Noticing first

Sewing clothes that suit the life I actually live

As this year gets started, I have been pondering… What if this year, we were to make from within? Where would that take us?

If I had read this email a year ago, there is no way I would have thought I would have written it. Not because it’s not aligned with how I feel about making - it definitely is - but what my business was focused on at that time was very different.

At that time, my energy was poured into Curated. A monthly project subscription where my team and I chose the projects for the year ahead, then developed, produced and released them in a steady rhythm. It was structured. Thoughtful. Generous. And for a long time, it made a lot of sense for me, my team and my business.

But somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling exciting, and no longer felt like it was serving the community in the way I wanted it to.

As I began thinking about what might come next - a new structure, a new offering, a new way of working - I realised that this very “top-down” approach was no longer what I wanted to be doing. I didn’t want to be the person deciding, months in advance, what everyone should be sewing. Not in such a fixed, prescriptive way.

And let’s be honest: we’ve designed a lot of patterns over the years. If you do enjoy being told what to make, we already have a truckload of options waiting for you, so there is no shortage on that front.

What really cracked things open for me was noticing my own resistance. I’m a designer. I have access to countless patterns and have the skills to draft whatever I like. I can sew most things fairly confidently. And yet… I was struggling to know what to make.

If I was feeling stuck and overwhelmed, what on earth must it feel like for my customers?

I realised that although the “capsule wardrobe” pinterest board I had been adding to all year, although beautiful, was not inspiring me, just making me feel like I’d never have a wardrobe that looked like that so why bother even starting.

So I stopped.

I decided it was time to look inward. To stop scrolling, to stop looking at new patterns out there, and look at my actual life. What am I actually wearing and why? I paid attention to what I reached for in the morning, half-asleep, with a toddler already firing a stream of questions at me. What I put back on the next day because it was still “good enough”. What I avoided, even though it technically fit.

The shift was almost immediate.

Instead of feeling pressure to sew something impressive or aspirational, I felt quietly inspired to make things I would genuinely wear. Not the fantasy pieces from my Pinterest board, but the clothes that would support my days as they actually are.

I started noticing the real gaps in my wardrobe, the things I was reaching for, but weren’t there. I noticed how small my regular rotation actually is. How often I wear the same few things, whether they’re clean or dirty, creased or ironed (usually the former). I noticed that while some garments don’t fit anymore because I’m pregnant, others do fit and still never get worn, simply because they no longer feel like me.

Tracking my wardrobe made something very clear: there is a version of me showing up every day, whether I acknowledge her or not.

She isn’t glamorous or polished. She’s not styled within an inch of her life. But she is comfortable and at ease. She is ready for the day - whether that day is spent working from home, teaching, or chasing a toddler around the house.

And once I saw her properly, sewing felt simple again.

It seems funny that I am back here, but also makes perfect sense. This essence - this feeling - is what In the Folds has always been about. Even before it became a brand and was just an idea in my graduate collection.

When I look back at the words on my website from all those years ago, they all still ring true. The mission for me couldn’t be any clearer, just the way of getting there has shifted:

Do you dream of making a wardrobe that is full of garments that you love for the way they fit your body and the way they make you feel? Pieces that you can wear in your busy life - to work, at home, out with friends. Pieces that ease effortlessly between all the spaces you inhabit.

The In the Folds design aesthetic leans heavily towards the everyday…

You may know that this year we’re trying something a little different. A new offering. Something looser, more experimental, with a foundation based in play.

This month, we’ll be inviting you to join us for Experiment 1. Not with a project list. Not with a prescribed outcome. But with noticing.

Experiment 1 is an invitation to slow down and pay attention to what’s already here - your wardrobe, your habits, your preferences, your real life. It’s about observing without judgement. Without trying to fix or optimise. Just noticing what you wear, what you love, what you avoid, and how your clothes actually support (or don’t support) your days.

No pressure. No perfect answers. Just information. The kind that comes from living in your clothes, rather than imagining them.

Because before we make anything new, there’s so much to learn from what we’re already wearing.

---