Amy Van Den Broek, dressmaker
It was a real spur-of-the-moment decision to do the sewing course. My friend was teaching it and she talked me into it. I had been doing a lot of soul-searching and was thinking about arts and crafts. We started off with a little bit of artwork and then drew patterns based on our own measurements. I made a skirt. It's amazing to think that something you started back in October you're only finishing now, but it was only one night a week so it takes a long time.
Years ago, in primary school, I learned the basics of sewing and I would sometimes alter some of my own clothes, such as cutting collars off, but doing this has really inspired me to do a lot more. My friend's going to do another course in the autumn which will be more advanced, so hopefully I'll learn how to make tops, too. I would love to be able to make a dress.
I suppose it's about being able to make something completely unique and also the satisfaction of doing something yourself. When you finish it you feel as if you've really accomplished something. so it's good for your confidence. Every time I go to the shops I see clothes I like but I would maybe want to change slightly, or they just don't quite fit. But when you make your own clothes it's so much more expensive than just going into a shop and buying them. If I have a family in the future I would love to make some things for them.
I'm Dutch and I've been living in Ireland for two and a half years. I suppose I'm still finding my feet, although I have friends and a social network. I knew the other people on the course and we would all go out to Sallynoggin together with my friend who was teaching it. So it was four girls in a car. It was great fun and while we were learning we could also talk and catch up. We didn't get competitive, but because we're all control freaks we did aim to make it as good as we could.
In a post-oil world, I suppose my survival skill would be dressmaking. But at the moment it would have to be a world where everyone would wear skirts.