I grew up in country Victoria, daughter of Italian immigrant parents and the middle child of seven. My “toys” were tortoise shell knitting needles and yarn until the day my father brought home a Singer treadle sewing machine. As a ten year old, I had never seen one before. I found a scrap piece of fabric, pulled up a chair and taught myself to sew.
The desire to sew was innate. The only influence I had was from a Style or Vogue pattern magazine. After school, I would go over to play with the children on a neighbouring farm and when not playing outside we’d be inside playing ‘dress-up’. In their dress-up box was a navy Silk Taffeta Ballgown that their mother had discarded. When I stepped into this gown I was transformed. I loved how the fabric swished! Their mother saw how much I loved it and gave it to me. I spent countless hours in my silk gown, dancing around under the canopy of a giant Willow Tree in our front yard, pretending I was performing on a stage and delighting in the sound of the rustling taffeta fabric .
This is how I feel about creating something from a beautiful fabric. The idea that you could convert it from a flat piece into a garment by using a pattern and a sewing machine was remarkable! Even now, all these years later, I’m still surprised by the simplicity and beauty of that.
In high school I was inspired by the creative subjects. We made seersucker brunch-coats in sewing class and created drawings and sculptures in art class. My first job was in a fabric store in central Geelong. I was surrounded by every type of fabric imaginable, it was bliss! Summer linens and cottons, gorgeous silks, rich velvets, winter viyella (youngsters might have to google that one) and beautiful wools. I soon bought my first electric sewing machine and almost every payday I’d buy a length of fabric and a pattern to sew up something new.
We were a generation of sewers, making curtains and scatter pillows for our houses, sewing and knitting for our friends and families. We sewed to express our individuality and we loved it!
In my 30’s I studied at the Gordon TAFE Geelong. The course was Clothing Industry Studies, a fashion industry driven course. I was amongst students of all ages, all like-minded, all inspired. We had wonderful teachers with a passion for what they taught; history of fashion, design, patternmaking, textiles, garment construction, marketing and so much more. The course enabled the students to find their niche in the world and gave them the confidence to pursue a career in the fabulous world of fashion.
When my children were in high school, parents were asked to attend a meeting about ‘preparing our children for VCE’. The principal spoke about enabling our children to make their own career choices. He advised that not all our children were going to be academics and that if they expressed an interest in a trade to encourage them to pursue it. In years 11 and 12, students could participate in a VCEVET program, attending TAFE one afternoon a week to gain an insight into the tertiary system. One of these VET programs was Fashion Design where they could learn about the industry, potentially go on to study Fashion after high school, graduate and take “flight” in an exciting career in Fashion!
After some time in industry I was fortunate to be asked back to TAFE to teach patternmaking and construction at Cert III & IV level and it was awesome! But soon it was time to move on and do my own thing. Going back into business was an easy transition. My workroom is an inspiring space in an old woollen mill. I wanted to produce a collection of clothing patterns to be complemented by artisan inspired textiles and pass my knowledge on to others aspiring to do the same.
We hope to start a movement to bring back the art of making. We want to encourage a return to individualism through sewing and beautiful textiles and hopefully it will make its way back into the home and schools.
We want to encourage our children to not to be afraid to choose a career that excites them and explores their imagination. Coco Chanel said; “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.”
Let’s give them the skills! Teach them to be inspired and express themselves. Teach them the beautiful, time-honoured art of creating clothing. Inspire them to slow down, think sustainably and to understand that their clothes should reflect who they are! Studying Fashion design and then later teaching was a most fulfilling experience. I was that ten year old in the silk taffeta ballgown under the willow tree again. I was working alongside teachers that had taught and inspired me!
Here I was standing in the front of a classroom of excited, impressionable faces of first year fashion students, all vulnerable, all eager to learn, all optimistic about a career in fashion and all dreaming about their silk taffeta ballgown moment!
Rose Rossi