommendations and tips to guide you choose your supplies, or personalise your sewing project.

When I design Made Victorian’s products, I use construction methods and tips from the Modern and Victorian periods. Victorian clothes were made to last decades - even though the fashion changed every 10 years. By combining sewing techniques from those two periods, it increases your clothes’ durability. Plus, merging fashion elements from both periods gives a little historical touch to our modern blend everyday clothes, without having to wear historical or haute-couture pieces.

What Made Victorian strive for?

Making sewing accessible for everyone

Starting any new hobby can be confusing and overwhelming, and starting sewing is just the same. To help you start your sewing journey without worries, I have created all-included kits, containing all the necessary supplies (and some extra). Booklets of instructions, provided with patterns, are detailed, illustrated by schemes and pictures, and contain various tips to help you clearly visualise the steps.

Plus, you don’t need to own a sewing machine to make (home)Made Victorian products, as they are machine- and hand-sewing friendly. It only depends on which method you feel more confident using.

Combining Modern and Victorian fashions

When preparing a new project, I get inspiration from fashion magazines (from Modern and Victorian period), fashion plates, museum pieces, runway fashion images, etc. Heavily Victorian-inspired garments will have a Modern twist and heavily Modern-inspired garments will have a Victorian twist. But it is not just about aesthetics, I also want to ensure that it is made to last. With that in mind, I search through sewing and tailor’s manuals from both periods, to combine the construction methods and sewing techniques.

Using more natural fibres

I personally dislike having synthetic fibres against my skin. I don’t find them as breathable as natural fibres, and with time they develop a characteristic unpleasant smell that is difficult to get rid off. But also, scientific studies have reported that prolonged exposure to plastic (which is synthetic fibres’ main component) can negatively affect your overall health, even through daily skin contact. For those reasons, I try my best to avoid synthetic fibres, and aim to source mainly natural fibres when I am gathering supplies for my kits.

Providing good quality products

As a customer, I am quite peculiar regarding the quality of what I buy. I feel cheated and frustrated when I receive something with a subpart quality. Afterall, I started sewing because I wanted to make clothes of better quality compared to those found in stores.

I want to make sure that the sewing project you are making, using my kits or patterns, are made to last. So, I test carefully each element of Made Victorian’s products. I thoroughly check that the supplies are of good quality and fulfil their purpose perfectly, and that instructions can be easily followed.

As I started to learn sewing basics and being more confident in my sewing projects, I developed an interest in historical fashion. I was fascinated by how garments were made throughout history, as well as how and why they evolved. To increase the longevity of the clothes I made, I started implementing some of the historical techniques and tips.

Reflecting back on my sewing journey, there were things I wished that I had known earlier (e.g. making a mock-up), and things I wished were known outside the historical fashion community (e.g. the concept that the garment is shaped through the way it is cut and sewn, not because of a perfect body silhouette - corset!). So, in 2022, I founded Made Victorian to accompany people starting sewing (feeling overwhelmed and lost) and to share the tips, techniques and concepts that I am learning during my own sewing journey.

About me

My name is Emy, and I am a craft enthusiast - especially sewing and embroidery. I am fascinated by how people in the past lived and what lessons we can learn and use today.

Years ago, I had to learn sewing again by myself and it was more difficult than I thought. At the time, the sewing lessons I could find were either in Fashion Schools (which were too expensive), or in sewing clubs (where everyone in the class was making the same very simple garment or accessory). So, I decided to learn on my own, from home, and using resources from books and websites.

I was puzzled to find out that most of the patterns available to beginners were for very simple and almost plain clothes. Patterns for garments that I liked seemed too complicated for my very low sewing level. When I finally decided on a sewing project, the pattern itself and the instructions were confusing. I didn’t know what type of fabric to use or how much of it I needed. I got quickly overwhelmed.

My story

When I was a teenager, my mom (who is a professional seamstress) taught me the basics of sewing. She taught me how to make simple garments and how to mend them. When she had a lot of work, I would help her with easy tasks. For example, I would undo seams, mark the fabric to cut out or the garment to alter, sew hems and buttons, and iron garments once everything was finished. I loved being able to make something with my hands, to see the evolution of a project, and being in contact with customers.

When I started Uni, I had less time to help her. My visits to her “Atelier” were less frequent. In 2015, I moved to the UK to study, and completely stopped sewing. With time, I fell out of practice and eventually forgot most of what she taught me.

A few years later, I became interested in sewing again. During one of my trips back home, I went pattern and fabric shopping with my mom. Once back in the UK, I would make my first trousers, by myself. I had settled on a pair of cigarette pants (or pencil pants) with an elastic waist and chose a black polyester with a lovely honeycomb texture to make it.

This was a disaster! 1) I had difficulties understanding and following the pattern instructions, so I had to undo my progression a few times. 2) I chose the size I would get for skinny jeans in shops. Unfortunately, my fabric wasn’t stretchy. I had picked the wrong size, and the trousers were too tight. 3) I didn’t have enough fabric. I couldn’t do the pockets, nor re-cut the waistband. 4) The fabric wasn’t thick enough, so I needed to line the trousers if I wanted to wear it during winter. 5) This was the first time I was sewing something on my own. I had instructions I didn’t really understand, some safety pins, a small pair of paper scissors, a 30cm ruler and a new sewing machine, I didn’t know how to use.

Honestly, failing to make these pants discouraged me from sewing. I thought I had chosen a very easy project, a lovely fabric and I thought my past sewing experience at my mom’s “Atelier” was all I needed. So, I concluded I wasn’t good at it, gave up making my own clothes, but continued enjoying watching videos of people making theirs. I didn’t stop sewing completely, I made some bags, tea towels and hand towels. Nothing fancy, but it helped me build up my confidence slightly.

During this period, I stumbled upon fashion history and historical costuming. I enjoyed watching people trying to replicate historical garments. I became fascinated with the processes of making clothes (including weaving and dying fabrics) during various time periods and its evolution until now. I also became fascinated with the people making the garments, as well as the fashion social markers throughout time.

One day, I got the itch to sew clothes again. Before starting cutting fabric, I took the time to do some research, to plan my project and to take notes of interesting information when watching videos about fashion and designing clothes. I decided to start (again) by making a Corset (or a corselette) using fabric up-cycled from an old pair of trousers and an old scrap of fabric for lining.

This time around, it all went well. The instructions were still confusing, but I was able to find video of people using the same pattern, and that was helpful. At the end I had a corset that I liked and I could wear. After that project, I became more confident in my sewing skills and I’ve enjoyed each project I’ve done since. I am proud of how much I improved, proud to wear what I made. I, now, have a constant flow of ideas of garments to make, techniques to try, and even new craft to indulge into.

I created Made Victorian to accompany people on their learning journey. I want to pass on resources, techniques, tips and interesting information, which I felt were missing when I started sewing. It’s a way for me to help my past self when I was sewing on my own for the first time, and I hope you will find it helpful and useful too.